[Hallry]

Posted on the FRC Blog, 5/7/14: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...g-FIRST-fandom

FIRST Fandom

Blog Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - 14:48

I got firsthand, in-depth experience with FIRST Fandom last Friday, when I participated as a guest on GameSense. The show started at 8PM EST, with me being on for about an hour, then continued for about another hour with EJ from the Poofs. I took a break when EJ was on, but turned the show on again toward the end of his segment, when I saw the great GameSense hosts were planning to continue the show with an AMA using the chat window on Twitch. I joined in – about 10PM by this point – and chatted away with 60 or 70 die-hard FRC fans for another 3 hours! I had so much fun, the time just flew by, even though by the end it was well past my bedtime. For me personally, it was a great wrap-up to an intense season. Thanks, GameSense, for a fantastic time!

This got me thinking more about FIRST Fandom. Like any other sport, we have a full range of fans and participants, from the most casual, to the most dedicated. There are community-created webcasts in addition to GameSense, such as FRCTop25, and The RoboShow, an Orlando Regional-specific offering. Folks are creating their own FRC apps, for use by teams and for use by volunteers in helping to run events. We have people creating their own awards, running their own off-season events, even running their own prom at the FIRST Championship – a sell-out this year with 1,700 students in attendance. We’ve got a recent post on the forums for people to use in listing their favorite equations, and individuals for whom their love of FRC team statistics seems to border on the obsessive. I don’t think I could realistically capture all the activities, content, and specialized interests we have within our community. But it seems that within FIRST, we’ve got a little something for just about everyone, much of it created by the community itself.

Let’s just acknowledge that doing something like spending five straight hours on a Friday night with a webcast dedicated to FRC is crazy. But it’s good crazy. In FRC here at HQ, we love the vibrancy and variety in our community, and want to support the growth of these special activities as we jointly explore all that it means to be FIRST. You’ll see changes this year as we work more actively to support these activities.

Keep the good crazy coming.

Team Buttons


Frank's Wall

This is a photo of a wall in my office. Note how empty it is. My plan is to fill it with buttons from FRC teams. I have some already, but need more. If you have a team button you can spare, and would like to have me put it up in my office, please mail it to me at:

FIRST

200 Bedford St

Manchester, NH 03101

Attn: Frank Merrick

Thanks!

Frank