Quote:
Originally Posted by pmangels17
Firstly, the GDC is our version of product design. It is always the job of designers (GDC) to create an appealing product that consumers (teams), so as to attract enough consumers to increase profits (which don't have to be monetary profits). We hold it on them to create a game that attracts the interest of competitors and spectators alike, like Apple expects the iPhone team to produce an iPhone that consumers want to buy. This extends past just recruiting new members. You can't market the "Sport for the Mind" if the sport is competitive box stacking, and you can't expect sponsors (especially new sponsors) to donate to a team that basically builds a miniature forklift, because there are already forklifts. It'd be like me investing in your company to invent the wooden wheel; it has already been done.
Secondly, and I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, it isn't about what Dean wants or needs us to do. I have the utmost respect for Dean for starting something huge, and something that I love. However, FIRST is a community larger than one man, and we should be making it loud for students, for teams, for schools, for our friends, for our generation, and for our future, not because one man needs us to. This is a point that I cannot stress enough. Dean is awesome, but if you do things because Dean says you should, you are missing part of the point.
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Sponsors
I got five new sponsors this year who are just fine with box stacking and put in thousands worth of machining, money, engineering advice, tools and more. They and our returning sponsors
do not care about the game. They care about what the students get from competing and building the robot. In fact all five of our new sponsors agreed to help before the game came out because the excitement of the game is not the important part of FIRST. It's the people and what we do to make matches happen. They wanted to help us kids gain the knowledge and skills needed to do well in whatever game came out. They were confident that whatever it was it would demand the knowledge and skills that FRC always has.
Recruitment
If this game not being like 2013-14 negatively affects your recruitment somehow it's because you could only talk about how bad the games are. Instead of that try to remember all the work you put in and the things you learned to get the robot to the field in the first place.
Learning?
I guess I forgot that learning anything technical was on the back burner to the FRC community compared to how cool the game is. Yea I know that's quite cynical.
Word choice
I said Dean because the first time I remember hearing that phrase in reference to FIRST was when he mentioned it at 2013 champs because I was there. That is what came to mind so that's what I said.
Lastly, It's our job to get new people in the door not the GDC. If we can't even make the experience of building the robot seem attractive why would anyone join and stay on FRC team in the first place?
Game this year is great! I love it!