Everyone by now probably knows the results of the NYC Web Contest - Team 19 won(
http://bigredrobotics.com ). But was that the best NYC had to offer? No. A close inspection of the list reveals many quality sites, and one among them is the site of XHS Robotics-my team (
http://xhsrobotics.org ). Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems apparent that the rules presented in pages 26-29 in the Awards Manual and the Judging Ballot provided had not one thing to do with how the sites were selected. At the event, it was noted that only a few teams (possible even just one) had voted. Keep in mind that a team cannot vote for itself. It is also troubling that teams only handed in a ballot with one name-not the judging form-a far better inidcator of a good site. So all emotions aside, I think an Open Letter to FIRST is in order that at least aims to change the way things are done as far as the Web Contest. We've already had some realy comforting support from other teams in the NYC area. This has been very encouraging, to say the least. As one person said in a brief post on this topic, members of the team didn't acknowledge or mention that they had a website-even the coach.