Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Anderson
I don't see anything disturbing or off-putting about that document. It seems quite reasonable to me. It basically says not to think that you "deserve" a Key Volunteer position before you've demonstrated yourself, and suggests how you can go about doing that. Unless there's something else that people are being told beyond what it says, I do not understand why anyone would be upset by it.
|
It's a combination of what this document says and what is actually happening with the intended audience of this document (which I assume is the GOFIRST group at the University of Minnesota).
There's been friction between the alumni of MN FIRST and the RPC. A big point of contention here is the current double-regional event format of Minnesota. The young alumni want to switch to districts, and want to get involved and start the conversation and the planning required to get there. Everyone is aware this is a big undertaking that requires several years to implement right. However, the leadership in MN is very attached to their double regional format, knowing they run the "biggest and best" regionals in the country. The alumni want to get their teams more bang for their buck, but the RPC doesn't want to lose the media attention for FIRST that these events gain. Of course, on top of this, there are the normal concerns that everyone has with transitioning to districts (finding venues, volunteers, etc). Due to all of these factors, it appears that the RPC believes their current system to be superior, and therefore does not want to pursue transitioning to districts at all.
Like Bailey said, one of the few ways that college students can reasonably stay involved in FRC is volunteering. However, students who sign up to volunteer are repeatedly being assigned to more menial, untrained roles or just being told that they're not needed. A dear friend of mine (who already had previous experience volunteering as an inspector in New England), was assigned to the practice field. When she showed up to the regional, the volunteer desk was empty. After tracking one of the event staff down, she was told they had enough volunteers for that day, and she should come back tomorrow.
Honestly, the purpose of this document seems to be to deter any of these alumni from believing that they could make a real difference in the direction Minnesota is heading. The overall message seems to be this; "Play by our rules, listen to everything we say, and don't say anything about it."
Now this may sound cynical, but this is how I'm reading this document given the situation. Each number refers to the subsequent DO and DONT in the letter.
1. If you really care about FRC, you'll do whatever volunteer position we assign you to, regardless of what you aspire to be.
2. This seems to be specifically targeting the fact that college students will often have class on Wednesday and Thursday.
3. Do whatever the RPC and existing KVs tell you to do.
4. Don't talk about any of this publicly, no matter how discontent you are.
5. If you do volunteer, always do what your Key Volunteer superior says.
6. Don't expect to get a more important volunteering position anytime soon.
7. Re 6: Probably at least 6+ years before you're a key volunteer.
8. Now this is the real kicker. Many of these disgruntled alumni have been switching to volunteering for FLL and FTC events, and have been much happier since. A different nonprofit organization, High Tech Kids, is the FIRST partner for FLL and FTC in Minnesota. Many young alumni agree this group is more effectively run. There have been talks of HTH and MN FIRST merging, as MN FIRST does not have nonprofit status necessary for MN to switch to districts. However, there's rumors that this merger is halted due to conflicting opinions over who would actually be in charge after the merger. This paragraph is basically saying "Don't expect MN FIRST to be like High Tech Kids."
9. Most of the kids who want to continue supporting FRC are enthusiastic about the program. This is basically telling these kids that they need to tone down their enthusiasm if they want to volunteer?
10. So you screwed up...
This seems pretty clear to me. If you don't play by the rules, you're not getting any volunteer positions past field reset or practice field.
Yes, a lot of what is in this document is generally good advice for new volunteers. However, given the scenario, this basically seems like a letter from the dictatorship telling the people to not challenge their authority.