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Unread 23-03-2016, 22:11
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Collin Fultz Collin Fultz is offline
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Re: How do I help my area move to districts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboAlum View Post
Collin would you give some advice to us, we want to follow the way Indiana went to districts we have 50 teams now and have growth potential but all schools see are the outrageous dollar signs. As for me I was the head of the planning committee for our off-season event and we realized that by training our seniors and alumni in volunteer roles as well as getting help from the local Air Force base we were able to fill the volunteer positions quickly but our biggest downfall is getting more teams in our area that will do FRC.
Hi - Great question. You're absolutely right that the investment in FRC can be overwhelming to some.

Your experiences are a great start. Hopefully your off-season event was a success.

Perhaps the largest initial hurdle is a state (or district) wide 501c3 non-profit who can act as the "Headquarters" for FIRST in that state. In Indiana, that non-profit is IndianaFIRST. FIRST HQ signs a Memorandum of Understanding with that organization, who then executes FRC in the area.

That non-profit has to show FIRST that I can represent the interests of teams in the entire area, as well as fundraise enough to support events and a local staff. How large that staff is varies by area.

My suggested first step: Start holding district information sessions at your regionals and off-season events. Listen to feedback from people. Shockingly, most people involved in FIRST are not on Chief Delphi. Odds are that there are many in your area that don't understand what "Districts" are. Also, be prepared for pushback. There will be some who do not see this as a net positive for them. As an example, in Indiana, many of the teams around the Chicago area were used to going to the Midwest Regional as their "home" regional. So the whole "this will save travel costs" argument didn't really apply to them. We, as IndianaFIRST, need to take that into consideration.

Please, continue to ask good questions. There are lots of people here to help.

Thank you!

-CF
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