[Chief Hedgehog]

At this late hour I must chime in - because I have dealt with most of the Minnesota contingent at one event or another. I do this as I have a 4 year old screaming next to me because she has an ear infection and the childrens tylenol has yet to kick in... life gets in the way.

What saddens me about all of this is that there are so many great people (that have the same intentions) being lambasted on this forum. I can say that because I have experience with putting my foot in my mouth from time to time on CD.

GoFIRST - a great group of energized college students that are willing to advance FIRST in Minnesota. What they do with SRS, SPLASH, and their other events furthers FIRST in Minnesota.

MN FIRST - a great group of people that have created an incredible organization where there once was none. These people put in time to hone the organization that most other states would be envious of.

Volunteers in Minnesota - no one can argue that any volunteer is worth their weight in gold. Thank God most volunteers do not frequent this site.

All of this boils down to two things:
1. The direction that Minnesota needs to go in the future
2. A document that was presented to college-aged people.

I cannot state when or how this document was presented or received - but knowing the two parties, I think that both read the document differently.

If you read it from the party sending it out, it reads as a "how to volunteer at a FRC event and what to expect"

If you read it from the receiving party it may read as "do it our way or else..."

Again, what I think that what is missing in the creation, transmission, and translation of the said document is that all parties need one another in order to further FIRST in Minnesota.

I pray that all of the discussion on this thread can lead to a better organization in Minnesota - because that is what I believe all parties are truly for in the long run.

What we don't need is conjecture and bias playing into all of this. Minnesota does have a tough road ahead as we transition into the future - whether that be regionals or districts. Yes, Minnesota has some of the greatest regionals in FIRST; and yes there are concerns with the future of Minnesota and what comes next.

What we do need is more constructive conversation from all parties with interest in making MN FIRST the best organization in FIRST - clearly this is not how this thread has progressed.

Again, I am loving that we have CD to air our differences - but please lets keep this from being a site where we flame ideas or people with good intentions.

/walks off soap box/