[GreyingJay]

Steve Jobs used to famously say that Apple wanted to be at the intersection of Technology and Liberal Arts. The context of his quote was more about using social sciences and other disciplines to guide their products, so it's not just technology for technology's sake, but the point still applies that in today's world, you need STEAM, not just STEM.

Apple doesn't really invent things - they repackage technology in new ways, and market the heck out of it. For example, Apple didn't invent the smartphone, but they made one that was intuitive, fun to use, and appealed to the masses instead of just to business executives. They made a bold (at the time) decision that a touchscreen would work better than a physical keyboard, which was a risky move. Then their marketing arm took over. But that's the point - marketing to them is just as important as the technology and product engineering.

FRC simulates the experience of working in an engineering company. You're given a proposal and system requirements (the game manual), and it's up to your "company" to make strategic decisions, design your "product", build it, hopefully test it, and ship it. Then you wait to see how well your product stands up against the competition (very literally), and refine as needed. The business subteams have a very realistic experience when it comes to things like raising capital, deciding on company branding, advertising, websites, social media engagement, competitive market analysis, etc.

I think even without FIRST's prodding, teams are learning that they need to step up their game with respect to video, websites, social media, and other "marketing" aspects. Teams have set high standards for video production by way of reveal videos and chairman's, among others. The rest of us learn by example.

I would treat video production capability like any other skill or equipment available to your team. If you have a CNC machine or mill, use it. If you don't, you have to make do without. If you have students with video production acumen, by all means, use it. The nice thing is that it's cheaper and easier for a team to learn some skills in video editing, or social media, or branding, than it is to buy and set up a new piece of machinery. The trick is in recognizing that the two are equally capable of changing the way your team operates.