[Monochron]

Originally Posted by Cole Cyr

A large majority of prizes are by 3rd party groups and the promotion of STEAM is a shift in marketing that has to be attributed to some decision made, and im guessing its the slow introduction of STEAM

What do you mean a majority of prizes are by 3rd party groups? There are lots of awards that organization other than FIRST gives out? Well yes, there are plenty of contests unrelated to FIRST. Prizes for FIRST awards are provided by 3rd party groups? Very few FIRST awards come with tangible prizes to begin with.

If you were just mistaken about FIRST CA's involvement in the prize, that's fine, mistakes are easy to make. But them promoting a single contest that VERY closely overlaps with FIRST's goals doesn't indicate a slow replacement of STEM with STEAM within FIRST.

They are definitely promoting STEAM, possibly due to the theme of this year's game. What would really be interesting is evidence that FIRST promoting STEAM will continue after this year's game. I haven't seen anything like that yet.