Hello FIRST People in and around Michigan. Dan Gee, engineer on Team 67, The Hot Team, has proposed a terrific idea - that we be allowed to hold a kickoff in Michigan, rather than traveling to New Hampshire.
There are LOTS of good reasons for this proposal:
1) Travel to N. H. in January is difficult,
especially if team representatives are bringing
home more than 1 kit of parts (example -Team
Ford FIRST reps will be bringing home at least
10 kits this coming year)
2) Reduced costs for airfare, cabs, car rentals and
hotel/food.
3) There is a precedent for this action. Virginia
and NASA people were allowed to hold their
kickoff in Virginia last year
4) A little more time spent with the kit of parts
5) Students will be able to take part in the
kickoff
6) Hey, how many times do you really need to see
Dean's house anyway???
If you are interested in this idea, please consider going to the FIRST Forum, which is fast approaching (August 1st at EMU in the student union), and make your opinion count.
A preliminary contact has been made to host this event at the Novi Expo.....a very neutral and very convenient location....by Jennifer Harvey.
If enough teams in Michigan request this, we could be successful in accomplishing a Michigan Kickoff.
There would of course be a satellite link set up, so everyone could see what was happening in New Hampshire.
This is a great idea, especially considering that there are more teams from Michigan than from any other state (for the past 3 years).
Talk to your teams and please let FIRST know how you feel about this, BEFORE or DURING the August Forum.