[Gabriel]

Sometime around the end of last year I got very frustrated with the way FIRST does business. FIRST's inconsistencies and occasional incompetence had become a running joke among a few mentors. One mentor I know was almost ready to say "Screw it, lets do BattleBots" Fortunately I got a chance to speak to Dean Kamen briefly about this. He pointed out that FIRST has been growing tremendously over the past few years. Their staff is dedicated and talented, but very small. FIRST also relies on other people's generosity, and while their connections are extraordinary, they still face the same challenges as every other non-profit. Basically, as the number of teams grows by leaps and bounds FIRST has had some serious growing pains. Organizing the competition has become a tremendously complicated task and sometimes mistakes are made. Sometimes things have to be done cheap in order to get them done at all. If you're really frustrated with FIRST, talk to them. They do actually believe in what they say they believe in and they are doing tremendous work. Unfortunately, its an increasingly tough job and although they try very hard they aren't perfect. I know that sometimes its frustrating, but there's a reason we do FIRST - we believe deeply in the value of what they are trying to accomplish. FIRST is gradually changing the culture of the United States and they've brought us along for the ride. We just have to put up with a few screw-ups in order to get there.