I've been working on the actual design and layout of the magazine, and at the moment the sketches I have resemble USFIRST.ORG. I think it would be a good idea to keep these two sites very similar in design. We definitely need a database to keep track of articles and allow for easy uploading to the server.
So far we were thinking quarterly print issues, with daily updates to the webzine, as daily as was possible. I also really like Wayne's idea, however one thing we may not want to do is prevent any team or individual of a team from submitting work. I do like the idea of a featured team, and perhaps have them do a postmortem of how things are going or went for them in the competitions, as in what went right, what went wrong, why, and how they would improve on it for next year. That too can be split into different award and team divisions, like chairmans, national champions, mechanical side of a team known for amazing mechanical work, postmortem of the animation from the winning team.
To me, this actually reminds me very much of sharingFIRST. The only difference is that there will be guidlines and formatting to be followed keeping everything looking similar, instead of everyone having thier own page. The web submission I see as a "submit an article, wait for approval". The only question I have is what do the writers have to gain? If this magazine is sold on newsstands, would it be feasible to pay a writer if his or her article is approved? I don't see why not.
Then again, all funds could be pushed towards getting FIRST out there, with a few writers from the FIRST world hired to work on the zine on a consistent basis. Should recognition be enough for those who submit but arent staff writers? Or perhaps there is some other compensation, like a private dinner at nationals for all whose articles were accepted, giving them a chance to mingle with the heads of FIRST, as well as current scientific, technological, and political leaders. Hmm... yet more to debate about.
-Robby O
oshortwan@hotmail.com
FIRSTanimators Moderator