Wow.
First off, I need to say thanks to people on Chief Delphi: My dad, Joe Johnson, Mike Aubry, the rest of the coaches, engineers and students. This is their site .. I just make sure it's online. I am very lucky to have been asked to work on this site.
Second .. I was hesitant about letting the UFH committee put me up as the next honoree. I realize that I do a lot for the FIRST online community, but I know that there are so many other more qualified Unsung FIRST Heroes out there that should have been honored before me.
Please, please, please go and nominate someone. It only takes a few minutes. UFH is a great program .. it lets people know they are appreciated, and gives them a nice boost to help them continue making a positive impact.
Third .. I have to thank all 6800+ users. Without all of you, I wouldn't be doing this. You keep the discussion going, and I'll make sure the site is here to let that happen.
I do this site, and continue to do this site, for many of the the same reasons you all do FIRST. The students do it to learn and have fun. Without this site, I wouldn't know half as much as I do about programming interactive websites. I was never on a team as a high school student, but I have come away from the FIRST experience with so much new knowledge and many ideas that I use at my job on a daily basis. The coaches, engineers, and other mentors do it to inspire the students and make them to appreciate science and technology. I know that by helping keep this site online, I am helping coaches, mentors and engineers spread their knowlege, ideas and inspiration to so many people around the world (students, coaches, and other engineers).
I owe it to the FIRST community and the awesome users of this site to keep working on this site and making it better. I will do so until someone from Chief Delphi pulls me away from it and tells me to stop.
I abused my unlimited reputation-giving power, and individually replied to most of your thank-you's via that. Check out my responses on your
user control panel if you haven't already.
Thank you all again.