Matt Adams wrote:
let's not downplay the "after hours" volunteering. We're not talking about 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday, we're talking about 20,30,40 hours a week for 6 1/2 weeks that would be available for mentors to be spending with family and friends, and that's just the regular season. There's no need to joke about the pre-season, regular season, post-season and off-season, we all know the reality of that! If we're going to talk about recruiting engineering volunteers, you basically have to say, "Hi, do you have a spare couple hundred hours a year to volunteer?"
Matt,
I'm glad that someone brought this up as it has a HUGE bearing on the ability of FIRST to expand. While I firmly believe that mentoring is an important thing to do (otherwise I wouldn't be here)
Some folks need to realize that it is not always the companies that are "lending" their engineers and personnel to FIRST teams. In many instances (probably a higher percentage than most folks realize) the people who are volunteering to mentor teams and work regionals are doing so because THEY want to not because their company is loaning them out. My personal belief is that a fair majority of mentors are involved because of the personal satisfaction they get from the experience.
That being said, FIRST is still the best thing for high school students to be exposed to the possibilities available to them in life.