[galewind]

Yesterday, BMS held a "finale" for all of their NJ teams. They had some great speeches, food, award certificates, and a video montage of all of our teams that were in Atlanta. It gave us the opportunity to mingle and share experiences with the other teams (which we also met with at kickoff), and our students and mentors got to meet and talk with some professionals there.

As I spoke with Dr. Anders Hedberg yesterday, and even mentioned this thread on CD, and he stated that BMS's intent is to grow their team base, but only insomuch as they can find personnel willing to work with each new team. I find that a very sound philosophy.

Earlier that day, I spent about twenty minutes talking with David Carle, our contact. He was very upset that he couldn't make the event, as he was "really looking forward to it". He was very excited about how much we've done this year, and how much we've grown, and how pleased he was to be a part of the team. He also relayed a story of how we went to a BMS facility in CT who had pictures of Team 228 on the wall was talking with him about FIRST. How cool is that?

The point of my post? As my sig suggests, I'm PROUD to be a BMS team, and I'm PROUD of all of your sponsors who get involved with your teams and get excited about your progress. This is CLEARLY not unique to our team and sponsor, but something absolutely incredible.

When corporate America gets excited about FIRST, we have to be doing SOMETHING right!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL TEAMS AND SPONSORS FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2006 SEASON!