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Unread 20-04-2007, 09:05
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Onto a New Chapter...
AKA: Kim O'Toole Eckhardt
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Re: What happened to the FIRST community I call my family?

Arefin,
Unfortunately FIRST today is NOT the FIRST you joined 6 years ago, and it is NOT the FIRST I joined 12 (ugh Im old) years ago. With growth comes change. No company that goes from 30 people to 1300 people in less than 10 years is going to be the same company. And you are right, the more teams there are, the fewer people that are going to always be "happy". Heck I can remember the day when there were probably 60 teams, and I could call Brian Farmer at FIRST and talk to him (as the electrical engineer on staff) directly and ask questions. While FIRST still answers the phone, all of that is done online now. Changes happen.

As for the issue with Chief Delphi. No offense to CD, but we NEVER refer any outsiders to this forum. While I feel it is an excellent resource for teams, great to dig through and search, and great to keep up on current issues, it is NOT a forum I expect outsiders to understand. Instead we refer them to the main FIRST site and our website (which also has forums, but they are all for ideas, not complaining).

We do make all of our team members sign up here... as 90% of the time, a question they stand in line to ask me can be answered here or in the rule book. It was also a HUGE help to read through the radio issue & banebots issue threads and have this community constructively figure out what was going on. It started with complaints, but evolved into solutions.

I have to think FIRST is listening with the number of changes and fixes they have made and with some of the responses in the team updates. There needs to be a place for people to hear eachother, to talk things out and to come up with solutions. I also like that someone said sometimes people just need to vent, to feel heard, and while it may not make this the friendliest place, it works, and it makes people feel better.

While FIRST isnt perfect, and I have to admit I had my moments this year, as did many, I think they are listening, and I think they are trying, and thats good enough for me to stick by it and keep believing in the ideals. Its just becoming more like real life, and maybe thats not a bad thing for our kids to learn.
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Kimberly O'Toole Eckhardt <3
Principal Systems Engineer & Program Manager
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Excellence - is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.
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