Quote:
Originally Posted by Tottanka
And are there any negative consequances in having an x-Firster working as a Mecahnical Engineer for Marlboro of Smirnoff?
|
These are a couple of things that come to mind when thinking about recruiting and outreach.
Our team actively recruits from some of the middle school programs. We also do outreach/demos to young children all over the Austin area. The parents are always there and always full of questions. One of the questions that I am asked is who are some of our sponsors. I also keep in mind that the high school students who are part of the recruitment and the demonstrations are there representing their team, their school, themselves, and FIRST. I am always happy to talk to the parents about our program and about our sponsors. It is always a goal of mine to discuss the partnerships and the future of these students in the areas of science and technology. It would be difficult to put a spin on some of the companies mentioned, simply because the target group of FIRST is children/teenagers, introducing them to the fields of science, engineering, technology.
Another thing that I think about is the branding that teams do in partnership with their sponsors. X-Cats comes to mind very quickly when I think of their partnership with Xerox. If companies that promote and market products that are not suitable for children/teenagers are used in partnership, and knowing how fun and clever these teams are - what could soon evolve as names for the teams? What image would that project?
Other partnerships that I would like to see continue to develop are with the schools/education systems, helping support FIRST teams with money, shops, teachers funded with stipends, equipment. That is the direction that I appreciate seeing FIRST moving in.