[dtengineering]

The money is nice, but in the absence of dedicated, competent, enthusiastic mentors, that is all that it is... nice.

So I would probably put aside at least 15% of the funding for professional development and release time for teachers interested in starting new teams.

Then I would ask, who is going to help these teachers find mentors and sponsors? Who is going to arrange the workshops? Who will be the full-time advocate on behalf of this program to arrange the sustainable, long-term success of the program? This is a huge, full-time job... and while there are incredible volunteers who will do this for free -- and probably have to get the program to this point -- is it really fair to ask them to keep doing this year after year? At the very least a budget, an office and some part-time clerical support is needed, but more likely a half-time to full-time FIRST co-ordinator position should be considered.

Then I would look at supporting "common assets", most particularly having regional competitions close to home. While I haven't calculated the exact cost savings for our team by competing in Seattle instead of Toronto this year (we already do Portland as our first regional), I would estimate it was close to $10,000 in airfare alone. Eliminating or reducing the cost of travel makes FIRST much more "doable" for many teams, and also makes it realistic for sponsors, parents, and supportive government officials to see FIRST in action. There is nothing like going to a regional to get people excited about FIRST. Hosting an off-season event would also benefit many area teams, as would having access to a common machining/welding/practice facility during build. This would be particularly useful for teams with fewer technical resources and make it possible for schools without in-school machine shops to compete more effectively. Admittedly these suggestions would most benefit urban teams near to these facilties, but that is also where the concentration of teams is likely to be highest.

Then I would set aside a bit of money to help teams that qualify for the Championships.

Now that we have dealt with some of the personnel aspects of seeing FIRST grow, and establishing some common assets it makes sense to start looking at what to do with the rest of the money. I would use it to make it possible for schools that have enthusiastic teams of teachers and community mentors in place, who have demonstrated their enthusiasm by finding some start-up funds to "make it over the top" with their entry fees. After all, from my experience at least, when there is a dedicated team of mentors in place, and they are backed up with strong support and a bit of help from the FIRST community, the entry fees no longer seem to be an insurmountable hurdle. In the absence of the mentors and a support network, the choice between sponsoring FTC, FRC or whatever is completely irrelevant.

FIRST isn't about money or robots... it is about people. Take care of that and the rest will follow.

Jason