[Don Wright]

First of all, I would like to congratulate and thank the people in MI FIRST that put in all the time and effort generating this pilot and are taking the risk to try something new to try and advance FIRST. I'm sure there have been hundreds (if not thousands) of hours put into this and it's only to do one thing...make FIRST better.

Second...this wasn't done to give Michigan teams any advantage in awards, playing time, or chances in Atlanta. It is to try something that will hopefully help FIRST.

I think we are getting ahead of ourselves thinking about how this will roll out to the rest of FIRST... While we need to think about it, I think it's too early to focus on it.

As for some comments raised in this thread...

1. I think the NI control issue is irrelevant to this pilot. It is going to be a challenge regardless if it's at a district type event, or a traditional regional. I am sure the technical level of the volunteers at the district events will match a traditional regional. The district just might not be as flashy.

2. I would think that the experience for a team competing at two, lower cost, less flashy, district events would be better than the experience of only one big regional because that is all they can afford.

I also think that some of the more interesting points are being overlooked in this thread...

1. The MI teams being able to keep their robots instead of shipping them (BIG cost savings here!!!).
2. The 8 hour fix-it day before the district events

And last but not least, thanks to FIRST for considering and implementing this pilot. It's easy to keep doing what we've being doing since it's a success. Plus, I am sure there will be a lot of people complaining one way or another about this and I think their open mindedness is great!