Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Marra
Where do you think money for Regional competitions comes from? Boston University (graciously!) allows the Boston Regional to use their facility, and many more local corporations and schools donate the significant amounts of money it takes to orchestrate an event of that scale. In that regard, Boston is potentially unsustainable as well.
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The point is that the money is used to pay professionals in their respective fields to organize these events. The donors themselves -- whether they be colleges and universities or large corporations -- do not have the expertise or capacity to manage a show. In fact, the donors frequently hire the very same people that FIRST does and others like them to handle events like our regional events.
I think something will be lost -- consistency, for one -- when we excise the professionals from the process and instead rely on a friend's uncle somewhere that has an amp leftover from his garage band days for the event's A/V setup. It seems unlikely that these committees will be able to get the many companies that are currently contracted for things like A/V to donate their services -- and do so many times over. It's not as if nobody ever thought to ask, "Hey, will you all do this for free?"
We're paying these people for their services because it's ensured a consistent level of quality at all events -- and I can't imagine how, if services of their caliber are available for free and many times over -- why regional planning committees still decide to pay for this stuff. It just doesn't make sense.