[Rich Kressly]

I heard most of Dave's talk (my inet connection got really flaky in the last 5-6 minutes and during the Q&A - dangit!). He did something VERY different than every other presenter and he told/warned the audience that he indeed was doing that. Yes he talked about robotics, but he also told the Colin Angle/Tooth story, he told personal stories about Red Whittaker and CMU's involvement with NASA (I loved hearing about the sledgehammer handles and the bs factor). He talked about what a difference one person can make and the importance of listening to students. He talked about key lime pie and all you can eat buffets, and, in front of some of the most profoundly gifted roboticists this planet has to offer he said, "It's not about the robots. Take care of the people and the robots will take care of themselves." During the Q&A someone took that to heart and referenced the word "passion" several times.

It was as if he was talking to me, to us all ... and then I remembered that FIRST isn't about FIRST at all. Thanks for reminding me of an important lesson Dave and thanks for taking the time to tell a very important audience about some very important things.

Rock on to the "real" FRC and Happy Birthday Red - I hope to meet you someday.