[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by dlavery

** Because it will be the Board, not the FIRST staff, that will make this decision. Right now, the Board is seriously disconnected from the teams in FIRST. They don't understand how "small" costs like these really impact this community. There is little direct, personal understanding of the impact of their decisions on the teams. During the recent combined Board Of Directors / Executive Advisory Board meeting in Atlanta, the question was asked "how many of you work directly with a team and have experience as a mentor?" Out of the entire room of people, only one hand went up. I think that is a huge problem.

I get this. For the 2009 season, I was not directly connected to a team and I could feel the disconnect develop over the season. Just.one.season. It doesn't take long for the disconnect to leave you completely out of touch with the reality of the team(s) and what they face/deal with every single day. Not every single day of build or every single day of competition - every single day. I hope I don't go through another year/another season of not being connected to a team. It will make me useless in areas of understanding the needs/priorities and struggles of the teams in the region I am in. In the bigger picture, a disconnect can create harm, chaos, and it can damage morale. Seriously.