Some $ considerations-
1. do everything possible to get free shipping from Fedex again. It saved thousands of dollars.
2. since the kit has been "abbreviated" and there is no more Sm. Parts stipend, reduce the entry fee for the contest. If nothing else do not raise it past the 2002 season figure - only fair since the odd teams were largely left out.
3. offer a direct contact e-mail link on the FIRST website for posting of events. Our team is still waiting for a post requested two months ago- there is no direct link to the site evident other than FRC engineers.
4. Continue to use the same shell playing field. Offer a link to the manufacturers so teams can purchase fields for regional events. These regional fields could be left near the sites of regionals and used in the off season for local competitions. I am willing to bet that consortiums of teams would invest in setups if they knew they were a constant from year to year.
5. making the Chairman's Award due at the end of the building period makes great sense.
6. continue to maintain the dimensions for the starting size of the robot. Years ago the footprint was greater than 30" and robots couldn't fit through the doorways at venues. The 30x36 footprint is fine and allows reuse of shipping containers.
7. Increase publicity on a region to region basis via the parent organization. How about some magazine ads in trades based mags to interest sponsors? Progress is being made but more could be done.
8. Have ladies only rounds at all regionals as a small sub event. It would definitely encourage teams to get more girls involved.
A few things to chew on...
WC
