[Pavan Dave]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'm in Texas, granted it's a different story but I have a feeling many things like this happen everywhere. Dirty laundry may not help us as a community but on a personal level it provides two things that are good for the poster and reader:

1) The first being that you get big issues off your chest. This is the probably why people are so negative. In reality, no one cares about you on a personal level especially on a board where the (most of the) masses blindly eat, sleep, and drink the notion of FIRST.

2) You publicly let everyone know what is going on so that they know and are informed. As a volunteer, I WANT to know things like this happen so I know that the next time I apply for MC or Announcer with 2 recommendations from MCs and Announcers with prominent names in FIRST, that there is some reason. Especially when on game day, many people in the audience question why you weren't selected.

The idea of introducing something to the public is not for acceptance [or at least for me it sure as hell isn't]. The purpose of my ideas the purpose of publishing these posts are to tell people what's going on from their eyes and what they see called as they see it. You can ignore everything said, but the purposes of these [ideas in the form of] posts are to get even the harshest of critics to read them. To get them to think about the idea [albeit in a negative way or not] they develope opinions for or against and have to think about it. Even if for a second, the next time that something happens you have this log stating what happened, where, when, etc.

To get attention for an idea you must seek down to sometimes the most outspoken levels. The ones that might make you look bad, but for the greater good of your idea, get the message out. In regards to the title, who on the forum would not open a thread called "This. Is. WAR!!!"? ... Apparently you just did so it worked. You're reading. Those quick to judge please look at the date the original letter was sent and please consider why he would care to share with us so late if he wasn't getting anywhere. He already sent this, he just wants an answer as any person who has sweat blood and tears as he, has the right to demand.

If something is kept private it is easier to hide because no response required. If something is made public it can either be pushed off and hope the people let the issue die out or the the public pushes forward and to clarify for the sake of their reputation, they must say something.

Especially on a forum where the most junior of mentors on this forums such as I are passionate volunteers, we can if we choose, make a difference. Just think of the posters in this thread and the hundreds of hours of experience that if gone, a regional would have trouble functioning without.

The blacklisting is something that is angering me right now. I will not post further on it. But even in my short time and history with FIRST I have noticed the political nonsense which does not make me question my involvement in some areas but not in others in FIRST.

EDIT:
Apparently the idea got addressed. That was the success.

Arefin is completely right. FIRST isn't what it used to be. Nor will it ever be the same again. Power does that. And power can defined in many ways.



Pavan Davé