Quote:
Originally Posted by artdutra04
Chances are that at least one mentor on your team owns such a vehicle and can volunteer to drive the robot to and from events.
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I've been on two teams. Not sure if either has a mentor that meets that criteria.
Anyways, I'd say that the other thread pretty well voted down changing the format. From the starting results of this thread, it would seem most are already happy with the direction of FIRST.
I seriously suggest teams that aren't happy with the way FIRST works, to consider other competitions such as BEST or Battlebots or any other robotics competition. In fact, it doesn't have to be robotics. The goal is to inspire and teach kids, this can be done through any one of building challenges. Find something wrong within the community and try to figure out how to fix it. I really don't mean this as a "get out" sentiment. Far from it. I just like everyone to know that there are many opportunities out there for the same thing. I think one of my most educational experiences in high school didn't come from the robotics team(though many did). This one came from prom. They wanted a giant chandelier for cheap and had no engineers on their committee. I worked for them to get it designed and built all in secrecy within the school. I had a direct customer that could constantly change their minds, a tight constraint on labor, and a tight deadline. I felt like a true engineer.
In short: Stay in FIRST, start another program, but mainly find your own way towards inspiration and education. It will do you far better then trying to play politics or file complaints.
PS: Sorry for not following your suggested pattern, I hope you still find my post worth reading. It should at least make you think.