Thanks KathieK and RoboMom for your support.
Interesting clip i just found on NPR from January of an interview with DK,
and the very first person comments on the business side to FIRST.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=122252781
Last week I competed in the Strage Innovation Competition at WPI,
and pitched extending FIRST to entrepreneurship, and am now working
with the CEI (Collaborative for Entrepreneurship and Innovation) there
to try to make this a reality. The intitial goal is to create an off-season
invitational which does not only have the robotics side to the competition
but pairs that with a 'The Apprentice'-like business competition.
By leveraging a business side to the competition, and possibly having a
fundraising side to this competition it not only offers the opportunity to
expand the reach of FIRST, but also provide cash prizes to winning teams
both in robotics and business. It would also provide a base for FIRST to
leverage its teams as a PR and marketing base.
I am curious about any thoughts and suggestions about such a competition.