**FIRST EMAIL**/Please give us your feedback on FIRST Announcement of 2 Championships

[Joe Ross]

This is Frank Merrick, Director of FRC writing. FIRST recently announced a change to Championship. Starting in 2017, there will be two FIRST Championship events held in two different cities. We are very interested in understanding your reaction to this announcement and learning what experiences are important to you and your team at the FIRST Championship.

This survey should take about 5-10 minutes of your time. Anyone over the age of 13 on your team can answer the survey and we encourage you to forward this to your team members and mentors. The more responses we receive, the more accurate our survey will be.

Please use the following link to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FIRST...uncementSurvey

We truly appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback. If you have any questions about this survey, you may contact team support at frcteams@usfirst.org

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Frank Merrick
Director, FIRST ® Robotics Competition

I wonder if they'll have any results in time for the championship meeting.

[Steven Donow]

*cracks knuckles*

Time to get writin'

[bkahl]

CD has been waiting for this...

[Fusion_Clint]

I just took the survey, most of the questions seem to be leading to a predefined result of the experience being more important than the actual competition. They only have a couple that actually ask about being around the best teams.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by Fusion_Clint

I just took the survey, most of the questions seem to be leading to a predefined result of the experience being more important than the actual competition. They only have a couple that actually ask about being around the best teams.

I disagree. All of the elements they asked us to rate were quite distinct. They can't ask "how important is determining a world champion" three times.

I'm glad FIRST is actively seeking feedback. This makes me optimistic about our chances of coming to some sort of agreement between the FRC community and FIRST.

[AGPapa]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

I disagree. All of the elements they asked us to rate were quite distinct. They can't ask "how important is determining a world champion" three times.

There are certainly more questions they could have asked about seeing the best teams.

There were no/very few questions asking for things like
How important is it that you see teams from the other side of the country?
How important is it that you see Woodie Flower Award winners and other leading mentors?
How important is it that you play with the most competitive teams?
How important is it that you make new relationships with teams on the other side of the country?
How important is it that you can learn from all of the most competitive teams?


Instead many of their questions are about the venue. How important is a fancy stadium? How important is it that there are a bunch of teams? How important is a large scale event? How important is the surrounding area?


Notice how those two groups of questions ask very different things.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by AGPapa

There are certainly more questions they could have asked about seeing the best teams.

There were no/very few questions asking for things like
How important is it that you see teams from the other side of the country?
How important is it that you make new relationships with teams on the other side of the country?

Definitely important questions that should have been included, considering some complaints and easy solutions are based on these topics.

How important is it that you see Woodie Flower Award winners and other leading mentors?
How important is it that you play with the most competitive teams?
How important is it that you can learn from all of the most competitive teams?

I feel like
-Seeing and competing with the teams with the best robots in FRC
-Seeing and meeting top teams, like prior Chairman's Award winners (Hall of Fame teams)
-Participating in a competition that identifies the best teams playing the game

All are identical topics to the questions you asked, or similar enough that you are adding redundant data points at best and confusing survey takers at worst.

Instead many of their questions are about the venue. How important is a fancy stadium? How important is it that there are a bunch of teams? How important is a large scale event? How important is the surrounding area?

I would say it/s a 50/50 between the competition and the periphery of the competition. The thing about surveys is that you're free to rate things like "seeing celebrities" at a 1 with impunity if that is your opinion. Some people may think playing in arena like the Georgia Dome or EJDome are imoprtant experiences, and that can be ok!

One thing I included in the survey is something along the lines of this: "I don't want to think we are at best customers, and at worst pawns. We're partners." Everyone should try to look at everything though that lens, inlcuding Manchester.

[mwmac]

Originally Posted by AGPapa

There are certainly more questions they could have asked about seeing the best teams.

There were no/very few questions asking for things like
How important is it that you see teams from the other side of the country?
How important is it that you see Woodie Flower Award winners and other leading mentors?
How important is it that you play with the most competitive teams?
How important is it that you make new relationships with teams on the other side of the country?
How important is it that you can learn from all of the most competitive teams?


Instead many of their questions are about the venue. How important is a fancy stadium? How important is it that there are a bunch of teams? How important is a large scale event? How important is the surrounding area?


Notice how those two groups of questions ask very different things.

Agreed. I covered your points in the comment box....barn door now closed, horse nowhere in sight...

[Bob Steele]

Hey folks....let's give them a chance. Let's see what they do with this.
There were boxes to put any comments in that you might want to give.

I remember a FIRST that would not have done this....before,after or during...

[David Lame]

I'm glad they are asking for feedback. However, surveys can be tricky things to interpret. The way the questions are asked definitely influences the manner in which they are answered.

I don't have extremely strong feelings about how season finale events ought to be structured. There are many, many, factors to consider. I want something spectacular, and I want something affordable. I want something that showcases the best of First, and I want it accessible to as many people as possible. These desires are very difficult to balance, and may even be mutually exclusive, so no solution is perfect.

However, the one thing that really struck me about the survey was how it continued to focus on the Championship experience as if that experience were limited to those people who were physically present at the championships. Even the most inclusive vision of the season finale events has no more than 25% of First teams in attendance. I think the other 75% matter too. This is the 21st century. You don't have to be in the same room to be part of the same experience.

Think outside the walls.

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by Fusion_Clint

I just took the survey, most of the questions seem to be leading to a predefined result of the experience being more important than the actual competition. They only have a couple that actually ask about being around the best teams.

Agreed. The survey seemed to have questions that resulted in a pre-determined result.

No where in the survey did it ask about cost, logistics, student absences. Frank, or those that wrote the survey, dropped the ball. It seems that FIRST is just fishing for results that they can use to justify their agenda.

*Disappointed*

[EricLeifermann]

Awesome that they're doing this. Sadly its WAY WAY too late. Months before signing contracts would have been the correct thing to do.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Awesome that they're doing this. Sadly its WAY WAY too late. Months before signing contracts would have been the correct thing to do.

Guess you shouldn't fill it out then (?)

You get to rate 1-10 about 20 different elements of Championships, then pick your top 5. Meeting celebrities did not make my top 5, but you can put it there if you want!

[dellagd]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

I wonder if they'll have any results in time for the championship meeting.

Oh they'll have them, its just a question of whether or not they will share

[Jared Russell]

The best time for FIRST to have sent out this survey would have been a year ago (or more).

The second best time is today.

Hopefully lots of people respond! (and yes it's okay to disagree with the hivemind)