"i.am.FIRST -- Science is Rock and Roll" airs August 14th

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Eagleeyedan

I was al ittle dissapointed that it showed so much of the concert instead of actually following the teams. Still great that FIRST got some more publicity.

I think that since this was the first real big publicity that FIRST had, they had to put it in a format to get non-FIRST people interested, and the concert footage is one of the most effective ways to do this.

[Joe G.]

Overall, I thought it was very good. A bit much of the concert for my tastes, but then, die-hard FIRSTers aren't exactly the intended audience. This special will get people talking, and it'll get them curious. It'll get a lot of people into teams that might not have joined or formed them otherwise. And from there, it's our job to corrupt them all

My only real complaint was that we never saw any single shot of match play that lasted more than about 10 seconds. The emphasis wasn't really placed on the sport itself, and the excitement of the game. Showing people who have never seen an FRC match in their lives the excitement of an Einstein level match would have been good.

Still, I see this providing a big boost to FIRST next year! Thank you Will.i.am and all your guests, and we hope to see you next year!

[stundt1]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I'm disappointed that this program was found to be 'unwatchable' by some of my closest friends from varying demographics.

I hope the next time Will.I.Am and FIRST partner it's less about Music and more about Robots.

There was way to much music in it.
Did anyone else feel like it was way too short they didnt mention fll at all either.

[dag0620]

I was very, very, happy with how this turned out.

Thanks to will.i.am for putting this together. This did a great job showing others what FIRST is and about, and in general what needs to happen in this country.

Plus....

Our Team's Mascot got in a couple of shots - I was jumping up and down in pure excitement when I saw Agua on TV.

Lastly to Brittany Spears: I think she clearly gets FIRST very well

[XaulZan11]

I think the TV special was great for promoting FIRST, Will.i.am and science/technology, but I was a little disappointed with how the show was put together. My biggest complaint is that it was just a bunch of segments and songs for an hour with no real structure or progression. I think they should have had the stories/songs in between Einstein matches (or at least highlights) to give some structure and so there would be some finale to the show (ending with a Black Eyed Peas song as the finale was disappointing). Especially if they want to do this again in future years, as Will.I.am wants, they should watch the FIRST in Michigan show and copy that format.

Along those lines, I'm disappointed that they had no music on Einstein just so they could film the introduction that really could be filmed anywhere or voice overed.

Again, overall I think this is a huge success, but I think it could have been better if they had more footage of actual matches. They do get huge bonus points in my book for using NFL Films music, though.

[Kusha]

WAY too much music in it, I wish it was more robotics based than music. But then again, like others said I'm a FIRST junkie, this wasn't intended for me.

[ebarker]

I thought it was just great....

[skywalker341]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I'm disappointed that this program was found to be 'unwatchable' by some of my closest friends from varying demographics.

I hope the next time Will.I.Am and FIRST partner it's less about Music and more about Robots.

word.

[GCentola]

I loved it. Im glad that FIRST is finally getting more of the recognition it deserves. I think the show was a great way to spread the message, and that we should all be happy that FIRST got an hour long commercial endorsed by media celebrities (even if not all of them completely understand).

[Chris is me]

I didn't see the program, so I will refrain from commenting on it, but a friend who I told to watch the program called me after the show. "I really wish they showed us more of the robots. Those looked really cool. I didn't care about all the celebrities and music."

Take that for what it is. I'm going to assume that most of Chief Delphi was not this program's target audience, though, and thus I probably won't be reading any of this thread.

[Koko Ed]

For what it was intended for it did a great job.For those who are complaining about the music and the celebs do realize they are intended to lure the public in. Once in the special was more about Who We are and WHAT we do. They only had less that an hour to do it and for what they had to work with they did a bang up job. My biggest complaint in what's up with the West Coast bias? They couldn't find one East Cost team to talk to?

[Barry Bonzack]

If you have a single negative thought towards this special it is because you are not the target audience for it. FIRST is Awesome, if you are posting on ChiefDelphi.com, that means you already know this. The goal is to reach out to people who think completely differently, even backwards from us, and show them why FIRST matters.

If Will uses the word "dope", doesn't wear a larger FIRST logo, takes up half of the St. Louis arena, if there was not enough seating in the pits, if the music was killed during finals, it was all justified tonight. We received a huge gift this evening, and all things considered, sacrificed very little for one year.

My brother watched the special with me, and afterward he put it like this. "If two kids from every school who would otherwise have been uninterested in technology watched this special tonight and was inspired to learn more, then the world just changed because of it."

[PayneTrain]

Hard to complain about an hour of primetime TV for FIRST. Too bad there couldn't have been a lot more FIRST :/.

In my dreams, ABC saw the weekend and would consider broadcasting the Einstein field and a few other matches next year. If they did it live, throw in some pre-produced bits.

Seriously, FIRST would love the exposure. Strongmen Competitions and WSOP could take a break for an afternoon of FIRST on ESPN.

[zachmartin1806]

I think they should have put at least one match in there, but not an Einstein match. The necessary strategy in order to win wasn't as entertaining as some of the finals on Archimedes, Galileo, Curie, and Newton.

[Robyn Needel]

I want to thank will.i.am for delivering on his promise to make FIRST Loud! He obviously put out money and effort and hopefully it will make it easier and more fun for all of us in the FIRST community to get more people involved.