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

[pfreivald]

This wasn't for us. If it gets anyone -- ANYONE -- interested, it's awesome.

Look at the story of will.i.am's involvement in FIRST:
will.i.am had no idea what FIRST was. He thought Segways were cool, so he looked up who made them, got impressed with Dean Kamen, and Dean sucked him into our crazy little universe.

Person X has no idea what FIRST is. He thinks will.i.am is cool, so (s)he pays attention when he tries to suck him into our crazy little universe.

Will it work? No idea. But it's awesome that it's being tried.

I dislike the notion that what a celebrity thinks in any way lends the idea validation, but that doesn't change the fact that for many people this is exactly true. If that leads some people to FIRST, sweet.

[davidthefat]

I say I am rather disappointed. My prediction turns out to be true. Great intent, but poor execution. It seems more about the celebrities and less about FIRST and the kids.

[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

I say I am rather disappointed. My prediction turns out to be true. Great intent, but poor execution. It seems more about the celebrities and less about FIRST and the kids.

Read pretty much everyone else's posts. We aren't the intended audience. This special is intended for people who have never heard of FIRST, and it did its job. It got them curious. Now, its our turn to capitalize on that, and turn curiosity into culture change.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

I'm not sure if everyone knows that will.i.am paid for the airtime from his own pocket. "The preceding was paid programming", just like the Sham-Wow infomercial. Perhaps he made a few dollars back selling those advertisements, probably not. Consider that ALL the pre-show publicity on TV was paid advertising as well.

What do you think an hour on ABC costs at 7pm on a Sunday night?

I thank will.i.am for producing and delivering this program. FIRST got a huge boost tonight. You can't buy this kind of stuff.

You know, I've been listening to will.i.am a lot lately, and my opinion of him goes up a lot every time I hear him speak. This guy is smart, really smart. If this entertainment thing doesn't work out, he has a future in engineering.

I've been saying it too, that when you, regardless of who you are, buy an hour of primetime television, you believe you can sell the product (in this case, FIRST) and make a massive return on it (which means me getting more calls from Regional directors to ask for FLL coaches and rookie collaborations). If/when Dean and Woodie get to old to carry on the message about FIRST, will.i.am seems ready to keep perpetuating it.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

... Strongmen Competitions and WSOP could take a break for an afternoon of FIRST on ESPN.

Yeah - Really - What's up with that? - You would think that we would at the least qualify for some time on "The Ocho".

[akeisic]

What I just watched (west coast) on TV is an absolute gift to FIRST. Thank you Will! Thank you for having the curiosity to google "Segway inventor" and thank you for calling Dean. And, naturally, thank you Dean for doing what you do!

Reading through the comments here, I'm surprised by some as this program proves that we are making a difference and changing the culture - one person at a time. I don't think there has ever been an entire hour (including the commercials) devoted to FIRST ever!

We must remember: if you're reading this comment right now you already "get it."

Being the geeks we are, I'd be interested in seeing the web traffic that FIRST generates before and after the program. That might give us a ever so small indication of impact this program just had.

[plasma_54]

Ok just got it uploaded to youtube. Here's the playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2A4640B848F63156

[msimon785]

Thank you will.i.am! I thought that the special was fantastic, and I'm really thrilled to see FIRST portrayed in such a positive, "cool" light. I think that it's important, as many others have already pointed out, to realize that we were not the targeted audience. It was directed at people ignorant of FIRST and its potential, hoping to exhibit the organization as something on par with celebrities and pop-culture in terms of "coolness". On that front, it most definitely succeeded.
It was really great to see several fellow team members on tv shaking judges hands graciously cherishing the title of regional finalists right at the end of the 1717 spotlight. Things like this really make me wonder why it is our school undermines the program, providing countless barriers to our success.
If I had one point of disappointment in the special, it would undoubtedly be the mistake consistent with all tv specials on FIRST. It really bugs me when they say, "Each team gets shipped an identical kit of robot parts to build their robot. They also get a manual which tells them what to do in this years game". This makes it seem like there is no design process and that we *only* use the KOP. On the contrary, most teams only use electrical eq. Drive train parts in the KOP are quite limited.
That said, that did not detract from my appreciation of the special and of will.i.am. I am really glad that he fulfilled his promise made at kickoff, a promise which I thought would fall through as soon as the kickoff ceremony ended.

[Molten]

I've not seen the special yet, so I won't be judging what was on the show. I'm judging your responses to the show.

This isn't the first step on the journey. I've had this in my signature for a long time, but it certainly applies here. "Though the first step is the hardest and the last step ends the quest, the long steps in between are certainly the best."–Gruffi Gummi, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. This isn't our first step. The journey has lasted 20 years now(though few of us have been a part of it that whole time). This isn't the last step. We still have a really long way to go. This is definitely a long step though. Lets appreciate it for all it is.

Let's put in perspective what happened here. We needed to get somewhere and we hitch-hiked. We borrowed a ride from complete strangers to get where we needed to go. This was a dangerous move because you never know is going to come of it. All things said, the general response would show that it was a positive experience. Yes, we sat in the back seat for most of the ride. Maybe they dropped us off a little sooner then we would have liked. But the point is we are much closer to our destination and no worse for the wear. It was alot better then walking the whole way on our own. If the opportunity arises(lets hope it does), I say we take the next car to pull over and see where it takes us.

Finally, about the news of this becoming an annual thing. I never even imagined that being a possibility. I thought, this is a great thing to celebrate 20 years then its back to trudging along. will.i.am you impressed me yet again with your generosity. I love the fact that he is choosing to do this with his money. I hope other celebrities choose to help with the expenses in the future. It'd be great to see a group of celebrities that "get it" the way will.i.am does.

Jason

[Akash Rastogi]

Thank you will.i.am for providing us with the grounds to help recruit more students, more sponsors, parents, schools, and the general public overall.

Hopefully this program will do what it intended to do.

.

[Marc S.]

Lol, My computer is more famous than i.am. (er... I am.)

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Wait a second, people are nit picking tonight's show after will.i.am paid for everything and took his time to get our name out there? What more do you want?

Shame, shame, shame!


Thank you so much Will!

I guess there is a fine line between 'nit picking' and 'constructive criticism'. Especially considering they want to do this every year, it is important to look at what work, what didn't and what the special could do better. I don't think anyone bashed the program without offering suggestions and I think everyone is truely grateful for Will's amazing contribution and effort. The special is/will be a resounding sucess, but we should alway look for way to improve, right?

[Laaba 80]

I believe it will be on hulu, but I am not positive

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

You know, I've been listening to will.i.am a lot lately, and my opinion of him goes up a lot every time I hear him speak. This guy is smart, really smart. If this entertainment thing doesn't work out, he has a future in engineering.

I think that he's doing great in the entertainment business already ;P

I was surprised at how much Will.i.am promoted this today, on Twitter at least (there was some over the past week, but today it was ALL about i.am.FIRST). Telling everyone from Oprah to Rihanna to tune in, and speaking directly to President Obama. Kim Kardashian even tweeted about it (). There may have not been a lot of promotion on the television screen, but Kim and Will.i.am have a combined 10 MILLION followers...that's a lot of people seeing someone in the entertainment business talking about FIRST. As sad as it is to admit it, celebrity endorsement makes almost anything cool nowadays.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Ok, for starters, thank you will.i.am. I will admit that I was not the biggest fan of your involvement initially. I found your comments at Kickoff to have the potential to send the wrong message. When I found you would be performing at the Championship Event I got worried since my previous experience with you had involved drug references. (see how important first impressions are kids?) When I found out that half the dome was set up for your stage I was irked because the focus needs to be on the students and I felt you were taking away from that. To put it as bluntly as I can, I was wrong. This wasn't a BEP performing on stage in front of FIRST, it was BEP performing for FIRST. I still had my doubts, I was worried where the money was coming from to pay for it and who had arranged it. When I found out it initiated by you I was impressed. When I found out you were paying for the airtime for tonight's show I was more impressed. I love it when people surprise me in a positive way.

Now, I realize that FLL isn't as sexy as its bigger brothers. I realize that it is easy to dismiss as "those little kids". But it is my opinion that FLL is literally the most important program FIRST has. I've had the chance to work with FLL teams in numerous roles (student->mentor->coach->judge) and I can say that the enthusiasm and passion these students show knocks me off my feet. This special didn't touch on that. For the last couple years I've had the pleasure of judging up in Michigan. I hate waking up that early. I hate being on my feet all day. I especially hate if I have to see a coach who is overbearing. But somehow, despite all of this, I always the events (I did 3-4 events a year) refreshed and wanting to be involved again.

I am still trying to understand my reaction to this special. I recognize I wasn't the target audience though... I'm coming around to this... I was really skeptical at first but, honestly, I think with a little iteration we could turn this sort of thing into a real positive thing for FIRST, for the culture, and ultimately, for the world.

TL;DR - Thanks, mention FLL cuz they are awesome and everyone loves cute kids. Iterate this idea like you are JVN.