MAR

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Carol

Not everything is set in stone with FIRST yet which is why not all details have been made public. There will be a webinar shortly for all teams to ask questions and get more details. Stay posted.

Not to try to insult the awesome folks who are part of MAR, but is there a way that anyone can get involved in the planning process? Because right now it seems they are the only ones who know anything other than the 1 public MAR meeting that was open to teams.

I don't want to sound rude, but the fact that we launched a campaign in 2009 requesting transparency from FIRST about their 5 year plan, yet we who are not part of the MAR planning stages, are being left in the dark about anything going on until "it is just right" to make public, sounds ironic and hypocritical to me and other mentors who I spoke to.

We generally do not care to hear something only when it is set in stone, we want to be updated about things being discussed and deliberated upon. FIRST might have been translucent, but right now "MAR is opaque," to quote a friend. Its a little sad when I have to go to my old team to ask what the plans are for districts and what rules are being discussed along with the prices still. We want information as it is being discussed, just like so many mentors in FIRST wanted to hear these same things back in 2009.

Hope that did not sound rude, as I deeply respect some of the folks in MAR. Please let me know if there is a way to join the planning committee. A simple list of "This is what's up in the air" and "This is what is concrete" is all I ask for.

To quote the specific paragraph from the 2009 letter:

We’re not complaining about these actions but about the lack of transparency in their planning phases. While it is reasonable to be without a “fully fleshed out” plan yet – particularly for the District model – surely some of the basics are known, and uncertain or speculative points can be identified as such. We certainly all know that plans can change and we can work with that.

+.02

Edit: Who is the "head" of MAR?