Kickoff 2012- Dean Kamen & National Luminaries

[Tetraman]

Still waiting for the day Bill Nye joins the FIRSTivities.

I have a pretty dang good feeling that something that Steven Colbert says is going to end up on a T-shirt before the day is done.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

Still waiting for the day Bill Nye joins the FIRSTivities.

I have a pretty dang good feeling that something that Steven Colbert says is going to end up on a T-shirt before the day is done.

Depends. I agree, that'd be awesome, but its depends if he is showing up as like, himself, or the satirical "character" he acts on his show. If it's the latter, then yes, I'm sure what he says is going to be absolutely incredible. If you've never watched it, check out his interviews with Dean Kamen. They're hilarious, IIRC there are 3 or 4, one of which is focused on FIRST and "students building Terminators to take over the world"

[Mr MOE]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I think he would remember meeting MOE. There are some photos here in CD of him meeting members of the team at the White House. I think I also remember something about a chandelier...

Jane

Jane:

You have a very good memory. And that was a VERY EXPENSIVE chandelier in the White House!

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by Mr MOE

Jane:

You have a very good memory. And that was a VERY EXPENSIVE chandelier in the White House!

Now I want to hear the story!

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

Somewhat disappointed to see Bush as a speaker, but Clinton and Colbert make up for it!

George Bush Senior spoke at Championships a few years ago and it was pretty awesome. I think it was in 2008.

[Duke461]

Originally Posted by stevend1994

Depends. I agree, that'd be awesome, but its depends if he is showing up as like, himself, or the satirical "character" he acts on his show. If it's the latter, then yes, I'm sure what he says is going to be absolutely incredible.

I think if he acts like the latter in a congress hearing, he will do the same at kickoff.
-duke

[PayneTrain]

Considering the A/B - list of speakers, I am more than ok with a prerecorded kickoff. I know there's no way you're getting two past presidents, a critically-acclaimed comedian, and an artist who has charted dozens of times in New Hampshire on a Saturday.

Maybe we'll get a 1080p stream even.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

Now I want to hear the story!

Since you asked.

Dave's thread tells the story.
Please pay attention to Andy Baker's post (post 17) regarding the length of time that had passed between invitations extended to a FIRST team to come visit the White House. At the time, this was a big deal for all of the teams invited, FRC, FVC, and FLL teams - and for all of us celebrating this moment in FIRST's history. It was great and it gave us hope that more invitations would be extended in the future.

Carol's post (post 30) and John's (post 31) talk more about their adventure. Can you IMAGINE the MOE cheer at the White House?

Enjoy,
Jane

Edit: Here is 116's visit to the White House. Here's the awesome Miss Daisy, FRC 341. I would surely love to be able to post more photos of teams here for your viewing enjoyment. Surely, I would.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Maybe we'll get a 1080p stream even.

We can always dream

[Andrew Schreiber]

No H.W. Bush? Aww poo. I loved hearing him speak at CMP.

Quite the line up here. Guess making FIRST loud helped. Actually looking forward to hearing a lot of these speakers.

[Barry Bonzack]

Originally Posted by Cory

I would have been happy with just Charlie Bolden, but two former presidents, plus Aneesh Chopra and Colbert is pretty cool.

I concur! Have we ever had an astronaut give a presentation at kickoff before?

For those of you who don't know about Charlie Bolden, check out his NASA Bio
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bolden-cf.html

If you ever visit the Kennedy Space Center, Charlie Bolden is the host in the pre-show video for the Shuttle Launch Experience simulator.

[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

No H.W. Bush? Aww poo. I loved hearing him speak at CMP.

Quite the line up here. Guess making FIRST loud helped. Actually looking forward to hearing a lot of these speakers.

I will never forget President Bush's quote from CMP that year...

something like:

"This is just like the WWF... except for smart people..."

Note: this is not intended as a slam to those FIRST members who are big fans of the WWF...I am just reporting the quote...

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

Well, I think it's safe to say that this explains the pre-recording. The security to do even a fraction of this live would be prohibitive.

I remember hearing a story about Bush Sr. being at the Florida regional a few years ago and he was placed too close to the volunteer room and the Secret Service wouldn't allow the volunteers to go get breakfast because it was a security concern.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Dancin103

George Bush Senior spoke at Championships a few years ago and it was pretty awesome. I think it was in 2008.

Bush Senior was at the very FIRST competition in 1992. We have photos of him there.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I remember hearing a story about Bush Sr. being at the Florida regional a few years ago and he was placed too close to the volunteer room and the Secret Service wouldn't allow the volunteers to go get breakfast because it was a security concern.

Ya, i remember hearing about that too. That year we had alot of people come to the Florida Regional. I think we had Bush Sr., Charlie Bolden, Jeb Bush, and Buzz Aldrin.