Petition for President Obama to attend the Championship!

[krazyman1013]

Go to this link and fill out the information and petition for president Obama to to go the FIRST Robotics World Championships!!

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...souri/KZGdHPKC

[Bob Steele]

Yes everyone should do it... we already have 422 out of the needed 100,000 signatures...We are almost there...

not

It is a good idea though...

[Alexa Stott]

It would be awesome, but also an absolute nightmare.

Let me preface this by saying I have been to see President Obama three times (once at the Rose Garden, once at my school, and once at another school).

If he were to come speak, people who would be able to be on the floor during his speech would have to get background checks so that list would have to be determined in advance. This isn't too complicated, but you'd have to collect full names, SSNs, residency statuses, state of residency, etc. from everyone who will be nearest to the President. These are the people the President comes around and shakes hands with and such.

The speech would have to be first thing in the morning or they'd have to clear everyone out, sweep the area, and then have everyone come back in. The biggest problem would be getting thousands of people through security, many of whom may not have government-issued IDs and I'm not sure what their policy is regarding student IDs. Even when I had a ticket to stand on the floor, I had to wait nearly an hour in line and that was a relatively small event.

Additionally, the President never arrives when he says he will. If someone says he's speaking at, say, 9 am, it's more likely to not start until 10 or later. I've been at events where people have fainted (President Obama actually stopped his speech once to let people know that someone had fainted) because of how hot it gets with everyone packed in and because you are not allowed to bring in anything to eat or drink; it all gets confiscated.

[Wayne Doenges]

I'm sorry to say but I DIDN"T vote for President Obama so why would I want him at Championships?
Isn't the Championships chaotic enough?

[orangemoore]

Unless someone has close to 100,000 friends willing to sign this petition it is not going to happen

[dag0620]

While is sounds like a great idea, I'm thinking a nice video message from the President may be a better idea.

I'm with Ed on this one, the logistics are just too insane and would disrupt the flow of an already chaotic event too much.

[Maldridge422]

Originally Posted by Bob Steele

Yes everyone should do it... we already have 422 out of the needed 100,000 signatures...

Sounds good to me!

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

I'm sorry to say but I DIDN"T vote for President Obama so why would I want him at Championships?
Isn't the Championships chaotic enough?

This is not about politics, but having the elected leader of OUR country acknowledge the good work that we do in promoting STEM and inspiring the next generation of citizens to make our world a better place.

That being said........

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

It would be awesome, but also an absolute nightmare.

If he were to come speak, people who would be able to be on the floor during his speech would have to get background checks so that list would have to be determined in advance. This isn't too complicated, but you'd have to collect full names, SSNs, residency statuses, state of residency, etc. from everyone who will be nearest to the President. These are the people the President comes around and shakes hands with and such.

Bush 41 came to speak at the CMP in Atlanta in....I think 2009. (feel free to correct me)
Bush 41 was a strong supporter of FIRST going back to 1992 (or 1993, again, correct me if I'm wrong) when he welcomed the legacy teams to the White House after the first FIRST season. He was always a strong supporter, and his visit was laced with relevance.

Arne Duncan, as Obama's secretary of Education, made a visit to Atlanta in 2010, but it was mostly platitudinal.

While a visit from our President would be welcome and provide exposure that we could benefit from, it would be a logistical nightmare and would probably detract from the event overall.

Nonetheless, I would welcome it, as long as he didn't restrict the number of discs that a Robot could hold. Oops, wait, too late, the GDC already did that. :-)

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by Cory

2011 was the first time under Obama that HoF teams have been invited, afaik.

Not exactly.

October 2010 Obama invited HOF team FRC 341 Miss Daisy.

The next invitation was for February 7, 2012. It should have had 842 and 359 but it didn't work out for them. I don't know if it was because of a decision at FIRST or at the White House. The White House has the final word on the selection of who is coming, so it wasn't necessarily the fault of anyone at FIRST.

Other FRC representation was there including 111 on the basis that they had won the previous robotics competition, not an earlier HOF CCA.

There was no White House event in 2011.

[WeJohnFriedIt]

This is a great idea! With all the focus nationwide on improving STEM education and focusing on the next generation's engineering challenges, I feel like we could get somewhere with this.

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

Bush 41 came to speak at the CMP in Atlanta in....I think 2009. (feel free to correct me)
Bush 41 was a strong supporter of FIRST going back to 1992 (or 1993, again, correct me if I'm wrong) when he welcomed the legacy teams to the White House after the first FIRST season. He was always a strong supporter, and his visit was laced with relevance.

Arne Duncan, as Obama's secretary of Education, made a visit to Atlanta in 2010, but it was mostly platitudinal.

While a visit from our President would be welcome and provide exposure that we could benefit from, it would be a logistical nightmare and would probably detract from the event overall.

Nonetheless, I would welcome it, as long as he didn't restrict the number of discs that a Robot could hold. Oops, wait, too late, the GDC already did that. :-)

Yes I was there when President Bush Sr. spoke in 2008. I'm not sure if he still uses the Secret Service, as former presidents have the right to decline protection (the law about limiting protection to 10 years was passed in 1997 and Bush Sr., Clinton, etc. were all grandfathered in; Bush Jr. and Obama will not receive lifetime protection).

As Libby pointed out much earlier in this thread, POTUS is well aware of FIRST and the importance of STEM.

Remember all the complaints surrounding the disruption(s) caused by the BEP concert? You can multiply that by about 1000 or so if the President were to come because of all the security.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

Yes I was there when President Bush Sr. spoke in 2008. I'm not sure if he still uses the Secret Service, as former presidents have the right to decline protection (the law about limiting protection to 10 years was passed in 1997 and Bush Sr., Clinton, etc. were all grandfathered in; Bush Jr. and Obama will not receive lifetime protection).

Actually, lifetime protection was reinstated by statute this year.

[Wayne Doenges]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

I'm sorry to say but I DIDN"T vote for President Obama so why would I want him at Championships?
Isn't the Championships chaotic enough?

I would like to sincerely apologize for the first part of my above statement. I should not have aired my political laundry. The STEM program is a great program.

The second part still stands

Forgiven?

[asperw]

Please sign this petition to send President Obama to the FIRST world championships coming up soon. It's very easy, all you have to do is create an account (which asks for just an email address and full name) and click "sign this petition". Please take a few minutes to do this and share it with your friends and teammates.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...souri/KZGdHPKC

Thank you for your time.

[ghostmachine360]

Hate to be that guy, but.......

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=115359