2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Toa Circuit

I'm not too keen on the PR that FIRST is pushing. FIRST drew me in because it wasn't about pop culture, political correctness, and almost everything that was pushed during the closing ceremonies. It was about promoting producerism; getting students involved in the real world. Now it's too much about inspiring. It's a bit like setting gasoline on fire. It makes a nice big pretty fire that a lot of people will notice, but you could be using that gasoline to power your car and get you somewhere. People also notice fast cars. I really don't think we need to make FIRST loud- we need to make it profound and visible. People need to be joining this organization for the right reasons- and I personally think that if your main reason for joining is because a pop star endorses it... you're doing it wrong.

But that's the nice thing about FIRST- ultimately, the teams make up the heft of the organization and are the real face of FIRST.

Having these celebrities help bring FIRST to people who've never seen it before is important for the growth of FIRST. How are we ever going to get new teams and supporters if we just keep pushing to our own crowd?

Dean wants to make FIRST a household name, just like Girl Scouts or 4H - just to use examples of 'kid programs' that people know of even without being in the program.

We're about culture change. If the people society is currently celebrating (pop stars, star athletes) come out talking about this crazy robotics thing they just saw?! Well, those are some new audiences exposed to FIRST. That's the culture change we're looking for. Every student in the world knowing that FIRST is an option for them, and celebrating scientists and engineers for the rockstars they are. This is just the first step in that larger movement towards culture change.