Preparing for the Town Hall Meeting on the New Championships Format

[Fusion_Clint]

I feel worse after watching that, than before. FIRST leadership is obviously disconnected with the community.

FTC is growing exponentially (Why), lower the cost of FRC (the robot is the cheapest part) and you will get more teams. With the availability of more and more COTS parts, even teams without dedicated engineers can be competitive.

They want STEM leaders to be celebrated by the world, but they continue to disrespect and take for granted the STEM leaders that make their program successful.

What they should be doing is petitioning states to help create the district model nation wide, the message will be louder coming from FIRST than from "mentor X".

The body language on stage told it all, for the most part they seemed annoyed.

I was a volunteer and didn't have time to attend the town hall during the day.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by EricDrost

"How do the two people behind you feel about you being up for round 2?"

Honestly, I would have been okay if the entire Q&A was just 30 minutes of Mike asking questions.

He's probably one of few people there who was articulate enough to ask questions everyone was thinking and receive occasionally dubious answers without having his calm severely damaged.

The whole exchange is simply baffling. This whole year has been baffling. There are people in FIRST who have put a lot more faith into the organization than I have and the last 5 months or so I have felt it evaporate from under me. What makes FIRST what it is? Students? Mentors? Volunteers? Staff? Those who we can reach out to? The board of directors?

I'm going to yell at the proverbial brick wall until I'm blue in the face: this is a partnership. If mentors do something that is not in the interest of students, the partnership can be damaged and disintegrate. If staff and volunteers cannot communicate information to students and mentors, that partnership can (and has in the past) turn hostile. It is paradoxical for the board to act in the best interests of FIRST over the interests of the community of FIRST, but that seems like the move they made here. If volunteers get overworked, they'll burn out. If staff get overstretched, they'll quit. If mentors feel like this program's moves do not align with what they hold to be true, they'll move on. If students don't have mentors, volunteers, or staff, what do they have left? A board that can give them a pat on the back?

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by IKE

From the notes I took and some personal thoughts ...

Don started with Objectives and Core Values and the importance of the organization to stay mission focused. They wanted a solution that scales. They wanted more kids to have access to the life changing experience of FIRST and FIRST Championship. ...

Thank you Isaac for these notes. Like many other volunteers I was a bit busy during the time the Town Hall was scheduled so I did not get to attend. I also enjoyed watching the video that 1640 made and linked in this thread.

What came through most clearly to me in the video was Don Bossi's preamble, in which he contrasts FIRST's mission to that of the NFL. The latter exists primarily to serve the interests of team owners, while FIRST's culture changing goal is directed to inspire a whole generation of students to become leaders and innovators in science and technology. FIRST programs currently reach only 20% of US high schools, and a smaller fraction internationally, so the mission is mostly directed toward students that do not have access to FIRST programs now -- NOT only to the interests of teams that already exist.

Culture change, and the FIRST program growth that will drive it, will not happen without sustained engagement of strong teams. The inspiration provided by FRC games, and by winning at those, is a major piece of that sustained engagement.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Thank you Isaac for these notes. Like many other volunteers I was a bit busy during the time the Town Hall was scheduled so I did not get to attend. I also enjoyed watching the video that 1640 made and linked in this thread.

We've also got photos of the slides now, if anyone wants them.

[Caleb Sykes]

Originally Posted by EricDrost

"How do the two people behind you feel about you being up for round 2?"

Honestly, I would have been okay if the entire Q&A was just 30 minutes of Mike asking questions.

Seconded. The voice of the top 1% of teams needs to be heard by FIRST leadership, and 1678 has almost certainly entered that elite group. The FIRST leadership is walking a very fine line here, trying to keep the highest level teams engaged while attempting to bring in even more teams to the championship events. If this decision causes any of this 1% to leave FRC, then I hope the FIRST leadership will realize what a horrible decision they have made. Any one of those teams provides more inspiration than 50 waitlist spots at an event that has an exciting name do.

[BrennanB]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Money is an odd complaint. There are startup costs, sure (like buying your own field perimeter, I think FIRST sells the electronics to you directly??? I need to read up) but regionals aren't what one would call a low cost solution.

Food, lights, AV, sometimes venue renting. It adds up quickly.

[dag0620]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Money is an odd complaint. There are startup costs, sure (like buying your own field perimeter, I think FIRST sells the electronics to you directly??? I need to read up) but regionals aren't what one would call a low cost solution.

The bigger issue right now is not only the actual money, but the fiduciary responsibility. Currently, even though RPCs are responsible for paying their own bills, all the cash runs through FIRST's bank accounts, and FIRST takes all of the legal responsibility. FIRST is a large and established organization financially that if something was to go south at a regional, they have the ability to sustain hits.

When you move to districts, its the local legal entity, spearheaded and ran by the local leadership, that is entirely responsible for the entire operation of FRC in your area. This includes not only raising the money, but having your own bank accounts, being legally responsible for the events instead of HQ, and all the issues arising from that responsibility (insurance, legal protection and fees, etc.) It's a lot of extra overhead and responsibility for local volunteers to take up.

It is understandable that local leaders are scared to take on that responsibility. In New England, we're lucky we have a great board who did what they had to to make the creation of ingenuityNE happen. Other regions already in districts have had the same luck. Not every region is in those positions though.

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

FLL and FTC at one location. All FRC teams at the other. Vendors, speakers, workshops can be more specific to age and needs this way.

This would work, but I think part of the reason they're splitting champs is to possibly get 800 FRC teams at champs, returning us to the 400 FRC teams per venue, 100 team divisions we have seen in years past. If they want to do this, I think it's be better to randomly assign teams to the different events, and have a provision for teams that can't attend one of the events for funding/travel reasons.