Town Hall Meeting Video

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Eugene Fang

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. It's unlikely that such a busy person as Grant will be able to dedicate two weekends in a year to visit both FIRST championships. If I were a student, I'd be disappointed if the championship my team was going to didn't have the same celebrities or opportunities provided by the other.

There is room for more celebrities. More VIPs. We only limit ourselves by our thinking.

That would actually make a good thread topic discussion.

Jane

[Jared Russell]

Unfortunately (and as expected) this town hall went exactly like every other town hall I've ever seen or been to.

The people in attendance have already self-selected for being particularly passionate about the issues being discussed, and damage the effectiveness of their otherwise-legitimate concerns by failing to separate their anger from their message and taking cheap-shots with the microphone. Meanwhile, the people answering questions under the spotlight can't really deviate from the party line, are put on the defensive by all the hostility, and as a result end up getting short with the audience. By the end, everyone's blood pressure is higher. This just proves, that no matter how smart or well-respected the participants are, we in FIRST (on all sides) are human.

[lynca]

Congrats to the FIRST board for holding a town hall and walking through the difficult process of selecting a championship venue.

I watched the whole town hall.
I encourage everyone to watch the entire video before posting their opinions on the dual championship model.
The questions and heckling from the audience left me disappointed for many FIRST mentors.
Some where along the way for those FIRST mentors, Dean's gracious professionalism message has been lost.

My key takeways from the presentation:
1. FIRST decided to hold firm the January kickoff date instead of shifting the six week model into December to accommodate a super-regional schedule.
2. West coast venues were not available, Houston was the next best option (low-cost flights for western teams)
3. FIRST is exploring the idea of allowing teams to choose which championship to attend
4. The Dual championship model will scale as FIRST grows

Key takeways from the Q&A session:
1. A FIRST alumni is not on the board of directors
2. FIRST is considering a summer event that brings together the winners of each championship (hint hint... IRI)
3. FIRST Mentors need to focus on asking questions and proposing solutions , not heckling the board.

[Matt_Boehm_329]

Originally Posted by lynca

2. FIRST is considering a summer event that brings together the winners of each championship (hint hint... IRI)

Doesn't this make a true competition championship even more exclusive though rather than expanding the experience to a wider audience?

[connor.worley]

Originally Posted by Matt_Boehm_329

Doesn't this make a true competition championship even more exclusive though rather than expanding the experience to a wider audience?

It's something like a compromise.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Matt_Boehm_329

Doesn't this make a true competition championship even more exclusive though rather than expanding the experience to a wider audience?

They might just be making IRI "official" that is all. Besides, teams self select for IRI anyway.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

They might just be making IRI "official" that is all. Besides, teams self select for IRI anyway.

This is only true for the field competition side of things. And that is fine. IRI is IRI; it is not FIRST. It only reflects a few facets of the multifaceted organization. For those focused on the field competition aspect, IRI fills the need and will likely continue to. FIRST is much broader in scope and in sharing its mission and goals than IRI can ever be. Each serves a purpose.

Jane