Official FIRST Stronghold Teaser!

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by Libby K

SO true - I'm not sure that's the introduction to mainstream culture we want for ourselves...

For an organization that wants to brand itself as the "Sport for the Mind" and reach 'outside the tent', I don't think this 'theme' is going to resonate outside of the nerd-crowd as well as they think it is.

I think it's heaps better than Recycle Rush, and I'm sure Disney's help will make it crowd-friendly - but here's how I see it:

In 2010 or 2012, for example, you're practicing in the school, kicking soccerballs or shooting three-pointers from the key, and one of the students on your school's best Sportsball team walks by. Guess what? You've got common ground now. This is something they already 'get', and maybe they'll come to a competition to see it. Once they're there, they're hooked and want to do more FIRST. You've converted someone who didn't see the value in the robotics team, to a STEM enthusiast. Isn't that the whole point of why we do this?

Engagement from even an already-enthusiastic audience at an FRC demonstration was like pulling teeth this year, at least for us. In the middle of our summer day camp expo, a first-grader asked me: "Why would you want to make a robot that just stacks boxes? What about the cool frisbee one?" (We bring our 2013 robot to play outside with the campers, and demo FLL/FTC/FRC inside.)

I hope Stronghold will be a little more engaging, if only because all the blog posts, teasers, etc. made so far have led us to believe there's some robot interaction.

But as far as bringing people from 'outside the tent' in to FIRST? I'd pick an actual sport any day.

Can I play devil's advocate for a moment, and suggest that there's nothing wrong with FIRST being just as enthusiastic about drawing influence from things that nerds like as from things that the general public likes?

Yes, the ultimate goal is to engender greater public awareness, enthusiasm, and respect for science and technology. I do not think, however, that we necessarily need to compromise on things we like that non-nerdy people might not in order to do that. If we truly believe that only way to make science appeal to the general public is to make it look like pro sports, then perhaps we ought to step back and reinterpret that as there being a lot more that we have to change.

For reference, I don't LARP. But I think that it is probably insensitive to people who do, and who enjoy it, to tell them that it is a mistake for FIRST to use imagery that appeals to their hobbies because their hobbies are too nerdy and would give people the "wrong impression" about the competition. If this is the cost of changing the public's attitude towards science and technology, then what attitudes are we really changing? I don't see the end result of a public who are fine with STEM - but only so long as it's packaged to look like pop culture - as a particularly impressive mark of progress.