[FRC Blog] Five for FIRST

[Hallry]

Posted on the FRC Blog, 10/15/15: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...five-for-first

Five for FIRST

Blog Date: Thursday, October 15, 2015 - 15:38

Hello teams!

I hope most of you have had a chance to see the 2016 FRC Season Teaser released last night with the help of our friends at GameSense. If not, you can find it here. The GameSense crew and their guests seemed to be having a good time with the teaser, and I’ll tell you the FIRST staff who watched the show was having a good time watching the community have a good time.

As we have said before, one of the purposes of presenting the teaser in the way we did was to help get the attention of people outside the tent – those who are not already participating in FIRST or FRC. We recognize this teaser will not appeal to every individual outside the tent. However, with the funky mixture of high and low tech imagery in the teaser, the popularity of the medieval theme in general in our culture currently, and the popularity of stories of group quests or adventures throughout history, we think we have a chance at attracting the attention of folks whose ears may not automatically perk up when the phrase ‘robotics competition’ is uttered.

We are asking that you help make FIRST loud by sharing the teaser with five of your friends who know little or nothing about FIRST but should know more. You know that cousin in the other state who plays Clash of Clans every day, but hasn’t yet joined her FRC team? She could be one. Or that technology-minded co-worker with a child the right age. Or that person who thrives on competition. Or that thoughtful, quiet acquaintance who loves fantasy literature and the theater. We will never be able to predict with certainty who will get interested in FRC, but no one can be interested if they don’t know about it. You can be an instrument of a profound change in their lives by simply sending an email or creating a Facebook post.

Once again, here’s the link to the YouTube video for the teaser. You may want to consider mentioning to your friends, to help orient them, that this is a teaser for the 2016 season and that the game itself isn’t revealed until January. A great piece to accompany this video is the relatively new ”What is FRC?” video released in January, which you can find here. This a nice four minute introduction to what this whole FRC thing is about. Think about the teaser as the smell of cinnamon rolls intentionally directed into the walkway outside the restaurant. It’s designed to get an individual to the counter and take a look at the menu (the “What is FRC” video) even if they have never heard of cinnamon rolls before. Next step? Get them involved! The teaser landing page is designed for people new to FIRST to get involved in their own way.

Will you do five for FIRST? You can make a difference!

Frank