Live AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick on 1/5 @ 8:30pm EST on Spotlight!

[bduddy]

Hearing from Frank that FIRST still doesn't consider video streaming and archiving a high priority is extremely disappointing. If they really care about outreach and bringing FIRST to more people, I can't think of many better ways to do it.

[sanddrag]

Overall a pretty good segment. Frank has good responses to most of the questions, and is a good representative for FIRST and a good communicator. While most questions were answered very well, one thing that was rather disappointing is the low priority given to tracking alumni. To me, alumni are the bread and butter results of this program. They are the proof that what we are doing matters. And currently, we just let them all vanish without a trace. This is something that needs to change. FIRST has data on diversity of program participants, but no real data on alumni of program participants (at least none that is publicly available)

Also, I wish I (or someone) would have asked what Frank's thoughts are on practice robots, bag & tag, and the mythical 6-week build season. I'm not looking to re-beat that dead horse here in this thread, but it would be interesting to hear Frank's thoughts on the matter.

[Rangel(kf7fdb)]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Overall a pretty good segment. Frank has good responses to most of the questions, and is a good representative for FIRST and a good communicator. While most questions were answered very well, one thing that was rather disappointing is the low priority given to tracking alumni. To me, alumni are the bread and butter results of this program. They are the proof that what we are doing matters. And currently, we just let them all vanish without a trace. This is something that needs to change. FIRST has data on diversity of program participants, but no real data on alumni of program participants (at least none that is publicly available)

Also, I wish I (or someone) would have asked what Frank's thoughts are on practice robots, bag & tag, and the mythical 6-week build season. I'm not looking to re-beat that dead horse here in this thread, but it would be interesting to hear Frank's thoughts on the matter.

In regards of the alumni question, the problem is less of tracking alumni, it's getting alumni to want to be tracked and stay a part of FIRST. Any alumni that wants to stay affiliated with FIRST is already doing that through mentoring, volunteering, or even Chief Delphi. There is a limited database on alumni but it's probably not useful because the majority of alumni are not on it. Most people just look at FRC as something they did in high school and move on. If FIRST can figure out a really neat way to pull alumni back into the system, then that would be great. Until then though, I completely understand why it is a low priority. Especially since many of the best alumni are still a part of FIRST.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Rangel(kf7fdb)

In regards of the alumni question, the problem is less of tracking alumni, it's getting alumni to want to be tracked and stay a part of FIRST. Any alumni that wants to stay affiliated with FIRST is already doing that through mentoring, volunteering, or even Chief Delphi. There is a limited database on alumni but it's probably not useful because the majority of alumni are not on it. Most people just look at FRC as something they did in high school and move on. If FIRST can figure out a really neat way to pull alumni back into the system, then that would be great. Until then though, I completely understand why it is a low priority. Especially since many of the best alumni are still a part of FIRST.

You (and FIRST) are missing the big picture. Gathering data on and maintaining contact with alumni will benefit the entire organization tremendously in the future, if they do it right. If FIRST gathers "Where are they now?" type anecdotes as well as aggregated data, they (and we) can use it for justification that FIRST robotics leads to <insert adjective> better life outcomes for participants, compared to students who did not participate in FIRST. This sort of data can help mainstream FIRST into schools, grant eligibility, and social acceptance. Furthermore, by making the alumni connections and building a network of alumni, FIRST has the potential to connect its alumni with careers, in a similar fashion to how they currently connect students with scholarships, and Deans list students with universities.

Many well-established universities and organizations have alumni associations. The reasons they do are not superfluous.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

You (and FIRST) are missing the big picture. Gathering data on and maintaining contact with alumni will benefit the entire organization tremendously in the future, if they do it right. If FIRST gathers "Where are they now?" type anecdotes as well as aggregated data, they (and we) can use it for justification that FIRST robotics leads to <insert adjective> better life outcomes for participants, compared to students who did not participate in FIRST. This sort of data can help mainstream FIRST into schools, grant eligibility, and social acceptance. Furthermore, by making the alumni connections and building a network of alumni, FIRST has the potential to connect its alumni with careers, in a similar fashion to how they currently connect students with scholarships, and Deans list students with universities.

Many well-established universities and organizations have alumni associations. The reasons they do are not superfluous.

There are also implications for FIRST from an organizational standpoint. I point to Minnesota and the http://www.mngofirst.org folks as examples of what alumni organizations can do for improving the quantity and quality of teams in a region.

There is A LOT more to the alumni discussion beyond collecting data and money. Go talk to universities about their alumni networks and how important they are.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by bduddy

Hearing from Frank that FIRST still doesn't consider video streaming and archiving a high priority is extremely disappointing. If they really care about outreach and bringing FIRST to more people, I can't think of many better ways to do it.

For those who haven't watched, are you able to elaborate on his answer?

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Karthik

For those who haven't watched, are you able to elaborate on his answer?

He basically said that they are working on it but that other things pop up that end up taking priority over video. He also mentioned that more and more events are being held in school gyms and that internet is a toss up on its availability and quality, in those venues.

They also mentioned trying to stress each event at least recording and then posting after the event was over but mentioned that that was a lot of work as well.

[Tyler Olds]

Hello everyone!

Thank you to everyone who was able to watch the live airing of Spotlight Episode 2 on Tuesday!

If you didn't get a chance to watch, the video is now uploaded live to our YouTube Page, iTunes (search First Updates Now), and Sound Cloud.

Join us for our next show: Recap on Tuesday, January 12th at 8:30pm Eastern and the next Spotlight show will be on Tuesday, January 19th.

A huge thank you once again to Frank Merrick for coming on and being a great sport about fielding questions.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

He basically said that they are working on it but that other things pop up that end up taking priority over video. He also mentioned that more and more events are being held in school gyms and that internet is a toss up on its availability and quality, in those venues.

They also mentioned trying to stress each event at least recording and then posting after the event was over but mentioned that that was a lot of work as well.

It's kind of a pushing-on-a-rope situation. District events are pretty much unaffiliated with FIRST HQ and totally volunteer run. Asking to get a talented crew willing to volunteer the time and expertise for every one is nearly impossible.

Unless FIRST or someone else wants to break out the checkbook, getting all these recorded and posted isn't going to happen.

Also, really, from a FIRST standpoint they don't care if they get it all recorded. In terms of promotional videos, all they need is a couple minutes of matches that they can get at champs.

[Rangel(kf7fdb)]

I feel as though it isn't actually that hard to record match video for all or most FRC events. All you would really need for each field is a wide angle Go Pro like camera, a decent size sd card, and one volunteer dedicated to pressing record and stop who just transfers the video files over to a volunteer owned computer who uploads it to YouTube during or after the event. FIRST could even make a YouTube account for each event and give the event coordinators the login. Am I missing something or is it really that simple? I understand teams can do it but it's a lot harder for a team to dedicate one member to recording because the team member might be needed, harder to get power set up, and harder to get a good shot from the stands(especially when people stand up). Having a single volunteer take care of this would alleviate the issue. Besides the cost of a knock off Go Pro, is there any major problems with this type of system. I know it might not be perfect and matches may not be recorded properly early on but it's much better than what we have now.