A networking idea for FIRST teams through GMAIL

[Chris_Elston]

1501 is IN

1501.first@gmail.com

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Kyle45

Team 45 is in.

45.FIRST@gmail.com

So is Team 48.

48.FIRST@gmail.com

[SporkyGrl]

I'll have to talk to our student leader when she comes back before i make one of these, but it sounds like a really good idea if you want other teams to be able to get ahold of you. And i have noticed that Gmail is a good Email service, though i use msn the most personally.

[Travis Hoffman]

As much as we'd like to think it, every FIRST team doesn't read Chief Delphi. If the logic behind this Gmail system is sound (and I think it is), perhaps someone "in the know" could contact FIRST and ask them to send out an email blast to all teams suggesting they set up an address using this new format? As previously suggested by many, each team leader could then simply set up a mail forward to their preferred email address through the Gmail settings. Those who did not want to open themselves up to contact from other teams could simply choose not to participate, although I hope there wouldn't be too many people who picked this option.

I only suggest this because access to the Team Contact database through TIMS was removed this past season, I believe due to privacy reasons - some people didn't want their private emails shared with others. Instituting the Gmail solution provides a nice, safe buffer to protect their true email addys from any malicious evildoers, and it makes it much easier and faster for people to contact representatives on other teams (a very important aspect of organizing something like a pre-ship scrimmage, an event we stage every year in February).

Please FIRST, spread the word so inter-team communication can be improved.
In an era where FIRST is decentralizing their administrative duties and spreading them to a regional level, having a tool like this could only help the regional staffs improve communication to their local teams. Perhaps this will help improve awareness and attendance at events like the team forums, which many teams did not even know about?

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

Please FIRST, spread the word so inter-team communication can be improved.
In an era where FIRST is decentralizing their administrative duties and spreading them to a regional level, having a tool like this could only help the regional staffs improve communication to their local teams. Perhaps this will help improve awareness and attendance at events like the team forums, which many teams did not even know about?

Reading this makes me think they could make some kind of contact system which automatically forwards to the TIMS team leader (ie: team47@email.usfirst.org ) and doesn't require an additional gmail account. Of course this would require initial work on FIRSTs part, but it would keep it centralized and auto-updated based on TIMS updates, and wouldn't depend on GMail.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

Reading this makes me think they could make some kind of contact system which automatically forwards to the TIMS team leader (ie: team47@email.usfirst.org ) and doesn't require an additional gmail account. Of course this would require initial work on FIRSTs part, but it would keep it centralized and auto-updated based on TIMS updates, and wouldn't depend on GMail.

Suits me, Brandon! As long as there's some form of "easy" team number based method of communicating with teams. Scouring through team websites (assuming they have them) and searching the yellow pages looking for school district phone numbers, all in an effort to locate a team's leader, is a major time-consuming chore!

Of course Google and FIRST are now good buddies so I'm sure a Gmail-based communications system would be a positive-PR bonanza for both.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

Reading this makes me think they could make some kind of contact system which automatically forwards to the TIMS team leader (ie: team47@email.usfirst.org ) and doesn't require an additional gmail account. Of course this would require initial work on FIRSTs part, but it would keep it centralized and auto-updated based on TIMS updates, and wouldn't depend on GMail.

Agreed, I've been thinking that while reading this thread as well, since it also poses less potential for violating Gmail's terms of use. When I first signed up they had a policy against having more than 1 account but I can't find it now. Even if they don't really enforce it, as a group we should try to respect their wishes (like I said though, I can't find anything forbidding it at this time, but they change policies like that regularly).

The other problem I see with this Gmail setup is that you don't really know who's on the other end. Is it the team admin and/or someone who can "speak" for the team? Nothing against any of you who have created the accounts here, but if I had something important to communicate to a team I don't think I'd trust this method to work. How do you even know that if you contact "2175.FIRST@gmail.com" and it goes through that it really is someone from team 2175, and not someone else trying to cause trouble (just because you wouldn't do this doesn't mean someone else won't).

Expanding on Brandon's idea, I think it'd be neat to have a URL redirector, so that http://team111.frc.usfirst.org would redirect to 111's web page. That would make it easy to find any team's website (as long as they registered it with FIRST), AND you could use it for the email forwarder (admin@team111.frc.usfirst.org). This way, the service could also "fail gracefully" when the information isn't available. Team 2175 hasn't registered their website? Then http://team2175.frc.usfirst.org displays a nice "We're sorry, but this team has not registered their website." message. Same thing for email: anything sent to admin@team2175.frc.usfirst.org would be returned, perhaps with any other relevant information "This team has not registered an admin email address, but they have provided a website available at http://team2175.frc.usfirst.org."

[Travis Hoffman]

Well based on Dave and Brandon's comments, having FIRST set up their own team email solution would be ideal, but it would require FIRST to take further action on their own. Who can find out if this is something they'd be willing to do for the community? I think this is a badly-needed service. I think if FIRST came through for us, you'd see everyone unquestionably adopt their new system, but without such a system in place, you're going to continue to see these "home-grown" ideas appear on Chief Delphi. Lacking any other viable alternative, it's great to see people suggesting their ideas for improving communication within the community.

[rufu5]

While having FIRST come in and hold our hands for us sounds great, the GMAIL solution I have proposed leaves it up for the teams to create this network for themselves. A "home grown" solution such as this happens in every facet of industry, and with a little nudge, takes off and becomes a standard.

This method of communication would be for general contact between teams, such as getting a head engineers contact information, asking general questions, or getting in contact with other students you meet during competition. You wouldn't be sending super secret encoded robot schematics. I know there is a chance for "e-mail stealing" but its a necessary risk, in my opinion, to overcome this "contact gap" that we have now.

I would love it if someone with "high up" connections in FIRST could get them to send an e-mail blast urging teams to join this network to stream-line team to team communication. I don't know what the "TIMS" system was, but it didn't seem to work, considering its gone now. I would really like to know more about it so we don't make the same mistake that it did.

And this is what FIRST is all about as well: High school students coming up with ideas that help out entire groups of people, while not relying on adults or engineers to come up with the ideas for them.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by rufu5

I would love it if someone with "high up" connections in FIRST could get them to send an e-mail blast urging teams to join this network to stream-line team to team communication. I don't know what the "TIMS" system was, but it didn't seem to work, considering its gone now. I would really like to know more about it so we don't make the same mistake that it did.

Rufus:

TIMS stands for "Team Information Management System". This is the primary interface team leaders use when creating new teams, registering for regionals and the championship, updating team contact information, etc. TIMS used to have a feature which allowed team leaders to look up the contact information of other team leaders, but that feature has been discontinued. An email system like the one you are suggesting would go a long way toward restoring that capability, and then some.

[rufu5]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

Rufus:

TIMS stands for "Team Information Management System". This is the primary interface team leaders use when creating new teams, registering for regionals and the championship, updating team contact information, etc. TIMS used to have a feature which allowed team leaders to look up the contact information of other team leaders, but that feature has been discontinued. An email system like the one you are suggesting would go a long way toward restoring that capability, and then some.

Thanks!

Someone posted earlier, I believe, that that section was taken down because of privacy issues. The Gmail system wouldn't have that problem and like you said earlier: "Instituting the Gmail solution provides a nice, safe buffer to protect their true email addys from any malicious evildoers, and it makes it much easier and faster for people to contact representatives on other teams." Gmail Will Prevail!

[santosh]

1002 just got one and is now in the GoogleGroup

[scott]

LONG LIVE GMAIL!!

[roberthan]

Team 702 just joined at

702.first@gmail.com

[mechanicalbrain]

ill help with more accounts mechabunny@gmail.com