[FVC]: 2007-2008 FTC (was FVC) Season is Official

[skimoose]

Bill, I understand your points and was not taking sides with IFI or FIRST, or trying to disrupt your quest for answers. I think we should wait this out and not speculate.

My only goal here is to point out that drastic changes will not be good for FIRST. Teams and FIRST volunteers have limited resources. School systems have embraced Vex and changing platforms will likely alienate some of these schools from FIRST. How about Rhode Island that bravely put together a grant to establish Vex in every high school in the state? What kind of message is being sent if FIRST has had this kind of impact on some forward thinking politicians, then they change the program and leave these schools looking for more money to stay in the FIRST game? This doesn't sound like a strong formula for growth.

There are also groups of FIRSTer, myself included, that want to see this intermediate program succeed just like FLL. We are trying to promote FTC, but it's a moving target. We want to have playing fields, field controls, game pieces, etc. so we can take this into new school systems, scouting organizations, the community at large, and let them see, live and in person, what FIRST is really about. Have we squandered our hard earned money buying these fields, controls, etc? We have a chance to run FIRST quality events for complete rookies so that when they actually enter a sanctioned FIRST event they'll have some experience. Hasn't that been FIRST's goal with the changes to FRC this year? Level the playing field for rookies? Instead of trying to level the playing field through the rules or the game, why not give rookies experience through non-official, but quality events.

Also, as a member of one of last year's FVC regionals planning committees, we have signage, playing fields, controls, etc. that will likely need replacing. More wasted money. Also, web domain names will have to be changed, web pages alter, links corrected.... more work on a volunteer workforce that could be out recruiting more teams.

If in fact, the changes hinted at on the official FTC page are minor, such as replacing the control system to eliminate RF problems as you have suggested, then I don't see a big problem. We can and will continue to use a majority of our purchased hardware without major loss. Then a simple clarification would quiet all this speculation down.

Confused, but still counting down the days until the launch of FTC 2007-2008!