Hypothetical Money Question

[JaneYoung]

Big Mike,
I don't think any financial planning is ever stupid, esp. when looking at the future.

When LASA Robotics formed the Parent Association several years ago, we set a few short term and long term goals. One of the goals we strove towards attaining as quickly as possible was to always have monies in the coffer to pay for the current year and to pay for the following year. We've achieved that goal and are able to stay one year ahead, planning conservatively and being frugal. It took a bit of time to do this but we stayed focused, even as the board members and students changed and graduated. If there were to be an increase, because of the established organization and planning involved, we would be able to adjust.

That you are thinking along these lines is a boon to your team, whether the fees were to be increased or not. We aren't a team with a big budget, we have to make every penny count, but I think any time you have increased fees/costs, you have to weigh the pros/cons, cans/can'ts - and be able to justify the increase to your sponsors and supporters. They have their own limits, budgets, and responsibilities.

[Mike Schroeder]

I start thinking about this more and more after i posted this, and its not about the planning or the spending i guess its about where does a team draw the line? what if FIRST told me next year i had to spend $7,000 to get my team registered for one regional. i don't know if anyone realizes it but thats alot of money. I put it in perspective for myself, 7,000 is about 1/3 my yearly salary at The Home Depot..... a couple of years ago there was a post here on CD about FIRST being Elitist is that where FIRST is headed. First off we are going to have a new control system next year what if we had to pay more. I honestly think its a turn off for alot of teams to pay extra for FRC when Dave Lavery said during kick off one year there are eighty something other robotics programs. I've said it a few times in this post but i will close with it again, where does your team draw the line for paying for FRC would it be worth 1,000 more, would it be worth 10,000?

[Doug G]

I think that is a big reason why there is FTC (Vex). You can do some really cool robotics stuff within that competition for under $1000. There is no reason why you can't expect most high schools to participate in either FTC or FRC.

A couple of years ago, back around 04-05, I would have said that our team could not get much past the $10,000 budget mark. Now we operate with at least twice that. But I know that is not the situation on many of teams and hence would be greatly affected by a fee increase.

FRC being Elitist? I don't think that is the best choice of words. How about PREMIER. A local team near us (and successful too), dropped out of FIRST after the 2005 season to pursue the MATE competition (I think the won it too). While an amazing competition in its own right, I heard that it doesn't provide the "SHOW" that FIRST does. (Easy for me to say, I've never been to a MATE competition - again just what I heard from one person).

I've had many conversations with folks about where does all this registration money go. I know it seems like FIRST shouldn't cost so much, but it does. Check their annual statement. Sit in on a Regional Planning Committee Meeting. Maybe someday, there'll be a sensible way (media coverage, branding, etc..) to still have FIRST without so much cost to the teams, but for now this is how it is.