Dean's Homework for 2008

[Nate Laverdure]

A trend I have noticed through my experience in this program: FIRST is becoming more and more politically charged with every passing year. Now, before we get into all that, I want to lay a few things down that can provide a basis for what I want to say.

Everyone knows that FIRST is growing by leaps and bounds. According to official FIRST stats, we now have over 133,000 students in 1,307 teams. Add in mentors and event volunteers, and that's 189,000 people involved in FIRST, and that means about 6 out of every 10,000 US citizens are involved in FIRST (forgive my oversimplification here: seeing as though the members of FIRST from the 6 other countries are very much in the minority when compared to domestic FIRSTers, I ignored them in calculating this statistic). Just under $8 million in scholarship funds are available to students who are members of a FIRST team. FIRST and FRC are made possible by the generosity of hundreds of corporate and private sponsors, many of them high-profile companies and organizations, with funding totaling in the millions of dollars.

This sure looks like a huge effort to me. But what is all this for? This might surprise you (hopefully not), but FIRST is not about building robots – it is about changing culture. Dean says he founded FIRST with the intent to “...make science and engineering and technology every bit as appealing and accessible and fun as any other sport.” I’ll assume that since you’re on CD reading this post, you value science and engineering’s prevalence in today’s culture and would like to see this goal accomplished. Me too!

A whole bunch of teams out there are doing some pretty cool stuff on their own to spread the message of FIRST and “to create a world where science and technology are celebrated… where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.” It’s amazing to see so many teams focused on inspiring this cultural change. However, my prediction is that collaboration throughout the FIRST community – not individual effort – will be key in actually meeting these goals. And what better way to create collaboration between teams than by issuing homework assignments for all teams to work on together?

I think FIRST recently came to this same conclusion, because this year I noticed some fairly big changes in the way FIRST approached their goal of changing culture. Since this post is about Dean Kamen’s homework, let’s focus on that. I saw that, in 2007, the homework broke from its somewhat mundane traditions in quite a few ways. This year:

• Dean Kamen’s homework was presented in a more official and formal manner than in previous years.
• At the time of the assignment’s presentation, it was hinted that the FIRST judges would look favorably on successful completion of the homework.
• And the hint was true: this year’s winning Chairman’s entry (that of team 365) stated, “We are reaching out to state government to support FIRST via personal letters & a 500 signature petition.”
• For the first time, real support was offered for the homework. From sample letters available to all teams to on-line submission opportunities, it was easy to for teams to determine how best to complete the assignment.
• The assignment was straightforward and not very time-consuming, as compared with some previous assignments (e.g. start an FRC team, 2005; see the below list for details).
• Teams could easily see immediate benefits from the homework assignment. Teams saw that by bringing government officials into the fold, FIRST’s visibility would increase dramatically within government.

Quick sidebar: Has anyone seen Fight Club? Remember the homework that Brad Pitt’s character asked his club to complete? Remember how, by simply issuing homework, he built an extremely powerful organization under him? I think FIRST can do the same, minus the whole domestic terrorism bit.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I think that Dean’s homework is a very good idea and it is moving in a very good direction. I have compiled a list of past homework assignments below. If any of these are incorrect or need revision, please inform me and I will make a change. If you have knowledge of any homework assignments from before the earliest date in my list (currently 2001), please also contact me so I can tack it on the list.

• Some year in the late 90's: get "2000 teams by 2000." (Thanks, Jessica!)
• 2001: get more teams in FIRST by getting colleges and universities involved
• 2002: double the amount of teams in FIRST by getting colleges, companies, and friends involved
• 2003: get more teams in FIRST (detail?)
• 2004: get more teams in FIRST (detail?)
• 2005: start an FRC team; get more people into FIRST (detail?)
• 2006: get government officials to be knowledgeable about FIRST; raise FIRST’s visibility within government
• 2007: send letters to government officials; get government officials to attend an FRC competition

It appears to me, by looking at the above list, that in recent years the goals of the homework assignments have become more concrete, have allowed more teams to report real success, and are characteristic of an organization gaining members and political sway at an unbelievable rate.

This is a really good trend for the FIRST community, but I wonder: what’s the next bullet in this list going to be? What could be the next step in achieving the ultimate goal of FIRST: to create a momentous change in culture and to challenge the status quo in a way that hasn’t been seen for decades.

So my question for the FIRST community is:
If you were Dean, what homework would you assign next year? Knowing that you have an amazing trend of increased support behind you, and that your homework assignments are becoming more and more effective a vehicle for arranging collaborative efforts throughout the FIRST community with every passing year, and that last year’s homework was more important than ever, how would you approach the next assignment? After securing the involvement of numerous government officials in 2006 and 2007, what would be the next step in reaching the goals of FIRST?

And after creating your own assignment for next year, I would be interested in knowing how would you help to complete YOUR assignment as a student, mentor, teacher, parent (whatever your position is) as a member of YOUR FRC team.

[taylort]

I may not be able to add you a specific bullet, but I can tell you what I think the next step is.

To simply add my spin to some of the information you have posted:

We've seen in previous years (i.e. 2002-2005 as you have stated in your rather well-researched information, I may add ) that an emphasis has been placed on team participation and sponsor participation. Those who can be directly involved in FIRST...by sponsoring and joining, and mentoring.

We recently moved (in 2006) to a trend to getting those around us who could not directly participate in FIRST (though I'd love to see sons and daughters of any future U.S. president involved in the organization) to those who could make FIRST a better program for those already involved. By involving government, you can get to those who can make some of the biggest difference in the organization. We also see the idea of the FIRST competitions as persuasion in and of themselves. What better way to share your passion than to bring someone to a competition and show them the energy and positive difference that is FIRST is there?

Granted, keeping both of these goals in mind still, we have yet another step to make.

• 2008: Get your community/school/workplace/WHATEVER -- as a whole -- to a competition.

Could we see an increasing focus into getting people just to know about FIRST and make it the dream it was originally created for--and that is a fully-fledged national "sport," with a team in every high school, and matches being watched on major broadcast networks, and all of the things that come with the abolishment of negative stigma towards our passion, and a global involvement in FIRST?

After all, when you love something as much as we love FIRST, you want to scream it to the world. Literally.

To quote Carl Sagan,

"After all, when you're in love, you want to tell the world. The idea that scientists shouldn't talk about their science to the public seems to me bizarre."

This can so easily be applied to FIRST. We are in love with this organization--and rightly so!

I could also possibly see your workplace becoming a venue. I heard of a team that built their robot in their cafeteria due to lack of a suitable workplace elsewhere. Could we see homework of having an open house--that is truly open?

To satisfy the original post's question of what I, personally, would do: I would have to say, get as many people as I can to Palmetto. Living close to our competition area is such a wonderful stroke of luck for us, and I shouldn't see why all THREE schools of D5 Robotics shouldn't be in the Colonial Center on Saturday. It's not too far, and it's free. I would use the wonderful starting points FIRST has given me to advance FIRST in my community: through word of mouth, mostly. FIRST teaches us skills that we can use anywhere, and I think we should proudly demonstrate them such that people should have to ask us where we learn it from, as it is so remarkable.

I hope this hasn't become rambling, but that would be my $0.015.

[henryBsick]

FIRST needs to realize what it actually is becoming. In no lengthy amount of words: FIRST is expanding, but at what quality? I have seen many rookie teams just thrown together to the parent team can add another number to the list. The value of education and inspiration in these types of teams is very low, and mentors/engineers(if any) do the work. I think that as many claims as I can make would be a god way to go about it, but how about a recent event that we all saw. Thats right folks 2007 the FIRST Championship. Two landmark things popped out in my mind, take of them what you will: As soon as the physical competition was over, many many many people began to leave the Georgia dome. Next, as soon as Dean mentioned free tubes there was pandemonium on the floor. No attention was payed to those still speaking and recieving awards. The worst part of it all is this is Nationals. The teams there should be the top of the top in quality... what does that say about the rest?

I believe that these two things, in one way or another are indicators for the lack of actual respect for what FIRST is. Yes, the competition is a vehicle for the object, but for some teams that is all it is while no object is satisfied.

On a whole: FIRST is growing too fast and needs to concentrate on the quality of the teams involved. I remember it being mentioned in a homework of the past, but IMO no steps have been taken to fix this. Don't start a new team, help veteran teams in need. The goal of FIRST can be accomplished, but I don't understand the rapid rate that it is trying to be done at.

Starting to get into greivances of late,
-Henry Sick

[wendymom]

my assignment would be for each team to make a presentation to their local government. City council, School Board, Mayors office etc. If we cant get them to come to us......we should go to them

[Kris Verdeyen]

First of all, great topic.

I'm not sure if this is ambitious enough to be a homework assignment, but it would be nice if the principals and school boards of individual teams were able to make it out to the compeititon itself. I have to think that principals (or science department chairs, or school boards) have a hard time imagining the scope of what their students are involved in, and would be impressed and moved by what they saw. It's basically a continuation of this year's homework, carried further down the chain to people that can make or break individual teams. This type of participation from school decision makers could also help curb the problems that Henry mentioned.

[Lil' Lavery]

If I were FIRST I would take a step in a different direction. My homework assignment would to become involved in a different robotics/engineering competition in the off-season. This could be FLL, Jr. FLL, FVC, Botball, NURC, MATE, BEST, Battlebots, DARPA Grand Challenge, Odyssey of the Mind, or literally hundreds of others. Then tell every one of your teammates in that competition about the FIRST Robotics Competition and get them to attend kick-off or a competition.
This serves multiple purposes. It exposes FIRST to an audience that is already interested in such competitions, and a vast array of potential recruits. It builds appreciation in the FIRST members for what truly makes FIRST special, and what sets it apart from the rest. It deepens the experience and abilities the participants in both competitions. It shows that FIRST and these other competitions CAN and DO co-exist, and that you don't always have to chose.
Even if it is just JrFLL, FLL, and FVC, you'd be shocked at how many participants don't realize that they can participate at the High School level.

[Nate Laverdure]

Get Publicity
Dean Kamen's Homework 2008

Excerpt from the kickoff transcript:

Originally Posted by Dean Kamen

THIS YEAR'S HOMEWORK.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT METRICS WE'LL USE TO GRADE IT.
SORT OF LIKE THE CHAIRMAN'S AWARD.
NOBODY HAS EVER FIGURED OUT EXACTLY HOW TO GRADE IT BUT YOU ALWAYS SEE AND RECOGNIZE A GREAT WORK.
THIS YEAR I THINK BESIDES CONTINUING TO GET MORE POLITICAL SUPPORT TO HELP PUT FIRST WITHIN REACH OF EVERY KID IN THIS COUNTRY, I THINK WE NEED MEDIA ATTENTION TO HELP US.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS SOME OF YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED, YOU GO TO FIRST EVENTS AND THEY'RE FULL OF PEOPLE.
BUT ALMOST EVERYBODY THERE IS ON ONE OF THE TEAMS.
WE DON'T YET BRING PEOPLE FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
WE'RE SORT OF PREACHING TO OUR OWN CHOIR.
WE MIGHT HAVE 2,000 PEOPLE IN THE STANDS AND THEY HAVE 50 TEAMS AND EACH ONE HAD 40 PEOPLE.
I THINK WE NEED TO REALLY BE THE SPORT THAT EVERYBODY WANTS TO WATCH AS A SPECTATOR.
AND START TO GET MORE AND MORE AND MORE GENERAL PUBLIC AWARENESS OF WHAT WE DO.
IT WILL HELP US HAVE A MUCH BIGGER IMPACT ON WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
SO THE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR THIS YEAR STARTING NOW, YOU HAVE A WHOLE SEASON TO DO THIS, YOUR MODEL OUGHT TO BE BY THE TIME I GET TO MY FIRST REGIONAL I WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE IS STANDING ROOM ONLY TO GET IN AND CELEBRATE WHAT WE'RE ALL DOING.
WE WANT TO DO THAT BY GETTING LOCAL MEDIA, PRINT PRESS, VIDEO, TELEVISION, NEWS, DOCUMENTARY, WE WANT THEM TO TALK ABOUT US IN THE RIGHT WAY.
IT'S SORT OF LIKE A SCIENCE FAIR BUT THE GEEKS LOOK LIKE THEY'RE HAVING TOO MUCH FUN.
NOT LIKE THAT.
WE WANT TO BE A MAINSTREAM PART OF OUR CULTURE.
THAT'S WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO.
SO YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT.
BUT WE'LL HAVE SOME HELP.
JUST LIKE WE DID LAST YEAR.
AS OF THIS AFTERNOON, IF YOU GO TO THE FIRST WEBSITE YOU'LL SEE A COUPLE OF NEW ITEMS.
THERE IS A FIRST MEDIA GUIDE.
IT WILL HELP YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK WITH AND ATTRACT THE PRESS.
THERE WILL BE A FIRST FORUM ON COLLABORATION AND HOW TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER TEAMS, AGAIN, TO GET MORE AND APPROPRIATE MEDIA COVERAGE.
AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOOGLE AND WITH YOUTUBE.
THERE WILL BE A FIRST YOUTUBE PAGE, A YOUTUBE LINK THAT WE HOPE YOU'LL MANAGE TO GET ALL YOUR GREAT VIDEO AND OTHER PRESS UP ON.
WE'LL PROBABLY FIND WAYS TO VOTE ON WHAT WE LIKE AND WHAT WE REALLY LIKE AND WHAT IS REALLY AWESOME.
MAYBE THAT WILL IMPACT YOUR GRADE.
WE'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU TO FIND OTHER WAYS, CREATIVE WAYS, TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR MESSAGE GETS OUT AND WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT ARE CELEBRATING THE EXTRAORDINARY THINGS THAT HAPPEN AT FIRST.
BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE OUGHT TO SEE HOW GREAT THIS COMMUNITY IS.
SO AS I SAID, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'LL GRADE IT.
I DIDN'T KNOW HOW WE'D GRADE LAST YEARS BUT IT HAD A GREAT IMPACT AND I THINK WE AS THE FIRST COMMUNITY THIS YEAR REALLY WANT TO FOCUS ON GETTING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

Resources:
OFFICIAL FORUM
FAQ
Key Messages
FIRST Youtube Channel

Highlights from the FAQ:

Q: How do we contact other teams to coordinate our approach to the local media?
A: FIRST has developed a set of forums teams can use for Planning and Coordinating media efforts for each regional. The forums can be found in the FIRST Forums (http://forums.usfirst.org section of the FIRST web site listed under Dean’s Homework. There is one forum for each regional event. The marketing person from any team attending the regional can use the forum designated for their event to connect with marketing persons from other teams attending the same event to plan and coordinate steps to contact local media.

Q: What results should teams report to Dean?
A: Teams should report only the media hits they achieve. A “hit” includes any print story placed, TV segment aired, on-line media coverage, etc. It also includes any success in getting local news anchors to attend the event and participate in a creative way. It is not necessary to report the action steps (e.g. letters, phone calls, etc.) taken in advance to achieve your media hit.

Q: Where do I post my results?
A: FIRST has developed a forum exclusively for posting results. This forum is titled “Results” and is found in the same section as the Planning & Coordination Forum. Teams should only use this forum to post results. Please use one post for each media hit. This forum will be used as to tally the total number of media hits teams achieve, so please do not post any comments to this forum. One post = one media hit.

Highlights from the Key Messages document:

CORE GOALS

FIRST’s goal is to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
· Society celebrates achievement in sports and entertainment, yet we do not celebrate achievement in science and technology.
· Societies get what they celebrate. Our society needs to celebrate science and technology.
· FIRST will create excitement, challenge, and fun in science and technology for over 150,000 young people in 2007/2008.
· FIRST celebrates scientists and engineers as heroes.
· FIRST seeks to make being smart “cool.”

Young people’s interest and participation in science and technology will help them succeed in life and will help our society.
· There are great opportunities for young people to build successful careers in science and technology.
· Many of society’s key problems will be solved with science and technology (e.g. water, access to electric power, medical, etc.).
· Conversely, the chances of becoming a sports hero are small; only about 500 jobs for players in the NBA.


IMPACT

FIRST is working; according to an independent study by Brandeis University, funded by the Ford Foundation.
· Brandeis conducted an independent, retrospective study of FIRST participants and compared results to a comparison group of non-FIRST students with similar backgrounds and academic experiences, including math and science. Results showed FIRST students are:
o More than three times as likely to major specifically in engineering.
o Roughly ten times as likely to have had an apprenticeship or co-op job in freshman year.
o More than twice as likely to expect to pursue a science or technology career.
o Nearly four times as likely to expect to pursue a career specifically in engineering.

[lynca]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

If I were FIRST I would take a step in a different direction. My homework assignment would to become involved in a different robotics/engineering competition in the off-season. This could be FLL, Jr. FLL, FVC, Botball, NURC, MATE, BEST, Battlebots, DARPA Grand Challenge, Odyssey of the Mind, or literally hundreds of others. Then tell every one of your teammates in that competition about the FIRST Robotics Competition and get them to attend kick-off or a competition.

I've been involved in FLL, BEST, IGVC, IEEE Robotics Compeitions and DARPA Grand Challenge. I believe people in these competitions do understand the impact of robotics on the community. Attracting them to FRC would become a very valuable asset for FIRST. Maybe teams should focus their media homework on spreading the message to people in other Robotics Competitions. Request every robotics club, organization or group to put a link to FIRST on their website.

[BeckyHand]

I have a quick question about the homework and I hoping you all could help me. I'm on the FIRSTworldtube youtube page and I can't exactly figure out how we are supposed to "manage to get all your great video and other press up on". Any suggestions??
Thanks so much

[Nate Laverdure]

I think that this year's assignment will inform some interesting discussion about next year's.

Here's the trend as I see it:
Dean Kamen's yearly homework assignment is becoming more formal, more concrete, and more important. This year, a free and extensive forum was set up to provide support for efforts relating to the 2008 homework assignment: to get publicity. Team 842's winning chairman's submission ("published in Wired magazine, Reader’s Digest ... translated into 4 different languages") shows that success in gaining publicity was a factor in winning FIRST's greatest honor this year.

In the early half of this decade, teams were encouraged to grow the organization by founding and mentoring other teams. In 2006 and 2007, Dean Kamen told us to reach out to our politicians and get them interested in the program. In 2008, the assignment was to get positive publicity for FIRST teams and events.

Here's my question:
If you were Dean Kamen, what homework would you assign in 2009? Now that you have built a large, self-sustaining, and massively collaborative organization, and now that your organization has reached out to government and the media, how should the teams focus their efforts in the next year? What's the next step in reaching the goals of FIRST?

And after describing your own assignment for next year, I would be interested in knowing how would you help to complete YOUR assignment as a student, mentor, teacher, parent (whatever your position is) as a member of YOUR FRC team.