**FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Blog - Bill's Place

[Richard McClellan]

Greetings Teams:

Bill Miller, Director of the FIRST Robotics Competition, has started a blog to share the latest FRC news with teams. There’s a lot happening at FIRST right now and Bill wants to keep teams in the loop. Please visit www.usfirst.org/community/frc and click on Visit Bill’s Place to learn what’s up and to leave a message for Bill. The blog will be updated regularly, so visit often. We have a lot to talk about.

Go Teams!

[Beth Sweet]

Well, if anyone thought FIRST wasn't listening, I think this is a direct contradiction! We've been begging for communication, if nothing else, hopefully this will tell us what's going on in the minds of the high ups. This way, like the choice or not, we'll at least have the communication of what's going on!!!

Thanks FIRST for listening!

[artdutra04]

I like this idea; it's definitely a step in the right direction towards greater transparency and more direct and better communication.

[Bomberofdoom]

Better and easier way for FIRST to get comments and figure out what we, High School students and teams in general, think about FIRST stuff. That, instead of having to hear from a mentor who regularly searches in CD about popular stuff or FIRST officals just snooping around the big posts in here.

Do they?

Guess D. Lavery counts.

The blog is nice and simple and I guess we'll see how well it really benefits everyone once more is posted on the blog.

There is one kind of disadvantage I see in here, is that we now have MORE FIRST sites to cover in order to get the most infromation as possible (Windriver, NI and the community forum, youtube, US FIRST, CD, veteran FIRST teams, TBA, SOAP...and now the blog).

But anyway, we FIRSTers spend like an hour or three on going through FIRST stuff every day (every hour), so I guess we won't mind that.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Bomberofdoom

There is one kind of disadvantage I see in here, is that we now have MORE FIRST sites to cover in order to get the most infromation as possible (Windriver, NI and the community forum, youtube, US FIRST, CD, veteran FIRST teams, TBA, SOAP...and now the blog).

But anyway, we FIRSTers spend like an hour or three on going through FIRST stuff every day (every hour), so I guess we won't mind that.

I'm sure that the entries on 'Bill's Place' will make it to CD one way or another, probably similar to all the FIRST email blasts that appear here.

I like this idea. It's far better than screaming 'FIRST ARE YOU LISTENING' on CD. It's a step in the right direction.

[Leav]

I really like the first comment on the blog regarding the Controller. straight and to the point.

I really would like to know more about their deployment plan for the new controller...

1. Unveiling at CMP
2. Beta Testing
3. ???
4. Profit! er... KickOff!

is there something there at #3? pre shipping to teams? online seminars? Gamma Testing??

-Leav

[Steve W]

Let's give FIRST a chance. I have posted questions relating to discussions in the Michigan thread. We will see about responses. I found that I got quick responses from the Q&A last year so I hope for the best.

[Steve W]

Here we are a week later and no response to my questions. It seems that they still don't want to talk about certain things or even acknowledge that they received the post. Even an email saying that they did not want to discuss would be better than silence.

[fuzzy1718]

Where did you post, it isn't showing up anywhere on Bill's place

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1718

Where did you post, it isn't showing up anywhere on Bill's place

All posts are hidden until approved by a moderator.

I was just contacted via email from Manchester. It seems that there was an IT glitch in which posts were lost. If anyone else has not had a response from last week, that may be the issue. I was notified because someone saw my name on the post before it disappeared. I have been asked to repost. I will see what happens.


On a side note, I for one have been bashing FIRST without thinking. There are many dedicated people that work in Manchester that are working hard for little, to make FIRST as good as it is. To them, I am sorry if I come off a bit harsh and I/we really want to give a big thanks to you for all of your efforts. I will try and be a bit more selective IF I sling any more stones.

[Steve W]

It seems that right now that comments can be seen after posting. I posted in the Michigan thread and it is visible to others. I guess some of the areas are treated differently than others.

[Greg Needel]

I like the idea of having a blog but why are they using forum software to do it. Word press would take like 10mins to set up and would be much more user friendly.

A for effort. C for implementation.

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

I like the idea of having a blog but why are they using forum software to do it. Word press would take like 10mins to set up and would be much more user friendly.

A for effort. C for implementation.

vBulletin has a Blog feature built in .. not sure why they wouldn't use that either.

[Steve W]

Well I posted just over a week ago and there is still no response from Bill or FIRST. Should I be surprised? Bill's last logon date was yesterday at 4:30 so he is checking the posts.

[Nate Smith]

Originally Posted by Steve W

Well I posted just over a week ago and there is still no response from Bill or FIRST. Should I be surprised?.

Originally Posted by Bill's Place Introduction

I won’t be able to reply to everyone directly... but I will read your comments and answer as many questions as I can in future blog entries.

My guess, based on the above quote and the fact that for a short time, the same blog post was listed twice on the page, is that they have a number of blog posts ready to go already. They are probably just using copy/paste to post the correct information for each day. So, you need to keep in mind that they most likely have a list of waiting information to get out through the blog first, and they may have not worked out their planning enough to have answers to all of the questions being asked yet(not saying this is the case for your questions, Steve...don't even remember off hand what you asked). Give them time, I'm sure they will get around to answering everything. I know from dealing with a couple people from the FIRST office a lot lately that there is a LOT going on there right now, and I have a feeling that the blog is somewhat low on the priority list right now.

Just some things to keep in mind...