Dissemination of Information From FIRST

[Alan Anderson]

Some corners of the Internet (my workplace among them) block access to blogspot.com as a strict and undebatable policy. As a source of important information, I think Bill's Blog is worse than unofficial. To some, it is unavailable.

The problem isn't necessarily that there are too many places. It's that people aren't using the official place to discuss issues that the official experts can answer. The Chief Delphi forums have a great deal of inertia, and getting its participants to act on the existence of the FIRST equivalent isn't going to happen quickly.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Some corners of the Internet (my workplace among them) block access to blogspot.com as a strict and undebatable policy. As a source of important information, I think Bill's Blog is worse than unofficial. To some, it is unavailable.

The problem isn't necessarily that there are too many places. It's that people aren't using the official place to discuss issues that the official experts can answer. The Chief Delphi forums have a great deal of inertia, and getting its participants to act on the existence of the FIRST equivalent isn't going to happen quickly.

Yup, blocked in our shop. A few times I've asked students to go to it to pull up some information, only to be painfully reminded we have to wait until we go home.

[smurfgirl]

It's also very overwhelming to new members who want to get involved to find out that if they're looking for a particular bit of information, they have to check 8 different sources to find it. While some of us are the type who are going to read everything there is related to FIRST, all the time, knowing that this is necessary to stay on top of all the information can be frustrating and very overwhelming to others. I have seen this push people away from wanting to be involved with strategy, robot design, coaching, etc.

[Jon Stratis]

From what i've seen, Bill's Blog and the Q&A are helpful, but by no means essential. The same goes with a the other available sources of information - helpful, but not necessary.

You can build a robot based solely on the rulebook, official materials (such as the control system documentation) and official team updates, and be just fine. The other resources are available for the occasions where you need clarification of the rules, or need help working with something from the KoP.

That being said, the wide distribution of information is essentially what you see today in industry. If you're designing a machine to build a widget, odds are you'll have to find and obtain information about motors, sensors, gear boxes, and electronics from a wide number of sources. You'll also have a number of internal sources to contend with - marketing, sales, NPP, the engineers that designed the widget, facilities, etc. One of the most frustrating things about starting work at a new company is the severe lack of centralized information to allow you to get your job done. Learning to seek out information and people who can help is a very important skill. When it comes to our work with the robot, either programming or electrical, i generally know everything we need to know for each meeting. But when the students ask me questions, they rarely get a straight answer - It's better that they learn where to go to find their answers instead of relying on me to provide them every time.

[JaneYoung]

If you feel there are problems with the way information is gathered and distributed, develop a better system and suggest it directly to FIRST.

an example: as Jenny stated, NEMO continues to work to find ways to organize information and have it available in a way that makes sense. It is an on-going process.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

If you feel there are problems with the way information is gathered and distributed, develop a better system and suggest it directly to FIRST.

That's the problem... The current system is just like democracy; it's the worst system, except for all the others that have been tried.

I'm not going to propose a system directly, but I'm going to outline some key aspects.

1) Must be made known to all teams. Why? Because Bill's Blog may or may not be known to all teams. CD certainly isn't (we wish it was). The Q&A? Who knows. The only way to get information out to all teams is to use an Email Blast, which is kind of impractical.

2) Must be central. Also known as online. ONE site that isn't blocked much, or can be unblocked by special request, would be preferable. 2-3 at the most.

3) I want to say that you must sign in to access material, but that's going to be hard and I don't think it's a good idea. The reason is so that usage can be tracked. Did team WXYZ check within build season? No? Maybe a nearby team can be contacted to help them. This is also highly impractical.

4) Must link to places to get more information. How many helpful links does CD have? How many times are users referred to a place not on the site?

Maybe one page on the FIRST website, with the Documents and Updates, that lists all the resources available and what they cover; e.g., Control System forum--Control system questions. This too would have its failings; I know I don't read all the documentation! (For example, I don't think I have ever read the Guidelines, Tips, and Good Practices.)

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by EricH

I'm not going to propose a system directly, but I'm going to outline some key aspects.

The post above mine by eagle33199 holds a lot of wisdom and common sense.

And, if this thread was used to gather some in-put/suggestions such as the ones you are mulling over, Eric, that could have positive benefit for the community.

In years past, folks have complained that members of FIRST were not accessible. In my opinion, Bill's Blog is a way of addressing that complaint. It is also another avenue, not the only avenue, for providing information. Chief Delphi is an informal resource and quite frankly, excellent discussion opportunities can often turn into quibbling and useless nattering rather than staying informative and helpful. The Q&A on the FIRST website and the team updates are formal resources and teams should be aware of them. It is true that new teams or teams with poor organizational skillsets can get bogged down and it is great to think of ways to help them. It is also true that teams have to learn to swim on their own at some point. It is always good to think of and develop ways to help the process but in the end, it is up to each mentor to read the manual, the updates, the FIRST website, and to learn about the resources and help direct the team in how to access and use them.

If the resources can not be readily accessed then it is wise to let FIRST know that and what the problems are.

[GaryVoshol]

In the Communications section of the manual (you know, one of those sections no one reads) it mentions Team Updates, Email Blasts and Q&A. They even note that some teams have someone dedicated to keeping track of these sources. Teams are informed if they choose to be informed.

Every year FIRST has evaluations, by written survey or seminars or both, in which teams can give feedback. If you have a better idea about disseminating information, let them know about it.