New CRIO in the KOP next year?

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by billbo911

Weekend??? Try two to three weeks, or more. (I know that would be unrealistic to expect, but it would really give a good feel for reality.)

Adam, this is a fantastic idea!!! My concern is that the Board Of Directors / Executive Advisory Board would spend that time with many of the big name, well established, fully funded teams. That is well and good, but by no means represents the vast majority of the FIRST community. If we want them to see the full impact of making decisions, they need to observe the full range of teams that exist in FIRST. From the teams that are able to build two fully functional robots per year (one practice, one competition) to the teams that can barley get the KOP bot built and running in six weeks.

Be very careful what you ask for. Because we (the teams) will end up paying for it.

It sounds like as FIRST has grown, it has fallen victim to the same mentality that large corporations in the US have. More specifically, the most problematic issue facing many of these companies today:

The 'management' believes that people can not be promoted internally to take leadership positions, and that oversite boards have to be "hired" from executives "at large". That boards of directors can be built from random personnel not suited or experienced in that business, or people who have very little stake in the success of that company.

I never understood why people in any particular industry would believe that someone from another industry, just because he has the word "Director" or "Manager" next to his name, would make a more effecitive employee and be worth more than someone who worked up through the ranks.

Why is FIRST's governing body not made of active Woodie Flowers Award winners?