DoD Sponsorship of FIRST

[ebarker]

I'm just reading tea leaves here. There are several things going on from my observations. There are discussions related to support of FIRST programs and there is efforts that Dean mentioned regarding creating a national brand awareness campaign like the Girls Scouts does.

DOD and the DOD contractors (and others) are very interested in getting on board. It just take time. Sometimes a LONG time. The military is rapidly moving toward robotics platforms for land, sea, and air.

IMHO DOD gets value at Nascar (recruitment) and they will get value at FIRST as soon as they can figure out how to get it done. I met some DOD related people in Atlanta last year. They know we are here.

It would be good to see teams funded in a similiar fashion as NASA teams.

I was basically suggesting that we wait until the announcement from FIRST come out regarding the partnerships Paul Gudonis and Dean Kamen mentioned come out.