Competition and Jealousy

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by lineskier

Currently "collaboration" in FIRST is synonymous with identical or mass produced. Imagine if collaboration was more working to accomplish a feat that could not be done individually.

Actually there are lots of people with a different interpretation.

Five years ago a group of teams banded together and called themselves the Baltimore Area Alliance (BAA). They have a mission statement, use of a 501(c)3, a treasurer and a facilitator. Reps meet on a regular basis. They do some joint fundraising. This year they had enough funding to give out grants to teams who applied (including a rookie who was not in the Baltimore area). This year they built a field. They hold a day of workshops in the fall open to any team.

And for the 4th year they are putting on a successful and fun off-season event, the Battle O'Baltimore. http://www.battleobaltimore.com/
Having around 10 teams band together to put on a competition is a great team builder on every level and would be difficult if done by an individual team in this area. They do a fine job.

These teams all compete against each other and build different robots. But they try to share ideas, concerns and resources.