pic: Districts in Minnesota Flyer

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Sean Schuff

Conversations regarding districts in Wisconsin have been going on for years among a variety of key stakeholders from both within and beyond our borders. There are benefits and drawbacks to both regional and district models and anyone can make a compelling argument for which side of the fence they fall on. Which is better will always remain a matter of opinion.

Beyond these details, there is a plan of action being implemented by the Wisconsin FIRST EAB to expand participation in FIRST programs in the state. Lessons have been learned from the rapid expansion in Minnesota and we are working on a system that will mitigate some of the issues associated with those types of growing pains. Districts have been and will continue to be part of the discussion.

The key stakeholders are the teams. They are the customer and all decisions affect them. So I would have to argue that Wisconsin has not been in discussions for a number of years with key stakeholders because the teams have not been notified of said discussions.

If any region is seriously considering moving to districts, and I believe all should, the teams need to be notified and kept abreast of the situation. And when those in charge feel road blocks or issues arise the teams need to know about them, especially if it is something as trivial as "need more volunteers". Each team has mentors on it from all different professional backgrounds and have knowledge and experience that needs to be taken advantage of to move FIRST into a better future.

I believe that this flyer is a great resource to do that. Does it have all the information from both sides? Of course not, no one would read it and it would be to jumbled a mess. But it does get the conversation started, and gets the word out about what districts can mean for low income teams. If it motivates people to contact their RPC and get more involved or start volunteering than this flyer and other like it are a huge success.

Semi secret meetings about the future of FIRST in regions benefits no one and especially those that you feel you are helping, the CUSTOMER.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Semi secret meetings about the future of FIRST in regions benefits no one and especially those that you feel you are helping, the CUSTOMER.

Back in 2012, lead mentors go this email from FIRST CA RD's

Hello FRC Team Leaders,

Welcome back to another school year and another season of FIRST Robotics. Jim Beck and I, along with the rest of the Regional Directors, had a very productive and informative meeting in June back at FIRST headquarters in Manchester. FIRST has completed a very comprehensive strategic plan which provides many new opportunities and challenges for us all. One of these, which has an effect on all of us, is the FRC competition model. As many of you know, Michigan has piloted a district competition model for the last few years as well as the Mid-Atlantic Region last year. This ‘District’ type model has proven effective and is one that FIRST would like to see more regions adopt moving forward, with the hopes that all areas meeting the qualifications will follow this model in the future.

California, which has the largest concentration of FIRST teams in the nation, is being considered by FIRST to adopt this model sooner than later. It is anticipated that we will present a California model to FIRST based closely on the current district model in the near future. That being said, there is no doubt that this is going to take a lot of effort on everyone’s part but it is certainly the hope that once adopted a California model will allow for more robot play ,with less travel and thus lowering the cost and improving the overall experience of FRC for California teams.

We know that there are and will be many questions as we consider this model and this is why we have asked FIRST headquarters to come out and present to all of the California teams. The presentation will be conducted by Roseann Stevens - VP of Field Operations, Steve Chism - SVP/CAO and Andrea Winegar - National Grants Program Manager and will cover what this model looks like, what next steps are and any questions you may have. In an effort to accommodate all the teams, we will be holding the same presentation in four cities throughout the state (San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego).

We are inviting up to three adult members from each California team to attend one of the four presentations. It will be up to you to determine which of the four locations will work best for you to attend. We would really like to see representation from each team so please make every effort to have at least one representative from your team attend one of the presentations. Below you will find the date, time and location for each presentation. Please click on the link below and fill out the quick form to let us know who will be attending from your team and which location you intend to attend we would greatly appreciate it for planning purposes.

Should you have any question please do not hesitate to contact Jim Beck in Northern California, [snip] or David Berggren in Southern California, [snip]. We are very excited about the future of FRC in California and the California FRC model, and look forward to seeing all of you at the presentations. Thank you.

I attended this meeting near Sacramento in October 2012.

Not a lot has happened since then (that I'm aware of), and even less has been communicated to teams regarding future plans.

No one has told me we need more volunteers, more venues, or more funding for anything on the horizon in CA FIRST's plans.

If CA switches, we'll host an event. I already offered to our RD's to host the Sac Regional in 2017 since we're leaving UC Davis (to expensive!), but haven't heard back. We hosted CCC 2015 at our school fairly easily this past fall. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to host an event.

Personally, I don't want to fight for districts in CA with RD's who might loose their jobs if/when we make the switch. I'll let someone else wade into that mire.

Until CA FIRST says "here's what we are planning, here's what we need, who can help?", I'll continue to put my time and energy towards helping people who are receptive to my input. 1678 and our 24 new FLL teams in Davis (soon to transition to Vex IQ!) is not a bad place to start.

The sad part is, I want districts for every other team in CA, not my own. We have all our competition fee's covered by one sponsor, so three events in NorCal for $13,000 isn't too bad for us. It's the rest of the teams we play with that suffer under this outdated system, where hundreds of thousands of dollars that should go to STEM get burned on Union A/V crews and expensive venues.

Wake up sheeple!

-Mike

[bduddy]

^ Was there no announcement about districts at SVR this year? I left early...

There have been vague announcements a couple times in the past. My joke was that this year was the 5th annual 2nd-to-last SVR ever.

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by bduddy

^ Was there no announcement about districts at SVR this year? I left early...

There have been vague announcements a couple times in the past. My joke was that this year was the 5th annual 2nd-to-last SVR ever.

Not that I heard, nothing said during any of the major ceremonies, although I may be wrong.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by frcguy

Not that I heard, nothing said during any of the major ceremonies, although I may be wrong.

I didn't hear anything either.

I think Jim floated plans for a "state championship", "North vs. South" style at one of the 2015 offseason events. Was it at Chezy Champs?

Hard to remember these things when you get old!

Nothing about a potential state championship has been communicated to teams via email.

-Mike