UFH: Brandon Martus

[Brandon Martus]

Wow.

First off, I need to say thanks to people on Chief Delphi: My dad, Joe Johnson, Mike Aubry, the rest of the coaches, engineers and students. This is their site .. I just make sure it's online. I am very lucky to have been asked to work on this site.

Second .. I was hesitant about letting the UFH committee put me up as the next honoree. I realize that I do a lot for the FIRST online community, but I know that there are so many other more qualified Unsung FIRST Heroes out there that should have been honored before me. Please, please, please go and nominate someone. It only takes a few minutes. UFH is a great program .. it lets people know they are appreciated, and gives them a nice boost to help them continue making a positive impact.

Third .. I have to thank all 6800+ users. Without all of you, I wouldn't be doing this. You keep the discussion going, and I'll make sure the site is here to let that happen.

I do this site, and continue to do this site, for many of the the same reasons you all do FIRST. The students do it to learn and have fun. Without this site, I wouldn't know half as much as I do about programming interactive websites. I was never on a team as a high school student, but I have come away from the FIRST experience with so much new knowledge and many ideas that I use at my job on a daily basis. The coaches, engineers, and other mentors do it to inspire the students and make them to appreciate science and technology. I know that by helping keep this site online, I am helping coaches, mentors and engineers spread their knowlege, ideas and inspiration to so many people around the world (students, coaches, and other engineers).

I owe it to the FIRST community and the awesome users of this site to keep working on this site and making it better. I will do so until someone from Chief Delphi pulls me away from it and tells me to stop.

I abused my unlimited reputation-giving power, and individually replied to most of your thank-you's via that. Check out my responses on your user control panel if you haven't already.

Thank you all again.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Sorry I joined the party late (I've been off CD for 2 weeks 'til today), but congratulations, Brandon!

[Ricky Q.]

Alright Martus, now that you have given it up and replied I'll chime in....When I first got involved in FIRST in 2002 I really had no idea what it was all about. Then one day I stumbled onto ChiefDelphi and its all a blur from there. My FIRST experience has been made whole because of this site. I have learned so much, met so many new friends, and been able to communicate with people who share the same interests that I do. This site is truly the best resource out there for FIRST teams, the information that flows on here is just amazing and I don't know what FIRST would be like without it.

Thanks for all the hard work and effort you put into this, we all appreciate it.

Ricky

[Ryan M.]

Hey, I didn't even notice the new Unsung FIRST hero until today...

Cangratulations, Brandon! You deserve it after all the work you've put into this website. With out you, the FIRST community would still be stuck on their own little forums, limited to only their own to team to ask questions of. I know that everyone out there has been helped many times by what has been said on these boards, and you were the start of it!

Congrats.