How do I help my area move to districts?

[Nate Laverdure]

It's quite amazing how far the document diverges from the one published by GuamFIRST. I compared the two documents so you can see for yourself-- it's almost eerie how the two letters have the same format but vastly different messages. Not half as destructive or offensive. Great job GuamFIRST!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

It's quite amazing how far the document diverges from the one published by GuamFIRST. I compared the two documents so you can see for yourself-- it's almost eerie how the two letters have the same format but vastly different messages. Not half as destructive or offensive. Great job GuamFIRST!

Nate,
I disagree, the messages are almost identical down to the actual wording.

Happily, when students graduate from teams and/or from college, they often want to give back to
the FRC program!
With the growth of FIRST Programs in Minnesota, many students are graduating from teams
and/or from college and wanting to give back to the FRC program.

GuamFIRST staffs our events with people who volunteer often and energetically.
DO volunteer often and energetically.

In your personal communications (including social media), maintain an awareness of how
your voice may be heard by your audience.
When not at an event, be aware that everything you do reflects
on FIRST. This is especially true with social media – Tweets, posts, or blogs can easily cause
issues for volunteers. Stay positive, think about how your post will be perceived,

It is just written in different style because it was written by a different person. It is the same message.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Nate,
I disagree, the messages are almost identical down to the actual wording.

Happily, when students graduate from teams and/or from college, they often want to give back to
the FRC program!
With the growth of FIRST Programs in Minnesota, many students are graduating from teams
and/or from college and wanting to give back to the FRC program.

GuamFIRST staffs our events with people who volunteer often and energetically.
DO volunteer often and energetically.

In your personal communications (including social media), maintain an awareness of how
your voice may be heard by your audience.
When not at an event, be aware that everything you do reflects
on FIRST. This is especially true with social media – Tweets, posts, or blogs can easily cause
issues for volunteers. Stay positive, think about how your post will be perceived,

It is just written in different style because it was written by a different person. It is the same message.

I respectfully disagree. Only one of those documents makes me want to volunteer.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Nate,
I disagree, the messages are almost identical down to the actual wording.

Happily, when students graduate from teams and/or from college, they often want to give back to
the FRC program!
With the growth of FIRST Programs in Minnesota, many students are graduating from teams
and/or from college and wanting to give back to the FRC program.

GuamFIRST staffs our events with people who volunteer often and energetically.
DO volunteer often and energetically.

In your personal communications (including social media), maintain an awareness of how
your voice may be heard by your audience.
When not at an event, be aware that everything you do reflects
on FIRST. This is especially true with social media – Tweets, posts, or blogs can easily cause
issues for volunteers. Stay positive, think about how your post will be perceived,

It is just written in different style because it was written by a different person. It is the same message.

Yes, they are different styles. One of which is vaguely insulting. The other is more encouraging.

More bees with honey than vinegar.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Nate,
I disagree, the messages are almost identical down to the actual wording.

...

It is just written in different style because it was written by a different person. It is the same message.

The message may be the same, but the presentations are completely different; night and day. Two salesmen can present the same pitch for the same exact product and get drastically different results.

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

GuamFIRST staffs our events with people who volunteer often and energetically.
DO volunteer often and energetically.

GuamFIRST: Tells me waht they look for and how they staff their events. Insiteful!
Minnesota: Tells me how I should volunteer. You don't know my journey, Minnesota.

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

In your personal communications (including social media), maintain an awareness of how
your voice may be heard by your audience.
When not at an event, be aware that everything you do reflects
on FIRST. This is especially true with social media – Tweets, posts, or blogs can easily cause
issues for volunteers. Stay positive, think about how your post will be perceived,

GuamFIRST: Reminds me that as a volunteer, a represent the community, and people will look up to me.
Minnesota: Scares the $#!& out of me by guilt-tripping me into not making a social blunder, because "they're always watching!!!".

HUGE tone differences.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

It's quite amazing how far the document diverges from the one published by GuamFIRST. I compared the two documents so you can see for yourself-- it's almost eerie how the two letters have the same format but vastly different messages. Not half as destructive or offensive. Great job GuamFIRST!

3Spooky5Me!

So now that this thread has brought to light the falseness of Minnesota's "lack of volunteers" problem, are there any actual problems preventing Minnesota from transitioning to districts??? The last two threads I read about MN and Districts, this was unequivocally the primary/only problem cited by many individuals. Argument doesn't look so strong now.

[dag0620]

From an outsider's perspective: One problem I think MN has is that the entire state is run by one RPC. Most other districts took several RPCs, and combined them, allowing for a wealth of expertise. Unless MN starts to divy up the load on to more planning committees before the switch, the transition in that regard could be rough.

Getting the volunteer base is a struggle every district goes through, but having to grow planning committees by 10 in the first year isn't.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

It's quite amazing how far the document diverges from the one published by GuamFIRST. I compared the two documents so you can see for yourself-- it's almost eerie how the two letters have the same format but vastly different messages. Not half as destructive or offensive. Great job GuamFIRST!

I'm obviously not picking up on what people are seeing as "destructive or offensive" about the document supposedly* published by MN FIRST. The two letters look to me like they have exactly the same message. The only substantial difference in style I see is that one is written in an active and instructional form, while the other is more passive and conversational. If I were just starting out as a possible volunteer, I know I would appreciate the specific guidance of the first one more.



* It was presented here as second-hand information, and I don't see a reference to it on the mnfirst web site.

[Lil' Lavery]

Considering the letter discussion has continued to dominate this thread (to my dismay), I do have a question. How was the letter published/distributed? Was it posted on a MN FIRST website for prospective volunteers? Was it e-mailed to all volunteers on the VC's list? Was it emailed to a specific group of volunteers? Was it released for public consumption at all?

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Considering the letter discussion has continued to dominate this thread (to my dismay), I do have a question. How was the letter published/distributed? Was it posted on a MN FIRST website for prospective volunteers? Was it e-mailed to all volunteers on the VC's list? Was it emailed to a specific group of volunteers? Was it released for public consumption at all?

Ryan explained the context in full here. Although I know GOFIRST members and participated in GOFIRST's Ri3d, this thread was my first time seeing the letter.

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Considering the letter discussion has continued to dominate this thread (to my dismay), I do have a question. How was the letter published/distributed? Was it posted on a MN FIRST website for prospective volunteers? Was it e-mailed to all volunteers on the VC's list? Was it emailed to a specific group of volunteers? Was it released for public consumption at all?

I invite any members of GOFIRST who were actually attending the presentation this was distributed at to give a first hand account of what happened. I've seen a few of these members describing what happened on other social media platforms but seem to be afraid of posing here lest they be crucified, which is exactly the problem at hand.

The issue isn't specifically volunteering. These kids just want to get involved and have their voice heard on the directon Minnesota is going. Volunteering is simply the avenue they have of being involved. This document, along with the general culture, has implied to them that if they voice views that don't agree with the leadership, their only method of getting involved (volunteering) will be relegated to more menial roles.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

...The only substantial difference in style I see is that one is written in an active and instructional form, while the other is more passive and conversational. If I were just starting out as a possible volunteer, I know I would appreciate the specific guidance of the first one more.

If you have not done so, please read my previous post #75.

I think the biggest tone difference between the two that particularly strikes a negative cord with the college aged audience is in the following passage:

...Many of these students are motivated to pursue specific volunteer goals – they
want to be an FTA, or a Head Ref, or an LRI, or an MC or Game Announcer. When we connect
with these passionate people who desire to be a Key Volunteer, GuamFIRST works to advance
them towards their goals by helping them form into mature and experienced volunteers, often over
several years of development. GuamFIRST has provided this document as a guide for
understanding our volunteer advancement program.

...Many of these students have specific volunteer goals – they want to be an FTA, or a Head Ref, or an LRI, or an MC or Game Announcer. These Key Volunteer positions take a mature, experienced volunteer, and will take at least several years to work towards. Use this document as a guide as you work towards your volunteer goals!

GuamFIRST: We will help you get to where you want to be.
Minnesota: You're not mature enough yet, but if you work toward it, maybe you might be some day.
College kids LOVE to hear that one!

You have to be blind as a bat to miss this one.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

GuamFIRST: We will help you get to where you want to be.
Minnesota: You're not mature enough yet, but if you work toward it, maybe you might be some day.
College kids LOVE to hear that one!

You have to be blind as a bat to miss this one.

Color me blind, then. I don't see the Minnesota document accusing anyone of not being mature. They both set the expectation of maturity. The Guam one just surrounds it with many more words, and softens it by saying "often over several years" rather than "will take at least several years".

[Ginger Power]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

While many posters, presenting themselves as knowledgeable students in Minnesota, are arguing that the Minnesota committee is preventing a move to districts, you are not in position to know what the committee is doing. You have no knowledge of what it takes to move to districts, the restrictions placed on the committee by FIRST, the state and local jurisdictions, the financial needs or the on the demands for volunteers, including local committees. If you think that the committee is doing a bad job, I would point to the explosive growth in Minnesota, now at 208 teams. I would point to four regional events serving well over 50 teams at each event.

I don't believe I'm one of those students who has said that the Minnesota Committee is preventing a move to districts. I know for sure that I'm not one of those students who believes the Minnesota Committee is doing a bad job, to the contrary, I believe they've done a great job as evidenced by some facts you reference.

I would, however, like to be in a position to know what the committee is doing. Their decisions affect my involvement with FIRST, and the involvement of everybody else in Minnesota.

You are mostly correct in stating that I have no knowledge "of what it takes to move to districts, the restrictions placed on the committee by FIRST, the state and local jurisdictions, the financial needs or the on the demands for volunteers, including local committees." I say mostly correct because I do have some knowledge, but not nearly enough. I think everyone in the state would benefit from having a broad knowledge of the situation that MN FIRST is dealing with. There is no reason, that I can see, that would make secrecy a requirement.

If the general population has a broad understanding of the situation, we will be more equipped to help. If we understand what is going wrong, we can become a part of the solutuon. If the general public understands the issues, we can provide accurate, and educated feedback with an understanding for how difficult some issues are.

The fact is, people don't understand how the transition to districts will work, nor the problems associated with such a transition. Once that problem is resolved, we can start making real change happen.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

It is rare to find someone who is still in college or recently entering the workforce to be able to handle the stress and demands of any Key Volunteer position. It is actually hard to find that in someone who has been around for years.

In Ontario the large majority of key volunteers (FTA, LRI, Head Ref) are either a college students or have recently entered the workforce. These folks are some of the best volunteers I have ever encountered in all of FRC. I was just at the UMass-Dartmouth district event where I was blown away by the energy and skill displayed by the young volunteers working the event. In addition, I'm responsible for recruiting our key volunteers for VEX Worlds. 39 of our 73 key volunteers (MC/Announcers, Field Techs, Head Refs) are FRC alums in university or have recently entered the workforce. FRC alumni are a passionate and dedicated group who can most easily relate to the pressures that students go through in this program; I have a hard time seeing why anyone wouldn't want to channel the energy and talent these young people bring and use it to sustain and grow their local events.