The voting began today (and runs 7 days) – voting once each day – for a video contest put on by Dow for FIRST teams. Around 70 teams from all levels (FRC, FLL, FTC) made 60 second videos describing some global issue they’d like to be addressed in their lifetimes and how STEM can do it.
There are many interesting ideas, touting the idea that FIRST is more than robots, and that many might follow careers that don’t fit a normal path, but they still gain much from FIRST experience. I encourage watching some of videos teams made, you can find them all here (link)](https://offerpop.com/Contest.psp?c=800469&u=1322040&a=486254294756872&p=739284229435294&rest=0&v=View) – and to vote for the one you like best.
If you want to see the most scientifically accurate one watch ours.
This contest has started to definitely annoy me a bit as most of the entries are either entirely scientifically inaccurate, impossible, or are just mini chairman’s videos and have nothing to do with the competition. The competition has to do with only votes so it’d just a matter of who has a bigger team and Facebook following. Since we do not have either we will inevitably lose. It’s shame that students on our team spent weeks researching ways to make a better water filter and actually came up with something never done before only to be taken out by a Nyan cat video with Shape the world at the end (note said nyan cat video doesn’t exist). Not really thinking through the whole voting thing I hoped we could pay to do our first second regional next year but I guess we will have to find a different way.
At the end of the day you learned something, and that beats Nyan cats any day. You may have to work harder (and smarter) to make that second regional but you’ll be ahead and better than any of the teams relying completely on lazy work.
I hope my team doesn’t fall in that category, but we found this contest and made our video very last minute. You can tell some put more or less thought into it. TBH that isn’t my peeve so much as re-using an unrelated video or not even trying to answer the question asked. I’d love for them next year to award the top 4 in votes and top 4 based on quality criteria to encourage on topic content.
We’d pay for a second regional likely with the grant. And I don’t know if we’ll gain enough votes to compete with bigger teams.
I did enjoy 461’s video. I’m anti-(malaria,dengue,west nile,zika) but also anti-(mosquito genocide), and hope a CRISPR-like modification will eventually diminish the global virus threat from them.
Hello, forum members, and possible onlookers of this thread.
We are Team 4914 from Victoria Park C.I, and we have submitted a video on how STEM can solve a world issue, specifically how 3D printing can solve the world housing shortage.
We have entered our video in the DOW video contest, which will give a $5000 grant to the top for teams. We are in need of this money to help fund our activities and be able to go to and host practice events such as Fall Fiesta(which we hosted), and event that some teams may have been at, for the years following.
Please vote for us, and support a fellow team! You can vote with Facebook at http://bit.ly/22DJbIF , it’ll will only take a few seconds!
Thank you for reading this long post, and please do vote for us. It will make a great difference.
