FIRST Media Blitz

FIRST General Forum
1

With just a few days to go before the Championship Event, I think now would be an appropriate time to spread the word of FIRST.

Most news websites have a tips form or email address. I think a worthy challenge is to try and get FIRST in the “Top Stories” section of Google News, which uses a computer algorithm to determine which stories are displayed on its page.

What you can do
Specifically, you can contact each news site below with a blurb about the FIRST Championship event. I’d encourage you to write your own blurb about what FIRST means to you, as long as you include these details:

What: International Robotics Competition with teams from around the world competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST LEGO League.

When: April 24-27, 2013

Where: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri

Link: http://championship.usfirst.org/

In addition
Contact local newspapers, news channels, etc. This is a human interest story, so if you have a local team competing at the Championship event, spin your tip around that.

Also, if you think you’ve written a particularly good blurb, post it in this thread. It can give the rest of us ideas. You can also post links to tips pages on news sites that I’ve missed.

Lastly, if you find articles about FIRST from this effort, post them here as well!

News Tips Pages
CNN - http://www.cnn.com/feedback/show/?s=storyidea

FOX News - http://help.foxnews.com/entries/500736-Where-can-I-send-story-questions-corrections-or-news-tips-

NBC News - http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18616878/ns/community-firstperson/t/breaking-news-are-you-scene/#.UXMG7Jw3kbw

ABC News - http://abcnews.go.com/WN/mailform?id=10691207

Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/contact/pop/

2

Great idea! Community stories alongside FIRST’s official invitations should definitely help convince the news outlets to come by.

Done!

3

This is what I’ve sent to media tips pages:

April 24-27 will be the FIRST Championship Event, an international robotics competition where teams from around the world will compete in several events, including the FIRST Robotics Competition, the FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST LEGO League.

The event is held in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis Missouri and is free to the public.

http://championship.usfirst.org/

The FIRST Championship Event is known as the Superbowl of Smarts. In the championship FIRST Robotics Competition, 400 of the best high school robotics teams from around the world will compete to win in this year’s game, Ultimate Ascent. These teams compete with robots that are up to 7 feet tall, and may weigh as much as 150 lbs.

The objective of this year’s game is to score frisbees into goals, and to climb a pyramid for bonus points. Teams had 6 weeks to build robots to compete in this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itHNW2OFr4Y

To the local media:

10 Indiana teams are going to compete in the international FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Event, April 24-27 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. The Event is free to the public.

400 of the world’s best robotics teams in the FIRST Robotics Competition are invited, an alliance of 3 will be crowned this year’s champions.

Each team had 6 weeks to build a robot that can be up to 7 feet tall and weigh as much as 150lbs. This year’s game is called Ultimate Ascent, robots throw frisbees into goals to score points, and climb pyramids for bonus points.

http://championship.usfirst.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itHNW2OFr4Y

Teams from Indiana include:
…

I’ll probably ping them again on Wednesday, with links to the webcasts.
Thanks to those that have already done this!