Blog Date:
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - 11:16
We’re going to try something new over the next few months. In the ‘Frank Answers Fridays’ feature, individuals will be able to email me questions about FRC, and I’ll pick one to answer on Friday in the blog. Depending on the number of good questions I get in, and my availability, I may not be answering a question every Friday, but that’s the goal. If this feature proves popular, we’ll keep it for a while. If not, we’ll consider it a lesson learned and shut it down. Even if this feature is popular over the summer, we may shut it down at some point over the fall and during the season, simply because there’s usually so much else to talk about in the blog during those periods. In this circumstance, we may bring it back again after the 2014 FIRST Championship.
You can email your good question to [email protected]. A ‘good’ question is one that has broad applicability to the FRC program, addresses a key issue, and is well thought out. Don’t shy away from hard questions, I like answering those because it often means we’re talking about something important. When you send in your question, please include your name, team number, and where your team is from. This makes it easier for me to imagine a real person on the other end of the email, and anonymity is usually used by individuals fearing some kind of reprisal, which there won’t be from FIRST , and shouldn’t be from the broader FIRST community. Your name, team number, and where you are from will be included when we post your question and the response.
That email address is open now, so please start sending in questions! And please note, although I’m happy to answer your good program related questions within this new feature, you should still continue to rely upon [email protected] as your primary point of contact for any specific team-related questions and concerns. Our wonderful Operations team stands ready (as always!) to help with anything customer-service related.
By the way, this feature is another ‘something new’ suggested by one of our fine FRC Staffers, who also came up with the name.
I’ll blog again soon.
Frank
I love FIRST’s new openness approach. Do you think this will hold?
Awesome idea. I sent in a question, hopefully they make some kind of “queue” for good questions, just because I have a feeling there will be a lot of good questions in the first few days.
Frank exists. There was a little issue affecting one student at the Championship getting an exception to a safety rule in place. A question was sent up the chain, after brainstorming with the student what they should have done better to prepare. The student learned to take responsibility.
Frank stopped me in the pit to clarify the answer that he had already taken care of. Just by chance the student happened to be nearby.
It was one of those instances where the stars aligned, questions got answered, there was no drama. Getting things done.
I did see him throughout the championship, but he was usually a blur in motion.
If you don’t mind sharing, what was the safety issue? I’m not trying to pry into the student’s life, but curious as to what an exception might be needed for because nothing is currently coming to mind.
