In MN, the PDP for FLL (all types), and FTC is High Tech Kids (HTK). They’ve been the PDP for FLL since the pilot season in 98 or 99. In 2014 or so they picked up FTC from the previous PDP.
- How satisfied are you with your PDP?
HTK is extremely well run from a volunteer perspective. Since I started volunteering for them as a student in 2010, they have done in my opinion an excellent job of running events and supporting teams. I would say I am extremely satisfied with them.
- Has your PDP improved over time?
Absolutely. I’ll talk about this more in the feedback section, but I think one of the greatest assets of theirs is a willingness to listen to volunteer and team feedback, and quickly incorporate improvements into program. Thinking specifically about FTC, when they took over that, the events were relatively high quality, but also had a lot of rough edges to smooth out. Comparing them to 2019/2020 events, its clear to me that the quality, access, and experience at events has improved considerably. They’ve also taken steps to improve many of the things around events-- trainings, team communication and creating a good sense of community.
- How well has your PDP handled COVID-19 so far?
They did an excellent job of transitioning to a remote event format that was as well run as their in-person events, taking guidance from previous remote offseasons and their volunteers to provide what in my opinion was basically as high of a quality of event as could be done given the circumstances. I have confidence that regardless of what the 2021-22 season throws at us, they will run safe and high quality events in whatever format we need to run them in. When there became an opportunity for live offseasons this summer, they did a good job of communicating that to team mentors.
- Do you feel like your PDP puts on the best events that they can?
I think there is always room for improvement, but their event quality is in my opinion defined by a constant effort to improve and streamline both the volunteer and team experiences. Despite already having well-run events, they’ve taken every opportunity to consolidate and implement volunteer and team feedback to improve events, from stuff as minor as how judging rooms and volunteer lounges are set up to field and event logistical changes.
- How does your PDP communicate with teams?
In general through email (newsletter and directly), though some communication has been via event discord, and HTK staff participate in the MN FTC Mentor slack (we don’t expect them to be there, but we’re happy they are!)
- How well does your PDP communicate?
In general, I feel like I always see a timely email to their mailing list(s) whenever it is appropriate to communicate a decision, upcoming events, et cetera. Occasionally something slips through the cracks, but that’s fairly understandable in any organization, and seems to be a genuine mistake when it does, not deliberately keeping things from the community. I don’t actually remember the last time I felt like their communication was inadequate.
- How receptive to feedback is your PDP, and does your PDP have an official channel through which to provide feedback?
Regardless of how experienced or new the volunteer or team is. I’ve been able to have constructive conversations with them not only now, when I’m a professional with a career, but also when I was a student, and then a college student. I’ve seen them take feedback from people that were brand new to the program or their roles, and if it made sense, flip it on almost immediately. I think one of the biggest things as a volunteer for them is that I feel like volunteers are trusted-- that they genuinely believe that their volunteers are there for the right reasons and want to help improve their events. I am amazed at how diplomatic and effective they are when expectations don’t align with reality for volunteers and teams.
- Does your PDP host training events?
Yes, for all the programs they support, primarily for mentors. They also support team training events and training sessions at kickoff. They also host many well-run volunteer training events in a normal year.
- How transparent is your PDP about their decision making process?
I would say that in some areas they are extremely transparent, but in others they are less so. In general, for things that directly and publicly affect teams, I think they’ve done a very good job of communicating how and why decisions are made to teams. I was very impressed by the clarity they offered as we entered the 2020-21 season about how things were proceeding. I will say that I think I’m more plugged in than most to the MN FTC scene, so my opinion here is probably colored by that.
- Do you know what the roles and responsibilities of your PDP are?
Honestly I’m not 100% clear on this. They run events, organize and support various team support efforts.
- Do you feel confident that an issue would be resolved if brought to your PDP?
Absolutely.
- Do you feel you have equitable access to your PDP’s time?
I am continually impressed by how much the staff of HTK seem to genuinely care about the programs they run, and make themselves available both during and outside of events. I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate to judge them on my perceived access since I’ve been around a while. I think the measure of their success in this aspect is the access that a new team or volunteer gets if they reach out, and in my opinion both when that was me, and with the people I’ve observed, they are very good at being accessible and respectful to those people.
- Do you feel you can discuss concerns with your PDP without fear of repercussions? (i.e. blacklisting as a volunteer, punished by not receiving awards, etc.)
Absolutely. I’ve always felt that teams that have brought concerns to them have been treated fairly, most impressively even when the teams or team members didn’t necessarily behave in the most kind or appropriate manner. And this is having observed a lot of team-HTK and volunteer-HTK interactions over the years.
I have an immense amount of respect for HTK as an organization and everyone that works there. That respect has been earned through years of competence, effectiveness, and kindness. Thank you Cheryl, Jeannie, Vicki, Barb, and Norm for running a fantastic set of programs.
