Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 3/31/99 10:07 AM MST
I just had a thought. We should somehow find a way to get Dean and Woody to check out these forums so they can see the opinions of our many FIRST Infested minds. If they could see what our opinions are mabey it could help this program in many different ways. What do you think?
Good Luck,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne
Posted by Chris, Coach on team #308, Walled Lake Monster, from Walled Lake Schools and TRW Automotive Electronics.
Posted on 3/31/99 11:53 AM MST
In Reply to: We gotta get Dean and Woody in here! posted by Andy Grady on 3/31/99 10:07 AM MST:
I’ve been thinking this myself. How do we go about doing this? An advertising blitz at Nationals? 
: I just had a thought. We should somehow find a way to get Dean and Woody to check out these forums so they can see the opinions of our many FIRST Infested minds. If they could see what our opinions are mabey it could help this program in many different ways. What do you think?
: Good Luck,
: Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne
Posted by Nate Smith, Student on team #74, Holland FIRST Robotics, from Holland High School and Haworth, Inc…
Posted on 3/31/99 12:54 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Of Course! posted by Chris on 3/31/99 11:53 AM MST:
I don’t know personally if they’ve ever wandered in here, but I know some of the other FIRST Staff have been able to…mainly Lori and Eric…
Nate
: : I just had a thought. We should somehow find a way to get Dean and Woody to check out these forums so they can see the opinions of our many FIRST Infested minds. If they could see what our opinions are mabey it could help this program in many different ways. What do you think?
Posted by Bernadette O’Connor, Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.
Posted on 3/31/99 2:36 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Of Course! posted by Nate Smith on 3/31/99 12:54 PM MST:
I bet anything Woody and Dean come in here all the time to see what everyone has to say.They konw whats up!If they want to know what people think about FIRST they know where the action is!!! later
Bernie
Posted by Tom Wible, Coach on team #131, chaos, from central high school manchester and osram-sylvania.
Posted on 3/31/99 3:48 PM MST
In Reply to: We gotta get Dean and Woody in here! posted by Andy Grady on 3/31/99 10:07 AM MST:
What do you guys say to making this discussion forum the OFFICIAL, FIRST website? I mean there is more information here than you can shake a stick at, more timely answers to questions than any other source. I think there should at LEAST be a link to this site on the FIRST website.
I mean a real big link, not just the team homepage link. Like an endorsement of it by FIRST. Seriously, this is where it’s at!!
Tom Wible
Team #131
Posted by Tom D, Engineer on team #75, Robo Raiders, from Hillsborough High School.
Posted on 3/31/99 7:41 PM MST
In Reply to: Proposal posted by Tom Wible on 3/31/99 3:48 PM MST:
: What do you guys say to making this discussion forum the OFFICIAL, FIRST website? I mean there is more information here than you can shake a stick at, more timely answers to questions than any other source. I think there should at LEAST be a link to this site on the FIRST website.
: I mean a real big link, not just the team homepage link. Like an endorsement of it by FIRST. Seriously, this is where it’s at!!
: Tom Wible
: Team #131
I have been directly involved in the competition two years ago, as team leader of a corporate sponsor, where I have had great success and enjoyed it tremendously. I have since been following from a bit of a distance as a spectator, and continue to enjoy every facet of the competition and how this impacts the youth of our nation. The Chief Delphi website does an outstanding job in keeping me up-to-date and informed. I do have to say that FIRST is doing a much better job with their website this year, as last year’s website was a real disappointment, but they cannot compete with your website. The Chief Delphi website is THE BEST, and I would vote to make it the official site for FIRST. Even better, they should partner with you and create a super site. I suspect they know about your site, but they do not seem to acknowledge the many good suggestions and concerns expressed by all of the people writing in. If I had one wish, it would be Dean and Woody to get involved and speak out to address the many concerns and great ideas, and provide us with their insight and wisdom to make this whole experience better for everyone. There is greatness, and yet significant opportunity for even greater things to come.
Posted by Mike Kulibaba, Student on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional and Johnson and Johnson.
Posted on 3/31/99 8:43 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Proposal posted by Tom D on 3/31/99 7:41 PM MST:
This web page is the best of the best!!! I’d vote for it to be the official site also. I go to this web site more times then all my other sites put together. This has some of the best stimulating conversation I can find and it is all about the best thing in the world FIRST. Just to add another point, what else is great is the Robo-Raiders Robot (Team 75)which I had the chance to see in New Jersey. There is no doubt why they and their alliance won the competition because Team 75 had one of the best if not the best robot there!! I hope to see you guys in Florida.
Mike Kulibaba TJ² Team 88
Posted by Mike McIntyre, Coach on team #47 from Pontiac Central HS.
Posted on 3/31/99 9:03 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Proposal posted by Mike Kulibaba on 3/31/99 8:43 PM MST:
Would you folks like us to ask Dean/Woodie/Eric/Brian/Lori…etc. to monitor and respond to one of the forums on this page? We could even give them their own special forum, IF (and this is a big ‘if’) they had the time for it. Maybe set up like a celebrity corner where it wouldn’t have to be all official statements, but rather the kind of informal dialog you get when you stop to speak with one of them at one of the tournaments. Should we try to set it up?
Posted by Jason, Coach on team #252/254, Bay Bombers/Cheesy Poofs, from Broadway High and NASA Ames.
Posted on 4/1/99 7:36 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Proposal for Dean&Woodie? posted by Mike McIntyre on 3/31/99 9:03 PM MST:
Good idea. I’m for it.
Jason
Posted by Nate Smith, Student on team #74, Holland FIRST Robotics, from Holland High School and Haworth, Inc…
Posted on 3/31/99 8:07 PM MST
In Reply to: Proposal posted by Tom Wible on 3/31/99 3:48 PM MST:
: What do you guys say to making this discussion forum the OFFICIAL, FIRST website? I mean there is more information here than you can shake a stick at, more timely answers to questions than any other source. I think there should at LEAST be a link to this site on the FIRST website.
: I mean a real big link, not just the team homepage link. Like an endorsement of it by FIRST. Seriously, this is where it’s at!!
There’s a lot of other sites out there(ours included) that have a similar amount of content on their site. As our team’s web site coordinator, I’ve viewed just about every site in that ‘Team Pages’ list, and some of them have the right idea…it’s just that Chief Delphi has a head start over the rest of us…
So, my proposal is this: with the whole ‘alliance’ thing this year, why not have some sort of collaboration between some of the ‘top’ web site groups, and create a ‘super-site’ for all things FIRST…I’d be more than welcome to share some of my secrets with the group if asked…
What does everyone else think?
Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.
Posted on 4/1/99 8:12 PM MST
In Reply to: View the Competition First posted by Nate Smith on 3/31/99 8:07 PM MST:
My thought is, Every page is unique is some way. Chief Delphi was the first to put a message board system in. Hence they get the majority of hits. (I know I’m here at least 2 times a day)
My other thought is there should really only be one Main message board. If everyone sets up a message board, it will reduce the number of people coming to the main one, (which is this one by default) and this wouldn’t be a good thing.
I like the fact that delphi is the main board for a few reasons.
First and formost. There’re great people. You just have to go and talk to them in Flordia. (Just look for Team #88’s Moe dancing, they won’t be far behind)
Second, from being a webmaster for a school system in it’s internet infancy, The fact that it’s maintained by another team, and that there are no advertisments. That means I don’t have to worry about objectionable material.
Rereading my message, I realize I’m not even answering the question that was posted…
I’d be willing to contribute.
Mike
Posted by Kyle Huang, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Gunn High School and Nasa Ames, Sun Microsystems, Xerox.
Posted on 4/1/99 12:37 PM MST
In Reply to: Proposal posted by Tom Wible on 3/31/99 3:48 PM MST:
: What do you guys say to making this discussion forum the OFFICIAL, FIRST website? I mean there is more information here than you can shake a stick at, more timely answers to questions than any other source. I think there should at LEAST be a link to this site on the FIRST website.
: I mean a real big link, not just the team homepage link. Like an endorsement of it by FIRST. Seriously, this is where it’s at!!
I it is a good idea - to combine the power of the Chief Delphi forum with the official FIRST
web site, but i don’t think its the best idea to MAKE the Chief Delphi site the official
FIRST site. I’m sure a lot of teams (especially rookie teams) don’t know about this forum,
which istruely an asset. But they more than likely know about the FIRST web site, so
combining them would be great. My problem with making this site the official FIRST site,
is that it wouldn’t be fair to all the other teams if one site were chosen over the rest. I
designed the web page for my team, and I know it would be great to have a lot of visitors
to it, but it already can’t compete with the Delphi forum. I’m sure all teams would like
thier pages to be as popular as this one, but if this site was made the official FIRST site,
nobody would stand a chance. I don’t think it would be fair to give preference to one team.
The way I see it, FIRST should just add a forum to thier page, and we can all start using it.
Adding a link on the FIRST page directly to this forum would help. Or a ‘super site’ could be
constructed as well, and I have one thing to say to this - can I design it? =)
Posted by Dan, Student on team #10, BSM, from Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Banner Engineering.
Posted on 4/1/99 4:53 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Proposal posted by Kyle Huang on 4/1/99 12:37 PM MST:
>>>I’m sure all teams would like
thier pages to be as popular as this one, but if this site was made the official FIRST site,
nobody would stand a chance. I don’t think it would be fair to give preference to one team.>>>>
I really don’t think there should be any competition between websites, but more cooperation. I run our team’s page and one of the most valuable parts of it is our picture links section where we have links to all the teams with pictures.
The success of this page doesn’t take away from the rest of ours at all, it may even help since it’s a place to tell folks about your page.
But I have to agree that this shouldn’t be made the official FIRST page. It would give the impression that Chief Delphi is a part of FIRST, and I just don’t see why an official forum wouldn’t be on the official server.
Great page PCHS. :-Dan
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 4/2/99 7:07 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Cooperation not competition posted by Dan on 4/1/99 4:53 PM MST:
I have often thought that FIRST should have a forum page on their site. In fact, when we were having trouble with our web host last year, I was REALLY wishing that they had a forum so that our headaches would be over.
But…
Now I am glad that this is not an official FIRST site. I think that the fact that it is not a official FIRST thing has added to the discussion.
If FIRST is to grow, the FIRST communinity needs to develop relationships that are somewhat free from FIRST influence. While I like Mom and Dad, as I grow up, I need to pick up the phone every once in a while and ask my brothers and sisters how they are doing directly. It is not healthy to have all inter-team communincation pass through FIRST.
As you have seen, we have worked out a number of issues ourselves, right here on these forums. I really think that this is a good and healthy thing.
As to whether the site has to be our site, I don’t have strong feelings about that.
I think we have done a reasonable job in promoting this site, improving it, and keeping it running (both mechanically – fixing software bugs & paying the bills – and metaphysically – keeping the conversation interesting, friendly, and relevant).
If there is a strong feeling that some other host is more appropriate, make a proposal. Perhaps we can come to some agreement on the road ahead.
Joe J.
Posted by Michael Martus, Coach on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central H.S. and Delphi Automotives Systems.
Posted on 3/31/99 8:54 PM MST
In Reply to: We gotta get Dean and Woody in here! posted by Andy Grady on 3/31/99 10:07 AM MST:
FIRST activily monitors these messages and reacts as they see fit.
I can assure you that this is done daily.
I think they are carefully planning their path to present this to the rest of the teams.
Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 3/31/99 9:11 PM MST
In Reply to: We gotta get Dean and Woody in here! posted by Andy Grady on 3/31/99 10:07 AM MST:
This board is definately the best form of communication between team members around. I had (god help us all) another thought. The next best thing is of course a chat room, which this site also happens to have. Now because no one is usually on it, no one usually checks in. What if a certain time could be alotted for people who would like to chat about FIRST to gather in the room. Just a thought, what do you all think?
Cya all later,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne
Posted by Jerry Eckert, Engineer on team #140 from Tyngsboro, MA High School and New England Prototype/Brooks Automation.
Posted on 3/31/99 10:46 PM MST
In Reply to: Yet even another thought!!! (2 in one day, i must be sick) posted by Andy Grady on 3/31/99 9:11 PM MST:
: This board is definately the best form of communication between team members around. I had (god help us all) another thought. The next best thing is of course a chat room, which this site also happens to have. Now because no one is usually on it, no one usually checks in. What if a certain time could be alotted for people who would like to chat about FIRST to gather in the room. Just a thought, what do you all think?
Personally, I would vote against using chat for two reasons:
(1) Chat is transient. Only the people present at the time will be able
to see what is said. If people from FIRST are going to participate,
even if unofficially, I think their words deserve to be be made available
for everyone.
(2) Many of the engineers access the message boards from corporate
systems, which are most likely behind firewalls. Many of these
firewalls are configured to block chat. Even when there are no
technical limitations, corporate policies may prohibit such use.
- JerryPosted by Bethany Dunning, Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.
Posted on 4/1/99 11:45 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Yet even another thought!!! (2 in one day, i must be sick) posted by Jerry Eckert on 3/31/99 10:46 PM MST:
Jerry - I like having a set chat time just for informal, how’s your team doing kind of
stuff. Even this web board isn’t the best for official business, except for things like
looking for parts.
: : This board is definately the best form of communication between team members around. I had (god help us all) another thought. The next best thing is of course a chat room, which this site also happens to have. Now because no one is usually on it, no one usually checks in. What if a certain time could be alotted for people who would like to chat about FIRST to gather in the room. Just a thought, what do you all think?
: Personally, I would vote against using chat for two reasons:
: (1) Chat is transient. Only the people present at the time will be able
: to see what is said. If people from FIRST are going to participate,
: even if unofficially, I think their words deserve to be be made available
: for everyone.
: (2) Many of the engineers access the message boards from corporate
: systems, which are most likely behind firewalls. Many of these
: firewalls are configured to block chat. Even when there are no
: technical limitations, corporate policies may prohibit such use.
: - Jerry
Posted by Jerry Eckert, Engineer on team #140 from Tyngsboro, MA High School and New England Prototype/Brooks Automation.
Posted on 4/1/99 12:08 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Yet even another thought!!! (2 in one day, i must be sick) posted by Bethany Dunning on 4/1/99 11:45 AM MST:
Bethany,
That’s fine and dandy. My comments were specifically in response to
the suggestion that Dean/Woody/FIRST staff participate in the chat
sessions as opposed to posting in the Forum. At least that’s what I
think Andy was suggesting, since his reply was to a thread entitled
‘Let’s get Dean and Woody in here’. This context isn’t clear from
reading my response because Andy changed the subject line when he replied
and the original subject is not captured in the quoting.
Sorry for the confusion.
- Jerry
: Jerry - I like having a set chat time just for informal, how’s your team doing kind of
: stuff. Even this web board isn’t the best for official business, except for things like
: looking for parts.
: : : This board is definately the best form of communication between team members around. I had (god help us all) another thought. The next best thing is of course a chat room, which this site also happens to have. Now because no one is usually on it, no one usually checks in. What if a certain time could be alotted for people who would like to chat about FIRST to gather in the room. Just a thought, what do you all think?
: : Personally, I would vote against using chat for two reasons:
: : (1) Chat is transient. Only the people present at the time will be able
: : to see what is said. If people from FIRST are going to participate,
: : even if unofficially, I think their words deserve to be be made available
: : for everyone.
: : (2) Many of the engineers access the message boards from corporate
: : systems, which are most likely behind firewalls. Many of these
: : firewalls are configured to block chat. Even when there are no
: : technical limitations, corporate policies may prohibit such use.
: : - Jerry
Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 4/1/99 12:30 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Yet even another thought!!! (2 in one day, i must be sick) posted by Jerry Eckert on 4/1/99 12:08 PM MST:
I appologize for the confusion. What I meant was just a time in general for those of us who would be interested in getting some conversations going in the chat room. For instance (and this isn’t actally when) if we all would say something like, 4:00 pm on tuesdays and thursdays would be the time when we could all convene in the room. Of course this isn’t exactly a foil proof method of doing it, but mabey it would give people incentive to go in to the room. Just a thought.
Good Luck all,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne HS