2008 / 2009 President's Circle

I've been patiently waiting for something new on the FIRST World Tube YouTube site that would indicate the beginning of the 2008 President's Circle. As you may recall, my daughter and I made a video for the 2007 President's Circle, and we were initially invited to be part of their group, however I guess since we did it independent of our FRC team we were not eligible.

No worries, we'll do it again this year, 'cause you know that I am hugely into promoting FIRST.

Well, just for the heck of it, yesterday I went to the US FIRST website, to see what was new. It looks like they've posted the particulars for the new President's Circle, but didn't post it on YouTube. So, if you're waiting for a video on YouTube describing the President's Circle, the details are on the FIRST website.

Here's the details:

This year’s challenge asks you to put the power of advertising to work for FIRST. Here’s how it works:

Develop an Internet Ad

• Teams should develop a 30 or 60-second video/TV ad that will persuade students to start a FIRST team. What do you think is the right message to convince students to start FIRST teams?
• Your ad should be targeted to the audience you’re trying to persuade to start a FIRST team. For example, if you’re an FLL team, target your ad to FLL-age kids; FRC teams target their ad towards high-school students, etc.

Post Your Ad on the FIRST You Tube Channel by November 1, 2008

• Please title it “ Team 2008 President’s Circle” (please include your program and team number in the title of the ad, e.g. "FRC Team 5017 2008 President’s Circle").

Get Your Ad Placed Everywhere

• Work with local broadcast media to get your ad placed as Public Service Announcements (PSAs).
• Be creative in getting your ad as much exposure and visibility as possible.
• More visibility means more new FIRST teams.
• A panel of FIRST judges will decide the best video/TV ads.

The winning videos will be announced and shown at the 2009 FRC Kickoff on Saturday, January 3.

And it doesn't look like the winners get to go to Dean's house this year... Oh well, maybe next year.