Host a Townhall Meeting
In 2011, Frog Force hosted our community's first "Novi Robotics" townhall-style meeting. We set up 50 chairs in the meeting room at our local library, filled the room with robots and waited hopefully for a few people to arrive. Imagine our surprise when over 200 people showed up! Novi police had to lend a hand with the traffic and we quickly adapted our agenda into split sessions as the room wouldn't hold the crowd. Over 140 students became members of Novi FIRST teams as a result of that meeting yielding 5 FTC teams and 7 FLL teams. We were also able to add to the Frog Force ranks as well.
We knew we had something here! Our townhall-style meeting was repeated in communities around our state such as Traverse City, Mount Pleasant, Plymouth/Canton, and Bloomfield Hills. We've shared our planning resources, answered questions and provided robots for demos at these events. Many new teams have formed as a result further strengthening the presence of FIRST in these communities and in our state.
Examples of our planning resources are available below and can be adapted for use by your community. This includes our innovative team kit rental program where teams can reduce their season costs by renting their kit of parts from us. This approach keeps these kit of parts "in play" enabling more youth to have the meaningful STEM experience that FIRST programs provide.
In return, we'd love to hear about your event, especially feedback and suggestions to fine tune the process. Email frogforce@frogforce503.org with questions or to provide information about your event.
