2025 FIRST® Community Conference
Last week, the FIRST® in Alabama Program Delivery Partner (PDP) Team (and your friendly new Southern Business Development Manager) traveled all the way to Denver, Colorado, to attend the annual FIRST Community Conference!
This is a business event for Program Delivery Partners to receive training and tips, network with other PDPs from around the world, and get information on all the wonderful things FIRST is updating about its programs. So what did we learn at conference?
There are a lot of surprises for all three programs that we are excited to share... but you'll have to wait until the 2025-2026 FIRST® AGETM presented by Qualcomm season starts to learn them all! What we can share is that FIRST® Tech Challenge in FIRST in Alabama was awarded as the Most Sustainable Small Region! This is something that we are all so proud of here at FIRST in Alabama - and it's a great measure of how our region is doing. Even with our immense growth, we are seeing we aren't losing teams because of that.
I am super excited to see what is upcoming in this season, and a great way to get some hints at what is coming up is the FTC Town Halls! This is a great opportunity for me to drop a friendly reminder: the monthly FTC Town Hall Zoom calls (starting in August 2025) will be extra important this year!
Not only do they offer a chance for your PDP to speak directly to everyone about the exciting changes and updates being made to our program, but it's the best time for you to ask Caitlin and our local FTC staff - our referees, our inspectors, and all the wonderful people who make our events run smoothly - questions directly and get quick answers. It gives her a chance to really check in on my teams and see how we are doing. The calls are open to everyone - not just coaches. Invite your students and your mentors to join in so everyone can be on the same page and not miss an update!
