It is pretty clear the decision to cancel Worlds is a difficult one. It is not one took lightly and took the input of so many critical voices within the RECF/VRC organization around the globe. Dan Mantz posted
And please keep my staff in your thoughts and prayers. The past couple weeks have been a challenge for all of us.
and it is true - we do need to remember all the people who make our competition journey possible…
This thread is to acknowledge key RECF players in our regions…
Our Southern New England RECF RSM’s since I’ve been around - Brad Lauer, Veronica Andrulat, and most recently, Louann Cormier have all been instrumental in making sure our events were the best we could offer teams.
There are so many terrific people at RECF who day in and day out make VRC a terrific experience world wide…
Thank you Dan and RECF staff world wide for making unbelievable memories for so many…
I would like to thank Ruben Lopez and Diana Fultz for making South and now Southwest texas great regions, and the rest of the REC as well for working tirelessly to make vex possible.
I want to say thank you to Steven Rummell out in California. He has done an amazing job this year and over the last couple of weeks he has given countless hours and worked so hard to make everything happen. We lost the battle and had to cancel events but everyone should know how hard he worked to try and prevent that. He had to deal with a lot but he always took the time to help me with whatever I needed as an EP and there is no way I could do what I do without his help.
I just sent my RSM, Ben Mitchell, a personal thanks. He is extremely knowledgeable and dedicated. These RSMs dedicate a lot of personal time. It is not just a job for them!
I second kudos to Diana Fultz, our RSM for the Louisiana region. She gave my team and others in the region excellent opportunities to succeed this year, as well as overseeing many changes to robotics in Louisiana that are sure to leave a lasting impact on all of the generations of teams to come.
Also, thanks to her and others, Louisiana had hands down the best state championship ever. Thank you SO SO SO much RECF for all that you guys do.
Thanks for starting this thread. I’ll add a shoutout and thanks to Bill Ryno, RSM for WI and IL. I admit a bias, but Bill is definitely the best. Not only is he knowledgeable and capable, but he is humble, always willing to help out way beyond his job description, and fantastic to work with. He may be the most proficient RSM with TM and RE - RSMs and EPs from all over call on him to get them out of jams. I’m proud to have him as an RSM and a friend.
I would like to add a shoutout to Aaron Barker of MN. He has been helping since I joined robotics three years ago. He is one of the most positive and energetic people I have met in robotics. His enthusiasm is extremely contagious. He made sure everyone was having a good time and worked to make every team look great (even if they weren’t). His effort and zeal for robotics is amazing and I want to thank him for that. Edit: Aaron is the MN region event manager.
I would also like to shout out Ashley Phipps, the RSM for all of FL (both regions). Thanks for being a great mentor to my IQ team and for always making VEX fun. Thanks for helping with VRC States (a special thanks to @sankeydd and Daniel Dilocker for making it probably the smoothest run states that I’ve ever been to) and for allowing me and several other roboteers plus alums to volunteer for the MS and VEXU states.
Huge applause to our RSM Dan Troy who does Delmarva along with Western PA, Eastern PA and NY. First year RSM, but he’s been doing bots since 2002 and I’ve been doing bots with him since 2006.
Thanks to Jenny and David Miles who were the lead EP’s for Delmarva, Dan was a big assist to them getting the event to happen.
Amy Davis from NASA was our Sponsor of the year in Delmarva, she along with RECF made a huge start in getting two trailers set up each with enough items to run an event with 3 fields.
Shout out to Leslie Cruse, Terry Marbut, and Shelli Brasher who have helped me quite a bit with the Southeast regions for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing teams. Also a thanks to Diana Fultz and Ashley Phipps who have just started helping me as well. Looking forward to more successful endeavors next year!
I’d add my appreciation of Carol Kujawa, who stepped into her RSM role this season and absolutely rocked it. Also the many REC Foundation & VEX folks who coordinated travel, volunteers, online challenges, rules, training, technical writing, online education, tech support, and everything else this season. You all do so much for our very lucky kids, and we appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for an epic and memorable season!
I’d like to thank Carol Kujawa for putting up with me this year. And Geoffrey Winship for his local support. I think I can safely speak for the EPs in AZ that we really do appreciate their support.
Thanks! Also a huge second on Ashley Phipps. This was her first year as RSM but has been involved with the leadership in the state so long it was the smoothest transition possible.
Shout out to Ryan Osweiller in NC came to an event every week despite none being within 2 hours of his house! Also to EP Dave Parisi and the 5139 team and alums who hosted 13 excellent events in our county this year!
I second all of these (I was planning to thank Ashley myself if no one got to it before me ), and would also like to thank Robert DuBard for the excellent job he did running South Florida Regionals/States this year, along with running the annual Ransom Everglades tournament and helping out at so many others! (He always does an excellent job, and was the co-EP of the RoboSLAM when it was a Worlds qualifier for In The Zone, but I think this was his first time officially being the EP for States.)
Edit: And of course, I would also like to thank the rest of the RECF staff in Florida, and also our previous RSM Matt Conroy, who I’m sure played a major role in the massive growth that took Florida from 9 Worlds spots in Skyrise (the first year my team went to States) to 20 in Turning Point (Matt’s last year). (And I’ll never forget Starstruck, when there were 26 spots!)
Edit 2: And I can’t leave out Dan Mantz, who has always been so willing to interact with the VEX community on the forum!
), and would also like to thank Robert DuBard for the excellent job he did running South Florida Regionals/States this year, along with running the annual Ransom Everglades tournament and helping out at so many others! (He always does an excellent job, and was the co-EP of the RoboSLAM when it was a Worlds qualifier for In The Zone, but I think this was his first time officially being the EP for States.)