Proposals for Information Exchange

RoboCupJunior Soccer
#1

Currently, this is the only official forum for RoboCup Junior.
However, it is obvious to everyone that there is almost no technical exchange.
I’ve been trying to figure out why the technology exchange doesn’t take place.

1.There is no smartphone version of the app.
In Japan, the main venue for technical exchange is Twitter and the Unofficial Discord Channel, which is made up of about 150 competitors from around the world.
These feature a smartphone version of the app, which notifies you on your phone, and you don’t have to open your browser to go to the site. In particular, Discord has the ability to light up channels with new messages, and the ability to separate members by team (league).

2,Doesn’t fit the realities of life for middle and high school students
Most competitors are probably on Instagram and Twitter.
The most important feature of those social media sites is the flow of information. Users will use that flow of information to find sites. In other words, there is very little information on the forums. Also, you are unlikely to open your browser to go to the site in the first place.
3, Confusion of information
While the forums are divided by league, they are a mix of official rules and announcements and questions. It’s impossible to chat in this state. This is especially true for technical exchanges, which often proceed in the midst of chatter.
4,English only
There are people from many different countries participating in RCJ. If you are like me and English is not your first language, the hurdle will be high.

[Suggestions for 1 to 3]
Create a separate Slack channel for technical exchange, separate from the forum. (Combined) With Slack, there’s a smartphone version of the app, and you can divide it into various channels. You can also create and separate user groups.
And since Slack is used around the world, anyone can use it.

[About 4]
Let’s create our own Slack channel in each country’s committee.

Please consider this for the sake of active technical exchange.

Original: Japanese
Use a translation tool

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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#3

Dear @konoe_akitoshi,

You have a good point. Slack, Twitter and similar provide more dynamic way of (instant) communication.

But, those platforms require that everybody would create an account to access it, which might not be possible in every country. On top of that, this forum is controlled by RoboCup Junior, which would not be the case in Slack, Twitter, etc.

Maybe an idea could be to keep this forum as the official source of information while the other platforms are used more “freely” by the teams, as you described.

In any case, RCJ management should discuss your proposal to carefully consider all implications of moving the official RCJ channels to a different platform.

Cheers!
Felipe.

1 Like
#4