This week I had the opportunity to attend the FIRST Mentor Conference in Santa Clara, CA, and what an experience it was! The sold-out, two-and-a-half-day event was filled with lab crawls, keynotes, panels, and presentations designed to inspire, challenge, and support mentors from across the FIRST community.

This year’s conference was generously hosted by Blue River Technology & John Deere, who provided not only the space but also meals, making networking over breakfast and lunch an integral part of the experience. The energy was contagious, everywhere you looked, mentors were swapping ideas, building connections, and sharing stories from their teams.

Highlights from the Conference

Favorite Sessions

Two of the standout presentations for me were:

• Designing Clever Linkages & Cams (by Orion DeYoe)
  A deep dive into when and how to use linkages and cams on a FIRST robot. Orion broke down complex mechanical design concepts into approachable strategies, showing how linkages and cams can save space, reduce complexity, and provide powerful motion solutions. As a longtime mentor and designer, he brought both technical expertise and practical mentoring advice.

• Respond, Don’t React: Communication Tools for Coaches & Mentors (by Adrienne Emerson & Allison Kneisler)
  This session focused less on robots and more on people. Adrienne and Allison shared actionable scripts and role-play scenarios to help mentors improve communication with students. The emphasis was on empowering students rather than overwhelming them, something every coach and mentor can take back to their team.

Looking Ahead in FIRST

The conference also included exciting insights into the future of FIRST programs:

• Mentor Development Initiative (MDI) – Ashley Johnson presented FIRST’s new multi-year effort to better support and train mentors. Recruiting and retaining mentors has long been a challenge, and this initiative shows a strong commitment to strengthening the mentor community.

• SystemCore / WPILib 2027 – Peter Johnson gave us a sneak peek into the upcoming control system changes, which will unify FRC and FTC software starting in 2027. This shift promises to make cross-program collaboration smoother and more accessible.

What I Loved (and What I’d Love to See Next Time)

The only “complaint” I walked away with was that there were too many incredible workshops running at the same time, a problem that speaks to just how high-quality the content was. Choosing between overlapping sessions was tough, and I kept wishing I could be in two places at once!

Looking forward, I think the conference could be even stronger by adding more representation from all FIRST programs, particularly FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). A couple of panels focused on those communities would broaden the audience and make the event even more inclusive. Given how quickly this year’s event sold out, they may need an even bigger space next time!

Final Thoughts

The FIRST Mentor Conference in Santa Clara was nothing short of inspiring. It combined technical depth, practical mentoring strategies, and forward-looking initiatives that will shape the future of FIRST for years to come. Most importantly, it reminded me of the strength and passion of the mentor community. As it states on the back of the free swag, a mentor is a "builder of robots, solver of puzzles, champion of discovery, fueled by caffeine, student impact, and innovation and living proof: you don't just build robots, you build legends".

I can’t wait to see how this event grows in the future. Until then, I’m already putting some of these new ideas and tools into practice with my own team.

Alex Beatty - Ctrl Alt Idea Owner, FLL and FTC Mentor