[EWCP] EWCPcast, What would YOU like to hear about? Fall 2012.

[thefro526]

Hi everyone! If you haven't noticed, we've been pretty slow and sporadic with our EWCPcasts over the last few months - which is a combination of various factors - but we haven't forgotten about everyone.

So here's what we'd like to know: What would YOU like us to talk about during the fall offseason? (September to December)

We've been talking with some people about doing the following:

-Gender Diversity Cast
-End Effector and Manipulator Discussion (We covered drive trains last fall.)
-Effective Control Schemes
*-How to Qualify Well
*-How to Select an Elimination Alliance and Play in Eliminations
*-Resource Utilization and How to Build a Resource Base (sponsors, mentors, students, etc)
*-Team Structure
*-Batteries, HOW DO THEY WORK?!?!

If you've got anything to add to that list, or anything you'd like us to specifically cover in one of those casts, please don't hesitate to drop us a line in this thread or via PM to myself, Andrew Schreiber or Richard Sisk (Rsisk on here).

* Ideas from this thread have been noted with a asterisk.

[Michael Blake]

So here's what we'd like to know: What would YOU like us to talk about during the fall offseason? (September to December)

IF you're lucky enough (4th to 1st seed) to be able to pick the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th robots/teams in a regional... HOW do you handle/work-with these teams, especially if they're Rookies, to achieve the best success...

I believe it takes a lot more than having extra charged batteries to lend to get through the elims to victory... WHAT'S the secret-sauce the _best teams_ employ to get the best results?

[Dr Theta]

I would be interested in hearing more about the use of weighted objectives tables in early season build planning and other methods of reaching a design decision sans voting. Or how about effective methods in the mentoring process?

[Akash Rastogi]

How do you motivate students who just don't care?

[Brandon_L]

How do you motivate students who just don't care?

This.

And possibly some team organization/structure (although I think you already did this, I can't remember at the moment) stuff. Places/ways to find new good mentors, both technical and non?

[stundt1]

2 questions.

1. How can you keep scouts entertained.

2. How can you upfront the number 1 seed or power house alliance in rebound rumble when you are the 8th seed and can't outscore them ?

[EricLeifermann]

In the wake of the 71 issue how about a topic of diversification of sponsors.

[Andrew Lawrence]

How do you motivate students who just don't care?

This times infinity. Also, how do you motivate mentors and sponsors who aren't feeling the FIRST fever?

[pwnageNick]

Team organizational structure. Students, Coaches, Mentors, Parents included.

-Nick

[Gregor]

How to convince people that scouting is important, and get people to respect it.

[rsisk]

Deep dive into batteries. They are still a mystery to me. How do they work. How to keep them ready for use, how to store them over the summer.

[Karthik]

How to convince people that scouting is important, and get people to respect it.

2 questions.

1. How can you keep scouts entertained.


Since this was mentioned a couple of times, I figured I'd chime in. There's some good discussion of that in the Scouting Section of this presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apk_X-maRf8&feature=player_detailpage#t=2880s

There are two keys:

1. Instill a team culture that values scouting, and where watching matches is seen as fun. This especially applies for teams where most kids would rather play cards or dance in the stands than watch matches. Lots of ways to do this, but involves the team leadership being excited scouting. People follow their respected leaders.
2. Make it fun.

[Nick Lawrence]

I'd love to do a cast about effective pick list making. (I.E you're the #1 seed at a regional without much depth.)

Or maybe an "Ask EWCP" cast where people call in and ask a panel of EWCPCast members questions.

-Nick

[stundt1]

Since this was mentioned a couple of times, I figured I'd chime in. There's some good discussion of that in the Scouting Section of this presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apk_X-maRf8&feature=player_detailpage#t=2880s

There are two keys:

1. Instill a team culture that values scouting, and where watching matches is seen as fun. This especially applies for teams where most kids would rather play cards or dance in the stands than watch matches. Lots of ways to do this, but involves the team leadership being excited scouting. People follow their respected leaders.
2. Make it fun.

Thanks Karthik :)

[Gregor]

I'd love to do a cast about effective pick list making. (I.E you're the #1 seed at a regional without much depth.)

Or maybe an "Ask EWCP" cast where people call in and ask a panel of EWCPCast members questions.

-Nick

And how to rank second pick teams specifically.

[nick_sheets]

I loved the cast on "Behind AndyMark"

Is there a chance you could get other companies such as: WCP - Team221 - CrossTheRoad to talk about what they are working on and what their goals are. Or something along those lines. We bought stuff from all three vendors last year. All were easy to work with and had solid products.

[thefro526]

IF you're lucky enough (4th to 1st seed) to be able to pick the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th robots/teams in a regional... HOW do you handle/work-with these teams, especially if they're Rookies, to achieve the best success...

I believe it takes a lot more than having extra charged batteries to lend to get through the elims to victory... WHAT'S the secret-sauce the _best teams_ employ to get the best results?

Noted.

Michael, I sent you a PM, let me know what you think.

I believe a 'How to Qualify' and a 'How to play in the Elims' cast may be a appropriate.

I would be interested in hearing more about the use of weighted objectives tables in early season build planning and other methods of reaching a design decision sans voting. Or how about effective methods in the mentoring process?

We're talking about doing a resource utilization cast, I think we can roll this into that cast.

How do you motivate students who just don't care?

Noted.

This is going to be a tough one.

This.

And possibly some team organization/structure (although I think you already did this, I can't remember at the moment) stuff. Places/ways to find new good mentors, both technical and non?

Brandon, when you get a chance, talk to me about this. We'd love to talk about finding new mentors, but I want some outside opinions. We've been discussing creating an online resource that can find mentors local to you, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to roll this out before the season starts.

2 questions.

1. How can you keep scouts entertained.

2. How can you upfront the number 1 seed or power house alliance in rebound rumble when you are the 8th seed and can't outscore them ?

See Karthik's post later in this thread, I don't believe we can top that.

In the wake of the 71 issue how about a topic of diversification of sponsors.

Noted.

This times infinity. Also, how do you motivate mentors and sponsors who aren't feeling the FIRST fever?

Noted.

Team organizational structure. Students, Coaches, Mentors, Parents included.

-Nick

Definitely a good one, Noted.

Deep dive into batteries. They are still a mystery to me. How do they work. How to keep them ready for use, how to store them over the summer.

Sisk, good idea. Batteries are still a bit of a black art. We'll need to reach out to some specialists, but it's definitely a worthwhile cast.

Since this was mentioned a couple of times, I figured I'd chime in. There's some good discussion of that in the Scouting Section of this presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apk_X-maRf8&feature=player_detailpage#t=2880s

There are two keys:

1. Instill a team culture that values scouting, and where watching matches is seen as fun. This especially applies for teams where most kids would rather play cards or dance in the stands than watch matches. Lots of ways to do this, but involves the team leadership being excited scouting. People follow their respected leaders.
2. Make it fun.

Thanks Karthik, odds are that this is better advice than we'd be able to give.

I'd love to do a cast about effective pick list making. (I.E you're the #1 seed at a regional without much depth.)

Or maybe an "Ask EWCP" cast where people call in and ask a panel of EWCPCast members questions.

-Nick

Nick, we'd roll pick list structure into the Elims cast, I think.

As far as an Ask EWCP Cast, I'm sure we can arrange this. Maybe it'll take the place of our Pre-Kickoff nostalgia cast.

And how to rank second pick teams specifically.

Noted, we may roll this into an Elims cast.

I loved the cast on "Behind AndyMark"

Is there a chance you could get other companies such as: WCP - Team221 - CrossTheRoad to talk about what they are working on and what their goals are. Or something along those lines. We bought stuff from all three vendors last year. All were easy to work with and had solid products.

This shouldn't be a problem. I will reach out to RC (member of EWCP) and see if he's on board. We'll also contact some other vendors and see if we can make something happen.

Thanks for all of the feedback guys, it's great!

[JakeD]

A cast about devices high level teams get but a lot of teams don't(at least at first).

Examples:
Stingers, over the bumper intakes 2012
Hinged Roller claws, mini bot ramp 2011
Hanging off the vertical pole 2010
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106388

Just a discussion on how teams came up with doing those devices, and what about them worked so well.

[jwfoss]

A potential cast that I can see being beneficial is described below.

Topic: FIRST after High School
- Mentoring/Not Mentoring in College
- Volunteering
- Taking a Break
- Joining a New Team
- Finding your Role
- etc.

Call ins from various FIRSTers who have made the transition, senior mentors, volunteer coordinators etc.

[O'Sancheski]

A potential cast that I can see being beneficial is described below.

Topic: FIRST after High School
- Mentoring/Not Mentoring in College
- Volunteering
- Taking a Break
- Joining a New Team
- Finding your Role
- etc.

Call ins from various FIRSTers who have made the transition, senior mentors, volunteer coordinators etc.

I would love to hear a cast on this as it pretty much sum up everything I am doing this fall.

[IKE]

A potential cast that I can see being beneficial is described below.

Topic: FIRST after High School
- Mentoring/Not Mentoring in College
- Volunteering
- Taking a Break
- Joining a New Team
- Finding your Role
- etc.

Call ins from various FIRSTers who have made the transition, senior mentors, volunteer coordinators etc.

I would love to hear an episode with some Regional Commitee Chairs, VCs, and of course, the serial Volunteer Koko Ed.

You could possibly do an episode on becoming a "Key Volunteer" which could be some dicussion on how to become an VC, FTA, LRI, or Head Ref.

I would love a talk on, "The difficulties in Reffing a new sport", but I think the Head Refs would likey have to use voice decoders to protect their anonymity. If you did a Zebra special, it would have to be in the off-season.

[LeelandS]

I don't know how plausible it is, but perhaps another "Inside the team" cast, like the one done with 1114 a while ago.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I don't know how plausible it is, but perhaps another "Inside the team" cast, like the one done with 1114 a while ago.

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

[LeelandS]

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

That's a list I could go on and on for... If I had to pick one team to hear about, it would be 67.

Others on the list would include 148, 254, 1717, 33, 111, etc.

[Gregor]

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

33, 67, and 610

[Dchandler]

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

118, 2826, or 2056. If I had to pick one it would be 2826.

[rsisk]

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

842, hands down. There are so many fascinating angles this team could talk about, HOF, underwater robotics, the unique struggles of their team members, etc

[Taylor]

Consider this another vote for 842.
...
The other day in the shower (because all great ideas happen either in the shower or while doing yardwork) I was thinking how it would be cool to do an FRC version of "Inside the Actor's Studio (http://www.bravotv.com/inside-the-actors-studio)" - my initial thought was it would be a cool activity for FIRST's marketing intern (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=14774) who doesn't have enough to do already, but on second thought EWCP would be a great platform for it.

[Lil' Lavery]

Proper transitioning of leadership to ensure continued success and culture. Both in terms of students and mentors (particularly head mentors).

[Akash Rastogi]

Since Siskbro posted: It would be cool to have a panel of Senior Mentors on to talk about what they do, how they do it, and how they can help your team, and how other mentors in FIRST can help the FSMs.

[Libby K]

A potential cast that I can see being beneficial is described below.

Topic: FIRST after High School
- Mentoring/Not Mentoring in College
- Volunteering
- Taking a Break
- Joining a New Team
- Finding your Role
- etc.

Call ins from various FIRSTers who have made the transition, senior mentors, volunteer coordinators etc.

Definitely this. I'd be happy to assist with this in any way, as I hit pretty much all these bullet points, including transitioning onto a regional committee.

Something I'd like to add to this is the discussion of a new fad - 'distance mentors'. How much/in what capacity can you help your team from back home.

Proper transitioning of leadership to ensure continued success and culture. Both in terms of students and mentors (particularly head mentors).

Absolutely. Lots of teams need this.

[rsisk]

Since Siskbro posted: It would be cool to have a panel of Senior Mentors on to talk about what they do, how they do it, and how they can help your team, and how other mentors in FIRST can help the FSMs.



That would be fun. For many it would probably be the first time they ever heard of us. We could also dispel the myth that you have to be "old" to be a SENIOR mentor. :)

[Dchandler]

It would be possible. It's just a function of finding the team and coordinating with them to do it. Took a while to line up, what teams would people be interested in hearing from?

I don't know if it's possible, but we hear plenty about our American and Canadian teams, what about contacting other international FIRST teams. In contacting these we could see how FIRST has impacted their communities, such as 1382. In their Chairman's presentation they spoke of how they built a water purification system for their town's water supply.

Although it will be extremely difficult, one team that may be possible to have on is 2011 Championship Rookie All Star winners 3478 Lambots since 245 had a direct influence in their creation.

[Andrew Schreiber]

For those of you who want team interviews I modified the outline we used for the one with 1114. It is located at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BHv3Yw_ArWQu2dHuAnUfS1UBj38-m_0BI_aeJi6Uy4o/edit please let me know if there are more things you'd like us to ask.

[thefro526]

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone! In the next week or two, we will be going through the various requests and starting to sort them into casts and putting together outlines and schedules. I'd imagine we'll have some firm dates and topics setup by the beginning of September.

If anyone still has an idea or a suggestion, please don't hesitate to contact one of us.

[Anupam Goli]

I personally would love to see a cast on Team organization, and maybe adding to that cast add:

-Creating season and long term goals
-Executing the plan to achieve
-rallying the team behind a vision
-Dealing with those who don't share your vision or your love of FIRST
-How to remain unified as a team

I know I've personally had problems with rallying my team behind a goal and this last season was marked with bickering arguments of me wanting to be competitive vs the others who didn't see FIRST the same way I did. (The whole "to each his own" argument gets hairy in these situations. )