If you were a volunteer...

[Ian Curtis]

...which job would you like to the most? MC, Head Ref, Que-er, Pit Announcer, Ref, ....

Personally, I'd spring for the play-by-play. In my opinion, its the most entertaining (c'mon you get to watch every match, and tell everyone what's happening), and you really have the most connection with the crowd. It's something I'd really like to try at an off-season event. A que-er could have a lot of fun as well, as you'd get to hear a lot of interesting stories and quotes.

[lukevanoort]

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)

[George A.]

So far I've done MC/play by play...and let me tell you the loss of voice is well worth it. You're pretty much in charge of making sure that the crowd is into it and the competition is entertaining. If you're dull or act uninterested then the crowd loses it. Plus you are right up next to the action and get to interact with all the volunteers and students.

By far the most entertaining job, but also one of the most difficult. You have 6 robots to keep track of and have to convey their actions in an exciting and varied manner, if you're too repetitive (like in PARC my first play by play job I kept saying meanwhile) the crowd loses interest.

So far I've done NJ last year and this year, NYC last year (and possibly this year) and this year I'll also be doing Philly!

So come by and talk with me, I'd love to learn your story and some information on all the teams so I can make the color commentary as exciting as possible.

[Melissa Nute]

I enjoy being the Scorekeeper/Field Power Controller. You generate all the matches. Make sure the power to the field works. Ensuring that all the parts work properly. Enter all the scores. Its a highly stressing job when things aren't going right, but as long as you know how to fix it or us your resources to find the correct answer, its fine. You also work closely with the refs, the field supervisor, the IFI rep and the m.c./announcer.

[Koko Ed]

I enjoyed doing field reset at IRI.
I want to do it again this year as well.

[SURVIVORfan44]

Field reset was awesome this year. I got to see deep inside the robots for once. Even though field reset is very tiring, it's worth it in the end. Besides, there are many benefits for volunteers such as FREE FOOD, free t-shirts, and you get to see the robots up close in action.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Call me crazy, but I love reffing.

[sanddrag]

I think I'm going to be an inspector at LA.

[Lisa Perez]

Call me crazy, but I love reffing.

Gotta say I agree with Jeff... You discover a lot about the robots in the process, and learn the rules upside down and inside out, which is good if you're also on a team.

Looking forward to a great weekend refereeing at Detroit!

[Richard Wallace]

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)Very soon you will be an alumni of your FRC team, and probably a mentor for that team or another one nearer to your college.

If you plan to be at an FRC regional and don't have a full-time role to fill with your team, please contact the volunteer coordinator (in advance if possible) and let him/her know that you're willing to inspect robots.

What we look for in a robot inspector is good knowledge of the robot rules and familiarity with KOP and commonly used COTS components, experience with engineering design (especially design of FIRST robots!), an appreciation of the goals of FIRST, and ability to communicate with and listen to team members.

Ability to communicate and listen is important because inspectors are at events to help teams ensure that their robot design and construction complies with all the rules. The rules are there to make the competition safe and fair. Inspectors don't own the rules -- the rules, and the responsibility to comply with them, belong to all participants in FIRST.

[Ethulin]

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close :) .

How does one, for example, become a referee?

[sanddrag]

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close :) .

How does one, for example, become a referee?https://my.usfirst.org/vims/ :)

EDIT: left out the "s" after the
"http" fixed now.

[Richard Wallace]

http://my.usfirst.org/vims/ :)http://www.usfirst.org/4vol/ is a good place to start.

The FRC site also has links to regional event sites, and these will generally provide a way to contact the local volunteer coordinator.

[Ryan Foley]

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close :) .

How does one, for example, become a referee?

A good place to start is by signing up to be a referee at off-season competitions, so you can get a feel for it. Plus, it will give you experience, making you all the better candadite to be a ref at a regional.

I personally love reffing; can't get enough of it. Unfortunately I could only make UTC this year, so I'll have to wait until the off-season to do it again.

[Freddy Schurr]

Yeah, I like team queuing and also MCing. I got to MC at PARC and Duel on the Delaware last year and hopefully I am planning to MC at a couple off-season events this season and then MC at the NJ/Philly Regional in 2007 or where ever they need me.

[Billfred]

Over the past three years, I've been an emcee (2005 Capital Clash), a game announcer (ditto), a real-time scorekeeper (2004/2005 Championship), a field disassembler (Manchester Kickoff 2005), a robot inspector (Florida 2006), and a field resetter (ditto).

Ask anyone who saw the mentor rounds in Washington, I can't emcee for the life of me. Game announcing is probably my strong suit, as it's both fun and comes pretty naturally for me. RTS is fun, but irrelevant this year. Field disassembly...eh, it wasn't horrible. Inspector was fun, what with being able to get up close and personal with other robots of varying levels of competitiveness, but sometimes it gets really frustrating when you can't make heads or tails of a wiring setup hidden deep in the bowels of some odd part of the robot. Field reset was also reasonably fun, provided you didn't get run over by the kids carrying the robots.

All told, I'd love to do game announcer again. But failing that, I'd be game for inspector or reset.

[JJG13]

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)

My thoughts exactly. I wish I had more times at regionals to really check out the other robots.

[Greg Young]

...which job would you like to the most? MC, Head Ref, Que-er, Pit Announcer, Ref, ....


I did field reset at NASA/VCU this year. I loved it. When I wasn't chasing stray balls I got to watch all the matches up close. I was amazed how many pounds of robot parts get left on the field.

I heartily recommend volunteering. I had great fun and got a real education about how much work goes into staging a FIRST competition.

If you have time at a competition, stop and thank some of the people wearing the crew shirts. They are working very hard to make sure the competition goes as smoothly as possible.

Greg

[Beth Sweet]

I'm not sure that you could pay me enough to be a referee. They get yelled at, argued with, and all that they try to do is their job to the best of their ablility. I mean, heck, it's a volunteer job and you never hear people say "man, that was some awesome reffing," but more often than not, "those (beep) ref's don't have a (beep) idea what the (beep) they're talking about!" Talk about a thankless job!

I think that MC'ing or play-by-play would be fun. Seems like the kind of high energy thing that could keep my attention.

[Andy Grady]

I wont lie to ya...the announcer or emcee position is a pretty sweet deal, even if it drives you into the pit of exhaustion. However...if you really want to get to know the in's and out's of how this competition works, scorekeeper is the place for you. It is a difficult job (especially this year at times) but when all is said and done, you walk away with a knowledge of exactly how everything kinda goes together. Its pretty amazing when you walk into a competition as a student...things seem like they just magically go together. Once you are behind the scenes you realize "WOW, there really is alot of really hard work and coordination that goes into making this happen!". I have had the pleasure as announcer of working alongside of dozens of different scorekeepers in my time. They all pulled together a great appreciation for FIRST and what it takes to make this stuff happen. Meli can attest to this...she got to experience all the high points and low points of the job, but I assure you she's dying to jump right back in! Great job Meli, and to all the other scorekeepers around...cheers to you! I dont envy your job, but I sure do respect it.

-Andy

[Arefin Bari]

Alright lets see... I started volunteering for FIRST since 2003. I was the MC 2003, 2004, 2005 FLL local tournaments and FLL states for Florida. I also was a MC at Mayhem @ the Museum. This year I was a game announcer at Florida Regional. I love getting the crowd going. I like my job and I take it seriously.

[George1902]

I loved being an announcer/emcee at the Robot Rodeo. If I could only find a way to keep my voice past noon on Thursday I'd volunteer to do it at a regional.

[The Lucas]

I've been a robot inspector since 2003. I tried reffing at last PARC and I could never ref a regional.

I hate to hand out penalties. At least when I tell a team they have to change something to pass inspection, I can help them change it. If I give them a penalty there is nothing I can do for them. I am still willing to ref off-season.

[Peter Matteson]

I'm all for being an inspector. I also wouldn't mind reffing. However I can't get away from work anymore and now that we're competing at the Championship I won't have a chance to try either this year.

[melitami]

I've been volunteering since my senior year of high school (2000-2001). -Started off with FLL field reset that year
-Moved to FRC team queuing for the 2002 Philly and 2003 Richmond regionals
-Event assistant at 2003 Philly regional
-2004 Richmond regional was team queuing some, but a lot of what I like to call running around making sure everything runs smoothly work
-2004 and 2005 (and 2006) Philly regional was/is assistant to the regional coordinators (job invented for me), which is basically a combination of setup, take down, talking to VIPs, running around making sure everything runs smoothly, answering questions, and just generally having fun :)

There's a few more FLL tournaments in there, judging for the ones here in PA and field manager for one in Richmond.

I love my job, even if it is VERY tiring. It's my run-around and always look like I know what I'm doing thing ;)

I highly recommend volunteering, it's a very different perspective from being a team member or even a mentor, very eye-opening, and rewarding, IMHO!

[Mark Pierce]

After doing all kinds of odd jobs at the West Michigan Robotics Competition, I volunteered at the first West Michigan Regional in 2001. I helped with field set up. inspected on Thursday, did some general crowd control, and spent time just hanging out on the rest of the weekend.

I had a lot of fun working and talking with the great bunch of people from FIRST. Inspection was interesting, but I think in some respects the rules might be worse for inspectors now. We had a lot of walk in visitors from a teacher's conference in the same building, so I got to explain about FIRST a few hundred times... Wearing that crew shirt makes you a target for lots of questions, making it much easier to meet new people.

[DCA Fan]

Definitely emcee or game announcer. I love having the opportunity to act like a maniacal person for weekends at a time :)

In the past I've done field reset and real-time scoring.

[Jill1022]

I found out this weekend that field reset might be too tiring of a job for me. But I really enjoyed it. I loved being up close next to the field, talking to teams, and being able to enjoy the competition without worrying about my robot.

I would like to be a ref next year. It seems like a lot of pressure and you'd get blamed for everything if a team is unhappy. But it seems fun.

I could never do mcing or announcing. I'm not able to process what six bots and six humans are doing at the same time and say it all without sounding weird.
I'd like to be a scorekeeper, that sounds good too.

But no matter what, I'm definately going to keep volunteering. Free food, free shirt, being close to the action, and making everything possible is the best.

[Chris Fultz]

I enjoyed doing field reset at IRI.
I want to do it again this year as well.

I consider that a volunteer ......