FIRST Celebrity Status
 

I was thinking about how certain people who participate in FIRST attain such great reputations as leaders, mentors, engineers, or overall just fantastic people, and how they gain such a following. Is it their enthusiasm, their knowledge, their availability, or is it something more unique? I'm talking about the people that a majority or a large number of the FIRST or at least FRC community knows of. I would like to know your input on what you think makes a person in FIRST stand out in a sea of already outstanding people!

Re: FIRST Celebrity Status
 

Posting alot on CD doesn't hurt.

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Definitely not. I was surprised that someone at the 2013 championships recognized me on the field when I was coach on the drive team. They said they remembered me from CD! However, they didnt remember my username right and butchered it.

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Said by the person that leads the CD posting record by a mile!!

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And you know what? I certainly recognized him at Championship this year! (Though I was a little confused when his name tag didn't say "Koko Ed")

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Yes.

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The top of the Celebrity FIRST Food Chain is occupied by MCs, Top level coaches team leaders and drivers of elate team. Woodie Flowers award winners and Libby Kamen.

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Example Karthik kanagasabapathy

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And then there's JVN. We are JVN.

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I want to be Andrew Lawrence when I grow up.

Re: FIRST Celebrity Status
 

I think really, it's just the amount of enthusiasm the mentor/student/leader puts into their posts and the competitions. I mean, anyone can post a lot of words without making that big of a difference. I think it's really great when someone can come in and make this incredible post to help other students know what it is that FIRST is all about. :)

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Please don't tell him that.

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Please, one Andrew Lawrence is enough.

:D

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Corrected that for you.

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HAHAHA.

Re: FIRST Celebrity Status
 

Being active on Twitter is a plus. I love seeing FIRST robotics people on Twitter. It gives them a little bit more of a personality.

Creators are also really cool. I love scouting out people at events that make cool things to talk about what they're doing, what their plans are, and if they're setting up for anything new.

Re: FIRST Celebrity Status
 

And some of the stuff can be totally off the wall and weird - which makes it that much better.

Another big part of it, in my opinion, is that a lot of the people that FIRSTers look up to don't take themselves/situations too seriously. They take things easy and kind of 'go with the flow', but they still have a direction/task in mind.

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I want to have Billfred's hair when I grow up.

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Billfred wants to have Billfred's hair when he grows up.

(Oh oh, negative infinity coming :eek: )

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Most of the people in FIRST that I highly respect are people whose names I would see frequently on CD (as posters or just being named). If I see someone's name around enough, chances are that they're doing something right somewhere, even if I've never actually met them.

I also respect a lot of the volunteers that I've worked with. Working with someone in a high-stress environment tends to tell you a lot about them.

That weirds me out too. I also have the inability to call Richard Sisk by anything other than "Rsisk" because his name isn't on his CD profile and I didn't know what else to address him by for the longest time.

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I often doctor the nametags myself.
The Championship nametags are much harder to alter being all official and everything.

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I remember you shaking your head when we met at MARC the first time and I called you Koko Ed.

To answer the OP, Pretty much everything that's been said so far is spot on.

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Fame on CD is easy to come by. Post a lot. If you know the answers, give good advice, otherwise point to past answers of more experienced people. Be a presence. Try to put some voice in your posts, don't make them super dry (well, for an engineer at least).

Of course, some of the very best and most respected mentors out there don't post on CD, or only post very rarely. Those that know the most may not always be those that have posted the most. Being a celebrity (at least on CD) is fairly straightforward. Being a real mover and shaker in FRC is considerably more difficult.

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I'm pretty sure Ether is a wizard. Arcane magic is another possible path to CD/FIRST stardom.

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He is lol.

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Has anyone actually confirmed that Ether isn't an AI with a fondness for technical problems in high school robotics?

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Let us all agree....

We are all involved in FIRST because we have a weird thing for science and helping others.

We are all similar, it's just that there are people out there that show it differently. If not differently, they show it with a burning passion of a thousand Mordors

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I would have to say that drive teams and coaches that are very involved in the pre-match strategy sessions are the people I remember most from each season. I could probably pick bomb squad's coach out of a crowded room.

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Nor does traveling all over the country attending random events. You are pretty much the top of my list Koko Ed.

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Why don't you just fill in your VIMS with firstname: Koko, lastname: Ed? :D

Also, I think we can all agree, Ether is a God. That is all.

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Volunteers are screened twice at the start and once annually, and using your real name in VIMS is kindof important unless we want to see him start to red flag all over the place.

At CMP they use the barcoding system for everything, so I agree it is harder to doctor the tags. But, there's lots of different ways to help show who you are. The CD stickers from way back when were useful.

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Russ Ether is a real guy, although I agree his posts can make him seem like an AI sometimes. He also sometimes appears to be a wizard, because any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

To see him in real-world action, come to his controls seminar at the Benton Harbor Kickoff, or have him visit your pit as a CSA at the St. Joseph District.