When do most teams...
 

I guess what I'm really wondering is when do most of you guys get back together with your teams? Some people have said they continue things through the summer. Do most teams wait until school starts up to work on things? What about fund raising, when is most of that done? Just curious as to how long I'm gonna be waiting before I can work with a new team.
C~ya,
Carolyn :)

Working throughout the year is very hard. We tried it several times on team 7 but nothing ever came out of it. For the most part, after nationals at least, a lot of people (myself included) get burned out. Starting large scale projects related to FIRST just isn't going to happen (I still am amazed people pull of post-season competitions). I generally need several months to fully recover from a FIRST season (sounds like a lot but not really). It's also harder to get students together over the summer which puts severe limits on communication and getting things done. Things start up slowly in the beginning of the school year and pick up the closer we get to kickoff. From kickoff until nationals it's fairly non-stop. Rinse and repeat.

Matt who thinks he's been doing FIRST too long at this point....

never too long
 

You can never do something you enjoy too long. When it feels like too long that means you don't really enjoy it anymore. Sometimes if you take a break you enjoy the aactivity again.
C~ya,
Carolyn

Re: never too long
 

I didn't actually mean I've done it too long. Just that it feels like a long time (4 years). I feel old now and have too much veteran status for my own good. I might let it go to my head. ;)

Matt

At the beginning of the school year
 

After Nationals, our team doesn't do much at all. We have our end of the year awards night, post season comps, the Cubs game, and maybe some small random events. But we don't have any formal meetings or do much work with the robot, except for preparation for post season comps, but then it's just a few adults and students.

Then when the school year starts in late August, we start our class. We're improving it from what we've done in the past, so we're not sure what it will be yet. We'll definately do our team's mini-competition (thanks again Andy for the parts) and we'll also have a lecture type portion but we don't know what we'll cover there yet. So by kickoff, we're almost running at full speed.

Mike

curiouser and curiouser
 

I'm curious to know which two people voted not until kick off. Which teams are you on and how well have you all done in the past?
C~ya,
Carolyn

i voted not until kickoff

other....
 

I voted other because we have no place really to meet and practice during the summer. Any meetings we have are held at my house where we cram everyone into my tv room. We keep in touch over e-mail and run fundraisers through the summer, and the captains have meetings to work on stuff over the summer also.

i voted on 'Keep practicing and fundrasing all year' because not only do we meet in our shop everyday after school (after robotics season it's optional), but during the summer we have to meet to write thank you letters and fundraise for next season. When school starts again in the fall, we will have classes afterschool to prime prospective FIRST-ers so they can help the returnees more during the season and also understand more about the competition.

on our team, there is a certain group of students that works year-round and the other group only is around during the season. but we try to do fundraisers during the summer. it's really hard to get some people motivated.

We really stop at the end of school and then start back up again at the beginning, but throughout the summer a really small group of us do demos at various different spots (Like the DC trip previously mentioned on this board).

~Tom~

Various Different?
 

Tom doesn't various different seem a little bit over redundant to you? Come on now, you're suposed to be one of the smart guys.
C~ya,
Carolyn who likes to pick on "Dangerous" Tom. ;)

I originally voted that we only worked during the school year, but then I realized that we often work harder in the summer than after florida. We generally don't do anything for at least a month after Nats. After that we generally do several things a month, through the end of August. Then the new team starts and we go at a slightly slower pace.

For example, last Monday we put on a dinner for our sponsors and last thursday we had a day for any student to drive the robot, so that when it comes time to pick drivers for next year, everyone has had at least a little experience driving. Then next tuesday we have a demo outside the Boeing Cafeteria, where we will try to entice engineers to look at our robot and sign up to help other teams instead of eat ;)

Too bad I can't change my vote ...

It's all good!
 

You sorta have changed your vote. You ahve not changed the statistics part but you have spoken, I think newspapers call that a retraction.
C~ya,
Carolyn :)

My team isn't all that big and most of us always seems to be around year round to begin with (before we joined first as a team).

Thats a good question. After Nationals we do a lot of demo's. We have 9 elementary schools in our town, we try and bring the robot around showing the kids, they love it, and its fun for us too. We fundraise almost all year, we do a lot of fundraising in the summer, it might sound crazy but it works pretty good. During build season we are so wrapped up in with the robot time is really important. Fundraising in the summer and fall helps because it is one less thing on our list during the 6 weeks but we still do stuff in the build season.
-Katie

Uhhhhh...........
 

GregT, What were you guys beforeyou joined as a FIRST team? A group of robot people who played with tools all the time?
C~ya,
Carolyn

Re: Uhhhhh...........
 

Um.. we were a bunch of kids who hung around the same tech room all day, screwed with computers, blew things up, and made one assistant principal very mad. We also welded stuff togeather because we had nothing better to do.

FIRST came along (thanks to patrick) and we just started being a bit more productive. Of course none of us welded anything because we all stunk at it, and welding alluminum is a bit MORE then tricky.

Oh, I see. You guys went from destructive to constructive. Sounds good to me.
C~ya,
Carolyn

No, we are still destructive, we are just constructive as well.

Can you give an example?? I can't think of one...
:p

Do Tell. (EOM)
 

:eek:

Hey, we are plenty productive... like that time we smashed that can with that big sharp thing you made... or when we figured out that the computers reboot if you hit them hard enough (we are still baffled as to why).

If that is your idea of CONstructive.... Should I dare ask for an example of DEstructive?

Patrick

I'm not seein' a difference. (EOM)
 

:confused:

You think we take pictures? What are you? crazy? The last thing we need is physical evidence isn't it?

Well i think this counts as PROductive:



Yes that is dumb and dumber... and yes we did hook it up to the bus tv's:


and YES we were going at least 50 and he was standing on those foldup/down seat armrests...

and YES we did network the computers, howelse were we going to play multiplayer games?


That productive enough for you patrick? :)

We meet about late October, start introducing new team members, we started to design a cart but we just used the old one, but its really slow and boring until kick-off. We rarely do anything in the summer, even though wish we would. After competition, we did a few demos. I'm probably the only person on my team thats obsessed about FIRST, that may be why I wish we did more, everyone on my team thinks I'm crazy because I'm so obsessed with it, I don't understand why. Am I crazy for liking FIRST so much?

Hey don't feel bad. I'm with you. I know what the obsession is like, because I go thorough withdrawl during the summer. It may sound crazy but I can't wait to go back to school so I can play around with the robot. Only 24 more days!!

If you're in the area you can come to Indy and get you car washed. we're having a car wash on July 28 from 10til 2 at the McDonalds off of Stop 11 and US 31. I doubt that i'll see any of you there. i'd just thought i'd mention it because it was mentioned.

Donation
 

Car Wash
 

Cool idea.....our team should do something like that......


I COULD be there if i wanted to but i'm afraid i'll be working...

[YES! Yes, you are crazy and obsessed. You are pathologically deranged and should unquestionably seek professional psychiatric assistance immediately! post haste, even! Why are you sitting there reading this when you could be getting therapy? Don't you undertand me?!?! YOU'RE INSANE! GET HELP NOW!

Ahhh. Therapy
 

every time we get money we call it a "donation"



you betcha!! if you show up you will be put to work...lol:p

Re: Ahhh. Therapy
 

FIRST = Therapy;)

Vent? My team goes as far as running down school officials :)

Then we get to go on vacation? You mean start caring about school again? That dosn't sound like fun... i don't want to have to deal with my grades again.

i believe the vacation to which she was reffering was nats...its basically a week of vacation spent at a robot competition (what more could you ask for?)

That's vacation?! I tend to prefer more relaxing vacations myself....

Matt

Ahh yes... that dose sound like fun :) my only compition experience was at the NYC regional... not bad, but not the same as NATS.

of course its vacation...the best vacation possible, imnsho

it's a good vacation. but a stressful one.

The Best!!
 

Nats was my best vacation of the year!! Possibly my only one. I like hanging with friends more than hanging with family. Nats is like a reward for all of the hardwork, its only stressful if you're a driver or an operater, or coach and sometimes a human player.

STRESS!?!?!
 

You could DEF. consider be a girl in robotics stressful!!! It's tough, even as the team captain, human player at nats, and "in charge" of scouting...the boys think they're better, but girls are just as good!

LET'S HEAR IT FOR ALL THE WOMEN IN FIRST!!!!

*thinks there should be more girls in FIRST but it's still the best VACATION ever!*

Re: The Best!!
 

How true...

Especially since I was a freshman and this was my first year on the team. I remember before every match having more butterflies in my stomach than I'd ever had before a soccer game or anything like that. So much pressure!

But I had a lotta fun at Nats and who knows, I might even drive again next year... :cool:

I was a driver, and the only stressful part was when somthing happened that was out of my control (ie the guy controlling the other parts of the robot hit the wrong button and sent us over backwards).

Of course i also got a bit stressed when i snapped a key part on my robot, but during the actual game, its just that- a game... its fun, you do what your supposed to... and your danged happy when you do yourpart quickly... and finish period.

Re: The Best!!
 

Or in the pit. Or doing administrative work. Or doing scouting. Don't forget about all the people who do the "support" functions at Nationals. Not particularly relaxing. Fun, yes. But not relaxing.

Matt

Re: Re: The Best!!
 

ah yes, indeed they do...
i think that there are probably 2 really stressful positions. drivers/operators/human players and pit crew. im not saying other positions arent as stressful, im just saying that drivers and pit crews have a lot more pressure then other people, or at least thats how it is with the rambots.

I definitly side with Mike on that one. Our team had the drive team and pit crew never leave teh pit - others would get our meals for us. Everyone else though had time to make quick runs to EPCOT inbetween matches etc.

~Tom~

you can get other kids to get your food?!?!? HA! I can't even get the freshmen to get my food. you're lucky

LoL, not only did I get the other kids to get my food, but even kids from other teams! Ask Carolyn! :D

~Tom~, who's thankful for everything that Carolyn did for him.

The other 69
 

We are starting the week before school starts and finish a week after the most local post season game (this year was the WPI compition). But we had plans for going to a summer match but do to lack of money on the kids side for travle we didn't do it, so robotics for us has an everchanging time spot, for some its just the School year, others its most of the year, thats why its other.

All i can remember about food at the NYC competition is walking 10 some blocks to find food. Then we tried to find our way back...

well....
 

as far as my oh so wonderful team, we spend six weeks of building, one weekend in long island on one week in florida together...that's about all. we're two high schools and that in it's own right makes it a little harder to have meetings everyday and actually get together during the summer and off season. there's usually one meeting before kick off to get the new kids and then when we get back from nats there's a party and thats it! part of our problem, actually all of it, is that we have adults that can't run a team...they've been doing this for ten years but they still can't do it! we have nothing. we get together, build a robot and thats all. that's it. no off season meetings or competitions, basically no fundraising except for our two big sponsors, there are no other schools in the area are involved in first, no middle schools and no one has heard of first. it's been ten years for crying out loud! people that aren't in the technology department at either schools have no idea about first. it's awful.... ok i think i'm done complaining now...i'm just shocked that the team hasn't fallen apart yet!
so just a suggestion to other teams, we are a great model of what not to be!

Re: well....
 

Why leave it up to your adults to run the team? I don't see any reason students cant do just a good of a job.

Re: Re: well....
 

they won't let us! we're just kids they are the all mighty adults. i think they know we could do a much better job than they are but they won't let us, but also none of us have actually stepped up to the challenge because of minor things like lack of time and other pathetic excuses
well, that's all