That exact situation happened to team 624 last year; we were the highest rookie seed at the LSR, but ended up not getting picked. It's truly not a money game---it's about name recognition. Regardless of how good your robot is, you will never get picked if people don't know who you are. Therefore, at nationals last year, we dawned bright green capes and outrageous costumes to get our name out to the competition, and it worked out quite well. It does not matter how much money your team spends on buttons and what not, as long as your team stands out in a way that says "remember team such and such", your chances of advancing will be much better.
Also, remember, FIRST helps to prepare us for the real world---in the real world, everyone won't be on a level playing field, but you just have to use what you have to its fullest potential :)

Don't be shy sell yourself
 

We had a similar situation last year when lower ranked teams got picked instead of us. This year we had a worse ranking than last year at the Philly regional, but we were picked.

When it was apparent that we were not going to be picked, the two drivers, human player and myself(coach) went around to the top 12 teams to tell them what we could do. And not just once, multiple times. (I am sorry for bugging everybody). Not only did we talk about what we could do, we also talked about the strategy our two robots could use to win matches. We told them when our next match was going to be so they coudl watch us.

Also it is good to talk to teams that you performed well with in the qualifying matches.

I know this advice is a little late, but I hope it helps you out next year, unless your doing the picking. If you are picking don't foget about your experience this year. Congratulations on a great rookie season(We finished 2nd from the bottom our first year)

Ken Delaney
Coach Team 357

You should never sell yourself short for not being picked. Being a rookie has nothing to do with it. What you need to look at is which teams are ranked high and what kind of robot would compliment their design in the finals. Above all else teams are looking at the opposition and how to best counter what they are up against. And above all, reliability is an issue. If you have had breakdowns during the qualifying or have a design that is hard to repair you might be lower on the list. Most teams are scouting and gathering info on all the teams and strategy is looking at how best to optimize their own alliance. Keep up the good work! Finishing in the top 50% is great for any team but especially for a rookie.
Good Luck in the Future.

We were ranked 13th at MMR, had lost only 1 match, and had none of the top teams as allies and didnt get picked. We are still proud of our accomplishments, and you should be also. Often good teams dont get picked because they dont fit into the other team's strategies. Many teams have chosen not to take advantage of great resources like SOAP (sorry for the blatant plug) that will help them find the best alliance partners for them regardless of rank and/or the visibility of the team.
http://www.soap108.com/

despite the ranking talk, what do u usually do to sell your team? this is my question.

another concern, I think that allowing teams that have their extra 5000 dollars to participate another regional is not fair to other teams that don't have it. Not every high school have the same financial ability to support such an expensive competition. I know we can find sponsors, but not every team is that lucky to have Ford, or other big company to support them. We had the financial hardship this time. Probably we didn't prepare it well enough, or we didn't realize that this competition is so expensive.

I'm not blaming ourselves nor anything, i still think that our robot is pretty good because we made it out of our own idea. There's no engineer help us at all except Arthur help us make the wheel's rod and we paid 50 bucks for the aluminum welding. Our advisor didn't involve much in the robot making but giving us a lot of comment and suggestion. I am proud of it. I think u all have given me very good suggestion, thanks for all.

AL

Hey there Mountain View-
I think i remember seeing your robot at the chatsworth scrimmage (i could be wrong but oh well) and i thought it was cool. Anyway, about alliance picking and all, here's my 2 cents...
1. We gave out a ton of spirit stuff (fire bags filled with "fire" related candy since we were hartburn) just because we thought it was really nice when teams gave stuff to us rookie year. It doesn't have to be expensive at all (infact, that's why we didn't do buttons) and it really helps create a positive environment and gets your team name out. It helped us a bunch since we were competing in Seattle and only 2 teams knew us.
2. Seeding means not much. We were in the middle because of so much bad luck and we were really scared when teams a lot lower than us got picked. It's totally about finding robots that compliment the other, and for that to happen, others have to know your capabilities. Teams liked our grabbing and squatting ability and that's what made us unique.
3. Teams like to work with workable teams. We saw a team having trouble opening their crate next to us so we offered them a wrench to open it up. We were lending out tools the whole day! Also, if a team remembers you as an amicable partner in an earlier alliance, that means a lot....that's how we got picked by thet second seeded team.

Hope this helps!

<<I think that allowing teams that have their extra 5000 dollars to participate another regional is not fair to other teams that don't have it>>

Please don't take this the wrong way (and keep in mind my team barely had enough $$ to get to our local regional) but Life isn't fair. If one team builds a better robot, or has better engineers, or better machine shop support. Its not fair.
The contest is supposed to show a small slice of the real world where small start ups can unseat powerful established teams. But having an established team is a bit more comfortable, just watch the start ups!



Now back to the topic. Going around the pit and talking to teams from thursday on is important. Look at the top 8 teams that you compliment. did you play matches with them? talk to them. mention how well you thought the robots would work together. Its OK everyone knows you are looking for a dance partner. Buttons and other stuff is just an excuse to start the conversation. (Kristina, we are still trying to finish the Jolly Ranchers, HOT!)

Your post seemed upbeat, just curious. We all hope that you are in this for the long haul.
If you aren't part of the WRRF get involved! You will make strong connections there before the next contest kick off (for you East Coast folks the WRRF is a team run group in the California Bay Area that hosts the California Games in Sept as well as holding more work shops than you can shake a stick at, but don't shake sticks, someone will get hurt))

Its over for us until Chatsworth and then the California Games. Good luck and strong winds to those of you going to nationals!

Eric Stokely
Team 360 Revolution
Formally of 258 The Sea Dawgs
"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"
Make me proud Sea Dawgs!!!

Getting your team known is the best way to be picked...

I did look through all of the flyers that were given to me by other teams... even though I set them down initially, I did go back and look through them. Those flyers do help.

What doesn't help is begging and/or whining. I had one person from a team (which will be anonymous, but also I forgot who they were), that came up and said they'd give me a bag of suckers if we'd pick them. What's worse, is they wouldn't go away. Eventually I told them to leave, in the nicest way possible.

"I think that allowing teams that have their extra 5000 dollars to participate another regional is not fair to other teams that don't have it>>
Please don't take this the wrong way (and keep in mind my team barely had enough $$ to get to our local regional) but Life isn't fair. If one team builds a better robot, or has better engineers, or better machine shop support. Its not fair. "

Agreed. Teams work very hard to receive funding. It's not fair to take money away from other teams just because your team is not able to get anything. There is not a single team (I could be wrong) that goes to the Nationals as a rookie. Aim high for next year. (If you need fundraising ideas, feel free to contact me..)

In terms of getting picked...
For the last 3 years we have built pretty non-descript robots that didn't do anything too special. Although we are a veteran team, this was the first time we were picked in the Regionals in a while. I think there are 2 reasons why:
a) we had the highest scoring match of the Regional (who knows how that happened!)
b) we told everybody about point "a)"; also, we pleaded with paly to get picked...sometimes you need to do that...forget about pride a little bit :)

You asked...what can you tell people about your robot? Even if you have a bot that can grab two goals and not much else, try to find something unique about it. For example, we told everyone our robot had added traction because of our fifth wheel..
Maybe you have extra speed or better control of the robot. Your goal is to persuade the other teams to become interested...you need something that no one else has. Also, make sure you have a PR person that is very familiar with your robot.
Good luck!
Oh, just like what Mr. Stokely said, make sure you join WRRF. Cal Games and Chattsworth games are a lot of fun. You'll get to meet teams from the area--->maybe even make some friends, who will pick you next year in the Regionals :)

we went to nationals our rookie year. this year is our second year and we had enough points to go to Florida again but not enough money :( So the only way we can convince our teacher to go is to win the LA regionals and fundraise a whole lot. The money problem is difficult, but what else can you do? It may not be the fair way, but its the fairest possibility they have (does that make sense?)