Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

(If you're in a real rush, read the bold parts.)

I see it everywhere.

"I don't know why my team wasn't picked, we hang 5.321618 ringers per match and did 2@12..."

"I think our team was the best at hanging at Magnolia..."

"We were on a lot of teams' lists in the Baker division..."

It's getting old. We know your team is great, but there are only so many times one can listen to others bring up their own team's greatness.

Therefore, I'm going to propose something. Follow it or don't follow it, your choice.

Whenever posting in any best/worst/should've been/shouldn't have been thread, please leave your team out of it. Predicating it with "I don't want to (undesirable attribute), but" doesn't help, either.

Now, if you've got hard data on hangs per match from the Magnolia Regional where you competed, go ahead and post it. If folks have mentioned your team, go ahead and acknowledge it with your own contribution to the thread (example). And, obviously, sharing your technical knowledge remains perfectly fine and welcome.

But please, spread the love around. Thank you.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree with this gentleman, there is a reason why Dow Jones doesn't list themselves on any of the Dow Jones Averages.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree whole-heartedly and believe that it would be very nice to see teams omit themselves because people are biased.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree, we are all out to have fun and do our best. Setting your team on a pedestal is not part of FIRST gracious professionalism and our right rude to other teams out there.

Thank you

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Good call.

Just some food for thought: just because your team can score exceptionally well, there will be times when other teams will be picked over yours. At events like the Championships, there are more Regional Champions and Finalists competing than spots in the elimination rounds.

No matter what the outcome is, just keep moving forward. That's all that matters. The outcomes of past competitions cannot be changed, so instead of whining, think about and take action upon how you could improve your robot, game strategy, and drive team in time for your next competition.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree. In my opinion our robots autonomous was the best but i posted the "Best Autonomous" thread to see what every body else say about it

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I disagree, it is much more fun to discuss things that you actually have strong feelings about(like your own robot), I certainly think that in most posts where you talk about your own robot as your percieved best you should mention at least 1-2 more runners up. Just going in and saying "we're clearly the best", is not interesting, but if you say, "well I think our robot was pretty good, explaination of how you were pretty good, other than us though I thing XXXX and XXXX were pretty good. Explaination about how they were pretty good"

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree with what Vogel said. There is nothing wrong with ranking your own team, as long as you are doing it objectively and rank others among yourselves.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Billfred, i don't agree with you often enough. but on this point and stand i do! I have had it in my signature from the day after Champs. :p

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

How do you agree when you blaitently do the same thing you just agreed to not doing???

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree that is gets really old. When I read one of those threads, I look at whos is posting. If someone is nominating thier own team, I almost always dismiss it. It's just human nature to feel your robot that you spent 6 long weeks on is better that it actually is. So, just don't nominate yourself, because most of the time (for me atleast) it's just dismissed.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

The problem with trying to objectively rank your own team is you are not objective. You are a member/alumnus of that team that ruins your credibility. These "Best" threads start up with posters actually discussing which (other) teams they think are good and pretty soon it is nothing but "my team is the best" every post. That doesn't add to the discussion, it is just noise. There is a thread to talk about your robot and it is in the Robot Showcase sub forum.

What do you hope to accomplish by CD-hyping your own team? This year I even saw someone post "Watch out for team XXXX in Atlanta" then they proceeded to change their profile from "team XXXX" to "no team" (left the hometown). Do I think any higher of team XXXX after reading that? No, I don't even remember team XXXX's number, but I think less of the poster. Do any scouts out there up grade a team because they posted how great they are? It is ok to post basic robot data and functions in the designated scouting threads, but leave the boasting behind.

I think we should all take a page or two out of Don Wright's book. It doesn't matter what people on CD think about your robot before a competition, it matters what you do at that competition. If noone is talking about your team, consider it a blessing that you are "flying under the radar".

Chief Delphi Hype doesn't earn trophies, your performance on Friday and Saturday does. The Hype can only earn you increased defense and more efforts to counter your strategy.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I've always followed this policy myself. Glad to see someone has the guts to ask everyone to. I know I wouldn't.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree I'm sick of reading every thread thats supposed to be about good robots and seeing every other post is sombody trying to brag about their robot, if yours robots good other people will recognize it.

I've been guilty of thinking that my teams might have been a better pick for an alliance partner, but deep down I know that those who are picked were selected for a reason.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Thank you,
This is something I have tried to point out before to try and cool down one of the threads I felt was feeling the symptoms of what I refer to as 'Name Pimping'. This sickness seemed to rear its ugly head around Championship time this year, and wasn't as widespread during the regional season. I guess the excitement of the Championships and successful regional seasons lead to this reversible sickness.

On a less sarcastic note:
It is great to see members excited by the success of their robot and team, just remember to try and not sound too boastful while celebrating your achievements.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Alot of the time, saying stuff like "our robot was the best, we should have won, ours should have been picked into finals, etc..." is pretty annoying. If your robot really was the best robot out there, wait for other teams to say something about it. If another team says your robot rocked, then it did. But when you see someone promoting how thier own robot did, it doesn't give much of a reason for anybody to listen because it's given that they loved thier robot.

If you need to show off how awesome your robot was, post a link to a video. That way, people could find something that might help them agree.:D

In all, I'd say it's ok to brag as long as you include other teams and dont say that yours was the best. That's for the other teams to decide. Self proclamed glory is worth nothing.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I said that because that was the only reason i posted those two other threads.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I agree whole heartedly with this thread. Teams are to biased when talking about their own robot. I know a lot of people on our team thought that we were under rated this year but we kept telling them that its not important if we are rated high or not, its all about performance. Like team 503 (who i thought was MAJORLY underrated) they did not care that they were underrated when we were talking to them. I like that about their team, they do their own thing and whatever happens just happens.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

i totally agree.. it is still nice to hear teams talking about how they did or different things that they've accomplished, but without saying their team is the best! It's fine to think it or talk about your team's greatness with your own team.. just not where other teams might read or hear it!

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

To some people, it may be annoying to read other people boasting about thier own team but my point is that you get more recognition if you wait for others to point you out.

And if you never get mentioned, all the more reason to do something really cool next year.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

I just can't understand why we weren't picked, we scored almost one tube all day and were able to defend sometimes. We managed to get the ramp to work once, although it was at the beginning of the match...

Seriously, I agree. It's much like the teams that come to us and ask us to pick them for an alliance. Our scouting team determines that, not the drive team or pit crew...

Don

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

You're all wrong. There are a ton of teams in FIRST. There's no way you're going to hear about all of them (even all the good ones) unless team members tell you. If you want to discount whatever is said by someone about their own robot, go ahead (I do), but whatever: These people worked just as hard as you did on their robot, and if the only way it's gonna get any airtime is to talk it up themselves, then that's what they gotta do. The trick here is to find a way to self promote without looking like a shameless self promoter.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Bingo! We have a winner here, folks.

Marketing your team in FIRST is tricky. It is something you must do, in order to get some attention. However, too much will annoy other teams.

Be honest. Be consise. Don't repeat yourself. Don't repeat yourself.

If you are blatantly saying "my team is the best yada yada", then people will not pay much attention. If you give others their due, and then sneak in a "hey, check out our team as we are decent at doing this yada yada", then you will be more accepted.

This marketing stuff takes experience and tact.

Andy B.

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Anyone can quote how many ringers you put on in practice at your place of build. The only thing that sticks is how you perform in a match.





Albright out

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

It's common for teams in all competitions to rate higher their own score. Everybody does it!:cool:

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

And whether or not you complete what you promise (hint, hint)(nudge, nudge);) ;) ;)

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Hmm I always thought this type of thing was just inherently understood. Marketing is one thing but being outright pompous is another. Oh well to each their own- it's just being simply polite I guess..

Re: Proposed Gentleperson's Agreement: Don't rank your own team.
 

Good point Kris. For the teams who dont get very much recognition from other teams, I guess they might have to self-promote. But it's not easy to get recognition by just saying you did good.

Here's a simple solution. If your team already went through the season and didn't do too good, in ways, you could actually get more recognition by complementing other teams on how they did. Possibly talk about how they did with or against you in matches or how they might have helped you in the pits. Saying so might give them something to say in return. Complements are usually followed by complements.

And if you find that your team still attracts no attention, put even more effort into next year. Go overboard on spirit or imagery and you'll definately be seen.:D