Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Hi guys,

Just wanted to give you guys an update on the FIRST documentary mentioned here a couple of years ago. The documentary was filmed during the 2008 season and features four teams: Team #341 "Miss Daisy", Team #2528 the “Robodoves”, Team #1706 the “Ratchet Rockers”, and Team #1583, the “Rambotics”. It will be aired on PBS channels this coming fall and will hopefully garner a lot of interest in FIRST for the upcoming 2010 season.

We (KETC Channel 9 in St. Louis, MO) are working on getting a website for the documentary up, but in the meantime if you'd like a more constant stream of updates, you can check out the facebook fan page here. There is a promo video for the documentary up there already. If you would like, I can also keep you updated through this thread.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Just out of curiosity, were you conducting interviews with people from different teams (Other Than The Teams you Mentioned) at the Championship in 2008 for this Documentary? I remember being interviewed for what I believe is this documentary at the Championship in 2008 in one of the small rooms under the Georgia Dome.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

The documentary really only focuses on those four teams, and as far as I remember (I could be wrong) it only goes up to the state regionals. I'm told we did shoot some at the Championships, so that may or may not have been us. However, not everything that was recorded is being used in the documentary. It has been edited down a lot. Sorry I can't give you any more of a conclusive answer!

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Looking forward to the release! It seems like a long time ago now....
Nice promo, and nice snaps. The photo of the Robodoves talking with a man in a blue blazer- he is the Governor of Maryland.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

They were filming for this documentary at the 2008 Championship. We were also provided footage to the production company but will not be featured in the final product, to my understanding.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

What you are thinking of was a partnership between PBS and FIRST to do personal interviews for promotional videos. You can find an example on this FRC Media page. http://www.usfirst.org/community/res...er.aspx?id=652
There is a video which is called "FRC Student Voices" which is an example of this work. Its a great video.

"Gearing Up" is strictly about the 4 teams involved, although they did often film other action.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Very cool !.

I like the Facebook Gearing-Up page, you can upload fan videos to it and stuff.....

Cheers,
Marcos.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Hello All,

I was wondering for the teams filmed for the documentary, what type of industries the mentors come from :
Team #341 "Miss Daisy",
Team #2528 the “Robodoves”
Team #1583, the “Rambotics”

For Team #1706 the “Ratchet Rockers”, I know there were at least three mentors from aerospace industry, one of them a retiree.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

For 341:

One of our mentors is a physics teacher at Wissahickon High School
One of our mentors is a machine trades teacher at North Montco Technical Career Center (county technical school)
One of our mentors works for Lockheed Martin
One of our mentors is a US Army retiree
One of our mentors is a professional web designer/multimedia designer with a small firm in Philadelphia
One of our mentors works for an HVAC company
Four of our mentors are currently college students studying engineering-related fields

And several other teachers and parents help out in some capacity during the year.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I haven't met the other three teams, but I had the privilege of inspecting the Robodoves' VRC robot at the World Championships in Dallas. On their Website they say their VEX robot managed 29 points in the Programming Skills Challenge at a regional event, which is the second-highest score I heard of last season in VRC. That's some good programming. I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I don't have a complete mentor list for 2528 but one male mentor (featured at the end of the promo) is a retired engineer from Bethlehem Steel (a longtime FIRST mentor and event volunteer), and other mentors (female) were from a small local company in Baltimore - Key Tech - which does product development. They are amazing role models for this all-female team.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Very cool !!!.

Here is what I have so far :

Team #1706 the “Ratchet Rockers”
Three mentors from aerospace industry, one of them a retiree.

Team #341 "Miss Daisy"
One of our mentors is a physics teacher at Wissahickon High School
One of our mentors is a machine trades teacher at North Montco Technical Career Center (county technical school)
One of our mentors works for Lockheed Martin
One of our mentors is a US Army retiree
One of our mentors is a professional web designer/multimedia designer with a small firm in Philadelphia
One of our mentors works for an HVAC company
Four of our mentors are currently college students studying engineering-related fields.

Team #2528 the “Robodoves”
One male mentor (featured at the end of the promo) is a retired engineer from Bethlehem Steel (a longtime FIRST mentor and event volunteer).
One other mentors (female) were from a small local company in Baltimore - Key Tech - which does product development. They are amazing role models for this all-female team.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I have been instructed that FIRST will be sending the procedures to the Regional Directors for the process to be followed for contacting local PBS stations (to ask to show the documentary). The RD's will distribute to their local areas.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Anyone that follows this thread lives in Alabama ?
If so, contact me on private message on chief delphi.


Cheers,
Marcos.
:cool:

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Just an FYI that the Physics teacher for team 341 is also a Master prepared Mechanical Engineer (retired) with 10 years in the packaging and food industry. :)

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Definitely wait for direction from FIRST before contacting a PBS station. There is some serious protocol to follow there.

However, we have been working closely with the folks at KETC St. Louis and it is OK to use your social networking skills to contact friends, family, other FIRST teams, sponsors, and others to let them know about the upcoming release. They are definitely at a point where they want the general public to know about the Facebook site and the upcoming Gearing Up website.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

New link for "FRC Student Voices" is http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...er.aspx?id=652 . Unfortunately, since I am not a student, even though I was interviewed, I must have ended up on the cutting room floor. Oh, well! :p

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Hello All,

It is very cool on the documentary facebook we can post videos.
There is a video of one of the teams filmed for the documentary (Team 1706 ) past robots displayed at the school district office, does other teams have footage of their robots been displayed on the school district office ?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gearin...793?ref=share/

Cheers,
Marcos

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Times and media markets so far:

http://www.gearingupproject.org/where-to-watch/

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

@CoachNorm on Twitter posted some information about Gearing Up on his blog: http://coachnorm.posterous.com/geari...first-robotics

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Listing is incomplete...our local PBS in Las Vegas is showing the program on Oct 9 at 10:00pm and the 11th at 5:00pm. Our school district (5th largest in US) is distributing notification to all principals to share with students/parents. Can't wait!

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

JB987,

That is very cool !.
Do you now if the school district plans to have a "viewing of the documentary" ?.

I think the documentary is 1 hour in duration.......

I know in the past there was a showing of the documentary teaser at a community college in St. Charles, MO in the evening.

Cheers,
Marcos.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

The people at KETC are working very hard with a small crew to roll out the documentary and keep the listings up to date. It may take a while to have an accurate list and add more content to the website.

They'll be showing it in Philly on 9/24 at 10 PM on WHYY, Ch 12 . Can't wait!

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Hello All,

I checked the schedule, it shows :

National WORLD 11/19/2009 6:00 PM ET
National WORLD 11/19/2009 9:00 PM ET
National WORLD 11/21/2009 5:00 PM ET
National WORLD 11/21/2009 11:00 PM ET


Does it mean all the PBS channels will be showing the documentary on 11/19 and 11/21 ?

Cheers,
Marcos.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I was wondering the same thing. Your interpretation is the only one that makes sense to me, but it would be nice to get some official confirmation.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I contacted KVCR and they are going to air "Geared Up". Here are the dates and times:
Monday, October 12 at 10am,
Monday, October 12 at 10pm and
Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00am.

KVCR is run out of San Bernadino Valley College in SoCal.

via
Dara Devicariis
Earth Science Teacher/Robotics Mentor at Colton High School/River Springs Charter School
on LinkedIN First Robotics Group

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I learned a little bit more about this. Apparently PBS World is an additional digital channel. Some local PBS affiliates have this and some do not. I did learn that WHYY in Philadelphia does broadcast PBS World. So if your cable package has PBS World, then you have these additional opportunities to view the show. When I get to my other computer, I will post a list of other stations that carry PBS World.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I might be wrong but I think the WORLD Channels is avaialbe by "air", you just need to be able to receive "digital" transmission.

My understanding is that some cities have "digital" channels, while others do not.......

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

According to the 'where to watch' web-page, it indicates that the documentary has already been shown in a lot of places.

Has anyone seen it and recorded it? Our team is one of the teams featured in the film and we would love to have a copy as soon as possible. It's not scheduled to show in our market for almost two months. I would hate to wait that long if its already been shown elsewhere.

Thanks,

John

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

i watched most of it, it was alright, i think it needed to be longer in order to tell the story better, sort of a bit vague and broad, but it was very enjoyable

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I would absolutely love to have a copy to show to our team. If you recorded it and could send me a copy in any format I would greatly appreciate it.

My contact information is as follows:

John W. Ratcliff
601 Woodchuck Lane
Lake Saint Louis, MO 63367

mailto: jratcliffscarab@gmail.com

Thanks!

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

It's airing twice in my area tonight, 9 PM and 2:30 AM, i shall try to tape it for you but i can't make any promises, after tonight its not airing again according to the listings til novmber

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Has KETC and CPB given the ok to tape and distribute?

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

maybe...:rolleyes:


doubt i could anyways

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Your team can probably get a complimentary copy since they participated. You should ask your coach.
Also I believe that KETC eventually is planning to sell them.

For those of you planning to attend Ramp Riot X on November 14th, we will be showing the documentary over the lunch hour as long as we get approval from KETC. It should be fun since the Robodoves and Ron Karpinski (my hero) will also be there. :)

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I just finished watching the documentary live on TV. Congrats to all the teams involved. It was really a well done movie and I can't wait to see it again at Ramp Riot.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

FYI, the documentary is available on DVD for $19.99 from KETC!

www.ketc.org/store

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Saw it- loved it. Wow! it shows me how every team has its own story and there are many many ways we inspire each other-- students and mentors.

And really- thanks for representing FIRST. I hope it gets a big audience.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Gearing Up made to the KETC homepage !!!!

http://www.ketc.org/index.asp

Awesome !. We are just bellow "Our Great Outdoors"

Cheers,
Marcos.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Here is a photo gallery of the Premier event in St. Louis, MO :

http://www.jasonwinkelerphotography.com/gearingup/

I wonder if other cities are having premiere events too.....

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

The pictures looked great! It was nice seeing all those familiar faces from the documentary.
Team 341 is going to screen the documentary at Ramp Riot 2009, next Saturday. Its our 10th anniversary of our off-season competition and we will have 36 FRC Teams, about 20 FTC teams and lots of kids from the local community.
We are going to run the documentary 3 times on a continuous loop at 11, 12, and 1PM.
The RoboDoves and Ron Karpinski will be there to compete. So, if there are any representatives from the St. Louis or Colorado teams that will be in the Philly area next weekend we would love to have you at the event.
Unfortunately when the documentary first ran it was at 9 PM on our Back to School night, so most people just recorded it. We may try to run the documentary again as a screening for the local community sometime this winter.
Best Wishes to the Gearing Up teams from Maryland, Colorado, and Missouri during the 2010 season.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

If anyone will be within the Philly / Ambler, PA area on November 14th and would like to view the documentary "Gearing Up" , please stop by RAMP RIOT 2009.

Besides the documentary there will be a ton of fun things to see and do.
I have attached the Ramp Riot promotion sheet and some important links below. Hope you can make this event.

Ramp Riot Thread
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=77037

Ramp Riot Information Packet
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2291

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

From Maryland Public Television:

>>Hi—I am following up to let you know the upcoming broadcast times for the program “Gearing Up”

MPT December 27 at 5pm

MPT2, January 3 at 10am

We hope you enjoy the show and I will let you know if it is scheduled to air again.

Have a lovely holiday season.<<

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

GREAT!!
I also gave Ron Karpinski and the Robodoves a copy of the documentary when they were at Ramp Riot on November 14th. So hopefully everyone on the Robodoves has had a chance to sit down together and watch it.

Ron (my hero) Karpinski has the best lines in the whole documentary. It really illustrates what a great mentor he is!!

Enjoy Maryland!!

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

For those teams in the Chicago area or those that receive WTTW via cable or satellite, WTTW will be airing Gearing Up on Sunday, January 3, 1:00pm. It's a great time to get ready for kickoff.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Received this on 11/30/09 after my request for them to offer the show back in September. Thanks Wisconsin Public Television for responding to the request.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

And for those people traveling to the NH Kick-off, it will be aired in New Hampshire during the days prior to Kick-off. A nice chance to view it.

I am sure we'll all be too busy after kick-off to watch any TV for a while. ;)

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Reminder......

Date: 12/30/09
Time: 1:00 PM CST
Where: Wisconsin Public Television

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

KETC just put the entire documentary up on Youtube yesterday. Here are the links:

Part 1 | Meet the Teamsl
Part 2 | Countdown
Part 3 | Facing Challenges
Part 4 | Regional Competitions

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

The PBS station put the whole documentary up on Youtube on the 28th. I thought I posted this yesterday, but it's not showing up for some reason?

Edit: Here's "Part One". I had all four linked yesterday, so I can just assume it will show up at some point. :p

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Thanks for the link! I was disappointed that I couldn't see it on tv. Excellent documentary.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

You can still purchase the DVD. I bought it for my wife for her birthday (yes, alas, we are both geeks), she loved it.

http://www.gearingupproject.org/

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Wow - that was great. I think it will be mandatory viewing for our new teammembers from now on...

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I just finished watching and it is by far one of the best pieces of documentation that exemplifies what FIRST is all about. Awesome job.

Addition to my list of teams I want to meet: 1583

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Also now linked to YouTube through the Gearing Up website.
http://www.gearingupproject.org/

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Gearing Up will be repeated on Channel 56 (Detroit) at 9:00 tonight, 6/1/10. Your chance to see it again, or if you're like me for the first time. I missed it the first time around because it was broadcast very early following its release.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Is there any students or mentors that participated on the Gearing Up PBS Documentary still involved with FIRST Robotics, I can not believe it has been more than 5 years. I t would be neat if we all met on a 10 year anniversary on 2018......

Cheers,
Marcos.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

Mentors from 2528 - The RoboDoves still involved, including Ron Karpinski. He spent yesterday teaching CAD all day at the annual Baltimore Area Alliance Education Day to benefit teams from all over Maryland.

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

I am sure that Ron is as awesome as ever. :) He is still one of my FIRST heroes. (no joking around)
I am still around with Team 341. It would be cool to somehow get some kids from the original teams together this year in St. Louis, since that is where it was produced. Just thinking out loud.
Hope all is well with everyone involved.

Al Ostrow
Team 341

Re: Gearing Up! (FIRST documentary)
 

It seems like most media representations of FRC sort of get it wrong (it's a science fair! It's a demonstration!), but I really liked how this one portrayed FRC.

Does anyone know if some of the 341 members are still around? The head mentor, the guy with the baseball hat and beard and the driver with the long hair all seemed to really be a strong force on the team. It would be cool to know that they stuck around and helped drive the creations of some other great 341 bots.