Re: avoid hitting the ESTOP in competition!
 

Yeah, this is what I assumed. My plan for next year is to have a "certification" process, where team members all get a yellow hard hat, certified members get a white "foreman" hard hat. The individuals with the white hard hats would be the team reps who are allowed to speak on behalf of the team and the robot. What happened this year is we had so many part-time members, who simply could not really articulate our strength and weaknesses, that we fell by the wayside. It is unfortunate, because the robot was decent, but poor communication resulted in us not being able to defend the technical difficulties. I don't believe in lying to teams, and expressing frustrations is often a good thing (we're all going through the same thing) but you must represent a confident view of at least your robots potential.

Re: avoid hitting the ESTOP in competition!
 

A better idea is having a pre-departure meeting (either the day you leave if you travel or the day before if it is local). Have all full-time members prepare information regarding the robot, then compile the information, give everyone a copy, and leave it in the pit. If you have a hard copy for teams to look at or a file for a team member to show scouters, then anyone can show anyone what to do.

Re: avoid hitting the ESTOP in competition!
 

A hard copy is definitely important, however the hard copy is often an ideal and exaggerated representation of a robot. It is through the conversations that you gain true insights into the potential of the robots. Over the past couple years I have become very interested in entrepreneurship and have found that the pitch, will either make or break a business deal, and FIRST is evidence of this. When teams talk to others they are not only influenced by claimed abilities, but also the team's image. As I walk around pits and talk to teams, I am often most impressed by the teams that can express confidence in light of the hardships they may be facing. Just as an interviewer will often ask you "what is the most difficult project you've worked on?" I like to ask "what is the biggest problem you are facing now? and what are you doing to fix it?" Business is all about the curve balls and unfortunately numbers and facts will rarely help you dodge them, it is about being able to think on your feet, and reflecting confidence even under hardships.

This is the reason why I think it is important to have specific people pitch the robot who can reflect these goals. Also an interesting strategy which has been used by many teams, which reflects talking to a VC is sending girls and non technical members to do the scouting. The girls tend to break down the walls of us geeks, and introduce a emotional aspect to the pitch, which can reveal a lot about a team. Also the non technical members force you to sell to someone who knows nothing about the robots. When pitching a company to a VC or Angel this is exactly what you will find. Tech specs never impress, but rather passion and experience do. It is interesting how much of the sale of technical goods is a product of emotional feelings rather than facts.

Obviously this thread has gotten way off topic, but I think it is a worthy and somewhat related topic on lessons learned.