A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Hey Everyone :D

No matter how you're involved with FIRST, wear your shirt at some point on Wednesday, September 14th, so we can take the world by storm. FIRST logos should be everywhere... I want to see multiple numbers strolling around streets and stores, and high-fiving each other when they see each other :). Let's make it so that people who aren't involved with FIRST ask questions after seeing the logo and name all day. Spread the word! Invite everyone you know from FIRST! This is in September in the middle of the week because everyone's back in school to show off their colors! Have work? Wear it before/after! Or just wear it to bed to still get in the spirit of it.

If you have Facebook, you can get the details, sign up as "Attending", and help a lot by spreading the word to get even more people to join in! Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=206714226032784

INVITE EVERYONE YOU KNOW IN FIRST! FRC, FTC, FLL, Jr. FLL, volunteers, staff, sponsors who might have a shirt, everyone! Share this on all your social media sites and let's get this thing going!

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Great idea! I just invited all the robotics people i know on facebook :cool:

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Great Idea, some FIRST people i talk say that they wont wear their robotics stuff out side of robotics for fear of being labeled a geek. But this event will show the world that being excited about science/engineering is just as cool as sports.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Awesome! Our team is very large (this year about 65 students and 35 mentors) so there's never a school day where at least one person isn't wearing their team shirt. I'm not sure what type of team you're from (for example, we're associated with our public high school made up of two small towns in NH) but I think what makes our members so proud to be a part of the team and wear team shirts all the time is because we make sure to get kids together to volunteer at local events (Old Home Days, our town's Strawberry Festival, anything put on by the Rotary, that kind of stuff) - not just the big-name events and definitely not just events having to to with science and technology, so in return we gain the entire community's support and everyone in the two towns that make up our high school district has at least heard of the FIRST team. I'm not sure if this is something you already do, but I think it really helps. Also, whenever we have a competition coming up we have a small message read in the morning announcements at school before the event and after the event saying how we did or what awards we won. Both the students and staff at our school know who we are and ask us how we're doing and respect us, I think it's because of the little local things rather than the big ones. Might take a couple years, we definitely weren't as genuinely spirited just a few years ago :). I hope that helps!

Thanks,
Gen

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I am a college student and am not currently associated with any team. But both teams that i have worked with did not have a problem with showing their spirit in public. My comment above stems from talking with other teams at events and in other public setting where FIRST is brought up. This event is a great opportunity for teams to take your suggestions above and relay show what FIRST has to offer. I know i would not be an Engineering student with out FIRST.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

This is a great idea... we should have one every year! I will definitely participate.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I actually do this much more than I realize it :) Teams shirts are always fun to wear and people like to question what its about! I always enjoy talking about FIRST! :)

- Andrew

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Yep, I know how that is :) lol. Hey... Exploding Bacon! I'm from New Hampshire but I'll be starting at FIT in Melbourne in the fall, hopefully mentoring a local team (looking at 233 right now) but if not my freshman year then I'll at the very least be volunteering at the Orlando Regional :).

-Gen

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Sounds like good fun! :) 233 is a lot of fun to talk to, and I'm sure they are a BLAST to work with! Also have fun at FIT! But if all else fails for mentorship (sure it won't) Bacon is always accepting new members! :p

Anyway I have to get some CADding done for a Job Interview on Monday! :)

- Andrew

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

So I just had this thought: we don't have the FIRST logo on our shirts. Is this a problem. (Obviously, I mean in a wider context than this event.) How important would you consider displaying the FIRST logo on your team shirt? Does your team shirt have the logo, and if so, how big is it?

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Our team does have the logo on our shirts which for some seems like an oxymoron when at competition but when wearing it during the day, at demos, and other events it is a great way to get the word out. I have a FIRST pin that I wear on my work uniform and I have gotten a lot of comments from: my child was in their program, I know someone who works their, I saw them in the newspaper, etc.

I attend world of FIRST day all day errday with how many shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets I have! ;)

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I don't think this is a problem, in the simple case of making team shirts it's really what each team wants. I mentored an FLL team this year that got really simple shirts using only one color that we screen printed in a mentor's basement using our own printouts lol so we couldn't even do the FIRST logo well in one color (black) and it wouldn't have come out that well when we printed it out. On 1073's team shirts, yes, we do have the logo. We have it twice on the back across from each other towards the middle (top to bottom) on both sides of our list of sponsors (if that makes sense when I type it) and they're relatively small - no more than two inches tall.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Not at all, if I understand this event it is to start the conversation. I can't tell you how many conversations my 33 hat sparked over the last term at Kettering and it doesn't have the FIRST logo on it.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Check out the FLL bog, I posted about "A World of FIRST Day 2011" there!

http://fllblog.wordpress.com/

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Hey Everyone!

It's pretty stellar to see how big this is getting after a day! We now have a blog that will function as the day's website at worldfirstday.wordpress.com. Comment and share away so we can generate some more buzz! Updates will be coming soon on that site for a Flickr account where people can upload photos of certainly wearing their FIRST stuff around that day, but there will be more opportunities to add photos as well, such as taking pictures wearing FIRST shirts in different places :).

Thanks everyone for spreading the word!

-Gen

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Love it!
Team 3161 members and mentors will definitely be participating :)

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Now that the time is much closer (a little over two weeks) we need to remind everyone that this event is coming up.

Wear your team shirt to school, work or just around town for the day to stir interest in FIRST and your robotics team. It is still relatively fresh in some minds after the Wil.I.Am special last month, so this is just reinforcement.

We will be wearing ours!
How about you?

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

It is now occurring to me, why is this not on a Friday so those who work with dress codes could wear a FIRST related thing on their casual Friday?

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

That occurred to me after I realized that there is such thing as casual Friday at an internship this summer... next year!!

Just an update - organically (mostly word of mouth/taking it easy and not posting a whole lot past the first week this year) we're about 500 away from 5000 attendees on Facebook. That's pretty STELLAR! :) so anyways, based on this year I'm looking for ideas for future years. Here's what I have so far, please let me know absolutely any recommendations having to do with any of this!

-Should be on a Friday (casual Fridays at Work, etc.)

-More online exposure about this (more continuous push, this year there was a lot of hype the first week and then no follow through... for future years we'll implement ideas like having the open Flickr gallery where people can post to and set up hashtags for people to post more photos, etc. to Twitter)

-Recommend to FIRST to make buying apparel easier on their site/have more options for people (mostly for supporters not associated with teams)

Thanks!

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

This might be a bit out there, but maybe we could get World of First Day T-shirts (for next year of course).
Just a thought,
-duke

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I plan in wearing my team shirt and one of my many FIRST hats. I will invite everyine I know on my team (or any team) to this event!

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Currently letting everyone I know on my team about this, not that there isn't really a day I'm not wearing a team/first shirt to school or around town, but it would be awesome to see everyone wearing their team shirts!

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

An idea for the online exposure that I just thought of before was to have some sort of universal "World Of FIRST Day" profile picture for Facebook. Or just say everyone should set their profile pic to the FIRST logo that day.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I have a FIRST belt, hat,chain, pendant, shirts, buttons. I wear FIRST wherever I go. Everyday.Without Fail. Proudly.
When asked about it I start out with: You ever seen or been a Segway?...etc

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

This sounds like a really great idea. I'm sure to tell all of the members of my team about it.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Team 135 students, future students, mentors, parents, and alumni will all be participating :D
ABSOLUTELY love this!!!

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

As far as I know, every one on my team will be participating tomorrow. Team members were notified on our google groups, at our 1st friday meeting of the year, and i will re remind everyone who shows up at our training tonight.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Maybe this could be a "first Friday of the month" type of thing instead of doing it once per year.

Around here, students apparently don't care if they look geeky in their robotics shirts, because my students wear them to school pretty often. It's fun to see those shirts in the hallways.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Over 5,200 attending, congratulations.

Less than 6 hours until WOFD begins, can't wait! :D

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I still think this would have been a much better idea...

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I hope everyone will be posting pictures and stories about WoFD 2011. Can't wait to see the impact.

Who will be the first to get a picture posted on WoFD?
Most remote?
Largest group of FIRST shirts in a single picture?
Last picture posted on WoFD?

Let the celebration begin.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I almost forgot to do this tomorrow! Well, today now, actually. I think I will wear only FIRST shirts the rest of the week for the heck of it! I have plenty! :D

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I plan on wearing a FIRST shirt Friday (probably my 33 shirt) to drum up interest for TNT.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Got my red and gold shirt on! While I don't think I'll see too many FIRSTers at my school outside my team, I'll try to keep a look out. Any San Jose people gonna wear their shirts today?

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Sporting my Yellow KB mentor dress shirt.

So, apparently a bright wall of Yellow will get you a lot of attention in the office...:yikes:

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

FINALLY decided which shirt to wear today! (It took awhile considering I brought all but 3 of my FIRST shirts to college with me.)

And today's team is..... SWAMP THING! 179!!!! (Just got this shirt this year at the Florida Regional!)

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Gave a 2005 Team 48 Thursday t-shirt to a new student (former CIA 291 member) to wear - he doesn't go to Warren G. Harding High School. The t-shirt had the Harding name on it (small lettering). Turns out his school's (stupid?) policy does not permit wearing shirts sporting the names of other schools. He received detention. We both had a good laugh.

Maybe they thought the nonexistent robotics team members at his school would up and shank him for wearing another "gang"'s colors....:rolleyes: When you're ELITE, you're ELITE all the wayyyy.....

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Hey, I'd shank you with a sharpened rivet for wearing a 48 shirt on my turf! :p

All joking aside, a good thing to note if this happens again would be to check with all relevant school rules. Or just wear a generic FIRST shirt.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

What possible purpose could that rule even serve? Seriously?

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I'm so proud of all the Technokats at our school wearing their team 45 shirts today...except for me....i sported some pretty spiffy 111 tie dye :cool:

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

I wish I had some 111 tie dye.... I only have some 256 shirts....

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

So, while no one AT work asked about FIRST I was hanging out with someone from work and they asked about FIRST. Showed them some videos, gonna try to get them to TNT this weekend and maybe get some drive time on a robot.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

A bunch of us from Team 1515 wore our shirts today! (But that's partly because we always do)

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Remember that we are all super-geeks in the eyes of FIRST

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

It was a fun day, just me, my shirt, and I. While the rest of my team forgot what I've been talking about to them for the past 2 weeks or so, I still wore my shirt proudly, including a few buttons. Not enough to make the armor I get at the competitions, but enough to get people to notice and ask questions. Well, 7 new builders and 3 new programmers later, it seemed to have worked! ;)

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Staying trye to my word - another team shirt today! And the winner is....... PINK! 233!!!! Got this shirt this year, too! Another one I had been in search of for years.

Re: A World of FIRST Day 2011!
 

Kudos to my kids for remembering to pack their FIRST shirts for vacation. Here's a photo from last week (Maui).

My oldest is on the right... alumnus of FRC1318 (Rack-n-Roll, Overdrive, Lunacy)... lately has been volunteering for FIRSTWA.

My younger son is on the left... alumnus of FRC1899 (Overdrive, Lunacy, Breakaway, LogoMotion).

We were enjoying some ice cream in Wailea. :)