[Koko Ed]

Here are some queing tips for rookie and veterans alike:
• Read the Match Schedule and the Read it Again – Have two or three people thoroughly read the match schedule and clearly mark off the matches they are participating in and make sure members of the drives team is aware when those matches are and adhere to the schedule like religion. Last at Midwest I actually had a team miss a match because they misread the schedule and were unaware they had a match coming up. Fortunately they were sitting near me at the front of the que and after debating that they didn’t have a match saw their number in the drivers station and sent their human player so they wouldn’t get DQ’d. their sister team actually went to lunch at 1:30 pm after lunch was over and missed their match. When you do this it looks irresponsible and unprofessional. It’s a guaranteed way to turn teams off in a heartbeat from picking you.

• Come Early – If your robot is properly functioning please show up 5 to 10 minutes previous to your match. And if your robot is not functioning properly please have your Analyst/Feeder show up 10 minutes early. It let’s us know what is up with your team and lets your alliance partners also know what is up with your team.

• You Are Responsible for Your Drivers Buttons – The driver’s buttons are issued to you for a reason so we can differentiate who belongs on the field and who doesn’t. Make sure they are in the hands of someone reliable and responsible. If you lose them, forget them at home or destroy them somehow you are responsible for getting another one at Pit Adman ASAP! Even if you have a critical match coming up we are not going to let you on the field without a badge. If your drive’s team is incapable of taking care of their badges leave them with a responsible mentor (just make sure they don’t leave the arena with them. I’ve seen that happen before too)or put someone on the drive’s team who is responsible.

• Authorized Personnel Only! – The field area is for Field Personnel, Drives Teams, Judges and Authorized Guest only! It is not to be used as a shortcut to the other side of the field or a great place to go watch the match close up or for that awesome shot from your camera. Remember if you want to be in there so do dozens of other people in the arena and we don’t have room for all of you so it’s just best to play fair and keep all of out so we can keep order on the field so everyone can enjoy the event.

• STOP RUNNING! – last year at the Midwest regional the son of the founder of Motorola was walking around the filed area with Dean. He walked very slow and was bent over all the time. He looked very fragile. Meanwhile there were frantic high school students solely focused on the well-being of their robot and dashing around back and forth from the field to pit getting parts for their robots to make them work as well as they could never once thinking that they could collided with this man or anybody else and severely hurt them or themselves. Is that extra five seconds of getting that part worth hurting someone in your haste? If you did crash into someone and hurt them I certainly hope you would have the brains enough to drop everything and make sure they are all right at least. Because the robot isn’t going to matter to that person that you sent to the infirmary I assure you. Slow down.

• Please No Coding – Unless it is an unavoidable emergency please do not upload code to your robot while waiting to go onto the field especially if you are in the next match. It takes forever and whether you are ready or not we are going to start the next match with or without you and if you are not ready to go because your robot is taking in some new programming we are not obligated to wait for you so you might as well go back to the pits and finish your upload there.

• Great Play Now Please Leave – Nothing personal but while your big upset/ big victory/ great play was an awesome moment for your team could you please unhook your control, retrieve your robot and celebrate to the side. We still have a job to do.

• No Standing Zone – and while you’re at it please do not block the traffic lane because you want to see the score from the last match. There is not much room in the field area and you are holding up teams leaving and event personnel from their appointed duties when you are just standing there with your robot and cart and team in the way. Also those attending the event should leave the entrance and exit of the field clear so teams can do their best to come and go as well.

• I am Not a Radio Station – Please do not give me your music request for the DJ. The DJ isn’t going to take my request to delete obnoxious ( The Chicken Dance) dated (The Macarena) or overplayed ( Cotton Eyed Joe) songs for his playlist so I’m not going to forward your request either and to be honest I have better things to do at the moment like helping keep the competition running. And no you can’t come into the field area too make request either. Just put up with what’s being played like everybody else.


• It’s not just about you. It’s about ALL of us – Yes FIRST is a wonderful event that is designed to help you reach your full potential and the regional is going to be one of the best times of your life, win or lose. But please be aware that you have a job to do as well and it’s not just in service to your team. It’s your job to make sure your team has everything on your robot plugged in and ready to go. That your robot is inspected. That your batteries are charged and that your team is ready and willing and able to perform the task at hand to get your robot on and off the field in a timely manner. All it takes is one team or one team member to be lax in their duties and the competition dies the death of a thousand papercuts. A minute lost here. A couple of minutes there and next thing you know the event is an hour behind. What I have learned in queing is that when queing is at its most effective it isn’t because the que team rocks. It’s because YOU GUYS ROCK. The most efficient and organized que team is only effective as the teams they lead. If they get it then everything works like clockwork.