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Re: Meetings
I think the main difference here is that FRC only has 6 weeks and requires a lot more fabrication, because it's not all/any kit parts. We meet essentially every day for 6 weeks, though we give most of the team gets the first few Tuesdays/Fridays off. (CADers gotta CAD.) I logged over 230 hours on-site in 6 weeks. And I go to school 3.5 hours away from that site. Throughout competition season, we're still meeting 3-7 times a week.
If we made all the meetings we need mandatory, we'd have 1 mentor and no students. Our meetings are all optional (except for initial orientation/safety, etc) and students+families decide their commitment. You get out what you put in, but right now we don't have any set standards. Some teams do--requiring minimums for travel, etc. Other posts will likely cover this, but team handbooks are also helpful.
You'll notice that this also contributes to FRC hours being much less evenly divided. Core people, especially designers log a lot of time (~400hrs). Head mentors (often also CADers) log even more. As in, upwards of 500 hours more.
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