[evoluti1]

We don't really have a "first meeting," at least not in the sense you're talking about. We will however, be having a parent and new member orientation meeting right after our recruitment deadline. At that meeting, we'll be talking about what FIRST is, what FRC is, what we do, what our goals are, and what our plan is for the rest of the year. We also talk about the time commitment from students and the commitment and help we need from parents. We also show one of FIRST's promo videos to get everyone settled down before we begin. Afterwards, we take everyone into the shop for a robot demonstration, and while that's going on, all of the leadership goes around to learn names and get to know the new members. It's very important to us that our leadership is approachable. We want our members to be unafraid to share their ideas and see becoming a leader on the team as a realistic goal. The friendliness also makes us that much more of a team.

That's pretty much it. We also tell everyone to always wear closed toed shoes and have their hair tied back so they can be sure to be prepared for future meetings.