[penguinfrk]

Interesting. A lot of these suggestions ran counter to my intuition. This is the meeting plan I proposed on our team forums, verbatim:

Proposed plan (open to debate and alteration, of course)
1. Have robots around for people to drive as people walk in the door. Have Gateway game objects and VEX parts on desks, and animation playing in a loop.
2. Seat everyone in a circle, with veteran members spaced every three or so seats.
3. Have everyone introduce their names, answer an icebreaker question (i.e. favorite color), and why they are in robotics. People can choose to pass on the last two questions.
---3a. Have a timekeeper. Responses are limited to 10 seconds each. (Similar to this)
---3b. Start with a sophomore that most of the the new members might know (someone who was at Odle). Make sure they can authentically and truthfully say that they didn't have any experience coming in to this program, but they've gotten a lot out of it after just ~8 months.
---3c. Have a junior and a senior (and preferably diverse compared to the sophomore from 3b) do the same. One of them is ideally quite unknown to the new members, so that the sense of diversity and inclusiveness is felt.
---3d. After first three people have gone (these three should intentionally be planted in adjacent seats in the circle), continue with new members.
---In the case that an astounding 100 members show up, this should take 18 minutes. In the case that, more realistically, 80 members show up, this should take 14 minutes.
4. Show a designated video or two, watch as a group. No more than 10 minutes.
5. Disperse back to robot demos, Gateway prototypes and game pieces, etc.
---5a. Officers approach students who are neither immersed in VEX/robot demos nor chatting among themselves. i.e. students who are looking lost and confused (not necessarily by themselves). Ask them what their interests are, and show them the products of respective branches of the team (i.e. "I'm interested in web design" "Oh, you should take a look at our website then. We have a talented website lead who led us to two back-to-back Website Awards at the Seattle Regional these past years" or "I'm interested in digital art" "Sweet! You can see the elements of some of our graphics team show up in all aspects of the team, like the logo on our shirts to the paint job of our robot!")
6. As new members leave, give them the informational handout.
7. ***No veteran member is allowed until every single new member has left, or 5pm, whichever comes first.

~~~~~~~~~
Justification:
1. Proven to work. Half of the members will be there because they loved operating the arm at the club fair, and are back for more. At SRND, we've successfully immersed three members--Brian Li, Winston, Cameron (discounted Jeremy Sun, because he had exposure from Eric)--previously inexperienced in FIRST within minutes of their arrival at the meeting. This is interactive engagement, whereas watching videos is passive.

2. Mingling. No physical barrier/distance between the veterans and the new members, thereby alleviating a subconscious psychological barrier.

3. We want to get to know them, but we don't want to put them on the spot. They feel included but not pressured. This will accommodate for both the garrulous people (will be willing to share) as well as the shy (will just say their names).

3a. Entertainment value. Those with a lot to say will get their responses cut off, but not in a rude and interrupting fashion because it will be consistent across all members, veteran or new. Eases tension.

3b. The key is to make new members relate to the veteran members. "This could be me" is the effect we're going for. By using personal anecdotes shared by people physically present (as opposed to in a video), the artificiality is reduced. Sure, to veteran members who have experienced FIRST the message of the video might give us goosebumps and resonate very well, but to new members there is the skepticism ("Oh, of course they could find a single student out of the hundreds of thousands of those in this program to do this video.") To see someone you know say this is a totally different thing ("Is this the same person from my LA/SS class when they were still at Odle?")

3c. Emphasis on the diversity of backgrounds and experience levels. Of the three people that introduce themselves first, one of them should be able to say "I already had some experience in engineering/programming/whatever, but I still found areas of growth in this program and expanded my skill sets." However, two should be able to say "I have no prior experience" as to not intimidate those who are new.

3d. Do not create a sense of exclusivity by sticking with veteran members for too long.

4. The video(s) must both generate hype but also give people glimpses of different aspects of the club. Make sure they understand that many different interests are included in robotics, and that "Robotics Club" is actually a misleading name.

5. Include those who are left out, create unity, make them feel valued. Also, again making sure that they feel like there's a place for their interests.

6. It's easy to pick up an info sheet and forget it between the moment they walk in the door and when they leave an hour later. People leave info sheets on desks and chairs all the time. It's harder to forget it when they already have their backpacks on (and can't just stuff it in there and forget about it), have no tables to set them down on, and there are no recycling bins nearby. Also, if they ride the bus, they can read it at the bus stop/after they sit down before putting it in their backpacks; if they get a ride from a parent, mom or dad will see it immediately and ask about it, even if not read it immediately.

7. Do not set the precedent of leaving early, or being indifferent about the new members.

I know it sounds cheesy, but I think before all else it's important it's important to foster the team feeling. Any sort of presentation, in my mind, creates a subconscious schism between presenter and audience. We want new members to be able to relate to team activities from the get go.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Personally, I'm interested in psychology, and I'm not sure if I'm just thinking too much about this.