[dtengineering]

The links to Kevin's post on the FIRSTWA site and Jenny's powerpoint are great and reflect both what I have observed as a mentor and as a judge.

When I mentored 1346 we had a business and communications sub team who were skilled in promoting our team and machine and armed with brochures on the robot, firm handshakes and friendly smiles. We made sure (as much as possible) that there were always two members from the communications team in the pit and that they always knew where to find the programming, build and drive team leaders on short notice (if they weren't already in the pit area). One would talk to the judges while the other would offer to round up our "technical experts" to answer detailed questions. It seemed to work pretty well. Where appropriate we would also have "props" to demonstrate a particular aspect of our design. Our first award (Creativity) cited our use of wood to build our robot's arm. We brought our prototype arm along with us, set it on blocks on the floor of our pit area, and invited the judges to stand on it... together.... and bounce up and down. They remembered our machine and... when they saw it do a few other unique things on the field, sent us home a very happy team!

The success with that first wooden arm led our team to another trait that I believe helped us to win awards... we built with wood. It wasn't so important that we were building with wood, but we were doing something different... and we were doing a nice job of it. Our use of wood was cited in almost all of our technical awards. I was amazed last year (my first as a judge) to meet some of the judges who had been doing it for a few years and have them remark, "Oh... you're from the team that always uses wood! We love your machines... they always stand out. The hockey sticks were great!" I knew we had a minor reputation with some of the other teams for this, but I had no idea that we actually had built up a reputation with the judges! If you've got something good that makes your team stand out... stick with it!

One thing I should add is to point out that judges have a pretty good set of ears and eyes at the competitions. The tech inspector, pit administrator or other volunteer you talk to on Thursday might just be wearing a blue shirt on Friday and Saturday. The referee that you talk to on Friday morning might just be having a meal with a judge later in the day. There is a very good chance that the judges will hear about something awesome your team has done even if there isn't a "blue shirt" around at the time you do it. All the volunteers like to talk about the great things that teams and students do at events... the judges can't help but overhear these positive stories.

Finally, I'll add credit where credit is due... we didn't figure all this out ourselves. We went and talked to teams that were winning lots of awards, we watched what they were doing and tried to model ourselves after them. My personal thanks are extended to 1241, 188, 1114, 488, and 360 amongst others for setting a great example for us... we never got to be quite as good as them, but we sure had a good time trying.

Jason