[kgargiulo]

I have been both Robot Inspector (2014) and Judge (2015) at events my team participated in. Volunteering at a regional is a rewarding and energizing experience, and I recommend everyone do it. The view from the field is very nice, but there are some things to be aware of when you are affiliated with a competing team.

Dealing with the team affiliation when inspecting is fairly easy. Notify event staff and head inspector of your team affiliation when you volunteer, remind them at the competition, and don't inspect your own robot. Pretty much it. Ethical behavior when inspecting other robots is table stakes.

Judging is a bit more complicated. Obviously you fill out the team affiliation disclosure form. Prior to the regional I had been told by previous judges as well as regional personnel that a judge affiliated with a competing team does not participate in any discussion in which their team is a factor. It isn't just that you can't talk about your team, this is saying you can't talk at all unless and until your team is out of the discussion.

This means you can hear something negative about another team that you know to be factually incorrect and you can't correct it (helping that team, hurting your own). You can hear something attributed to one team but that was actually done by another team (neither of which is your team) and you can't correct it. If someone asks a question about the game itself (independent of any team) while discussing an award that your team is a candidate for you can't answer the question even if no other judge in the room knows the answer. I'm not trying to subtly imply that judging is rife with these kinds of problems or that misstatements aren't caught and corrected by other judges. The jungle largely self-corrects. I am making these points because I personally found it very difficult to sit on my hands and wait for someone else to notice, even when speaking up would only be to the detriment of my own team.

There is a difference between team affiliation as a mentor and affiliation as a sponsor or employee of a sponsor (as it happens, I am both). In my one and only judging experience, the restrictions applied to a mentor of a competing team do not apply to employees of sponsors of competing teams. There were no restrictions in that regard. Trying to do so would have shrunk the volunteer pool for our regional, so while you can make an equivalence argument there are practical considerations that are carrying the day.

I understand the rules and fully support the hard line approach to avoiding even the perception of bias in judging. I have nothing but praise for my Judge Advisor. There is no good alternative short of disallowing volunteers who are in any way affiliated with competing teams. Which again would likely decimate the volunteer pool.

I enjoy volunteering and am sure I will volunteer again, including judging. However I don't think I will volunteer to judge at an event where my team is participating. I enjoy spending the time with the team and the complications of not being able to fully participate as a judge add up to me taking myself out of that situation in the future by picking a different regional to volunteer at (assuming I can make the time).