Quote:
Originally Posted by crazysomething
I need some people to explain to me the process and the materials needed to set up a new frc club.
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With thanks to Team Combustion (1912), the three essential ingredients of the team are:
Sponsors - provide resources. These include not only money, but can include equipment, expertise, mentor references, build space, travel/food/business expenses, and more. One thing to remember is that it's a lot easier to market to a sponsor if you refer to yourself as a team (focusing on going to competitions and exposure of advertising to the rest of the world) than a club (which implies that you stay in your own room and do your own thing). Some sponsors may also provide access to unique outreach and recruiting possibilities.
Mentors - provide guidance and (especially the first few years) leadership. Some teams get by with a single hyperactive mentor, but most teams hope to have a mentor for every three to five student team members; this spreads the load, reduces mentor burnout, and provides more time for small group or even one-on-one student development. Don't forget that you need business-side mentors (finance, marketing, logistics) as well as technical mentors (programming, wiring, pneumatics, mechanical).
Students - The whole point of the team. Focus on recruiting students who are passionate - they'll continue the recruiting process with just a few nudges. To begin, you will probably want to accept everyone who applies. Make it clear from the get-go that team membership is a privilege - that people who break the rules and distract from team activities can and will be released. Once you achieve a bit of success (and do some flashy outreach), you will find that you have more students interested than you can work with (this happened our fourth year). When this happens, front-load the "drudgery" parts of doing robotics so that you keep the ones who really WANT to be there.
There are also likely some interesting legal aspects to work through - if your team does not have a sponsoring organization (e.g. a high school or service club), you will want to establish one. In the US, this would be a not-for-profit corporation; I don't know what the appropriate Dutch analog is. This organization needs to provide a contact point, open bank and vendor accounts, pay registration fees, arrange transportation and housing, and perhaps secure some liability insurance for both build and travel. This is really not something that should be done in an individual's name.