[Ed Law]

Over the years, I have been on both ends many times, as alliance captain/1st round pick and also as one hoping to be a second round pick. Many on this forum have already given good advice. It may be confusing about whether to advertise because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Here is my take on it if you want to be picked by an alliance captain.

1) Do your best and don't worry about the win/loss. Good teams usually have good scouters who will pick up everything you do and your contribution each match.
2) Stick to the agreed upon strategy with your alliance partners. This is true especially if there are specific requests by the high ranked teams. Show them you can be trusted to perform tasks that they want you to do to help them get more ranking points. They will remember you.
3) Be a team player. Alliance captains like to pick teams that are easy and fun to work with.
4) Clean up your wiring. I learned this from others when we were a young team. A robot with messy wiring has a perceived higher potential of malfunction and would be difficult to trace the problem in the heat of battle in eliminations. There is much less chance you will get picked when there are other alternatives. Nobody wants to take a chance.
5) Be honest when you deal with other teams what your robot can do. Somebody who over promise and do not deliver will not get my trust or be on my pick list.
6) Play smart, make sure drive team knows the rules and minimize fouls.
7) Have somebody knowledgeable about your robot to be in the pit at all times when your robot is there. This is especially true for Saturday morning. A lot of negotiations happen Saturday morning between high ranked teams. Once it is settled on potential alliances of 1st round picks, I usually start shopping for potential second round pick based on scouting data. Often times multiple robots can fit the role that we need. It is very frustrating when you go to their pit when their robot is there and the people there cannot tell you about their robot or whether they can play a certain role. There is very little time before alliance selection and you may not get a second visit.
8) It is also important for your scouts to do their job even if you are not ranked high enough to be an alliance captain. Your scouts should be able to tell you Friday night how your robot can be best used to help an alliance win matches in eliminations. Then target those teams with robots you can best complement. Then near the end of Friday night or early Saturday morning, talk to those teams and ask them to watch your matches and tell them what to look for that your robot will demonstrate on the field. Share your scouting data that put your robot's best "wheel" forward. It may not be an attribute that those teams are collecting.
9) If you happen to have the first match Saturday morning, do not screw it up because everybody will be watching it right after the opening ceremony. I learned it the hard way.
10) Some teams have a do not pick list. You do not want to end up on too many of them.

I hope this helps.