[Chris Hibner]

If you ran statistics relating partnership to distance from pit location, it wouldn't surprise me to see a small correlation. However, I don't know if it would be huge. Whatever relation there is is most likely due to the fact that teams generally notice how the teams around them are doing.

I would encourage your team to formulate a sales plan to get teams interested in your robot.

Let's get one thing straight - no sales plan is going to get your team picked if your robot is no good. First and formost, you have to have a good robot and a good team.

However, you can have the best robot in all of FIRST and still not get picked if no one sees you compete. It has happened to us many times when we approach teams to talk to them about our robot, and they're not sure that they've seen it. We then talk to the right people (the people doing the picking) to try and get them excited about going to a match to watch our robot compete. The biggest thing is to make them take special notice of you during that match.

I don't know if I would create a sales pitch that makes people want to pick you sight unseen. However, you need to be sure you make them want to come see you play - then let your performance speak for itself.

-Chris