[Anne Shade]

The Georgia Tech mentors and our team the CircuitRunners have done a lot to help FIRST grow in Georgia including helping the regional event. A few of us sit on the planning committee and have been in charge of recruiting GA teams. We have done tons of demonstrations, hosted a 10 week series of workshops in the fall, run a help desk for GA teams, run a remote kickoff and a scrimmage, mentor several rookies, and much more. One of our big problems this year was finding good strong mentors for already existing teams as well as new ones. Our team was able to find sponsors and match them with local teams that needed help.

There are lots of things that need to be done to run a successful regional, and not just for the three days of competition. I encourage all teams to contact their regional coordinator or some of the regional committee members and see where they can help. Don't hesistate to pass on good ideas to them, it helps. And don't forget about Lego League either, it takes a lot of work putting those competitions together as well.