[Kristian Calhoun]

For many of us, FIRST and robotics is a year round activity. However, on our team, regular weekly meetings start at the beginning of the school year (the first weeks of September), and provide an oppurtunity for the new freshmen/team members to see and get an idea of what they'll be getting themselves into - going over guidelines, team rules, explaining what FIRST is, and attending some of the last off-season events. Also, in these meetings before the build season, the team finishes up off-season projects, and creates plans and goals for what we would like to accomplish in the upcoming season.

Many teams pick a particular day of the week for meetings, and then if additional meetings are needed, they are planned accordingly. During the hectic build season, there are multiple meetings per week in addition to the regular weekly meetings, and meetings at the school on the weekends in order to work on projects and get the many things that need to be done completed in time.

After the "official" season (Championships) are over, we continue the weekly meetings throughout the rest of the school year, and prepare for the upcoming off-season events. During the summer, things usually slow down a bit due to vacations and people going away and such, but the team still meets up a couple of times during these months in order to work on summer/off season projects and to create goals and plan for the upcoming year once again. Thus, it's pretty much a continual cycle.