Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneYoung
- If you have an opportunity to meet some of the fine folks of FIRST, smile, shake their hands, and tell them it is a pleasure to meet them. When you walk away, you can go nuts saying you cant believe you just met....
but save that part until then.
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QFT.
I did a lot of traveling last year, perhaps too much, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's to watch and listen to all these people you meet. The more you see how things operate, you'll come away with a great deal of knowledge. How does a team working out of a mentor's garage with a drill press and a chop saw build a robot that makes it to within one match of going to Einstein? What's the magic behind West Coast Drive? Why did 25's robot last year don a new paint job for the later off-seasons--and how do they turn into such a brick on the field when they want? All of these were answered by asking folks questions and hearing what teams had to say. These opportunities don't come around often.
Also, make sure you give yourself a bit of time one of the days to just do a complete walk of all four divisions, plus FLL and FVC if you can swing it. (My preferred time is Thursday night, when nobody's running off to the field.) You can see a lot of great teams and robots that way.