[JBotAlan]

Hello,

I just got home from the first day of GLR, and after meeting quite a few scouts, I have noticed a general correlation.

Most of the scouts I talk to seem to have no passion whatsoever towards the game, their team, scouting, or FIRST in general. Why?

Today, I had a scout ask me if we had a ringer. I guessed that he meant to ask if our robot could hang ringers, but when I asked to make sure, he replied with a hesitant "I guess...". This person did not even know what every entry on the scouting sheet meant!

So here's the reason for my post: teams, please make sure your scouts are educated about the game, and that they care. Don't assign scouting just because the freshmen have nothing to do. Don't assign scouting just as a punishment.
Scouts, please, put a little passion into your work! I love to talk to people who are excited and truly interested in the robots and the teams, but it is IMHO a waste of both your time and my time if you are just filling out a list of 1-5s on a scouting sheet. Those 1-5s don't reflect truly on anyone's robot or performance. Don't mumble; don't give me "I...guess..."s. Be confident! You have a very important job--make friends and get to know people! Don't muck it up because you have to fill out "all those stupid scouting forms"--that's not what it's about.

Maybe I'm preaching to the choir here; scouts on CD are probably very dedicated and this post probably doesn't apply, but I just thought I'd post this here.

Just my 2 cents that I figured I should share
JBot