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Unread 17-03-2008, 09:41
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Pat Arnold Pat Arnold is offline
I think I over-think things...
FRC #1557 (12 Volt Bolt)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Rookie Year: 2005
Location: Eustis, FL
Posts: 209
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Re: What did you do to gain an Award?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Salbert View Post
MARS 1523 (my team) won Chairman's at the FL regional. I was one of the 3 people who presented. I can't stress enough how important a business plan is.

Here are tips:

- Wear nametags
- Firmly shake the judges hand and say "Hello"
- Give them a folder/binder with info and tell them what's in them while others set up. We gave them a business plan and event documentation, I told them about it while my partners set up.
- Leave them goody bags (we had our MARS alien inside)
- Comment on their buttons (one judge had a SPAM button, I told them we did a demo for GE with SPAM)
- Anything you didn't cover in the presentation, try to bring up in the Q & A
- Make a business plan, the judges loved it!
- At the end, shake their hands FIRMLY and thank them for your time
In addition to the above etiquette used in the judges presentation, MARS takes the approach that "If its not documented, it wasn't done."

We complete a brief one page report following each team activity highlighting "where, what, when, why" & results. Pages are placed in that year's document notebook along with any supporting info such as photos, newspaper articles, flyers, or letters of appreciation. Listing "Results" reminds us to check on/report objectively the effectiveness of our effort (i.e. how many visitors did the museum record during our demo, how many people did the newspaper say were at the parade our float was in, etc.)

Our outreach events have grown as more people learn about the team's existence. We targeted a greater range of age groups (from the ladies in the Red Hat Society to starting middle school LEGO groups). Learning how to write effective press releases and forming community partnerships (our big one this past year has been the South Florida Science Museum) helps.

Hopefully this info is helpful to other teams; we're still learning from FIRST's veterns how best to spread engineering & science excitement.
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