ANNOUNCING - Project Alamo Robotics Rising (PARR)

[Michael Blake]

***ANNOUNCING***

Project Alamo Robotics Rising (PARR)

The Bronc Botz organization along with the San Antonio Competition Robotics Alliance [SACRA a 501(c)(3) nonprofit] is launching programs/initiatives to dramatically improve FRC and FTC team performance and sustainability in the greater-San Antonio region.

This is an aspirational effort geared to really make an effective and measurable impact on the experiences student team members have in FIRST. Please join us in participating in and supporting these efforts. Contact info is at the bottom of the page.

Michael Blake FRC Head Coach/Founder - 3481 Bronc Botz and FTC Lead Coach/Co-Founder - 4008 / 4602 / 6976 Bronc Botz President/Founder - San Antonio Competition Robotics Alliance [SACRA]

-- San Antonio Competition Robotics & Events Center

PROPOSED building and facility dedicated to competition robotics. Flexible competition events “stadium” based on the IRI (Indiana Robotics Invitational) setup. Ample pit area and infrastructure. State of the art audio/visual capabilities. High-end machine and fabrication shop specialized for competition robotics and available for use by all FIRST teams.

-- Battle of The Alamo (BOTA) – FRC Off-Season Competition

ANNOUNCED FRC off-season competition to debut in June 2016 in San Antonio. Capped at 32 teams; 8 4-team alliances for the Elims; Seeded 1-8 pick from 9-32; 10-12 qualifying matches; Coonskin hats for Alliance Team Captains.

***LOOKING FOR folks to join and contribute on the Planning Committee—contact info below***

-- Black Out Battle Royale (BOBr) – FTC Off-Season Competition

Second annual event in June 2016 in San Antonio. Capped at 24 teams; format is Head Coach – Bronc Botz FTC Gabe Guerrero's innovative invention of a black-light lit field with robots made visible using multiple colors of black-light tape.

-- Open Mentoring FRC and FTC

Bronc Botz will through the end of April 2016 provide OPEN mentoring/assistance on Tuesdays 4:30pm-7:30pm at our Shop/HQ located at Brandeis High School (near 1604/Bandera Road) to any FRC and FTC team willing to travel to our location. We will help your team overcome any obstacles and problems. Additionally, we have competition-ready full-size fields for FRC and FTC available for use. Additional days for help are available through prior arrangement/scheduling.

Though an open invitation on Tuesdays, please use contact info below to let us know you’re coming.

-- Target Mentoring FRC

FRC Rookies and FRC Lower-Performing and FRC At-Risk teams are eligible to have mentoring and assistance provided onsite at your shop provided by Michael Blake and Bronc Botz FRC Team Captains. These are ad-hoc initiatives designed specifically for each team.

Use the contact info below to get the ball running.

-- Fundraising and Sponsor Acquisition the Bronc Botz Way

Over the last 3 seasons the Bronc Botz organization has raised over $130,000.00 in financial and in-kind support. 2-3 workshops will be held at Bronc Botz Shop/HQ over November/December revealing and detailing the various ways the Bronc Botz have achieved these successes. As a bonus, any team that makes the trip to attend the workshop will receive an offer from Michael Blake to work directly with and on-behalf of your team to actually engage in raising money and in-kind sponsors. Michael Blake, if necessary, will travel with your team to “knock on doors” of potential sponsors and resource providers and teach you how he’s done it successfully for 5 years.

Use the contact info below to get the ball running and on the mailing list for workshop dates.

More programs and initiatives to come…

CONTACT: Michael Blake via email or text or call… michaelblake@insurancelabs.com –or-- Cell 210-710-6632

[Michael Blake]

UPDATE as of 11/25:

We've signed-up 4 FRC teams for Target Mentoring... 1 Rookie and 3 Lower-Performing Veteran teams.

We have capacity to add more teams.

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

After receiving some feedback we've decided to move FRC Off-season competition Battle of The Alamo (BOTA) from June 2016 to targeting September 2016.

We'll leave FTC Off-season competition Black Out Battle Royale (BOBr) in June 2016.

--Michael Blake

[lynca]

Looks good Michael !

The DiscoBots would be happy to come out for a San Antonio off-season event.

[Mykey]

As a San Antonio Rookie team this year we are thrilled to see this coming together!

San Antonio has so much potential that has been underutilized. I can see this helping to build the momentum our programs need to truly shine.

Thank you Michael and the Bronc Botz for getting this going.

[Michael Blake]

Originally Posted by Mykey

As a San Antonio Rookie team this year we are thrilled to see this coming together!

San Antonio has so much potential that has been underutilized. I can see this helping to build the momentum our programs need to truly shine.

Thank you Michael and the Bronc Botz for getting this going.

THANKS, Michael... I really _appreciate_ the sentiment!!

Looking forward to meeting with your team next week at your shop...

--Michael

[Michael Blake]

UPDATE as of 12/2:

We've signed-up 5 FRC teams for Target Mentoring... 2 Rookies and 3 Lower-Performing Veteran teams.

We have capacity to add more teams.

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

We have more capacity for mentoring then we're getting inquiries... and we've gotten only a little interest in the fundraising seminars.

We're hoping this is the case because teams that need the help/guidance aren't currently on Chief Delphi or on very little.

To aid in getting the message out to ALL Alamo Region teams I've asked the Alamo Regional Director and Alamo Senior Mentor to do an email blast with the PARR info this week---I'm waiting to hear back from them...

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

Originally Posted by Michael Blake

To aid in getting the message out to ALL Alamo Region teams I've asked the Alamo Regional Director and Alamo Senior Mentor to do an email blast with the PARR info this week---I'm waiting to hear back from them...

I haven't heard back yet on the email blast... and time is a wasting...

ANYBODY out there have ideas on how to get this info into Alamo Region teams' hands?

I'd appreciate the input...

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

UPDATE as of 12/21:

We've signed-up 6 FRC teams for Target Mentoring... 3 Rookies and 3 Lower-Performing Veteran teams.

We have capacity to add more teams.

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

Originally Posted by Michael Blake

I haven't heard back yet on the email blast... and time is a wasting...

ANYBODY out there have ideas on how to get this info into Alamo Region teams' hands?

I'd appreciate the input...

I did hear back from the Alamo Senior Mentor who told me the decision to help with an email blast is the RD's responsibility... since December 2nd I've pinged the Alamo Region Director several times via email followup for an answer on this email blast and I've received _zero_ response from him--VERY frustrating.

--Michael Blake

[Michael Blake]

***We've ADDED a new initiative/program to PARR***

-----Original Message-----
From: "Michael Blake" <michaelblake@insurancelabs.com>
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2015 3:44pm
To: "'Patrick Felty'" "'Mike Henry'" "'Andrew Schuetze'"
Subject: Taking Credit Card Donations for Teams < SACRA >

Patrick / Mike / Andrew:

Starting January 1st San Antonio Competition Robotics Alliance, Inc. (SACRA nonprofit) has the capability to accept credit card donations on behalf of Alamo Region FIRST teams.

The teams can spend up to the donated $ amount minus the credit card processing fee of 2.75%, then submit for reimbursement from SACRA. Teams will be paid via check; as an example, $1,000.00 credit card donation would net the team $972.50.

As of now, we are suspending any service charges from SACRA until we gain experience doing this. Should we implement service charges in the future, they will be nominal.

It is looking like we will have our first large donation of $5,000.00 via credit card for a team other than the Bronc Botz in the first week of January.

We can also take checks made payable to SACRA on behalf of teams. Teams would be reimbursed dollar-for-dollar; as an example, $1,000.00 check donation would net the team $1,000.00.

Please pass this information on to any team that could use our help in this area. Attached is a signed W-9 PDF these teams can give to their donors. Checks can be made payable to San Antonio Competition Robotics Alliance, Inc. –or—just “SACRA”.

Thank you.

Michael

Lead Mentor and Head Coach – 3481 Bronc Botz
President – San Antonio Competition Robotics Alliance (SACRA)
Executive Director – Sports-Competition Robotics Alliance of Texas Excellence (SCRATE)

[Michael Blake]

Originally Posted by lynca

Looks good Michael !

The DiscoBots would be happy to come out for a San Antonio off-season event.

THANKS, Andrew!

Awesome to have team #5 on the BOTA list... 27 MORE teams to go... plus ALL the crazy stuff I'm learning that has to be in place to pull this off... ;-)

--Michael