FRC 3610 would like some help

[TheImmortalJ1]

Hello everyone!
This is Juan from team 3610 Islanders from Minnesota and I want to talk about where to start. Our team has been struggling for the past three years after our student veterans left. Others and myself have been struggling for a long time on how to program, build sponsors, etc since we have been teaching ourselves along the way. Questions I have is how do you get mentors? How do promote your team? How do you teach others? Should we start sessions at the summer? How do we buy tools and other equipment for our team at a low budget? How does sponsorship work? How do you organize a team and filter people into the things they want to do? Sorry for the numerous questions but I'm hoping that our team can step up soon next year! Thank you so much!

-TheImmortalJ1
Team 3610 Islanders

[rsisk]

Well, this is a great start, recognizing a problem and asking for help.

You are in a difficult period for a team, years 3 and 4. Teams tend to make a transition during this time as many of the original team members are gone and a new group of students/mentors are trying to take the team up to the next level. I often tell teams if they can make it to year five, they will be around for a long time.

There are no magic bullets, fund raising is hard, recruiting is hard, finding mentors is hard. We have found that outreach is a key element to our growth. We are constantly doing outreach during the year, which leads to networking, which leads to meeting people, and someone in that group of people is going to be the mentor that helps move your team to the next level.

We are in our ninth year and finally starting to see our work over the years turning us into a solid team. We still need more mentors, we still need to improve our fund raising, we are starting to build good robots. Most of this has been driven by the students/parents/mentors we have attracted to our team.

Outreach to FLL teams is an effort that has a big payoff. Many of our strongest team members have come from FLL teams we have met through our outreach efforts (running FLL tournaments and mentoring FLL teams).

The NEMO web site has some great resources you may find helpful.
http://www.firstnemo.org/

Good luck on your journey and keep at it. The pot of gold at the end of that rainbow is worth all the effort you are putting into your team to make it sustainable.

[silverD]

Hi Juan,
You have asked some great questions that do not have simple answers. KnightKrawler is not too far from you and would be happy to setup a meeting to share what we have learned. Please PM me if you'd like to pursue this.
Thanks,
Nate

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by silverD

Hi Juan,
You have asked some great questions that do not have simple answers. KnightKrawler is not too far from you and would be happy to setup a meeting to share what we have learned. Please PM me if you'd like to pursue this.
Thanks,
Nate

TheImmortalJ1,

This is the best resource you can use. Successful veteran teams in your area (like 2052) are going to understand your unique situation better than any of us will, and definitely be a more accessible resource.

[GeeTwo]

The "low hanging fruit" of mentors is parents of team members. Make every reasonable effort to include team parents as technical or non-technical mentors.

The next level of effort is to get mentors' employers to be sponsors. In some cases it's just a matter of asking, in others it isn't going to happen. Try.

Ask several times a year if any team members or mentors have any "inside track" on any other possible sources of funding. You never know.

Now, we're mostly down to "cold calls". Try to find a few someones who can take twenty rejections and keep asking, and give each a list. Try to identify tech companies in your city, tech schools, and then companies that may not fit your usual tech definition, but who need qualified technicians, like auto dealerships and auto mechanic shops. You may also want to pursue "supply" stores in your area, including home centers, local Fastenal outlets, and hardware stores. Make it clear that contributions in terms of dollars, parts, and mentorship are all of great value to the team.

[FWinter]

Mentors: teachers (shop teachers, business teachers, computer science/programming teachers, school IT personnel, etc.) are a great resource if you can convince them to spend extra time with students. Perhaps part time mentors from local businesses or local branches of larger companies (these businesses will also likely be good candidates to ask for funds).

Sponsors: like people have been saying, you basically have to be willing to ask lots of companies/businesses. Work any closer connections you may have.

Training: my team might not be a great role model in this area, but we have a short preseason (November and December) in which we meet about once a week and teachers/mentors/experienced students teach the new kids how to do things, usually through projects.

I don't know if you have problems with getting enough students to maintain a stable team, but if so, here goes: My team is in our 5th year, the first without any founding members left on the student side of things. One of the big ways that we have grown is through recruitment of friends. I was introduced to the team as a sophomore by a friend of mine who was a senior at the time. I have since guided A few friends who also have technical interests onto the team. A second important source of students for us is through the Project Lead the Way classes taught by our head mentor.

[JustinCAD]

There are a variety of different ways in which you can promote your team. Here are two I could come up with:
- Holding an open house at your workshop is a great way to get attention to your team. Spread the word of this open house to teachers, students, and local businesses. If these people see how you operate as a team, and where you operate, parents and teachers could possibly jump on board and become a mentor. Inviting local businesses gives you a chance to gain some sponsorships.

- Setting up a display at local fair. If there are any fairs/festivals in your area, contact the person in charge. Setting up a booth at an event such as this can spread the word of your team. 3547 (VIRUS) does this at the Monroe County Fair in Monroe, MI.

I'm not much into the business aspect of my team, but starting a fundraiser may be a great way to start the flow of money.
Here is a toolkit from the FIRST website for fundraising. Another way is to visit local businesses, small or large, and talk to them about your team. If they are a large corporation, get contact information for the correct person to talk to about a sponsorship.

If you are wanting to teach others the knowledge needed to build a robot, again, a great place to go would be a teacher and/or a business that specializes in mechanical, electrical, programming, or drafting work. Have team meetings over the summer which is dedicated to teaching the team members.

Once the students have the knowledge of the basics, establish a system. My team is split up into subgroups, each specializing in an area of building a robot. These groups (Build, Electrical, Programming, CAD, Business, and there used to be a Animation team) all work on their parts.

I wish you luck in organizing your team! If you have any questions, you can PM me.

[Sperkowsky]

We had similar issues. I would be happy to guide you over skype through all of your issues.

My skype is Samp400 feel free to add me and ask any questions.

I would be thrilled to help.

[BumblingBuilder]

Originally Posted by JustinCAD

- Setting up a display at local fair. If there are any fairs/festivals in your area, contact the person in charge. Setting up a booth at an event such as this can spread the word of your team. 3547 (VIRUS) does this at the Monroe County Fair in Monroe, MI.

The MN State Fair has robotics demonstrations every year, and 2169 has taken advantage of it for the past few years. This is a great opportunity to show off your team as there may be people from businesses all over, as well as it's simply a good jump starter for more outreach. There are many potential, unforseen possibilities in every outreach event, and taking advantage of as many as you can could work wonders

I'm not one of the people who is involved it signing up for the event, and so as Justin said I would suggest contacting the governing bodies of the State Fair, but I'll definitely ask the people on my team involved how the process works and get back to you as well.

And as 2169 is very close to you geographically, free free to contact us (contact us with the information here: http://kingtec2169.com/contact/ ) for any further information or opportunities as the admins of the email are of a higher position than myself.

[thunderbotsgirl]

Hey! Kaitlyn from FRC Team 980 here! Email me at kaitlyn.waldman[AT]gmail[DOT]com if you want help! My team went from 9 students (3 of whom graduated - so really 6) last year to 21 this year. This was all because we developed a 3-year strategic plan! If you need help, I would be more than willing to help you out.


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