If you were a volunteer...

[Ian Curtis]

...which job would you like to the most? MC, Head Ref, Que-er, Pit Announcer, Ref, ....

Personally, I'd spring for the play-by-play. In my opinion, its the most entertaining (c'mon you get to watch every match, and tell everyone what's happening), and you really have the most connection with the crowd. It's something I'd really like to try at an off-season event. A que-er could have a lot of fun as well, as you'd get to hear a lot of interesting stories and quotes.

[lukevanoort]

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)

Very soon you will be an alumni of your FRC team, and probably a mentor for that team or another one nearer to your college.

If you plan to be at an FRC regional and don't have a full-time role to fill with your team, please contact the volunteer coordinator (in advance if possible) and let him/her know that you're willing to inspect robots.

What we look for in a robot inspector is good knowledge of the robot rules and familiarity with KOP and commonly used COTS components, experience with engineering design (especially design of FIRST robots!), an appreciation of the goals of FIRST, and ability to communicate with and listen to team members.

Ability to communicate and listen is important because inspectors are at events to help teams ensure that their robot design and construction complies with all the rules. The rules are there to make the competition safe and fair. Inspectors don't own the rules -- the rules, and the responsibility to comply with them, belong to all participants in FIRST.

[Ethulin]

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close .

How does one, for example, become a referee?

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Ethulin

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close .

How does one, for example, become a referee?

https://my.usfirst.org/vims/

EDIT: left out the "s" after the
"http" fixed now.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

http://my.usfirst.org/vims/

http://www.usfirst.org/4vol/ is a good place to start.

The FRC site also has links to regional event sites, and these will generally provide a way to contact the local volunteer coordinator.

[Ryan Foley]

Originally Posted by Ethulin

I know this is a bit off topic but it is close .

How does one, for example, become a referee?

A good place to start is by signing up to be a referee at off-season competitions, so you can get a feel for it. Plus, it will give you experience, making you all the better candadite to be a ref at a regional.

I personally love reffing; can't get enough of it. Unfortunately I could only make UTC this year, so I'll have to wait until the off-season to do it again.

[Freddy Schurr]

Yeah, I like team queuing and also MCing. I got to MC at PARC and Duel on the Delaware last year and hopefully I am planning to MC at a couple off-season events this season and then MC at the NJ/Philly Regional in 2007 or where ever they need me.

[Billfred]

Over the past three years, I've been an emcee (2005 Capital Clash), a game announcer (ditto), a real-time scorekeeper (2004/2005 Championship), a field disassembler (Manchester Kickoff 2005), a robot inspector (Florida 2006), and a field resetter (ditto).

Ask anyone who saw the mentor rounds in Washington, I can't emcee for the life of me. Game announcing is probably my strong suit, as it's both fun and comes pretty naturally for me. RTS is fun, but irrelevant this year. Field disassembly...eh, it wasn't horrible. Inspector was fun, what with being able to get up close and personal with other robots of varying levels of competitiveness, but sometimes it gets really frustrating when you can't make heads or tails of a wiring setup hidden deep in the bowels of some odd part of the robot. Field reset was also reasonably fun, provided you didn't get run over by the kids carrying the robots.

All told, I'd love to do game announcer again. But failing that, I'd be game for inspector or reset.

[Jill1022]

I found out this weekend that field reset might be too tiring of a job for me. But I really enjoyed it. I loved being up close next to the field, talking to teams, and being able to enjoy the competition without worrying about my robot.

I would like to be a ref next year. It seems like a lot of pressure and you'd get blamed for everything if a team is unhappy. But it seems fun.

I could never do mcing or announcing. I'm not able to process what six bots and six humans are doing at the same time and say it all without sounding weird.
I'd like to be a scorekeeper, that sounds good too.

But no matter what, I'm definately going to keep volunteering. Free food, free shirt, being close to the action, and making everything possible is the best.

[JJG13]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

I would like to be an inspector, they get to see all the robots and examine the mechanisms closely. What's better than that? (other than building the robots)

My thoughts exactly. I wish I had more times at regionals to really check out the other robots.

[George A.]

So far I've done MC/play by play...and let me tell you the loss of voice is well worth it. You're pretty much in charge of making sure that the crowd is into it and the competition is entertaining. If you're dull or act uninterested then the crowd loses it. Plus you are right up next to the action and get to interact with all the volunteers and students.

By far the most entertaining job, but also one of the most difficult. You have 6 robots to keep track of and have to convey their actions in an exciting and varied manner, if you're too repetitive (like in PARC my first play by play job I kept saying meanwhile) the crowd loses interest.

So far I've done NJ last year and this year, NYC last year (and possibly this year) and this year I'll also be doing Philly!

So come by and talk with me, I'd love to learn your story and some information on all the teams so I can make the color commentary as exciting as possible.

[Melissa Nute]

I enjoy being the Scorekeeper/Field Power Controller. You generate all the matches. Make sure the power to the field works. Ensuring that all the parts work properly. Enter all the scores. Its a highly stressing job when things aren't going right, but as long as you know how to fix it or us your resources to find the correct answer, its fine. You also work closely with the refs, the field supervisor, the IFI rep and the m.c./announcer.

[Koko Ed]

I enjoyed doing field reset at IRI.
I want to do it again this year as well.

[SURVIVORfan44]

Field reset was awesome this year. I got to see deep inside the robots for once. Even though field reset is very tiring, it's worth it in the end. Besides, there are many benefits for volunteers such as FREE FOOD, free t-shirts, and you get to see the robots up close in action.