Alamo Memories And Thank Yous

[JaneYoung]

It was a pleasure to spend time at the Alamo Regional this past weekend. It was a terrific inaugural event in the state of Texas.

Some thank yous:

Thank you to Jess Jankowitsch who spent this past year taking time away from her grad school commitments to help get this regional off the ground, bringing her Pittsburgh and Championship experience into play. We were very blessed to have you on the ground and running the entire time. In the short time that you have been in Texas, you have made a serious impact in our region.

Andy Baker and Mark Koors - Although I tend to think of AndyMark, Inc. when I think of each of you now, I also appreciate the expertise and experience that you brought to the Alamo Regional as FRC volunteers. I've seen that in action once before in the inaugural year of the Oklahoma Regional and I was just as awestruck at the Alamo as I was at OKC. Thank you for all that each of you do for FRC and for the robotics community, as individuals and, as a flagship company.

The volunteers - I considered myself blessed to be part of a group of volunteers that showed up each day to help the event run smoothly and efficiently. The genuine support of the teams and the event was evident in everything you did. Judges, you rocked and you made me cry with your tears of joy and pride. Inspectors, you hung in there and got it done. Thanks to the guys who held down the practice/test field. You got the schedule organized and running smoothly and it wasn't the easiest thing to do by any means.

The staff at the event -This is a great place to hold a Regional. Great great place. The staff at the event took care of our needs and welcomed us graciously.

Mark Leon and Blair Hundertmark - Thank you for teaming up to give this inaugural event a face and a sound that let folks know that this was the place to be because you are just that cool. Safe travels to the rest of the events that you will help to make shine and sparkle this special anniversary season.

Teams, veterans and rookies - Thank you. Thank you for bringing smiles of joy, pride, relief, disbelief, wonder, and satisfaction to yourselves, your mentors, the teams that worked with you, allied with you, competed with you, and celebrated with you. Thank you for your contributions to the inaugural Alamo Regional, helping to mark its place in history. Rookies, next year, as a 2nd year team - you become a role model for the new rookie teams. Get your butts, er, 'bots to the inspection area and get your robots inspected - Thursday morning. Set the bar. And, if you didn't bring a robot cart this year, bring it next year or you may have to deal with me.

A very special thank you goes out to a very special team from Rochester Hills, Michigan, FRC 245, the AdamBots. Your support of our Alamo Regional Rookie All-Star Award winners, FRC 3478, the LamBots from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, was extraordinary and set the bar for others to follow regarding how teams can mentor, support, and inspire each other. Thank you for coming all the way to San Antonio to help strengthen this rookie regional as well as the very special rookie team that made their way into all of our hearts. Loudly. Congratulations on your Website Award - a mentor from another black and yellow team, FRC 33, the Killer Bees, called it before the competition.

A few more favorite memories:

The moisture in Mark Leon's eyes after Cyberwolves broke into chants of "we love you" and his response to them.

The need for boxes of tissues among the judges when the event was over and they didn't leave the field; they just stood there absorbing the moment and feeling the beauty.

118's hanging bumper in their pit. I hope someone posts a photo. It wasn't red or blue, it was 118.

All of the Austin area teams that made it to Saturday afternoon and were competing. That was a very proud moment.

Being stopped and asked to listen to business plan and Chairman's presentations by teams. That made my day - keep working on them, teams, they're awesome.

Meeting Mark Wibbels and 2 other members from FRC 2122 who flew in from Idaho to spend the weekend at the Alamo Regional, checking it out and enjoying it. It was so great to meet all 3 of you! Thank you for coming to San Antonio and helping celebrate the inauguration of this special Alamo Regional!

On a personal note, seeing 5 of us from 418 in volunteer positions at this wonderful regional. It made my heart sing.

Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful experience at the Alamo Regional 2011.
Jane

[James Tonthat]

I definitely agree with Jane, some great memories and experiences.

I got there on Thursday then realized the level of awesome that was put together at the Alamo Regional, some really great teams, some great volunteers, and some really great staff. If you wanted to be at an event where the who's who of FIRST was present, you had to be at the Alamo regional. I'm afraid to even start listing names because I know I'll be leaving somebody out. I'm sure we'll be happy to come again to the Alamo regional and experience the one of the memorable events that I've had in a while, I'm so glad I could have taken part in this inaugural event.

I'd like to also thank 118 for loaning us any tools and materials we needed. We went from having no minibot on Thursday to a deployable minibot on Saturday.

I'd like to thank 2415 for letting us hang out with them, definitely had a lot of fun with those guys exchanging stories and experiences.

I look forward to seeing everybody again in a couple weeks at Lone Star and Dallas and if not, then next year!

[rsisk]

Of course the best moment was getting to meet Jane!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by rsisk

Of course the best moment was getting to meet Jane!

Thank you! It was so great to have you and your wife visit Texas and volunteer as judges. I was going to ask you both for a photo with the Jane-Doll but you were too busy or in need of one of those boxes of tissues I keep talking about. Next time I see you though - I'm asking!

Have a great rest of the season,
Jane

[Coach Norm]

2468 had a great time at San Antonio Alamo Regional. It was a very well run and organized event.

It was great to have the FTC and FRC at the same venue. It was fun for my FTC to have the FRC team come over to support them while they competed. When the FTC tournament was over, we put them to work scouting for the FRC team.

It is always good to have Blair as the MC.

The level of competition was outstanding with the veteran teams present (57, 118, 148, 647, 1296, 1429, 1477, 2158, 2583, 2587 and 2789. The usuals from Texas as well as having Bomb Squad (16), Adambots (245) and WiredCats (2415) there.

It was a great experience for all the Rookie teams to get on the field and compete. Thanks to all the veteran teams who helped these teams get their robot inspected and running on the field.

Teams such as 16, 118, 148, 1477 and 2583 continue to inspire our team to reach for new heights.

I had three students spend three hours visiting with teams about outreach, fundraising, team continuity and sustainability. I look forward to our debrief of what they found out. It is always so rewarding to evaluate what we learned after each regional.

We wish were competing one more time this year. I wish each team good luck at the other regionals you compete at. We will be at home watching the webcasts of each regional. It will be interesting to see how the matches will play out as the season progresses.

I am disappointed I did not get a chance to touch base with RSisk. Thanks to you and your wife for coming down to help with the inaugural event in San Antonio.

Great kudos go out to Andrew Schuetze, Mike Henry and Patrick Felty for organizing such a great tournament. Jess Jankowitsch did a great job organizing the volunteers as well. I glad to hear she got a ride home from San Antonio with her team. :-)

[santosh]

Yeah James, we had fun too. Thank you for teaching us about the troll house as that will now become a rule in my own home.
The venue was huge and awesome. The volunteers were great. And thank you to all the teams (16, discobots, 148, 457, 2396 and others) who helped us in getting 3808 inspected and running. Our kids were more enthusiastic about them running than us haha.

[AmoryG]

I will remember the Alamo!

[2789_B_Garcia]

Originally Posted by Coach Norm

The level of competition was outstanding with the veteran teams present (57, 118, 148, 647, 1296, 1429, 1477, 2158, 2583, 2587 and 2789. The usuals from Texas as well as having Bomb Squad (16), Adambots (245) and WiredCats (2415) there.

Thanks for the shout out, Coach Norm! As a 3rd year team, I can't tell you how proud we are to be mentioned in the same sentence as those other teams!

We'd also like to thank Jane Young who paid us a HUGE compliment by saying we were operating like a 5-7 year team!

This regional was definitely a coming-of-age experience for 2789 in a lot of ways, and on behalf of our team, we'd like to thank the Discobots & Full Metal Jacket ( 2587 & 1296 ) for accepting our very first alliance invitations, and a big thank you goes out to all the teams, volunteers and staff who made this the smoothest running regional I've seen in my three years of being involved with FIRST.

We have made and will proudly wear "2011 Alamo Regional Quarterfinalist" buttons next week in Baltimore at the Chesapeake Regional!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by 2789_B_Garcia

We'd also like to thank Jane Young who paid us a HUGE compliment by saying we were operating like a 5-7 year team!

If it were not true, I would not have said it. There's nothing worse than giving a team false praise or undeserved criticism. You've opened a window of opportunity here and I'm going through it.

As many of you know, I am very concerned about the topic of sustainability and have written many posts here in CD and talked to many people about it. I join my concerns with other members of our FIRST community in doing so. We discuss topics such as:

- long term goals
- short term goals
- preparation and planning involved in meeting these goals
- the value and importance of mentors
- the value and importance of students who are interested or can become interested
- the support of the school/community
- the development of a business plan and obtaining sponsors
- becoming a team and community that reflects excellence and inspires others

There is a lot of work involved in doing all of this. There's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears involved in doing all of this. There's a lot of effort involved in forging new mindsets, new attitudes, new desires for achievement and excellence. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a team that is sustainable. Much of this is not glamorous. It doesn't make a lot of noise and it often doesn't show results, immediately if not sooner. But it shows. It shows a team going the distance and digging deep.

To quote one of my favorite mentors who is a mentor on your team, Janice Trinidad, when meeting yet another challenge:

"We've got this." You've got this, 2789. Keep it.

With great pride and deep humility,
Rock on 2789,

Jane

P.S. Enjoy Chesapeake. There's some good people out there.

[Andrew Schuetze]

A quick note and thank you for all the teams that competed in this event and a huge thanks to all the veteran teams that put in sweat equity to get rookie teams on the field. I don't have first hand knowledge of all the work that went on but thanks to everyone that did. Patrick, Jess, Mike, and I did a lot of planing that began in June but if not for the efforts of a several veteran KEY volunteers from the FIRST community it would not have mattered. Thanks goes to all the FIRST volunteers from other regions that came in and helped our local folks learn the ropes and ensure that our event was a success. Finally, what a great thing it is that Texas now has 3 events for teams with several teams having two options that are within 3 - 4 hours drive. Teams in three regions now can do a home and away event for very little cost.

A lot can be said regarding sustaining the growth that has seen Texas go from just over 45 teams to 125 plus in recent years. Simple fact is that we need all 125 teams to grow and develop into teams that 'get' the FIRST experience. (Many already have and can help lead the way for others) The students become the agents of change and build from within their community. Make FIRST a varsity sport on your campus. Develop an off-season program, attend/organize events, support/grow FTC and FLL to develop a feeder pathway, engage more students on your team to submit chairman's - Animation - Autodesk CAD - implement a sound team business plan...

I'll stop there as it is spring break after all but stay tuned for a repeat attempt to host an invitational in Austin this August. Use it as a tool to keep your team engaged with the robot this spring/summer and to recruit that next group of students.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schuetze

I'll stop there as it is spring break after all but stay tuned for a repeat attempt to host an invitational in Austin this August.

First I've heard of it. Hopefully, lessons were learned from the first time that will be applied to this effort. And - hopefully, teams will figure out that it is in their very best interest to participate in an off-season.

Jane

EDIT: Oh! I just remembered an awesome memory! 57's tutus. Those rocked. I hope they post a photo of them. So silly. I want one. A Purple Haze tutu.

[2789_DrT]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

"We've got this." You've got this, 2789. Keep it. With great pride and deep humility, Rock on 2789, Jane
P.S. Enjoy Chesapeake. There's some good people out there.

Thank you to Norm for recognizing our team as a veteran team. Thanks to FRC 148 and to Team Appreciate (2468) for providing our Alamo pit crew with valuable technical assistance throughout the Alamo Regional. Special thanks to Scott and Team Appreciate for letting our team work in your machine shop during the last week crunch prior to the Alamo Regional.

Thank you again Jane for all your high praise and well wishes. I really value your recognition because you understand what we are trying to do: build a sustainable program with a great culture that develops tomorrow's leaders. Jane, in our rookie season, you inspired us to really DO FIRST. Early on, you inspired our team to use the awards as tools to reflect upon and plan for our team’s growth. We have continued to compete for awards each year and although we haven’t won anything yet, going through the process of writing essays and business plans that take a really hard look at our program has helped our team grow into an organization we can be proud of.

I think we have worked hard enough and put enough down on paper (we've done the math and the writing) that we may be in a position to start helping other FIRST teams. I've felt guilty that our team has not done a lot yet to help other teams, but I've tempered that guilt with the reality that really doing FIRST is very very hard. It took our team a couple years to identify and set realistic goals that align with the competition and its culture and to develop strategies and resources to meet those goals. I am really new to Chief Delphi. I need some help figuring out how we can use this great resource to interact with other programs in ways that are helpful. Any advice there is really welcome.

Finally, I second and third and fourth and fifth all the praise to the FIRST volunteers that made the Alamo Regional a great success. Having a great Regional so close to our team location is HUGE! And having this Regional be THE FIRST Regional where our team made it to the Elimination Rounds is AMAZING AND VERY HUGE! I still get chills thinking about it. And also this Regional is close enough to Manor that some of the people in the stands included our next generation of FIRST-ers. AGAIN, SO HUGE!! We really loved competing at the Alamo Regional and we hope we can continue to compete there for years to come.

[JaneYoung]

Thank you for your kind words, Janice. It is going to be great to have you participate in CD. The potential for a techXsplosion of wisdom has increased significantly.

For instance, your recognition of CD as a great resource for interacting with other teams/programs is a good example. I've created a thread asking for members' suggestions as to how they use it as a resource. Hopefully, it will have some awesome input.

Jane

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

First I've heard of it. Hopefully, lessons were learned from the first time that will be applied to this effort. And - hopefully, teams will figure out that it is in their very best interest to participate in an off-season.

Jane

Alamo RD Patrick Felty sent out a post event note to teams which included the following information.
<<>>

You are receiving this email because your team has chosen to participate in the inaugural Alamo Region FRC competition this March.


WOW!


I am very honored to have had all of you participate in the inaugural Alamo Regional Competition. I certainly hope that you will make it a tradition for years to come.



I wanted to give everyone a quick update on a few things and share a few developments with you.

<<<snip>>>


Off Season Event:

I am working with the folks at National Instruments to put on an off season event in August. Please let me know if your team would be interested in joining us in August in Austin for a one day event. I will send out more detail later, but I would like your feedback now.

<<<snip>>>

Thank you again for being part of FIRST and good luck to those of you that are playing again in another regional and those of you heading to St. Louis.



Regards,

Patrick Felty - Alamo Regional Director - San Antonio, Texas



For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

pfelty at usfirst.org

(210)279-9364 – office

(210) 399-0672 - Fax

www.Alamo-FIRST.org
<<>>

[JaneYoung]

Thanks, Andrew. I hadn't seen that e-mail.

I hope that teams step up. If not enough sign up, NI could very well pull the plug, again. It can be very costly to run an off-season and if they combine that with their NI Week (antennae raised because of your post that stated "August") then they have to add space to their already whopping event and that costs money. Applying lessons learned would be a good thing. I was devastated when not enough teams signed up last time and we had to pull the plug. It still makes me sad to think about. A good thing that happened: 1477 stepped up at the last minute and a few teams were able to travel to the Woodlands to have a little fun, including the ever awesome 148. 1477 pulled it together, quickly, and I've always appreciated that.

For the teams that have this potential opportunity: please do give input/feedback. When they say they are looking for it/want it - they mean it. Give feedback. I've spent 5-6 years traveling to off-season events in the U.S. to garner experience and talk with the organizers of the events to learn what it takes to pull one off. By doing so, I become a part of the volunteer crew that helps put on the event and I learn so much about the teams, the area, the host teams, the robots, the events. They are as much fun - or more - as the official FRC events and they help teams hone their skills in all areas. Seriously. Texas could become a much stronger region, competition-wise, by having an off-season or two each year. Destiny is calling.

All the best in the new venture; if I can be of any help, please let me know. Rock on, NI - let's do it!

Jane