FIRST Who's Who for Rookies

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

As a side note, I tend to think some kind of event omnibudsman is necessary. ... The trick with a volunteer acting as omnibudsman is that they need to be able to quickly identify the root issue and pass the problem on to specialists, so the omnibudsman quickly becomes available for the next team in line.

I agree with you about the ombudsman.

I played this role informally during the years I was Senior Mentor, at the Chesapeake Regional. Sometimes the event management would ask me to step in, sometimes the LRI, sometimes the venue contacts (USNA) and sometimes even the Judge Advisor.

But most of the questions came through Pit Admin. I would usually be able to answer them really quickly, or could pass them on to right the position/person. I had no official role listed in the regional planning guide but often felt like the expediter/traffic cop/head cheerleader.

Issues/questions ran the gamut. Crying students over an award not received, crying mentors who just couldn't make one more decision, angry mentors who feel like the event/volunteers/venue was not being fair, and a bijillion other examples. Pit admin often turfed the questions because they realized it wasn't theirs to answer. Often we were all getting up to speed together and the "where is" or "what time is" or "how does this work" questions would decrease as the day went on as the event got things nailed down.

There seemed to be less questions by rookies because they didn't know what they didn't know. The most time consuming issues came from the veterans.

Sometime it took a while to actually figure out what the issue was. People under stress may start at a place that isn't actually where the issues are. I remember numerous times taking a mentor back to a quiet area, giving them a cold drink and then trying to sort out the problem. Sometimes all they needed was a quiet space for a few minutes and the problem would seem like less of a problem and would solve itself. Sometimes people under stress just need someone to listen to them.

I know this will vary greatly between events, but the Senior Mentors are often a great resource for this type of role.