Alliance Invitation Phrase

[alexander.h]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

There is no set phrase. You can say whatever you'd like.

The traditional phrase, which some people (including me) find kind of annoying, is "Team (number) graciously accepts". Describing yourself as gracious isn't very gracious though.

"Team (number) gratefully accepts" keeps the same cadence without being self-aggrandizing.

A Lil' Jon style "YEAHHHHH!" is perhaps my favorite though.

I've heard teams that list their team sponsors, should I do that too?

[MrTechCenter]

Originally Posted by alexander.h

I've heard teams that list their team sponsors, should I do that too?

Not if you have too many sponsors. I've seen teams go on for quite a while listing all of their sponsors and it gets a bit annoying. If you have a few sponsors, though, and you want to thank them in some way you could say "Team XXXX sponsored by .... would like to invite Team XXXX to join their alliance"

Originally Posted by alexander.h

I've heard teams that list their team sponsors, should I do that too?

Please don't. It seems like a good idea, but there are hundreds of other ways to promote and thank your sponsors, and everyone groans the second someone starts listing their team's sponsors. We just want to get on with alliance selections, and we're sure you do to. No matter if you're inviting people to an alliance or responding to an invitation, just get up there, and get 'er done.

[Drivencrazy]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

Please don't. It seems like a good idea, but there are hundreds of other ways to promote and thank your sponsors, and everyone groans the second someone starts listing their team's sponsors. We just want to get on with alliance selections, and we're sure you do to. No matter if you're inviting people to an alliance or responding to an invitation, just get up there, and get 'er done.

I've always thought that listing their biggest sponsors during alliance selection is a very classy way for a team to acknowledge the partnership between the sponsor and the team. What if an employee, executive, or owner of the sponsor is at the competition think of how far simply mentioning the company's name would go with that individual.

I would definitely not list every single person that has given your team money, but if you have two or three main sponsors I see nothing wrong with mentioning their partnership.

Back to OP's question, I think a simple "Team ####, <Team Name>, would like to invite Team ####, <Other Team's Name> (or omit their name if you don't know it), to join our alliance" is sufficient for an invitation. "Team ####, <Team Name>, gratefully accepts." works just fine for accepting whether or not you decide to list your main sponsors in either situation.

As for French, I have no idea but I'm sure you could find someone at that party of an event that can help you out.

[ErvinI]

Funny how many people mentioned that sponsors should not be mentioned. Something that I noticed was that Canadian teams almost always mention their sponsors in alliance selections. Looking back at Waterloo 2012 selections (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4CkGuJaEQU), 14 out of the first 17 teams invited to an alliance mentioned their sponsors. One of the declines was an American team while another was a rookie team. I stopped counting after the 1st round was over.

Must be a Canadian thing...

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by ErvinI

Must be a Canadian thing...

I certainly think so.

Saturday was crazy at GTR West this year and I was hyped for alliance selections. It kind of killed the mood though when each team spent 5+ minutes listing sponsors. I can respect the formality/professionalism and I realize it's up to the teams, but it's painful to watch...

[xXhunter47Xx]

"Team #### accepts, and together, we shall rule the galaxy"

[ghostmachine360]

Our alliance invitation phrase from Palmetto:

"On behalf of the Hype Train, The Magic School Bus, and Dairy Queen, Team 1648 accepts."

Better things in store for Peachtree.

[Wayne Doenges]

This year our Alliance picker said "Team 1501, to Assist in our Aerial endeavor, would like to invite Team XXXX"
I cringe everytime someone says "Graciously Accepts"

[BigJack]

It's cheesy, but I always loved when teams make some pun off their name. I know The Foley Freeze asks people to "come chill with them" and I'm pretty sure Bedford Express makes some kind of "on track" pun, but I might be mistaken.

[Billfred]

4901's acceptance from Orlando:

"Much gracious. Very accept. Wow."

Every time he's said it, we've won the tournament. Coincidence?

(Whaddya mean 1 event of saying it is a poor sample size?!)

[xXhunter47Xx]

"We invite Team #### to be on our alliance. They're already chosen? I must have done my math wrong, give me a minute."
*draws a picture of a cat*
"After carrying the one and dividing by two instead of dividing by two and then carrying the one, we invite Team #### to our alliance instead"

[maths222]

I'm just curious: What's the big problem with "Team XXXX graciously accepts." The FTC Emcee script includes this paragraph:

As a Team representative comes up to accept or decline, make sure they speak into the microphone so the audience can hear. The appropriate response should be: “On behalf of Team#, we graciously accept (or decline) your invitation.”

[Ether]

Originally Posted by maths222

I'm just curious: What's the big problem with "Team XXXX graciously accepts."

Gratefully accepts.

Graciously declines.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by BigJack

It's cheesy, but I always loved when teams make some pun off their name. I know The Foley Freeze asks people to "come chill with them" and I'm pretty sure Bedford Express makes some kind of "on track" pun, but I might be mistaken.

Yep, 910 uses "We would love to chill with you" or "We would like to invite XXXX to come chill with us."

We haven't declined an alliance in recent memory, but our go to phrase is "Unfortunately, team 910 The Foley Freeze is going to have to give you the cold shoulder this time." We've had a few debates about this, as some people think that this could come off as non-graciously professional, so we don't know if we would use it in practice.

But we have a new phrase for accepting an offer, so hopefully we'll get to use it before the season is over. And it's even more cheesy and punny