Petition to start things that inform, inspire, educate and de-confuse the public

[PurpleInk]

My team works very hard to include spectators in what is going on and make sure that all questions they have are answered! The pit team asks everyone who walks by, "Do you have any questions I can answer?" and the number of people we pull in - who had no idea that you could walk up to the robots and explore them - is amazing. I believe that they see the robotics pits like IndyCar or similar pits where you can walk through and observe but interrupting is frowned upon. We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome to approach and be curious.

Especially children

We also invite all kinds of people to sit with us as well! By the end of the event you'll be one of us!

[GreyingJay]

That's great PurpleInk! Those are all great behaviours that students would probably not think to exhibit unless specifically looking out for opportunities to do so. These are great people skills that you are teaching and will benefit the students in addition to the added exposure and positive goodwill you are bringing to FRC and FIRST in general.

I was recently mulling over the problem of students at competitions who felt like they had nothing to do -- now I can see that there are specific things in addition to "pit crew" and "scouting" that we can be asking students to do. Be intentional about welcoming others and asking questions. I like it.

Teach the students to treat every visitor as if they were the latest addition to your team!

[MamaSpoldi]

As one of those stressed out mentors, sometimes I am distracted especially in the pits. But all it takes is the sight of a child walking through to get our team smiling and moving. We keep aside special treats for the younger kids to make sure we still have some by the end of each day including our buttons, wristbands, and our robot heads. The little kids really like them and the parents appreciate that we are reaching out to make the day a little more special for their child. It also encourages the shyer kids to ask a few questions. As long as we do not have maintenance going on with our robot at the moment I encourage the kids to come closer and look at the mechanisms up close... and even touch them. It is awesome to see how their eyes light up when they see how the robots are made. Sometimes all it takes is a moment of your time to effect a change.

I agree that it is even more helpful to do this in the stands when you see new people coming in without a clear team affiliation. If I am sitting near these people in the stands I like to offer to share some explanations with them. But often the saving of seats preclude them even finding a place to sit.

Originally Posted by EricH

Phase 1: Do not reserve seats exclusively for team members. If there's an empty seat, it's open, we'll move stuff as needed. (BTW, whoever put up those "We don't save seats, come sit down" signs at the entrances to the center section of L.A. seating, I want to thank you--regardless of if you're on my team or not.)

This sign is such an awesome idea I want to have them printed and placed in every section of the arena at every event. It can be very intimidating to take seats in the middle of a team even if they appear to be willing to let you sit with them. A sign stating clearly that you are WELCOME can make the difference.

This thread is a great idea! I think we can all do a little better with just a little bit of effort.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by MamaSpoldi

This thread is a great idea! I think we can all do a little better with just a little bit of effort.

Yes, I love that this thread is full of practical, easily achievable ideas that will go a long way. It's not difficult to do, we just need to be a little more intentional in how we teach our students. And it's not like the students aren't willing or able to do these things already -- they just sometimes need to be reminded to make it a priority focus rather than an afterthought.

I volunteer with a summer camp in the FRC off-season (or is it that I do FRC in my camp off-season?) and one of the things I work on is training staff to establish a similar culture among the kids there. We say things like "camp is a great place to make friends!" but then we shove our kids into the environment and say "Ok, so go make friends!" without ever actually stopping to teach them HOW to do it. The shy and introverted kids might not actually know how. We need to teach them and give them opportunities to practice in a safe, fun, non-judging environment.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by PurpleInk

The pit team asks everyone who walks by, "Do you have any questions I can answer?"

Here's an even better way to phrase it: "What questions can I answer for you?"

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Here's an even better way to phrase it: "What questions can I answer for you?"

My experience (may be cultural by region of U.S.) is that this works for some people, but for most of those that are truly uninformed about what is going on, they know so little that they don't even know what type of question to ask, so they simply answer 'No thanks'. You have to be more proactive and answer some basic questions without them asking them.

"Hi. Did you know that all these robots were built by high school teams in six weeks?" (No, really?) "Yes, the first Saturday in January ... "

or

"Hi, have you ever been to a robotics competition like this one?" (No.) "Let me tell you a bit about how this competition works... "

[AWoL]

With the seat saving everyone is talking about, isn't that explicitly prohibited in the admin manual? We had an incident at our first event this year where a rookie parent told members of another team that "this is our area." Anyways it got around to the event coordinator or somebody and they came to talk our lead mentors in the pit. We apologized and not much happened, but eventually in the internal team discussion about the event, someone quoted the admin manual for a rule on seat saving, and brought up these lines:

4.13 Bleacher Rules

Sitting together in a group during competition matches makes the game more exciting and fun. It’s where you can show support for your team. Since very often there is not enough seating to accommodate everyone, there has to be a policy regarding seating. Teams are not permitted to save seats for team members that are not present. Please take turns sitting in the bleachers if seating is limited. If there is a crowding problem, we ask that you kindly leave after your team’s match and return later if possible.

4.14 Site Restrictions

Please read the following common site restrictions and adhere to them in order to promote an orderly, safe, pleasant and exciting competition.
■■ Do not use noisy devices, such as floor stompers, whistles and/or air horns.
■■ Do not arrange for Internet access or phone lines from venue service providers or attempt to use venue internet connections
reserved for event purposes (e.g., FMS or streaming).
■■ Do not sell any products. This includes food, hats, shirts or any promotional products.
■■ Do not distribute any food products, such as candy, water, soft drinks or fruit.
■■ Do not sell raffle tickets.
■■ Do not bring bottled gas tanks (e.g. helium). This is a safety concern.
■■ Do not use walkie-talkies.
■■ Do not invite or bring live bands to play in the audience. This dilutes the presentation on the playing field and is too loud and
confusing for the audience.
■■ Do not play loud music in the Pit because it interferes with important announcements. If a team receives more than a warning or two, the power to the team Pit will be shut off and/or the music confiscated.
■■ Do not form “tunnels” during the Awards Ceremony. This can cause discomfort to those traveling through them and creates safety issues.
■■ Do not save seats.

[GreyingJay]

In my experience at the two regionals I attended, teams would designate general areas where they wanted to sit, but were pretty easygoing about having those areas shrink and grow as needed as team members from their own team, and their neighbors, came and went.

[Koko Ed]

They should have ambassadors assigned for the general public as much as they do for VIPs. There is a need to attract more people to the program as much as there is a need to attract money.

[Michael Kaurich]

FIRST Stop works extremely well. The committee is consistently improving it to meet our needs and working out what the "ask" is for each individual visitor. For a person with children it is usually finding/founding an appropriate team for their child. VIPs have different asks depending on association. It can also be an opportunity to recruit volunteers for other events.

The big thing to recall with this system is the follow up with the individuals after the event which usually takes some sort of admin support.

[Irwin772]

At a lot of events in Ontario there are volunteer tour guides that take school groups or others that want to learn about FIRST and what is happening on the field or in the pits around and explains it to them as they go. Bringing this type of concept to all of the regionals, districts or various championships would go a long way to helping the public understand what FIRST is.