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

[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.