FIRST Chesapeake Districts

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

How much are you involved in this? I was under the impression that CHP would be doing all the planning and execution, "hosts" would only provide manpower.

Don't underestimate what it takes to pull off an event that teams enjoy. Some spots in volunteering cannot be filled by students, so even with a big team we're still going to find volunteers. Other spots shouldn't be filled by students who can't handle egos. Then there are little things like

• Parking estimation (especially on a SAT weekend)
• Signage
• Communication between volunteers
• Load-in/out flow
• Providing power to the room (understanding the outlet situation, etc),
• Internet availability (streaming the event, FMS tweets/HQ comms, etc)
• Understanding/testing available infrastructure (speakers, etc)
• Where specifically volunteers should be in order to manage their portion of the event, etc.
• Team social
• Event coordinators need X, where do they go to get it? (liason, e.g.)

Competitively, certain adult roles are key to success in keeping students engaged throughout an event, so we really don't want anyone in those roles 'dual-hatted'. There are also some roles only fillable by adults at a typical event, though there are sometimes exceptions to this rule (buying/assembling team lunch, mediation of various decisions/conflicts/ambitions, encouraging kids to go beyond their comfort zones, coaching kids through pressure points, running to the store for a needed material/tool).