Alliance Request

[Edxu]

Almost everything in this thread is extremely valuable information, and I would highly recommend reading through it and taking in the main points.

I'll just put in a few of my opinions:
1: Try and talk to teams a few hours before Alliance Selection, or even the Friday afternoon if you can. Many powerhouse teams hold Strategy/Pick list meetings on the Friday night, and reminding them about your team is a great way to spark discussion about your team during that meeting.

2: Approach high-seeding teams. Questions that you'll mainly want to ask them run along the lines of "What are you looking for in a second pick alliance partner?". Another great way to communicate teams is to ask them if they want to see anything performance-wise out of your robot in matches. If they are looking for anything in particular, try and exhibit it on the practice field, inviting them to watch, or plan to fulfill that role for your next quals match to demonstrate. People can talk about their capabilities all they want, but claims mean nothing unless they hold up on field in real matches.

We've talked to teams before at competition, and taking 2014 as an example, some of the higher seeds that we talked asked us to demonstrate our ability to play position 3(first assist and shot defender), and for the next few matches, we played matches focusing on displaying our ability in that role. While it didn't change our end result, I believe that it put to rest the question of whether or not we were able to play that role, and might have moved us up a few spots on that pick list.

3: Form relationships. We have the resources to assign an "expert scout" to every team at a regional, but if you don't quite have that much manpower, you'll want to try and find a contact for each of the powerhouse teams that you can comfortably talk to. Not a business relationship, but legitimately find someone to become friends with. In those crucial Friday night meetings, teams who are friendly to work with and cooperative will end up much higher on teams that are not on pick lists.

4: Try and be honest. It's hard to tell potential captains that you're having issues, but they'll hold you in higher regard if you just tell them what's wrong. They may even offer to help fix it if they can! In 2015 at CMP, we had to remove a motor in our intake rollers to dedicate ourselves to our 4-bin grab, but it meant that we would be of little use to our alliance partners. By telling our alliance partners this, we were able to modify our strategy so that we could minimize the effect of our problem, and all involved parties ended up more satisfied.

[NShep98]

My input on this is to say at least something to any top seeded alliance you think you can work well with. Do this even if you know they have noticed you before, because the last thing I wanted to hear playing as a backup team was that the scouting team of the alliance we ended up with forgot to tell their rep to pick us in the first place .

It also can't help to suggest teams or types of teams you think will complement both you and the team you are lobbying to.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by Aura_

Alright thanks for the advice guys. We will take your advice.

I see that you didn't put your team number in your bio. So if you don't mind me asking, what is your team number?

[Aura_]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I see that you didn't put your team number in your bio. So if you don't mind me asking, what is your team number?

I am sorry to inform you that I am not allowed to disclaim my team number due to my sometimes ignorant attitude when responding to some threads. Notice I am the only person in the world with red bars.

[Nuwanda]

This is my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I think there are two different types of 'advertising'. Going to a team's pit ten minutes before alliance selection and asking them to pick you doesn't work. Most people will just be annoyed by it. Even explaining all your good qualities can still turn off a lot of teams. However, if you go to a team while qualifying matches are still being played, explain the feature that you think would be a good fit for their alliance, and show that strategy in a match (or several), that will go over much better. I was talking to my friend from another team about a pick I didn't understand and their explanation was that this team had gone out of their way to show a versatility in strategy that aligned with what they were looking for. You can't just say that you can do something, you have to show it and make sure they see it. That is the most successful way of 'advertising' yourself.

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by Aura_

I am sorry to inform you that I am not allowed to disclaim my team number due to my sometimes ignorant attitude when responding to some threads. Notice I am the only person in the world with red bars.

They're just bars...

[Aura_]

Originally Posted by CalTran

They're just bars...

Yes but I would prefer if my mentor did not know it was me not representing our team well.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by CalTran

They're just bars...

And trust me, you aren't the only one with red... not even close to the highest on the list. Could send a link to the CD member list sorted by worst rep--but that's not necessary. Taking a quick look at your post history, you haven't even broached one of the most flame-happy topics, and most of those folks have. Might have just managed to annoy a couple folks with hair-trigger red-rep fingers and a lot of rep power.

[Boltman]

Originally Posted by Nuwanda

This is my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I think there are two different types of 'advertising'. Going to a team's pit ten minutes before alliance selection and asking them to pick you doesn't work. Most people will just be annoyed by it. Even explaining all your good qualities can still turn off a lot of teams. However, if you go to a team while qualifying matches are still being played, explain the feature that you think would be a good fit for their alliance, and show that strategy in a match (or several), that will go over much better. I was talking to my friend from another team about a pick I didn't understand and their explanation was that this team had gone out of their way to show a versatility in strategy that aligned with what they were looking for. You can't just say that you can do something, you have to show it and make sure they see it. That is the most successful way of 'advertising' yourself.

I think the optimum time to advertise is when doors open prior to matches on Day 2, that is usually our routine if we are not high enough to be captain. I want us to be on their radar (and get their eyes on us) the rest of Day 2 and we go about 12-13 deep and out of those 12-13 teams we probably contact three or four that compliment us. If we are captain its pretty much the same process , just knowing you hold the cards. Even so you want to be paired with the best team that WANTS to be with you and compliments you. You want the best chance to succeed.

Then rest of the day we just play ball and our scouts watch all potential captains for strengths and weaknesses for later in the day elimination matches and work on elimination game plans.

6 week build is all about building a capable bot that is the best at something (be rare) .

In each regional...

Day 1 is all about ranking high (we aim for top 20% to be in that prime pick area rank 12 or lower I'm happy) and winning your matches to give teams a night to pour over the data and watch videos of all pick worthy teams. We also make a minimum top 20-28 pick list and verify it on day 2.

Day 2 is all about ranking your self honestly "as an impartial scout" and making sure higher teams also know about you that you desire to play with. First thing that morning. Remember if you are Captain 5,6,7 or 8 you KNOW you have your work cut out for you to win that regional...so a non-captain team that comes to you with a plausible winning plan and deep pick list can be just the ticket and make your day.

We made alliance captain 8 and our 3rd bot VERY VERY HAPPY when we as a potentially very strong alliance 8 took down alliance 1 handily in 2 games..that bodes well for our future.... its all about building those longer term partnerships for future seasons and remissness about previous seasons . Good will goes a long way our list of love to go to eliminations teams grows every year. Main thing is to have fun..it is fun...and never be the weak link. Hold yourself accountable.

My scouts look for two things.... "consistency and reliability" because in eliminations any weakness get exposed

[DanKein]

Originally Posted by Aura_

Thanks, but when we get constant horrible match ups how are we suppose to advertise ourselves any better?

This does make it harder, however, you can still play the game in the way you designed your robot to play. Demonstrate your best despite your alliance partners.

A good team with good match scouting will notice. Teams planning on being top seeds are having to look deep to discover the teams that will play in a compatible way with them, this is frequently a robot not in the "top 24".

Make sure your team is as honest as possible with pit scouts on Thursday, good teams confirm with match scouting the information given to the pit scouts. If there are a lot of inconsistency, this gives a poor impression.

Instead of advertising to them what your team does, ask them what they are looking for in an alliance partner. This tends to be a good conversation starter. Start the conversation early on Friday. Ask your self honestly, if your team will fit, if not, look for another team that could be.

Saturday morning is crunch time for the scouting teams, and they made their pick lists on Friday night, and spend Saturday confirming their thoughts, and filling in blanks. It is difficult to get your self added by then.

[Boltman]

Originally Posted by Aura_

Yes but I would prefer if my mentor did not know it was me not representing our team well.

I get red bars too as I can be opinionated ... no biggie. I learn as I go and try to make up with green bars.
I remind myself of gracious professionalism and it worked much better this season. That is not to say I still din't get some red bars
I'm just very competitive in my make up and sometimes go overboard.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Boltman

I get red bars too as I can be opinionated ... no biggie. I learn as I go and try to make up with green bars.
I remind myself of gracious professionalism and it worked this season. That is not to say I still din't get some red bars

Agreed I have had my fair share of red dots although it has definitely taught me to hold my tongue(Fingers).

I greened you a while back and tried to green you again but got the (Spread some reputation around) message. I have been there actually had Red dots show on my profile without team number and full name for a few weeks until I got greened again.

Just be respectful and helpful and I am sure eventually we can find out what team you are from.

[Wayne Doenges]

My $.05
Say what you can do and do what you say.
Allot of teams say they are the best but a good scout team will sort out the best.
In 2014, at the Pittsburgh regional, we got paired with allot of teams that didn't work very well. We did everything we told the pit scouters we could do and got picked. We made it to the finals and came in second.
The point is, if you have something another team can use, you will get picked.

[CBG]

Originally Posted by Aura_

Thanks, but when we get constant horrible match ups how are we suppose to advertise ourselves any better?

I know that my team analyzes each robot individually when scouting, looking at stats that go beyond rankings. If you've got a good robot and the other team has put some effort into scouting, advertising is unnecessary, although it's always good to be nice.

[jijiglobe]

Originally Posted by Aura_

Has anyone successfully found a method for getting out of the no man's zone??

http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/694

Just demonstrate what you can do during your qualification matches, and you'll get picked. We did that at NYC regional and ended up winning undefeated as the 8th seed.