Advice for Marketing/Outreach

[sanchezmichelle]

Team 3305 has been around for a few years, but this year is when we're beginning to venture into aspects of the FRC competition other than the robot game (marketing, community outreach etc.). Does anyone have any advice or resources for a team who's just starting out with these things?

[hybrid.helix]

Originally Posted by sanchezmichelle

Team 3305 has been around for a few years, but this year is when we're beginning to venture into aspects of the FRC competition other than the robot game (marketing, community outreach etc.). Does anyone have any advice or resources for a team who's just starting out with these things?

Here's the presentation from a cross-FRC team workshop I helped coordinate this summer that covered precisely these topics: https://docs.google.com/presentation...it#slide=id.p7

[BenDSterling]

If you were in Georgia I would tell you to attend my Brand Development and Digital Marketing Workshop this weekend. Since you're not, after the workshop I'll post all the resources I'll be giving away.

[Roger]

If you want to be in the community, find local church or town or school fairs in your town and offer to bring your robots. We've been doing the local in-town circuit for a couple of years and gets to be expected to show up. It doesn't take much to be spectacular, especially when there isn't much else at a local fair. Our school system has a fairly good website for all the school announcements, so its just a matter of digging around to find out the dates and contacts.

All you really need is a table, driver station (laptop), a robot or two, a box of emergency tools, zip ties, and duct tape, and a space to drive around. Have a crate of batteries with a charger to plug in someplace. If your driver station is away from a power source, get a converter plugged into one of the batteries. If we're outdoors we bring a bunch of 5x8 carpets taped together for a 16x25 foot space to drive. (The carpet is to save wear on robot tires.) And a pop-up tent. Another crate to bring awards, banners, etc. Lots of your students in team uniforms, ready to show off their robot. Parents too if you can.

We've driven in a space as small as a quarter basketball court, and a school hallway (on a ramp!) -- though I don't recommend that.

For an indoor location I can get 2 robots, crates, a table into my little hatchback, and still have room for one passenger.

It helps of course to have a working robot the kids can drive around. It doesn't have to be fancy, but if you can you should get it reprogrammed to drive at a slower speed and a big joystick for the little hands, with all the buttons disabled. Program a second joystick for an override and/or full speed. Let the little kids help change batteries or swap bumper colors.

It especially helps if you have a Frisbee-bot, from 2013. We don't even drive ours around, just shoot frisbees and let kids catch them. All day. Seriously. (Seriously, the best robot we've got: I meet people around town asking about that Frisbee-bot.)

I look at it as getting kids and adults interested in the program, trying to get parents interested in starting middle or grade school programs, and yeah, donations or sponsors too. At the other end, getting our team members used to talking to adults about robots (remember those Judges in the Pits?).

The only empty spot is getting the middle schoolers -- your "junior varsity" and future freshmen (your prime demographic). I'm guessing they're "too cool" to be playing with robots.

TL/DR version: Offer to bring your robot anywhere you want to be seen.