A Better Competition

[Andrew]

Last year we sent two mentors and two high school students to Championships, even though we did not go as a team.

Their reports were mixed.

The mentors generally found things to do, such as hosting VIP tours, watching matches, etc. However, they mentioned that non-FIRST spectators generally came, watched a few matches, looked around the pits, and then left. The mentors came back saying they had a blast and would return to CMP with or without a robot.

The high school students indicated that they did not enjoy things as much as the mentors. Teams are too focussed on the competition and did not interact much outside the matches.

This points to the "adopt a team" idea being a good idea.

I think that it would be excellent if FIRST allocated a second room for teams to set up their "social area." Right now, you either hang out in the pits, or in the stands, or in the parking lot. If teams had a second area where they could hang out, distribute buttons, socialize, play music, etc., it would make a huge difference in the atmosphere and enjoyment of the competition. It would also provide people who are not actively competing an area to socialize. Most venues have the space for something like this. I don't know how much organization FIRST would have to allocate to it or whether it would cost additional money. This is certainly something where, if FIRST gave us the go ahead on the space, the teams themselves could organize and set up.

As to the idea of having a "convention" as well, this is a terrific idea. I would recommend that someone take the lead, contact FIRST to see if space can be made available, and start getting teams to contribute to the planning.

One idea which I have wanted to pursue is to tack on an educational conference to FIRST events. Since many educators (high school teachers, college teachers, and engineering professionals) are trying out ideas on how to improve education, the FIRST competition is an ideal place for those people to present their ideas and results and to discuss. This would doubtless bore the sox off the HS students, so it doesn't really address your concern.

It would be nice for teams to prepare a poster addressing their Chairman's Award activities and put aside a place to display this. If there are Hall of Fame teams at your regional, they could get a display as well.

Colleges should also be more active in providing events for the HS students: how to apply and select a college, what funding is available, what are the different majors all about, etc.

At kick off, there has been an increasing organization for technical presentations. Maybe some of this infrastructure could be brought to the competitions themselves.