**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL **/Season Updates and Information

[miketwalker]

Greetings Teams:

Championship Wrap Dinner and Entertainment Information
Several teams have requested the option of purchasing admission to the wrap dinner and entertainment celebration separate from the hotel and transportation value package. This itemized option will be offered through our housing partner, THS. Please click here for full details: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2004...age_Update.pdf

**Please Note**
THS has recently changed their "1-800" coverage for the FIRST season to 8 PM EST to accommodate our west coast teams!

Missing Parts
Critical missing parts for over half the teams that submitted requests were shipped on or before 1/26/2004. We will be working over the weekend to package up the remainder of these parts to be sent on Monday 2/2/2004 (for arrival by Wednesday 2/4/2004.)

FIRST apologizes for the missing parts issue that has confronted a majority of our teams and thanks you for your patience, understanding, and Gracious Professionalism.

FIRST Robotics Regional Competitions Need Your Help!

As you know, this year the FIRST Robotics Competition will have 26 Regional Competitions between March 4 and April 3. The Championship will be in Atlanta April 15-17. These events are made possible through the outstanding work of hundreds of volunteers.

Volunteering for a regional competition is a great way to network with others in the FIRST community while ensuring an outstanding experience for teams. The volunteer coordinators for these competitions are actively recruiting volunteers. A schedule of the events can be found at: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2004/rgevents.htm

You can sign up to volunteer through the new FIRST Volunteer Information and Matching System at http://www.usfirst.org/volunteer. Please forward this information to others who might be interested in volunteering.

Thank you all in advance!!

Consent and Release Form
Please note that the 2004 event Consent and Release Form is now available at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/ConsentForm.pdf

You must download this form and have all team members fill it out PRIOR to attending a regional event. For students under 18, there must be a valid parental or legal guardian signature. Forms will be collected during registration on Thursday. Please do not send the forms directly to FIRST!

**IMPORTANT** If your team is attending more than one (1) event, you do not need to turn in forms at the additional events. However, you must turn in a form for anyone who is attending a second or third etc.. regional for whom a form has not been submitted (i.e., he/she never attended a prior regional.)

**VERY IMPORTANT** If you do not have your forms your team will not be able to compete. Please don't let this happen!

Chairman's Award Information
For teams submitting a Chairman's Award submission, you must use the new Executive Summary form. This form is in .pdf format, and can be found on our website at http://www2.usfirst.org/2004comp/200...ec_Summary.pdf.

Innovation First C Programming Training Guides
David Maxwell of Innovation First has created an on-line training guide titled "Introduction to C Programming For Non Technical Types." Please click here for full details: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/C_help.htm

Public Agendas
Please note that the agendas for all the regional events are now posted and can be accessed at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2004/rgevents.htm

Have a great weekend everyone.

Go Teams!