People i want to meet at nationals

[The Lucas]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

Im not sure if i should be honored or scared that people want to meet me :-p...

Have you ever considered that some people might be scared to meet up with you? I know Joe M was looking over his shoulder for you last year. But seriously, DJ a cool guy to meet (especially when you're bored while standing in line for a frozen lemonade at AstroWorld way too long).

Seems likes everyone wants to meet Dave Lavery (and everyone should cause he is a really cool guy)
Last year a rookie on our team saw Lavery at Annapolis screamed with excitement :

"Dude! That's Dave Lavery! I need to get him to autograph my shirt!"
The rest of the team and I chuckled and asked "Why???"
He said "Because Dave created Stack Attack, and its a great game"

That made me think, "Why was the thought of Dave's autograph so weird to me?" I have autographs from Dean and Woodie like most FIRSTers, but I never was compelled to get one from Dave, even though he is the 3rd most recognizable person in FIRST after Dean and Woodie, a member of the "Inner Circle of Game Creation", and a very important NASA engineer.

To me, he will always be the goofy guy in the Hawaiian Shirt with the Krispy Kreme Crown. He is so approachable that you don't need to treat like the FIRST Celebrity he is. I guess I think of him as regular guy, because the first time I met him was in an elevator while we were both lugging gear for our bots into a Congressional Office Building to give a presentation to Congressmen after Dean gave a speech. Dave was a just guy working alongside me in room full of VIPs. I've talked to him other occasions but I doubt he would recognize me.

So my suggestion to everyone meeting him for the first time is to ask him for his autograph, and give him the respect and admiration he is due. Maybe he'll write one of his cool catch phrases like "My other Car is on Mars" or "That’s Pimp!" on your shirt followed by his signature. Then you can show it off and everyone will be jealous.