Breaking the Geek-FIRST Bias

[karinka13]

Our team has been trying from the beginning to get a reputation for robotics above that of "geek", but we're still trying. A large part of this is because we get no support from the school. The one year they did support us, we got plenty of interest, but it's only been decilining ever since. We currently have about seven dedicated members on our team, because people either don't know we exist, or they assume that our club isn't cool. If you go to a jock school, this is definately the case. I mean, seriously, FIRST robotics is mainly like a sporting event, only with robots doing the labor instead of people. Yet we get no support, while the administation are always encouraging everyone to go support the athletes. I think support is mainly what makes and breaks a team.
As far as getting females involved, the Firebirds are an all-female team, since we go to an all-girls school. I'd say focus on financial, personal, artistic, and social aspects of the team when trying to get them involoved. That's what new people usually want to start out with for us, until they get into it at least.