What happen at Kickoff?

[RogerR]

Originally Posted by Tom McCurdy

My team is new to FIRST and I was wondering what exactly will happen during the kickoff, I mean I know what the agenda says, but I meant more of what actually happens. I also wanted to ask about team alliances. When do people start forming teams together.

i'm not sure what you mean in the first part of your question. obviously, there's the stuff in the agenda (speeches, field and KOP presentation, etc.), and depending on where you are, there may also be mini-competitions and workshops.

as far as alliances go, i have no idea what this year could bring (we'll find out in 10 hours or so), but in the past, during seeding matches, alliances were picked randomly by a computer. during finals the top eight teams select additional teams (the number of which varies based on the year/game) for their alliances.

[Kims Robot]

Kickoff is like a big rally where the game is introduced (for most of us by real time broadcast). They will have a few speakers, but the majority of the kickoff is based around FIRST showing us the real field and how to play the game. They often will mention new kit of parts items and any other specifics that might be important to the year. And they usually have some sort of question answer period.

The other fun part is that this may be the first time you get to meet some of the other teams in your area.

Some of the events will have seminars that are often very useful to planning and working through the season *I would recommend having at least one member at each seminar if your location is hosting them.

At the end of kickoff they will give us a password to unlock the documentation, we can go pick up our kit of parts and start brainstorming!!

Next to the competition, this is probably the most exciting and anticipated event in FIRST So have fun!