famous question about FIRST

[JVN]

I just say:
"Ya, kinda... only this competition is waaaay harder. Talk about a challenge!"

That gets their attention at which point I can explain more.
Or... it provides me a small moral victory as I get the "ooooo, that's interesting" and they walk away.

[Ian Curtis]

I've never been asked on the street but I have been asked by friends/ people at demos. When the now infamous "ooooooooooo thats interesting." comes up after they fail to see the light, show them an action packed competition video. In my experience the infamous "ooooooooooo thats interesting." line changes to "How do I join a team?"

[Sarah Bowes]

I get that question at about every demo my team does.

I just tell them it is a version of battle bots but a lot more civil, but it can get pretty crazy when we are playing defence.

[robot180]

The way I answer it is how one of our mentors, Warren, said to. He said "just say that our competition is much more sophisticated then Battlebots, it involves more strategy, teamwork, and we have autonomous mode".

I usually get the "ooooooooooo thats interesting." when they ask what autonomous mode is.

[santosh]

Yeah, we get that question alot. I always answer it by saying, FIRST is way cooler than Battlebots. Can you see a battle bot lifting itself on a bar or stacking tetras. But I do mention that the robots also sometimes take a heavy beating.