If you were a volunteer...

[Greg Young]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

...which job would you like to the most? MC, Head Ref, Que-er, Pit Announcer, Ref, ....

I did field reset at NASA/VCU this year. I loved it. When I wasn't chasing stray balls I got to watch all the matches up close. I was amazed how many pounds of robot parts get left on the field.

I heartily recommend volunteering. I had great fun and got a real education about how much work goes into staging a FIRST competition.

If you have time at a competition, stop and thank some of the people wearing the crew shirts. They are working very hard to make sure the competition goes as smoothly as possible.

Greg

[Beth Sweet]

I'm not sure that you could pay me enough to be a referee. They get yelled at, argued with, and all that they try to do is their job to the best of their ablility. I mean, heck, it's a volunteer job and you never hear people say "man, that was some awesome reffing," but more often than not, "those (beep) ref's don't have a (beep) idea what the (beep) they're talking about!" Talk about a thankless job!

I think that MC'ing or play-by-play would be fun. Seems like the kind of high energy thing that could keep my attention.

[Andy Grady]

I wont lie to ya...the announcer or emcee position is a pretty sweet deal, even if it drives you into the pit of exhaustion. However...if you really want to get to know the in's and out's of how this competition works, scorekeeper is the place for you. It is a difficult job (especially this year at times) but when all is said and done, you walk away with a knowledge of exactly how everything kinda goes together. Its pretty amazing when you walk into a competition as a student...things seem like they just magically go together. Once you are behind the scenes you realize "WOW, there really is alot of really hard work and coordination that goes into making this happen!". I have had the pleasure as announcer of working alongside of dozens of different scorekeepers in my time. They all pulled together a great appreciation for FIRST and what it takes to make this stuff happen. Meli can attest to this...she got to experience all the high points and low points of the job, but I assure you she's dying to jump right back in! Great job Meli, and to all the other scorekeepers around...cheers to you! I dont envy your job, but I sure do respect it.

-Andy

[Arefin Bari]

Alright lets see... I started volunteering for FIRST since 2003. I was the MC 2003, 2004, 2005 FLL local tournaments and FLL states for Florida. I also was a MC at Mayhem @ the Museum. This year I was a game announcer at Florida Regional. I love getting the crowd going. I like my job and I take it seriously.

[George1902]

I loved being an announcer/emcee at the Robot Rodeo. If I could only find a way to keep my voice past noon on Thursday I'd volunteer to do it at a regional.

[The Lucas]

I've been a robot inspector since 2003. I tried reffing at last PARC and I could never ref a regional.

I hate to hand out penalties. At least when I tell a team they have to change something to pass inspection, I can help them change it. If I give them a penalty there is nothing I can do for them. I am still willing to ref off-season.

[Peter Matteson]

I'm all for being an inspector. I also wouldn't mind reffing. However I can't get away from work anymore and now that we're competing at the Championship I won't have a chance to try either this year.

[melitami]

I've been volunteering since my senior year of high school (2000-2001). -Started off with FLL field reset that year
-Moved to FRC team queuing for the 2002 Philly and 2003 Richmond regionals
-Event assistant at 2003 Philly regional
-2004 Richmond regional was team queuing some, but a lot of what I like to call running around making sure everything runs smoothly work
-2004 and 2005 (and 2006) Philly regional was/is assistant to the regional coordinators (job invented for me), which is basically a combination of setup, take down, talking to VIPs, running around making sure everything runs smoothly, answering questions, and just generally having fun

There's a few more FLL tournaments in there, judging for the ones here in PA and field manager for one in Richmond.

I love my job, even if it is VERY tiring. It's my run-around and always look like I know what I'm doing thing

I highly recommend volunteering, it's a very different perspective from being a team member or even a mentor, very eye-opening, and rewarding, IMHO!

[Mark Pierce]

After doing all kinds of odd jobs at the West Michigan Robotics Competition, I volunteered at the first West Michigan Regional in 2001. I helped with field set up. inspected on Thursday, did some general crowd control, and spent time just hanging out on the rest of the weekend.

I had a lot of fun working and talking with the great bunch of people from FIRST. Inspection was interesting, but I think in some respects the rules might be worse for inspectors now. We had a lot of walk in visitors from a teacher's conference in the same building, so I got to explain about FIRST a few hundred times... Wearing that crew shirt makes you a target for lots of questions, making it much easier to meet new people.

[DCA Fan]

Definitely emcee or game announcer. I love having the opportunity to act like a maniacal person for weekends at a time

In the past I've done field reset and real-time scoring.