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#1
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Re: pic: 2007 Volunteer of the Year
Jack, I think that you might reconsider by next year. I know that I was totally exhausted after this year. Most of us help with kickoff events, Lego, vex, mentor teams and work. We also are passionate with all we do. This is a recipe for exhaustion. I have said that I too will be involved less next year (not to Jacks extent) but I know that when I see jobs that need to get done I will again be slowly sucked back in. This year I decided that the first week would be a observe only weekend in NJ. I ended up being field reset for one whole side of the field for most of the Friday and Saturday. Don't get me wrong, I am not sorry that I could help. I will tell you that I did get a bit grumpy when other younger people were sitting watching me work and didn't even get their jobs done. I also was a bit grumpy when team members had to be told over and over to follow the rules. I know that you get excited, so do I, but when asked to do something PLEASE honor the request. It may make no sense to you but there is a reason you were asked. The person asking may not know the reason either except that that was what they were told.
I have found that 99% of volunteers do it because they love the program and what it does for young people. They also want to be happy, not GRUMPY. If you show some respect for them I am sure that they will return the same or more. If however they are a bit out of sorts, smile at them and be extra nice as they have probably just gotten finished with a not so nice person. Yes I think that all volunteers should get a holiday at some time. I am right now enjoying the warmth of Florida. Quite the change from the igloo back home in the Great White North. |
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#2
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Re: pic: 2007 Volunteer of the Year
I could be wrong, but I think this thread started with the intent on the issue of counting balls.... not on how nice or worthwhile the volunteers are.
The issue of counting balls is that if an electronic system cant do it correctly, how on earth do you expect a human?? Thats like asking a human to do in his/her head at the same speed a math problem that you would only use matlab to solve. To be honest, I think the game/field should have been designed such that you NEVER had to rely on human counters. There is too much room for failure, laziness, or possibly even bias. Mostly the volunteers honestly tried hard (Im sure), but mistakes can be made. Thats frustrating for teams... but this thread should not take a turn towards whether or not volunteers did or didnt do a good job. They are volunteers. Thats like walking up and telling a mentor they did a bad job this year. Do you think they are going to want to come back? I think it got off track when tetraman thought the count was a reference to grumpiness... last I checked that was eyeore or someone else... the count always seemed happy to me! After volunteering at GTR (and several times in the past), I know volunteering is not an easy job. And I know at GTR there were many teams that thought I didnt like them because I told them 10 times to plug in their battery or turn their robot on... but it was worth it for the one or two rookie teams that we actually did save from not running in the match Lets all take a deep breath, volunteers, realize we love you and appreciate you FIRST has a hard job as well... reliable sensor work is not easy when you dont have a lot of time to do it. The games are fun, challenging, and we are changing lives. That is what matters. |
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#3
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Re: pic: 2007 Volunteer of the Year
I can understand that the topic of the thread has shifted a bit. Apparently Madison deleted the pic from the starting post? Anyway, I don't see it.
I can also understand Jack venting a little. This game was a lot of fun, but it was also very demanding on some of the volunteers. Especially those on the field and scoring side. Steve's advice re: smiling and being nice to volunteers, and treating them (and everyone else) with respect is the only practical way to deal with the frustrations that inevitably arise when we're trying to do something new and complex using a system that still has a few bugs in it. |
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#4
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Re: pic: 2007 Volunteer of the Year
Hmmm... sounds like the biggest beefs of this year could be fixed by ditching Hatch Technology... I understand that the scoring system was very complex, but how hard is it to make an arena controller? (That is, if we had complete pin-outs on the competition ports or just used the radio for communication, and the competition port for power and disable/auto)
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