Sustainability In FRC Teams

[RoboMom]

From Bob Steele:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...3&postcount=42
do think that we need to see more support from FIRST in the arena of Fundraising.
i remember that last year it was a big deal at Kickoff... to date... Where are these programs?
I haven't seen anything of substance yet... I had thought we would have some kind of
"Green" fundraising activities fleshed out by FIRST and presented by now...

FIRST needs to find ways to help veteran teams raise money... Rookie teams seem to find a way of coming up with the necessary funds and so many of the grant programs are earmarked for these new teams...

I hope to see some real ideas from FIRST on how to SUSTAIN teams and not just how to
CREATE teams...

From www.usfirst .org:
FIRST Receives Grant From Google
Google is providing FIRST with a $3 million grant to develop and jump start new student-driven robotics team fundraising programs that will empower more student teams to participate in FIRST. More details coming soon.

From me:
Eagerly awaiting word on what this will look like. The way I read this it covers new teams AND veteran teams, teaching them techniques to fish. Is my interpretation incorrect?

[Brandon Holley]

A few years ago our team helped to secure a $300,000 grant to help start the Boston regional and create many FRC teams in the Greater Boston area.

The grants given to teams were to last for 3 years, at which point the teams were expected to have grown to a sustainable level with their own sponsorship. Many many teams fell apart as soon as the grant went away.

Still, many teams that have held on have a tough time getting through build season. Our team has helped any team that has come to us in need. This includes purchasing many components/material for teams that have come by, in addition to utilizing our machining, fundraising and mentoring resources. Typically by the end of build season we are sharing our lab with at least 5 other teams and traveling to/corresponding with dozens more.

It certainly puts a drain on our team, but we need to work with these teams like this to keep them going. BostonFIRST started a regional mentoring program a few years ago to help combat some of the issues I've discussed. Essentially it's a collection of mentors from the Boston area which has been assembled to support struggling teams that attend the Boston regional. The program has certainly helped, but I really think the big initiative needs to come from Manchester to have a truly lasting effect.

-Brando

[IKE]

While asking "FIRST" for a solution seems like the thing to do, I would instead paraphrase a famous leader:

"Ask not what FIRST can do for you, ask what you can do for FIRST."

Issues: Leadership, Mentorship, Sponsorship, Resources (space, tools, ...)

Here are some things my team is trying to do. I like synergies, so I try to promote ideas that benefit 2-3 areas witha single action.

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Leadership/Mentorship/Help Rookies:
College Students: I am not a big fan of college students being mentors in college. I do however think they are a key to solving many problems. There are many design competitions that students can compete in and gain leadership skills and the tools necessary to become technical mentors. There is a significant lack for organizational and team leadership opportunites. the proposal is to have a club at colleges as universities put on a 1 day clinic on Mechanical, electical, and programming of the Kit-Bot. This clinic would occur early in the build season. This program would give college students the opportunity to stay involved in FIRST, work with Alumni from other teams, and come together to organize an event. There is resource scheduling, budgeting, coordination,... All the "tools" necessary to put on an event. From these clubs, you would be promoting the skill-sets necessary for Robot Inspectors, Mentors, Team Leaders/Mentors, and Event Leaders (think future kick-off coordinators and/or Regional Planners). I have a couple students in Oakland interested in doing this, but help would greatly be appreciated.
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Resources/Mentorship:
Last year Michigan University teamed up with Detroit Public Schools to set up a common shop that teams could build in. This program is called the MEZ (Michigan Engineering Zone). I haven't been able to attend any of their events in person yet, but this is a Great idea and a great way to share resources.

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Leadership/College student:
We tried an interesting program on our team this last year. It really got started by a former student Buying a book for me. The book was "Tribal Leadership". While it starts a bit slow, it is a wonderful book that addresses personality types and leadership formats within small groups. IndySam, wanna know why these "all or nothing" leaders exist? Wanna know how to fix it? Check out tribal leadership. You can actually download the audio version through Zappos.com for free. Yes free! I believe that Zappos pays the publisher for the downloads. If this doesn't make sense, it will by the time you finish the book. We have passed books around the team, and share verbally lessons learned from the different things we read.
This would be a good practice to spread. While the handing books from person to person has worked well within our team and close friends, we have had issues getting it to spread further. We tried a couple ideas with regards to "seeding" the community, but that hasn't take off yet. If you read JVN's design blog, he had a post on IDEO's idea future books. He commented on one of the models and mentioned wanting to know what "Woody Flowers" read. If we were to incorporate that idea with some web based tools, I think there might be something worth-while there. There is a linked-in great spreading great articles and websites. I also think that because reading a book is so time intensive, imagine if instead you could go through and get a good synopsis on the book. In many MBA programs, they intentionally give you too much to read, that way you have to rely on discussing cases with others. The idea is that through the sharing process you will gain much of the knowledge in a lot less time. This kind of community is begging for a FB app, or for someone to start on Blogspot or ... or ... Allow amazon to advertise books on it, and it might even be a money maker.


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Sponsorship/Mentorship/Taxes:
There is an old saying, "Time is Money". I would love to see really become true. I have an idea for a tax rebate for mentor based programs. If a taxpayer that pays above a certain amount of taxes (yet to be determined) volunteers time in a mentorship program, then that program would be able to file for a tax return form where up to the first 200 hrs. of the mentors time would be matched at the national minimum wage. This would make teams want to get mentors, and would help mentors "rationalize" some of their time better. The 200 hour cap is specific for a number of reasons. Programs would have to apply for these funds, and there would likely need to be a special section of 501c3 corporations. I have sent in a couple emails to senators and political parties trying to find out how to get a proposal together. If anyone knows how proposals get attention, please PM me. I think this program could get passed as the current First lady is big on promoting mentorship programs, and I have a feeling that a "tax cut" congress will be in session this next year. Maybe we(first people) could finally get them(gov people) to agree on something.

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Sponsoship: Observation
We are doing something wrong. Well, wrong may be a strong word, but definitely not optimally. Many teams struggle to find funding to go to the Championship. Many schools do not allow for carry-over budget so teams end up being forced to spend Championship contingency funds.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by IKE

While asking "FIRST" for a solution seems like the thing to do, I would instead paraphrase a famous leader:

"Ask not what FIRST can do for you, ask what you can do for FIRST."

Issues: Leadership, Mentorship, Sponsorship, Resources (space, tools, ...)

And to add another phrase:

"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime"

IMHO -
Sustainability is something the FIRST community should be addressing and is NOT something that Manchester should be dealing with. Manchester has other fish to fry. I don't think that 'centrally planned' sustainability efforts will be one hundredth as effective as students maintaining a presence in front of the public and transmitting a steady drip drip of positive messages to their community.

I don't like the idea that we teach students or foster an attitude that we always look to 'HQ' for all the answers. We will be in much better shape as a society to teach students how to run an effective organizations, for-profit, and non-profit. We should teach students how to solve problems, not delegate problems upward.

Having finished with that rant....where do we go from here ? Do we need to create a top ten list of things to do that make sure that teams are on track to staying sustainable.

I'll start off

# 1 - thank your sponsors, during the summer, show them examples of impact
# 2
# 3
etc.......

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by ebarker

IMHO -
Sustainability is something the FIRST community should be addressing and is NOT something that Manchester should be dealing with. Manchester has other fish to fry. I don't think that 'centrally planned' sustainability efforts will be one hundredth as effective as students maintaining a presence in front of the public and transmitting a steady drip drip of positive messages to their community.

I don't like the idea that we teach students or foster an attitude that we always look to 'HQ' for all the answers. We will be in much better shape as a society to teach students how to run an effective organizations, for-profit, and non-profit. We should teach students how to solve problems, not delegate problems upward.

I think you are shrugging off peoples concerns a little too quickly here. I know many mentors who are attempting to help many teams and struggle to get through a season. Look at some of the posts in this thread already and others scattered throughout CD and you will see a considerable number of mentors stressing how difficult it is to maintain teams.

I don't think anyone is asking that HQ step up and handle this on their own, but we're kind of asking them to help us, help them.

-Brando

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

I think you are shrugging off peoples concerns a little too quickly here. I know many mentors who are attempting to help many teams and struggle to get through a season.

I don't want to sound like I'm shrugging anything off. I just think we, the community of FIRST'ers, need to some up with a concise way to help help teams understand how to run a sustainable organization independent of input from an 'HQ'.

#1 - thank the sponsors
#2 - get some press coverage
#3 - do presentations all throughout the off season
#4 - ??

[maltz1881]

In MI. several teams banded together and formed a group called MMRA (Mid Michigan Robotic Alliance). Currently there are 12 due paying members with a couple more teams asking to join this year. We joined together to not only help and support each other during build but to also approach businesses for money.

We felt that it would be easier for our group to ask for money from people like the UAW and grant monies. Companies would rather write 1 check and see there name on 12 robots rather then 1 check 1 robot.

Each team must help out in several areas in order to receive any monies raised. Ex. run a Lego team, send 2 volunteers to help in a concession booth during Districts, help put on the Kettering Kickoff in the fall, participate in a public awareness opportunity such as Back To the Bricks which is a giant auto cruise/show, etc.

Currently every team except 1 in Genesee and Lapeer Counties are involved. We also have an Oakland County team involved. We meet 4-6 times a year to discuss our ideas and work on fund raisers. We are a 501 3c organization, have officers, sub groups etc. I know this model won't work for everybody but it is certainly helping all of us.

[Clem1640]

Let's face it. Keeping a good FRC team running requires a great deal of money and passionate, dedicated leadership.

It's no surprise that the money has become very difficult to come by over the past two years. Our school systems graciously provides Downingtown Area Robotics (FRC Team 1640) with space and supports the program, but not with money any longer. It's simply not available. Corporate sponsors have also become harder to find; even companies which are performing well today are managing their cash very carefully. This year, for the very first time ever, we are asking students to contribute a portion of the cost of running the Team. This is in addition to participation in fund-raising events. We simply have no choice. I'll let you all know how this turns out.

The second big cause of team failure is loss of leadership. Burn out is one issue (it takes a lot of time to lead an FRC team). Career changes. Health. Companies manage this through succession planning and head-hunting. This is a little harder to do in an all-volunteer organization. 1640 went through such a crisis 4 years ago and our survival was a very near thing at the time. Fortunately, a very few highly dedicated people pulled the team through the crisis.

Fortunately, loss of interest doesn't seem to be a big problem.

[J93Wagner]

I have to say this to the CD community, kudos to you for recognizing a strong need that will truly need to be addressed soon.

"And where there is a will, there is a way!" And since we obviously have a will, we WILL come up with a solution to strengthen our collective selves.

[mplanchard]

Hi Jane
Good topic. I have found over the past 5 years the demand for teams to ask for help has been an exponential function. I used to go to every team that asked for a SolidWorks workshop from the Pink Flamingos (FLL) to the FRC teams in New England. Even my colleagues have pitched in. But when the number got too large we had to think of something else that was more sustainable from a company point of view.

That is why we decided to create video tutorials www.SolidWorks.com/robotics
Certainly video is not live - but it is a start and something to do in the off season to get stronger. It also allows us to help out our customers that mentor not only FIRST teams but also a variety of other robot competitions worldwide.

Luckily most people I work with are engineers and many volunteer at events and with teams. Also our user group network has been helpful www.swugn.org. to many FIRST teams. Still demand exceeds the need.

Marie

[RoboMom]

FIRST website has a category titled "Team Sustainability" under FRC resources. http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...nt.aspx?id=478

Needs some updating.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by mplanchard

Hi Jane
Good topic. I have found over the past 5 years the demand for teams to ask for help has been an exponential function. I used to go to every team that asked for a SolidWorks workshop from the Pink Flamingos (FLL) to the FRC teams in New England. Even my colleagues have pitched in. But when the number got too large we had to think of something else that was more sustainable from a company point of view.

That is why we decided to create video tutorials www.SolidWorks.com/robotics
Certainly video is not live - but it is a start and something to do in the off season to get stronger. It also allows us to help out our customers that mentor not only FIRST teams but also a variety of other robot competitions worldwide.

Luckily most people I work with are engineers and many volunteer at events and with teams. Also our user group network has been helpful www.swugn.org. to many FIRST teams. Still demand exceeds the need.

Marie

This is a very cool post coming from the viewpoint of one of the companies that 'gets' FIRST. It would be helpful to see more of these viewpoints and to understand them and also, for sponsors and potential sponsors to see and think of ways to help with the sustainability issues. Very cool, Marie. Thank you!

--
Here's some questions regarding alumni. As Ed has pointed out - instability can occur for various reasons that he has mentioned and for other reasons as well. "Who will bear the torch for the students once they graduate?" How are teams and their alumni keeping the alumni involved and interested in the continual growth and development of the team? There are so many areas that alumni can help in just by being a felt presence of support for the current team. How can they help with the sustainability areas for their team and for teams in areas where they now reside? How can they be made or encouraged to understand that they are valuable still?

Jane

[Bertman]

A couple of thoughts. When students graduate from high school they move onto a new segment of their lives. College, career, marriage, family, military service, whatever; which usually leaves little time for things like FIRST. I think it is more realistic to expect to see them reappear 5 or 6 years after college. Which is a good thing in that FIRST has grown to the point that we take it for granted that it will be around in 5 years.

Another under the fund raising flag is the proportional relationship between team growth, number of teams in an area, and the size of the pie that the teams are trying to slice up. Or in other words in a small or medium sized city there is a finite number of business and resources for teams to approach for sponsorship. As the number of teams in a given area increases the slice of the pie for each team can get smaller and some teams will be squeezed out if they do not put the same effort into fund raising as other teams. Like it or not, I believe this to be a truth, and there are lessons to be learned here also.
my $.02

[catsylve]

Jane,

I can't thank you enough for starting this particular post. This issue is so critical to the survivability of FIRST in general. We have been forced over the last year to really look at our team and deterrnine what we need to do to survive from almost all of the aspects I have seen all of you write about.

All of the comments that I have seen point to difficulties that evolve as a team evolves. Sometimes it is funding disappearing, but when the team solves those problems, it may the illness or burnout of a key mentor. While it would be nice if FIRST could present us with solutions to those problems, FIRST is evolving as we do. I don't think that they have the facilities and experience that the teams have at this point.

Some of the programs that our team is working hard on developing include a mentor training program to help the burnout and mentor loss issues, diversification of funding for team financial stability, team administration structure to support the coaches and mentors and school support to keep to keep the team in touch with the community and promote FIRST. I am sure we are just scratching the surface.

Thanks again Jane. It really is nice to know that all the teams deal with many of the same issues. Hopefully we will help each other to some real solutions.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

This is a very cool post coming from the viewpoint of one of the companies that 'gets' FIRST. It would be helpful to see more of these viewpoints and to understand them and also, for sponsors and potential sponsors to see and think of ways to help with the sustainability issues. Very cool, Marie. Thank you!

--
Here's some questions regarding alumni. As Ed has pointed out - instability can occur for various reasons that he has mentioned and for other reasons as well. "Who will bear the torch for the students once they graduate?" How are teams and their alumni keeping the alumni involved and interested in the continual growth and development of the team? There are so many areas that alumni can help in just by being a felt presence of support for the current team. How can they help with the sustainability areas for their team and for teams in areas where they now reside? How can they be made or encouraged to understand that they are valuable still?

Jane

As one of those alumni who has graduated, I'm helping to start a rookie team in my local community along with a coach from another FIRST team. I could have stayed with my current team, but there wasn't a need. They already have several coaches and a few alumni who pop in and out, but they still have a need as no FIRST team is ever perfect or can ever be perfect. I felt the need greater in the rookie team than in my team, which is true as it is currently just me and the coach and 12 students.

I hope we can create a successful team, I already see how people say rookie teams have it hard.