FIRST Objective introduces My Team

[rogerlsmith]

I've created a new extension to FIRST Objective that I'd like to tell you about. If you are unfamiliar with FIRST Objective, see this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=58940

This new extension is a different approach to scouting, more like pre-scouting. Take a minute and read this post, it may make all the difference to your team when it comes to alliance selections.

Any regional your team enters will only have 8 teams that automatically make it past qualifications. In a regional with 50 teams, that turns out to only be 16%. I don't think there is any team that can guarantee themselves a spot in the top 8, considering the possibility of being partnered with teams that may not be as compatible as other teams; the chance of malfunctions or whatever. That means that a 50 team regional, 84% of the teams will be looking for ways to impress the 16% to fill out the alliances. Aside from getting lucky and having a scout see one of your awesome matches, how are you going to stand out over the rest?

FIRST Objective to the rescue! FIRST Objective is announcing My Team. My Team is an extension of FIRST Objective that will allow each team to have an area where they can post all their data (for their own robot) prior to any regional. My Team also provides places to brag about their team's robot along with the ability to add videos and photos to back up their claims. There is a rating system where your team will be peer reviewed by other teams. A forum can catch discussion about fair and un-fair ratings, along with any other discussions. Please remember Gracious Professionalism! A message system will allow teams to privately interact with other teams. My Team keeps you updated with which teams have made changes to their information, and it also shows you which teams have been viewing your teams profile. There is an advanced search tool, so that teams can find other teams based on any of the scouting data on their profile. On top of that, as individual regional data begins to be posted, there will be a database that allows teams to see what teams have been winning, losing, how big their biggest wins are, and also how badly they've lost. It also shows the alliance partners for their best matches.

Whew! With an 80%-90% chance of needing to be noticed, I think every team will want to be part of FIRST Objective / My Team. And as for the 10%-20% of the teams that aren't trying to be noticed, they'd be foolish not to look at all this information! Obviously there are teams that are in the Hall of Fame, that everyone already knows about but the newer teams and rookie teams should consider this a great opportunity to show the world what they can do. I'd also suggest that rookie teams use FIRST Objective to tell their story and share how they got their team started.

Using My Team along with FIRST Objective is a winning situation for everyone. My Team will help FIRST Objective grow, and consequently FIRST Objective will gain more members submitting more content that will help attract new schools and sponsors.

Now, take a minute and sign up at FIRST Objective http://www.firstobjective.org. It's free, with no spam or advertisements. Once you log in, you'll see the My Team button to navigate to the My Team site.

Thanks, and as always, please post any ideas, suggestions and criticisms you may have.

Sincerely,
Roger Smith