No Mentors..

[Kevin Sevcik]

Mentors don't necessarily come from sponsors. Parents and teachers are just as capable of being mentors. A mechanical mentor can be anyone with experience building things and putting things together. Similar for an electrical mentor. So don't think you HAVE to get professional mentors.

Also, Corpus Christi is filthy with petroleum industry. You're surrounded with mentor potential, you just need to reach out a bit to some local companies to see if anyone is interested in volunteering their time. Your chamber of commerce isn't as useful as I'd like, but these guys look like a good opportunity:
http://www.maverickengineering.com/
Call tomorrow and ask to speak to someone in public relations and give them your elevator pitch and make clear you're not necessarily looking for money, but volunteers as well.

Also, as Jane Young asked in another thread, where are you guys going for kickoff? If you're headed to Houston, I've got some people here you should talk to. Actually, if you're headed to San Antonio, I've probably got some people you should talk to there as well.

EDIT to add:
You've got some other teams around you down there. 2787 - Innovation Academy for Engineering, Environmental & Marine Science, has a few years experience.

[Emily3204]

My team, 3204, was a rookie team last year. We had no mentors and yet we ended up winning the NYC Regional. The most help we got was from a few parents and the school janitors =)
If I have any advice it would be to do your research before the build season, and make sure everyone has a specific task.

[h1n1is4pigs]

our mentor is only available once a week so i have an idea of what working with no mentor is like. basically you just have to be focused and driven towards what you want to do. meet frequently because you are going to loose focus with out someone there to keep you on track. if you need help with something that you guys are stuck with just ask around people are always willing to help. and lastly have fun with it dont stress, relaxe and do as you guys think you should

[jspatz1]

As already mentioned, I definitely encourage you to join the new video collaboration network FRSee. This will put many experienced teams and mentors at your disposal to contact at any time. We anticipate a large influx of teams joining on and after kick-off day. Everything you need to know to get signed up is at the FRSee Website.

Also as Chris Fultz mentioned, be sure to sign up here with the new Virtual Technical Advisor program. Its purpose is to help teams in exactly your situation, by connecting you with technical mentors that can help you via phone and internet communication.

[raytexans]

We are working hard to make it happen here.

No rock is being left unturned and our partnership with our outside entities are being strengthened. The students learning successfully is my main goal and they are already excited and learning.

Every piece of advice and assistance that everyone has posted is very appreciated. The team is busy reading, researching, and talking up the program more than I thought possible at such an early stage. I had a parent call me tonight asking questions, but let me know her son hasn't stopped talking about robotics this week.

What our team hopes to inspire is the ideal that no matter what we can make it happen. Everything is a learning opportunity and as things happen they are accessing the changing situations, evaluating solutions, and solving problems.

Looking forward to kick off!

[rsisk]

Originally Posted by raytexans

our team hopes to inspire is the ideal that no matter what we can make it happen. Everything is a learning opportunity and as things happen they are accessing the changing situations, evaluating solutions, and solving problems.

I'm here to report that team 3778 is well on their way to becoming a FIRST Robotics team, congratulations.

[Josh Fox]

I'm going to echo Richard here.

My hat is off to you, because despite having never officially competed or having involvement before, you truly seem get what FIRST is really all about. Keep this mentality and set of ideals with you throughout the season and no matter what it will have been a success.

Good luck to you and your team in the rapidly approaching season.