Team 418, LASA Robotics “The Purple Haze”, won Chairman’s at the Lone Star Regional this year. We’re all psyched about the honor of being able to represent the Lone Star Regional in Atlanta this year, but after the adrenaline of winning has finally toned down we realized we have no idea what to expect in Atlanta. Can an experienced team give us the low-down, or point us to resources on this? We don’t want to show up and be told we missed a submission deadline or failed to do something important!
Some questions we have:
When do we sign up for a Chairman’s Presentation slot?
Is there a Chairman’s Orientation meeting?
Do we need to do any pre-registration for anything (we’re already registered and paid up from our win at the Dallas Regional, is there anything special in TIMS we need to do to sign us up for Chairman’s?)
Do we need to submit our Chairman’s Video again in Atlanta?
Is there a secret handshake we need to know to get into the Chairman’s Presentation room, or is it clearly marked somewhere?
This information may be outdated but this is what I experienced in 2003 and 2005.
Thursday they will tell you the slot you have been assigned for Friday’s interview, when I went there were two interview rooms, there may be more or less now.
No
Nothing special
I don’t know this is new, you should bring it just in case, they aren’t judging them this year though so I don’t know.
It should be marked and you will have an escort to the room
Like what was said above, they will tell you when your assigned Chairman’s Interview will be. They break them into groups and suggest that your Chairman’s presenters do not be a drive team member, as the only way you can change your time slot is if you swap it with someone in your same group. I would bring it just in case as they may ask for it. I do not know what they do with all the videos that they take at the Regional Competitions, esp the Regional Winner’s video. Most likely they do forward them on, but I would bring it just in case, never hurts to have that extra copy. Good luck, and hope to see you all down in Atlanta.
There are two sets of judges. One set judges 2 divisions, the other set judges the other 2. At the end, each set chooses 1 team. Then they discuss who gets it out of the 2.
This was the case in 2008 after hearing the format from several top FIRST officials, prior to CMP last year.
Edit I’ve been now told that the above may not be true. Can anyone else confirm the process?
Its nice to know what to expect so that every representative team from each regional can fairly prepare and expect the same things.
I can tell you this…there will be a very important figure head judging this year, the same as last season since he told us. In my book, he is very important.
If the judges continue as they did last year (I have a feeling they will since it hasn’t been changed in three years) interviews will still be in two rooms with a set of judges in each room. There is no method for what room you get put in other than where they put your number down. Last year they assigned times and handed them to pit admin/a runner told you when they were. All switches were coordinated through the judge assistant. I don’t know how they will be doing it this year. Things change slightly depending on how the judges want to run it.
There is a Red Side and a Blue Side for interviews. Last year each side had four judges. One side always runs a little late.
ALWAYS show up early, or you’ll give the judge assistant heart failure. (Trust me on this one).
The judges have all judged Chairman’s at Regionals and know what they are doing. They are an awesome group.
Mostly, have fun, breathe, and tell them your story. They want to hear it.
In my book, he is very important.