Winner of the first award winner of 2018 award.
And well deserved!
Congrats Mark! You deserved it enough that I even fixed the thread title to correct your name.
Mark has been the FTA at 3/4 events I have competed at. He is an Amazing guy to work with and talk to. Congrats to him and I look forward to working with him again soon.
Congrats!
Well deserved honor!
Well done Mark!!
It’s nice to see this recognition go to someone who has been a cornerstone in the FIRST community for so many years!
You know, it looked wrong, but I copy/pasted it directly from SRE’s blog post. One thing I’ve found is that when entering names into the awards system, never trust your ears or gut, always get someone to write the name out for you.
Even then, it’s sometimes wrong.
To quote Nigel Tufnel, “I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn’t believe anything.”
Congrats Mark!!
Mark has been helping out at our off season event Robot Rumble and making everything work behind the scenes for the last couple of years. He’s a great guy and works the best under pressure, even though he’d like everything to run smoothly.
We hope to see him at a couple of events this year but if not good luck to his team and we hope to see him in the fall for our offseason event.
I have worked with Mark at events.
Mark is awesome.
Be Mark!
Seriously, a very well deserved award!
Well earned, Mark. Putting a thumbnail here so everyone can see.
As someone who has worked alongside and under Mark I am very excited and happy.
Mark has made some of the most daunting tasks and situations a breeze. His troubleshooting skills are off the charts and I can say he has helped me develop into a better FIRST volunteer and FTAA.
I appreciate the help Mark and more importantly, you deserve this award.
Congrats!
Extremely well deserved.
Never have I seen an FTA work as hard as Mark does to make sure every robot gets connected to the field every time (with success!) He also just runs a great field in general. We’re always excited to hear he will be the FTA at our events.
Congratulations Mark!
Congrats Mark. Still waiting for the day you finally get recognized on the main stage. You do so much for an area that needs it so much and it doesn’t go unappreciated.
Congrats Mark! This is a totally deserved accolade - Mark is one of the best FTAs I’ve had the pleasure to work with and, like other in this thread, he’s made me a better volunteer as well. Like the blog post highlights, his ability to keep calm in stressful situations and excellent troubleshooting skills are a uniquely amazing combination.
Just an example of one of the (many) awesome things he does that often go unnoticed. Right before last year’s Tech Valley regional, a big snow storm hit the area. The FTA’s flight in was canceled, so he ended up being late to event setup.
Mark wasn’t even working at this event (his team was competing), but he still offered to wake up at 4 am, drive 5 hours to the venue from Long Island, meet the truck and lead event setup until the FTA arrived later in the afternoon.
Congrats again Mark, you totally deserve this and I hope to work with you again a few NY events this year!
Congrats Mark!
You are awesome, and this is very well deserved.
Can’t thank you enough for all your help to me and our team over the years!
*Congratulations Mark. Well deserved.
With your wealth of experience and knowledge, and your friendliness and patience and willingness to share, you are on my top 10 list of Chief Delphi gurus I count on for accurate and helpful information about almost all things FRC.
Thank you for what you do for FRC.
I have known Mark longer than I (or maybe even he) cares to admit and Mark has always been a go to guy in the upper right hand corner of the country. Congrats Mark!
Congrats Mark!
Always great to see you come down for a visit in FIRST Mid-Atlantic and you have certainly saved us a handful of times. Well deserved!
I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said 10 times. I’ve worked with Mark at a number of events, both officially and unofficially. Mark is always willing to pitch in regardless of whether he’s there in an official capacity, with his team, or just happened to be in the area and heard they needed help. He remains calm under pressure and is always looking to make sure the teams get the most out of these events, which is what this is all about. Mark really “gets it”.
Congrats Mark! Hope to see you at some events this year.
Congrats!