My team’s mentor recently got a letter saying something like “Congrats on your victory in Atlanta” and something about sending us a whole ton of encyclopedias. We didn’t even go to Atlanta this year!
Were encyclopedias part of the prizes for anything like Championship Chairman’s award or something? My mentor sent them a letter back saying they probably got the wrong team but if they send it to us anyway, I think it would be cool if we could send it to the team that was supposed to get it!
Who did the letter come from? A sponsor, FIRST or a single person?
I’ve never heard anything about encyclopedias being given out.
It’s possible that someone mixed up FRC and FLL. This years FLL Champions Trophy winners were The Pigmice, Team 1031, from Oregon.
Did they ask for any information? This sounds a little like a scam…
I just checked with FRC Teams. The offer is legitimate! Go for it!
Al Ostrow
team 341
Go for it? Along with the letter saying they probably got the wrong team, my mentor sent them the information to send it to us. It’s just weird because we had absolutely nothing to do with Atlanta this year and they’re congratulating us on our “victory at Atlanta” and sending us stuff!
Did you see Uncle Rico’s name anywhere?
Seriously though, encyclopedia’s don’t seem like a very FIRSTey prize (although I could be wrong). Maybe something like a tablet with access wiki or something…
I would definatley contact the FLL team. And perhaps you could post where this letter came from, as mentioned earlier. I’m going to have to agree with Jeremiah, this sounds like a scam (hence the Nap. reference above).
My 2 cents.
Jacob
Yes it was a confusing message. That is why I reported it to FRC Teams. Again FRC Teams verified that it is a legitimate offer. What you decide to do with it is up to you. 
I also go this messgage and called FIRST. We won the Portland regional with great help from our partners 997 & 1087. FIRST said this was legit. I replied back and hopefully we will receive the full 32 volume encyclopedia.
Hmm… We got the Chairman’s award at the Davis regional but if the encyclopedias were because of that, why would they mention Atlanta? Ah well, free encyclopedias are cool!
Replied back to the email earlier this week received the encyclopedias today.
I also received the email and the only information that you had to provide was a verification of the mailing address. I sent it last week and the books (all three boxes) arrived to day. I know that the set is not inexpensive and do appreciate the offer from Britannica. It is always a nice thing when the robotics team has the chance to impact the rest of the school.
I never even heard anything about them giving encyclopedias but it seems like they gave 'em to alot of teams. And that’s a good idea,(giving them to a school) when ours arrive, we could give them to our school and maybe they might start giving us some kind of support or something. Either way, 'tis is pretty cool.
This is very odd. Today our teacher mentor received a phonecall relating to something about FIRST and encyclopedias. I will be sure to mention this thread to her.
I too, can confirm the encyclopedias are real - we received ours as well. Very prompt shipping! Thanks to Encyclopedia Brittanica for this gift!
Encyclopedia Britannica is giving away encyclopedias to the teams that have achieved a particular level of merit, like the Chairman’s Award.
Don’t worry if if didn’t go to Atlanta or whatever. They are just trying to support FIRST in a way that is convenient for them.
Just answer their correspondence and confirm the shipping information and be gracious and accept their gift. It is not a scam.
Our set is being shipped to the school library for use by the student body. Certain classes require library research (not google’ing) so the gift is welcome.
Everyone together now, say ‘thank you’.
Ed Barker
Mentor, #1311, Kell High School
They’re also giving teams some software and internet subscription stuff, but it’s being done through a slightly different vendor. They told me that would be coming along later.
The electronic stuff is 10 copies, while the encyclopedia is only 1 copy. Multi-school teams, take note…
we got our encyclopedias and are planning to donate them to a needy school…