You may not know the name Evan @Forbes, but you probably know his work.
Evan is serial volunteer who does things to make FRC easier and better for teams and his fellow volunteers.
Most recently, Evan developed FRC Queue. Already used at dozens (more?) of events in its first year, FRC Queue sends notifications to teams via text or Slack when it is their time to queue for a match. Evan saw a need in the community and built – with his own time and money – an extremely professional solution to a common problem. In its pilot year, Evan is personally funding the notifications through (and other costs associated with) the platform.
Perhaps you weren’t lucky enough to be at an event using FRC Queue (bug your PDP if so). But you’ve certainly seen the Divisions Notifier, a simple app that lets you know when divisions for champs are out (and has all kinds of other cool statistical and historical data). Again, designed by Evan, funded by Evan, and a solution that just works for a common pain point.
Many teams are fortunate to have benefited from Evan’s brilliant troubleshooting on the field. Evan is cool as a cucumber and, as one FTA put it “damn magical.” He’s the kind of volunteer who’s just there when you need him but not in your way when you don’t. He brings calm to the situation, all while being productive in reaching a resolution. He’s at six events this year, so lots of teams will see him, but if you don’t, be sure to check out his Five Fatal Mistakes: Why your robot is dead on the field which I guarantee will help your team’s reliability.
I’m sure he does lots of other things, too, but you’d never know it from his unassuming presence. Oh, and he’s this year’s Sacramento Regional Volunteer of the Year.
Congrats from the other end of California on the award, Evan, and thanks for all that you do for FIRST.