**FIRST EMAIL**/Surveys/December Scholarship Update/Bag & Tag FAQ/Replacement Parts P

Greetings Teams:

We want to hear from you! Bill Miller, FRC Director wants to know which FRC games you think were the three best of all time. All current and former team members, mentors and adult non-technical mentors are invited to vote. Brief descriptions of past games are available here http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Who/FIRST_History/FRC_Game_Summaries_Photos.pdf The survey is here https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/top20FRCseasons. The system will limit voting to one vote per computer. Please be gracious and vote only once per person. The deadline to complete the survey is Wednesday, January 5th at 8PM ET.

The Volunteer Resource Department wants to hear from you, too! The 2011 Volunteer Satisfaction Survey is now live and has a new Mentor/Coach section: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2011VolunteerSurvey.

December Scholarship Update: What new and updated FIRST Scholarships are available? What Scholarships have upcoming application deadlines? For more information about 2011 FIRST Scholarships, please visit: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=18675.

Are you going to a Bag & Tag Event? We understand that Veterans and Rookies alike may be attending Bag and Tag Events for their first time this year. We’ve put together a Bag and Tag FAQ (included as a supplementary document under Section 5 of the FRC Game Manual here) that should be reviewed in addition to Section 5 of the FRC Game Manual. Please do not hesitate to contact Team Support with any additional questions about Bag and Tag and/or Robot Transportation at [email protected], or by calling 1-800-871-8326 option “0.”

**Don’t forget to take inventory of your Kit of Parts (KoP) after Kickoff:
**
After receiving and checking all items in your Kit of Parts (KOP), should you determine you are missing a part(s), or need a replacement part(s) you must use the FIRST “Replacement Parts Request” system to order replacements.

Parts requests will be handled through this online system only.

The Replacement Parts Request system will be accessible via the Team Information Management System (TIMS) at noon (Eastern Time) on Saturday, January 8.

To begin the process of submitting a Replacement Parts Request, team Main or Alternate contacts will:

  • Log into TIMS
  • On the right side of the Team Summary page, under the “What’s New” header, click on the link to “Submit a Replacement Parts Request HERE”
  • Follow TIMS instructions to complete a Replacement Parts Request
    VERY IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!

This is a “one time only” opportunity to submit a Replacement Parts Request. Please make sure your request is both accurate and complete prior to pressing the “Confirm Request” button.

Once the request is submitted and confirmed there can be no changes to it.

Replacement Parts Requests will be processed and shipped to teams in a timely manner. Please make sure your Shipping Contact information is accurate and complete in TIMS as this is to whom the parts will be shipped.

Please note the system will not allow teams to request a quantity of parts higher than the number originally sent with the KOP. This system is also not to be used to order additional or purchased parts.

Deadline Date and Time
All requests must be placed by 8:00 PM ET on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011.

Reminder about FIRST Choice: In addition to the physical KoP distributed on January 8, 2011, all teams will be invited to select a few items they want above and beyond the items they received at Kickoff through FIRST Choice. For more information about the ordering process: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=18619.

Surrogate Kit Pickup Reminder: If a team is unable to pick up its Kit of Parts (KoP) at the Local Kickoff selected, an alternate team may be designated to do so. The team unable to attend must provide FIRST with an authorized Surrogate Kit Pickup letter, signed by the main or alternate contact, on school or sponsor letterhead. Please find a template for the Surrogate Letter here.

All Surrogate Kit Pickup letters must be received at FIRST by January 3rd, 2011.

The surrogate letter should be sent or faxed to:
*FIRST *
attn: FRC Team Support/Operations
200 Bedford Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Fax #: 603-666-3907; or scanned and emailed to [email protected].

Go Teams!

On a related note, Bill also wants to hear from everyone with ideas on what they should talk about / present in their second annual FRC Live sessions.

Talking about Championship, I want your input. I will be hosting FRC Live again this year. Last year’s topics were the Technology Roadmap, Robot Shipping and the Kit of Parts. What would you like me to discuss this year? Send your ideas to [email protected] .

Last year’s three events were excellent.

Thanks for the reminder. I just asked Bill to discuss replacement plans for items that are not in the veteran KOP (Classmate, cRIO, etc…)