What happens at a local kick-off? This is our first year as a team and we will be attending the Chicago kick off. How long should we expect to be there for? Thanks! 
Kick-off is where you watch Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, Dave Lavery, etc. speak about FIRST, give out the âhomeworkâ assignment and release the game (all live from New Hampshire).
After the game is released, you pickup the Kit of Parts, which includes a lot of the stuff you will need for build (especially as a rookie team).
Expect to be there for 2-3 hours depending on how many teams attend your local kick-off.
What happens? Glad you asked:
First, you arrive at the local kick-off location roughly 30-minutes early (though you should check with your local kick-off for the best time to arrive), and just socialize with some of the other teams, eat a light breakfast, or whatever else your local kick-off provides.
At about 10:30, you watch some pre-event playlist of safety animations, FIRST PSAs, and probably some sort of â20 years of FIRSTâ video, since this is a special year.
The broadcast then starts with an opening video, and the event officially begins. It varies slightly every year, but usually involves speeches by politicians, prominent people, sometimes alumni, and a few of the higher-ups in FIRST, with videos from teams, actors, or whomever else, sprinkled in between. You can expect subtle hints to the game throughout.
Then at some point, Dean Kamen is introduced, and starts speaking. This can include stats about FIRST, recent notable events/happenings, and occasionally, his disappointment about certain aspects. A lot of times, he will comment on the state of the country or worldâs focus (or lack thereof) on the fields of science and technology. Youâll want to pay good attention to his speech. While some people joke about how long he speaks, he usually isnât speaking unless itâs worth-while.
Near the end, heâll give you âhomeworkâ. The homework changes every year, but is usually related to expanding FIRST in some way, shape, or form (correct me if Iâm wrong).
Finally, the game unveiling. Now the order of events are fuzzy right now (I think Iâm tired), but a huge curtain is drawn back, and we see the game field and elements for the first time. Weâll then watch the game animation, which will tell you how the games is played, how to score, any major penalties, etc. After explaining the basic gist of the game, theyâll play through a sample round with humans pretending to be robots, with Dean and Woodie Flowers pausing the âmatchâ at certain points, to highlight/elaborate a rule or penalty. Then they cover some important rules in the form of a gameshow (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?-style, if I recall correctly).
At the very end, theyâll release the password for the encrypted rule manual (donât fret, though, the unencrypted manual is released within minutes to hours of the Kick-Off). As Kara stated, itâd be best for you to download the encrypted manual (which is usually released a few days before), that way you can start reading up on the details the minute after the webcast is over.
Some kick-offs also have workshops afterwords, that cover everything from team management to tool usage. They can be very useful, and full of great information that both rookies and veterans can use.
synth3tk sumed it up nicely when it comes to the reveal. However for more details of what you and your team will be doing before and after the webcast of âThe State of FIRSTâ speeches and the game reveal, you should contact those in charge of your local kick off.
They will be able to give you a rough idea of when to arrive, when to be seated for the webcast, when and how you will pick up your kit of parts and other needed items.
Some kickoff venues, after the kickoff webcast, will have allocated space for teams to start brainstorming on location, or some teams will offer demos and presentations on more complicated systems, like the camera. I suggest having some team members stick around for these, as they can be very informative.
Being your first kickoff, you should gather the most knowledge that you can so you donât miss something important. And most off all - Network with teams in your area. Talk with other teams, exchange phone numbers and make a few friends. Good luck to you this year!
Some Kickoffs have workshops either before or after the release of the game. If you are lucky enough to be at 1 that has these available, take full advantage of them. This year at Kettering we will offer 3 of them due to the amount of rookies we have attending. 1 is being run by Team #27 Rush on how to fund raise and keep a team together (If this is wrong can somebody from 27 plz correct me) Goodrich Martians on building and trouble shooting a better robot and finally NI will be there to teach LabView. All 3 of these classes are important to not just rookies but also to vets.
Good luck and have a safe and fun build!!
The Chicago kickoff at IIT is normally very well organized. As per last yearâs agenda (http://www.ilfrc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=17) plan on being at IIT from at least 8:30-10:30
In the past, kit pickup has been very crowded, so if you are in a rush to leave, it may be a good idea to sit near the kit pick up location (last year the back left of the theater would have been the best location)
Pretty much all right, though I thought that the game show thing was after the sample round (I think that at that point, all of us are too giddy with excitement and new ideas to be able to remember exactly what happens).
Depending on the venue, schedule, and the size of your team, you may want to get there earlier than later to get seats if youâre allowed to (more important if youâre bringing a large team). The kickoff that I go to is usually packed, and trying to seat around 30 people 15 minutes before the broadcast would not work out with all of us sitting together.
Protip, since I donât know if itâs mentioned anywhere else: Make sure that someone has downloaded the encrypted PDF files of the Game Manual on a laptop, and make sure that somebody from the team writes down the decryption key, EXACTLY as it appears on the screen. The FIRST website is usually pretty flooded right after the broadcast and you may have an interesting time getting the files. Youâll want to start reading as soon as you can.
Thanks, I updated my post a bit.
Haha, that probably explains why that part is all jumbled in my head. The adrenaline and excitement causes me to only focus on how to play the game at that point. ::rtm::
Have team members introduce themselves like âHi, Iâm from team xxxx and weâre a rookie team this year. Any advice for us?â
The rookie team bit being key - veteran teams generally fall all over themselves to help rookies. Itâll be hard enough, get all the help you can.
You can usually leave by 12:30-1 pm, but IF your kickoff has workshops, these will be WELL worth your time to attend. That means leaving maybe 2 or 3 pm, and bringing some sort of lunch (if they donât have a food vendor nearby).
Does anyone know what the website address is for the web-cast? Our âlocalâ kickoff is over 100 miles away and too expensive for the entire team to go to. As such, we will be only having a few members in one truck go to the kickoff and get the KOP. All of the rest will stay back at the school and watch the kickoff there. Once the game is revealed, the rest of the team can start brainstorming and going through the rules with a fine toothed comb. So if anyone knows what the website is, that would really be helpful.
Thanks
For those on the team that cannot make it to kickoff, it can be watched live online.
This is available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Here is the schedule for the NASA Channel:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html