I’ll apologize now if there is a whole section that I should be reading but I can’t seem to find. I’m not the least bit technical. I’m just a mom helping out our rookie team with the odds and ends that DON’T involve the robot. Any pointers on lunches at the competition, what type and how many “freebies” to bring, any activities for Friday night etc? I wish I were able to go to a competition first so I could see exactly what I’m getting into but, I guess it wouldn’t be nearly so adventurous then would it? I understand the buttons are a big deal. What size and how many should be plan on getting? I’m going through waves of excitment and panic all at the same time. If any one could direct me to a good site, I’m more than willing to read up on what I can. Thank you…jamie Charlevoix RayderNators team 4376
Jamie,
Try starting here – http://www.firstnemo.org/
NEMO is a group dedicated to supporting the work of the folks who keep our teams running and they should be able to answer a lot of your questions.
There’ll be more people along shortly, as well, to more specifically answer questions here.
Lunches at the competition:
Some competitions have a pizza service where you can order a specific number of pizzas through the competition.
Others just have an area where you can buy food.
Others have an area to buy food but also offer lunch vouchers that you can buy earlier in the day to get a discounted lunch that usually includes a drink and a snack.
Remember, you’re not supposed to eat in the pits.
Freebies/Buttons:
Don’t stress about them. A lot of teams have buttons, few have anything else. Just do what is manageable and what your team can afford. In terms of size, it doesn’t really matter, just whatever isn’t too much money and can fit your team’s logo on it nicely. Unless you are going to be changing your button design each year, you might as well make a rather large quantity of buttons (about 200, maybe?). Last year, we brought about 75 buttons, if I remember correctly, and we didn’t run out. Are you planning on ordering buttons, or making your own? We make our own and they turn out fine, and they cost less.
We have a company in our area that works with special needs adults and they will be helping us make buttons. We are not planning on changing our design, that’s just one more thing to have to worry about each year. One of our kids heard some teams get 300-500 buttons. I don’t know if that’s to cover several different competitions or not. Sounds like we can shoot for 100 or so for each of our 2 competitions and go from there.? We have a lot of team spirit and the kids are excited to do as much as we can.
Good to know about the lunch thing. We’re trying to determine how much to ask each kid for in order to cover hotel, food and any other expenses.
Are there any activities for the kids Thursday or Friday nights? What do you typical do with them to help burn off energy yet not annoy other people staying in the hotels?
How many buttons you print depends on the kind of regional you go to. If it’s a regional where siblings, kids, and other people show up, you’ll need more buttons. If it’s a regional with lots of crazy (I use the word affectionately) button collecting teenagers who must get every button, you’ll need more buttons.
We’ve been to the Autodesk Oregon Regional, and the Olympic Seattle Regional. We tend to make 300-500 buttons, and run out every time. When you think about the math that’s actually not too unreasonable. These events have 50+ teams, and 10-20 students per team. I’d suggest checking on the FIRST site to see how many teams are at your regional event. (and here’s a handy link)
We also use the buttons as promotional materials when visiting elementary schools and the like, and have given out a few hundred in that capacity.
This massive button consumption is made reasonable by the fact that a few years ago our team invested in a button press. It was an expensive decision that’s definitely not for every team, but these days we buy the button making materials 5,000 at a time for 9 cents a button.
Other things that impact how many buttons you use will be if the button has a funny/interesting quote or a cool design. Many teens actively seek out the “cool” buttons when they see a friend has one. If you have more than one button design, you can also expect many people to take both.
If you use the same design every year (we do not), you’ll need less as time goes on.
The standard size is 2 1/4", although some use smaller and some use bigger.
With all of that said, since I’ve put way too much thought into *buttons *of all things, a hundred or so should do you fine for your first year. (Also, it’s not a big deal if you run out, and you’ll know how to gauge it for the following year.)
Since this is your first year I should mention spirit wise, many teams have a Team Flag that they give to the announcer to wave before every match. If you have extra time after Bag&Tag day, this could be a side project.
Thursday afternoon our team goes out in groups to the area surrounding our hotel to eat at McDonalds, Denny’s, etc. Whatever’s in walking distance. (Know the area around your hotel beforehand! Be safe, stay in groups, and be back before it gets dark!) Afterwards we head back to the hotel, if there’s a swimming pool the team does that. If not they chill, get settled in, and try to sleep.
Many teams have giveaways that are not buttons. Some use mardi gras beads in team color with a piece of paper attached with team name and no. Teams love spirit wear so you will see teams with team shirts, hats, banners and all kinds of other stuff.
Most regional’s host some kind of gathering for teams on the Friday night, Many teams choose not to attend as they want to work on the team strategy for the final rounds the next day.
All the regional’s we have attended do have food available for purchase. The regional we are attending this year is offering the option of preordering lunches for the team. We are considering this option as it will be easier than having to take students somewhere to get lunch in between matches.(they don’t always like the concessions food)
Your first regional will be a great learning experience for your team. Something important to remember is that FRC teams love to help the rookie teams. So don’t hesitate to ask question, or for help at the regional from other more experienced teams.
Good luck RayderNators team 4376
Coming from both the Seattle and Oregon Regionals, I can say that there are lots of cool ideas out there. My team has also invested in a button press which works wonders for our team, but there’s lots of ideas out there. I remember that team 488 made little clip on FIRST logo earings last year that were cool. Mardi graw beads are another great one, I remember team Jack-in-the-Bot doing those (They were a Mardi graw-themed team). Team 847 is kind of construction themed, and last year they had this really neat construction yellow tape with their team name on it, that stuff was great. Another team had some glow sticks that were fun too.
Point is, there are lots of ways to go about it, and don’t worry too much about it either; its a fun aspect of FIRST, but not essential. The best advice I could give would be to go and get an idea of how many people show up the first time so you are prepared for next year/competition.
Considering there has been a lot of talk about buttons, let me add that it is not required to give out buttons, so if you set out a bowl of a certain amount each day, and once they’re gone, just tell people “Sorry, come back tomorrow.”
Another thing about Friday night is that this is when most teams create their (rough) lists for Saturday Alliance Selections. So there is typically a lengthy meeting regarding this, although often it is not the whole team. So whatever you decide to do, plan accordingly.
Food: 1519 has always done our own food, rather than buying food in the arena. It’s easy for us, since we usually have a ton of other family members involved.
Someone (often my mother) buys a bunch of lunch meat, sandwich rolls, etc, and others bring fruit, snacks, and cookies. Then a parent with a van loads it all up and parks as close to the arena as possible for an hour while the team goes in shifts to eat. It’s a lot cheaper, more filling, and way healthier. And honestly, you need to get out of the arena for a few minutes to enjoy the fresh air and relative silence.
PS - If you go to St. Louis, don’t pre-order your lunch.
Thank you all so much. One of the things I’m loving about being involved in FRC is all the great attitudes and help we have been getting. I can’t wait to take it all in and be able to turn around next year and help out some other rookie team. All this advice gives me a great place to start and some wonderful ideas. Good luck to you all!!!
Hi Jamie,
NEMO, which Madison linked, is filled with mentors who have been in your shoes - and survived.
We are trying to update the resources page, but there are some suggestions here which may help you: http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm Some of these mentor written papers are aimed specifically at rookies.
You are off to a great start because you are asking the questions.
There are also teams who have some great resources aimed at rookies. I like http://rookiefirsts.tumblr.com/home and http://moe365.org/moementum/moementum.php but there are also lots of others.
You will also discover that everyone at the events are happy to help.
Don’t Panic!
You are all making me feel better already. We have so many people focusing on the actual “building” part, I’m trying to make sure I do my part and keep those kids who have down time working on all those non-robotic kinds of things. Thanks for all your support. I’m sure as time ticks on I’ll have more moments of panic. Although, it does help to know there is so much support out there. Sometimes just figuring out how to navigate the sites is an all day process, but I’m learning. ::rtm::