How would you rate pin trading?
A frivilous fun activity that livens up the competitions and is a great way to go out and meet other teams.
I love doing this. It’s excellent for my communication skills 
This is also, like what Koko Ed said, a great way to meet other teams.
It’s like bringing more together a mission that FIRST is all about…working with other teams.
great excuse to wander the pits. Plus it brings recognition to teams that otherwise might not get it. And like said before, the best way to meet teams.
One of my favorite things to do (other than driving 
).
i love it … like said above, great excuse to wander the pits and meet new people, and also, so many memories after just looking at the pins because you can be like “oh yeah i remember the guy who gave this to me. and i remember that we talked about how they kill cows in tennessee” (actually happened … now i know how to kill a cow if i ever want to … the tennessee way … )
i love pin trading, it’s especially great for ppl who aren’t really involved in the pit, so they’re not stuck wandering around aimlessly. that’s y i join robotics!!! jk! well…actually… that’s partially true…b/c i do like buttons!!! lol
Pin trading is such a great thing because you meet new people and the pins hold memories.
I’m not a huge fan of the buttons, just because having a ton of stuff on my shirt usually bothers me, but at nationals this year, my team(Cyber Blue 234) made a huge button sheet and tried to get every team’s button. We were set up right next to the escalator on the Pit level. I still would like to somehow, maybe at IRI, get a round 71 button. The round buttons were from 2002 when they won the championship again. Since then, they’ve done the rectangle buttons. It’s a button with a story, so yeah. So if anyone can hook me up with that, I’ll be one of the volunteers doing the video at IRI. My name is Jason Hoff, so talk to anyone on 234 and they’ll point me out.
It is a great way to meet other teams. At competitions, our team is divided into several groups; drive team, pit crew, scouting, and HR. I was on HR, which pretty much meant I got to go around and collect buttons all day (now I’m on scouting, so I can’t really leave the stands). I got all sorts of buttons and other little toys, and met people from other teams and got to hear different perspectives on the competition and such. The pins are also good as “historical FIRST artifacts”. At the FIRST history conference at nationals, I was lucky enough to get a 1996 Operation Orange button. That was my favorite thing I got from nationals (except for that gold medal, of course).
Ok, anybody who rated this more than a 3 [correction: 2], You’ve never been to an Odyssey of the Mind world finals. You spend about $50-$100 on pins (NOT buttons) and spend the week trading. IT’S SO FREAKING AWSOME!
maybe we need some clarification on the scale … i voted 4 and i think its awesome … i was going on a scale of 0 - 4 where 4 is the best and 0 is the worst …
That’s what it is. 0 is ‘Not worth 2 cents’. 4 is ‘Wouldn’t miss it for a million dollors’. Tho I thought that I had it 0-5…