It’s also great for CAS (IB Diploma) or NHS volunteering hours, if you’re still in high school. You won’t get to be with your team as much, but you meet a lot of cool nice people. I think I got 21 hours over all three days on Field Reset. That’s rounding down.
It’s also been pointed out that free food is available, which is always good.
I have found the hardest part of volunteering at an event where your team is competing is paying attention to your assignment, to your part of field, to others interacting with you, when your team is on the field. It is very hard NOT to watch your team when it is competing.
Also, you need to develop a thick skin. When you hear someone hotly proclaiming (rightly or wrongly, usually wrongly) “so and so is with team xyz and he/she caused us to lose the match!”, can you shake it off? It is more common than you think.
Can you avoid the temptation of talking to your team about certain events or people, to avoid breaking confidences or giving your team an unfair advantage?
But I encourage you to start volunteering. It does take time to “prove” yourself that you are mature and skilled enough to be a key volunteer, so don’t get frustrated if you aren’t assigned to your preferred position initially. Volunteering does give you a different perception of FIRST than you get as a team member, and you meet and become friends with a wider group of great people.
I agree for most roles, but there are some reasonable exceptions.
I volunteer as an inspector at pretty much every event we go to in case they need help.
Sometimes I inspect zero teams, sometimes I inspect a bunch…
I always tell the VC and LRI ahead of time.
Food at the PNW district events is taken very seriously. The best food is obviously at CMP, but the local co-op at Mount Vernon provided some of the best lunches ever.
Just to add to the actual discussion, I’m a student that volunteers at a few too many events. Volunteering when your team is there is normal here in a district system because we need more volunteers, but might not make sense at a regional where they are likely to have an abundance of people, unless the VC specifically asks for more volunteers for certain positions. If you really want to volunteer go ahead, but remember that you can’t be there to help your team, you are there for the entire event.
The best volunteer food I ever had was at Wisconsin, hands down.
My team has an alumni from a few years ago that routinely refs, even at our competitions. Our Lead Mentor is often a Robot Inspector, My father was a queueer, and we usually have a few current team members doing various volunteerism jobs (especially at PNW Mount Vernon there were a lot of our guys)… as long as you can stay impartial, it really doesnt matter much
not to mention that you wouldnt have time to do that… or it would at least be quite difficult
Dallas had the most memorable dinner I had this year with barbecue beef brisket, ranch beans and mashed potatoes with this Italian Confetti cake for desert.
2012 Montreal was probably the best overall. They even had drinks in a cooler that I took whole liters of Passion fruit juice to the field. The red velvet cupcakes were insane.
Ed,
You are easily pleased…Red Velvet cupcakes.
I believe that once upon a time we had a DESSERT CART FIELD SIDE at the Connecticut. Probably the best food hands down.
Did it have cheesecake on it?
It had all the cakes.
That was insane! I was an FTAA & there was no dessert at the volunteer lounge at lunch & that it was late. They promised it to us & would bring it down to the field & we could, at our discretion, quietly grab dessert 1 or 2 a t a time. Well that didn’t happen. All the volunteers at the field stopped what they were doing at the next reset in between matches & raided the dessert table. Now that was such a sight in front of all the crowd! They never did that again!
Yes it had multiple cheesecakes!
Volunteering at event that may have your team there shouldn’t pose any problems. There are certain volunteers who have to sign a “conflict of interest” form, which you have to divulge your team association if you have a team. That being said as all the others have said, just go in with a neutral mind & treat your team just like all the others. As you can see by my credentials I have been Field Super for the Suffield Scrimmage since 2003 & started volunteering in 2009. Almost all the roles have been key volunteer role & it hasn’t caused any conflict. I just tell my team what I expect from them & warn them they will not get any favors. I am usually more stern with them & they expect it. Those who know me find that I am very happy, funny, helpful & give accolades to all teams I meet both on & off the field.
Just remember 1st & foremost, you are there for the students. You will have a great time while volunteering, and that is a bonus. But if you are not having fun, don’t do it. They can read you better than you think.
If you want food options… Ventura hit a home run with the volunteer food this year, with a local barbecue place. And the same place that is doing the volunteer food is also doing the snack bar. Not to mention the food trucks outside at lunchtime if you’re so inclined…
'Nuff said.
If you are asked for your opinion on robots based upon having been field side and seen a lot of matches, you should feel free to give your opinion and share in the scouting discussion. You should not be sitting down there with scouting sheets collecting data during matches.
I’ve volunteered a fair bit, both at events where I’ve been involved with 1 or more teams and at events where I’ve no connection to any of them. Since I’ve been on 2914, we’ve tried to provide 2 volunteers at every event we go to. They have mostly in positions like awards assistant, crowd control, field reset. I’ve been an FTA at events where I’ve had teams I’ve affiliation with, and I don’t see any way around that anymore. I’ve been a mentor for 13 :ahh: years now on 5 different teams and currently work with 7 different teams on a regular basis.
With the need for volunteers increasing as we move to more events, particularly when an area jumps to districts, people associated with a team will end up in positions where they could have a direct impact on a match. Something that I think is important to remember, however, is that all volunteers have a direct impact on the student experience, and the student experience is what I try to keep in the forefront of my decisions and actions, and I would hope all volunteers do as well.
Wetzel
This is not necessarily true. You do not have to volunteer for the full event.
I know a guy that inspects on Thursday and then works with his team on Friday and Saturday. You can tell the volunteer coordinator the times you are free and they will put you in a position to take advantage of that.
We’ve also provided 2 volunteers for safety glasses, but we rotated team members through on 4 hour shifts so we had 6 or 7 different people fill one position. This doesn’t work for everything, but VCs are awesome and can usually fit your needs with the events needs.
Realize that this is something of a necro, but since I’m the OP…just figured I’d let folks know that I’ve been assigned as a ref at the NYC regional. The VC’s know me pretty well from my general involvement, and I’m reffing FTC as well this year (and will continue doing so - it’s fun!). Still waiting for the other events I’ve applied to (Mt. Olive MAR district to get some week 1 experience, and Chesapeake DCMP, and CMP), but NYC is in the books. Looking forward to it!