Volunteering at an event you have a team at?

FIRST General Forum
#21

How I wish this were true. Some teams seem to use their team member volunteers to gain advantage over others. One of the most egregious examples of this I witnessed last year at a regional we traveled to. Our team always gets up extra early to get in line at the door so we get good seats for scouting. At this event, despite being some of the first in the arena, we found the best seats already occupied by another team’s stuff. I couldn’t figure out how this had happened, but learned later that one of the volunteers from that team had taken advantage of his position as a volunteer to reserve his team the best seats before the arena opened.

At another event, I saw a volunteer trading buttons with an adult pit crew member so the pit crew member could watch his team’s matches from right next to the field. After the match was over, they would trade back their buttons and the pit crew member would give their drive team feedback that would not have been possible without that field side access.

Our team records matches and uses the videos to improve drive team performance after every match. Last year I saw some great fieldside video playing in another team’s pit. It was way better than ours, recorded from the stands, so I made inquiries. I learned that the “official” event photographer was a volunteer from that team and was supplying his team with field side video of their matches, without doing the same for other teams.

While I’m sure that the vast majority of volunteers are completely ethical, these incidents left me feeling shaken. I’ve concluded that there exists an “insider culture” where there is some amount of nudge-nudge, wink-wink going on which results in some teams having competitive advantages over others. If you do volunteer at an event where your team is competing, I would ask you not to engage in this type of behavior, and to report it if you observe it happening.

#22

If you see stuff like this, I recommend bringing it to the attention of the Volunteer Coordinator at the event. I can assure that, at least for the events I’ve volunteered at, there is no “insider culture” like what you describe. We’re serious about keeping everything on a level playing field for teams. When something does occasionally happen that we see, we take corrective action immediately. Most of the time, it’s nothing intentional, just someone being too excited and not thinking things through. A gentle reminder and a little coaching is usually enough to correct the situation.

#23

That’s good. I’ll keep that in mind in the future.

#24

My roles as a volunteer have been as an RI last year at an event where my team participated, and as an FTAA at two events this year where we participated as well. Of the two, I can tell you it is BY FAR easier to be an RI and remain independent from and impartial toward your team.

When there are multiple RI’s, it is very easy to have someone else inspect your team. You can still give your team advice on modifications and repairs, but ALWAYS have another RI sign of on the re-inspection.

As an FTAA, it’s not quite that easy. There are not always multiple FTAA’s available to have someone else interact with your team. If you are fortunate enough to work with two or more FTAA’s, it get’s a bit easier. (We actually had all 4 FTAA’s at one event from our team, and 3 FTAA’s at the other this year. Fortunately the FTA at both events were from different teams, so it made impartiality possible.)

The bottom line is, don’t hesitate to volunteer, just know that you may be in situations where you need to walk away. It’s not always easy to do, but sometimes it is necessary.

#25

I volunteered at the Purdue District last week where my team was competing. I served as an official scorer and had a great time. I enjoyed having other mentors take charge and not having the stress of the event upon my shoulders. My position was not one where there was any chance at bias. Either a tote was on the step and I clicked a button or it was not on the step.

I liked doing this so much that I have already volunteered for the Indiana District Championships (my team is a participant) and will volunteer at ALL future district events and let other adult mentors handle the day to day grind of the event.

I am still able to interact with the team in very small bursts to provide a suggestion or positive comment.

This also forces my students to think and act more independently which I see as a major benefit. In every case they will always have more than one adult to lean on as needed and the adults are always monitoring things and stepping in when needed.

…and you get free food…what could be better?

#26

Al, based on that criterion I think there are going to be quite a few robots that you won’t inspect. :slight_smile:

#27

Don’t you know there’s no saving of seats? Or at least there shouldn’t be and this is one of the many reasons why.

Back in college I was tagged as scorekeeper for a couple of years at LSR and once at Champs. My biggest problem was occasionally getting distracted watching my team and thus not being prompt on the field reset stuff.

A bit after that I was drafted for LRI at LSR for a year when our mainstay was unavailable. It’s about the same as being an RI at your team’s competition, except if your team does something that needs an LRI ruling, obviously. I was a good mentor and made sure we didn’t have anything questionable on the bot, but if something came up my plan was to conference with the two most experienced unaffliated RIs on hand when making the call.

#28

Really GOOD free food (especially at the championships)!

#29

I’ve been doing it for many years and found it to be a great way to have team members get a feel for stepping up and being mmore responsible. While it doesn’t always work for every student I’ve found that the majority of them gain quite a bit of confidence when they realize that they are now responsible. Not that I do everything for the team and have the students watch during build season, - I don’t.

But I find that many of the team members gain some maturity after the event and they eventually evolve to become team leaders. It’s a great opportunity for them to grow as a person. Of course as they say… Your mileage may vary.

You will most likely find that it will give you a different perspective on FIRST and help you digest the “big picture”

#30

This is the most important thing. I think every person involved with FIRST should volunteer at least once, whether it’s at an official event or an off season. It gives you a perspective outside of your own team and gets you to meet other people who have a different world view of FIRST. I also thinks it helps you to better understand FIRST’s vision and will give the the confidence to expand your horizons and even make contacts that could serve you in the future.
I wholeheartedly suggest to anyone who has not tried volunteering at an event to do so. You won’t regret it.

#31

I agree – have been at several regionals and some districts where the volunteer food was better than what we’ve had at some Championships. However, I think venue contracts may restrict the Championship options.

Well said. Volunteers with team perspective help to make everyone’s event experience better, and participants with volunteer experience help build stronger teams.

#32

Would volunteering for a job like field reset or assistant MC (Jobs with minimal to no impact on the actual game), and scouting for teams at the event be considered non-GP?

#33

GP or not it’s wrong. You are either a volunteer or you are working with your team, not both. See ToddF posts earlier in the thread.

#34

I think it would be wrong to intentionally try to do both. At the same time, it’s natural as your seeing teams come through and watching them to form opinions on which one is best. Half the time I’m up at the field between matches, I’m chatting with the MC and game announcer about the relative merits of different robots (it helps that I know both of those individuals very well). But despite forming those opinions, I don’t collect any actual data to back them up. That’s the job of the people actually tasked with scouting on my team, sitting up in the stands. Since the team alliance decisions are based solely on hard data and not opinions, my opinions never really seem to come up during the teams Friday evening meeting.

#35

i think there should be another thread devoted to finding which event has the BEST Volunteer Food. Food sometimes is a good example of exceptional attention to detail by the event planning committee.

Smoky Mountain was exceptional (great variety of bbq, menu changed daily), Buckeye is usually above average, Pittsburgh was mostly hot dogs, Lake Superior/Northern Lights is ok, I think I remember a lot of pasta, District Events generally don’t have exceptional food, but since they are shorter events you don’t eat as much, 3 days of regional events mean you get to eat a lot. Some off seasons have exceptional food, others do pizza and call it quits easily. I’ve heard from a couple of volunteers that Hawaii, Wisconsin and Las Vegas have had some of the best food around.

Food is also a year to year thing, sometimes its good sometimes your stuck with the venue that is hosting the event, but the event committee usually gets to pick the menu. Day to Day variety is key.

Running a new event and need to grow your volunteer base? Have exceptional food and you’ll have a happy staff. Field side cookie delivery service is a bonus.

As for volunteering at an event your team is at, try the food, if its good stick around, or stick around because you like it. Then excuse yourself from any decisions where there are conflicts of interest, your fellow volunteers are allowed to ask for your help, but let them make the call.

#36

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.

#37

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.

#38

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.

#39

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.

#40

The best volunteer food I ever had was at Wisconsin, hands down.