What were some of the things you did to have the judges notice you and give your team an award? Did you have handouts, bribe them with brownies and a better pair of shoes? Any ideas what we can do to attract as much attention to us as we can and still have a great chance for an award.
thanks for the help.
We design judges card to give to the judges (hence the name) that tells them all the wonderful things about us.
what are the types of thigns that go on these judges cards, have one for an example you can link?
Here is a copy of our 2005 Judges card.
Judges card.doc (1.56 MB)
Judges card.doc (1.56 MB)
I’ve noticed throughout the years that awards are generally given to teams who not only explain their robot well in the pits, but have consistent performance on the field. Anyhow, here are my tips for interacting with the judges in the pits:
Good luck teams!
…For the simple reason that the aim of FIRST is to get students and engineers working together. So you take pride in having an all-student-built robot. Maybe everyone else takes pride in the partnership between students and mentors. Neither is better–but the latter is closer to the aims of FIRST.
Or spare arm…Yes, this works. Last year, 330 kept their spare arm in the pits. It spent more time being shown to people than being on the competition robot. (The real arm was hard to see with the ramps on.)
Definitely. Have someone designated to glance up every little bit to check for judges. Or have designated “talkers” whose main job is to talk to judges (and scouts).
-ALWAYS have someone in your pit
-Make your pit attractive
-Make sure your students and mentors are well informed about the team and what it does/ sponsors/ outreach / etc
-SAFETY- First aid kit, safety glasses, follow rules
-Try as much as you can on the playing field (multiple goals like hurdling, herding, knocking off a ball, placing a ball)
-Try cool hybrid modes
These are somethings that may attract judges to you. Just BE PREPARED!!:yikes:
[/li]
This is a good thing to do. Get them up close to what your working on, be it the robot, showing them your controls for the robot, or even just to give them what you handout. ( we have shop rags )
Having students talk is the way to go. I could easily talk the ears off the judges about the robot, but I would rather have the students doing that. It doesn’t just have to be the robot either, you need to talk about everything that your team does. Be it walk for warmth or some other charity event, elementary school or sponsor demos of the robot, or just some fun events that your team has done.
Also be aware that you are judged not only by what happens at your pit, or how your robot does on the field, but also by the team’s behavior everywhere else. And by team I mean anyone wearing your team shirt or colors, including siblings and parents. For example, if a judge overhears some of your team members trash-talking about other teams in the hallway, he/she will take note. Conversely, if a judge notices a team member going to great lengths to help out another team, that will be noticed as well.
This is probably the most important point of all. What you do related to your team in ANY capacity, good or bad, will come back to your team. Not just from judges but from other FIRST teams as well.
So whether that is at competition, online or out in the community you should be mindful of how you carry yourself because there’s alot more at stake than just your own popularity in the greater FIRST community but the good name of your team as well.
We use a code word to designate the approach of a specific type of judge. When someone in our pit spies a safety judge, they will shout out “peanut butter” to the rest of us. When a regular judge is approaching, the word is “jelly”.
When both are around simultaneously, it is, of course, “peanut butter jelly time”. http://gawtry.net/peter/images/367.gif Yes, we are dorks.
You really do need to keep watch for them, because at many events, if you blink, they’re gone.
That includes CD (part of the “online” portion of Ed’s statement). No disclaimer can fully disassociate you and your point of view from your team and its point of view. The judges and refs do read these forums. If you post something, bear in mind that it may be thought to be your team’s opinion, even if it isn’t, and may either raise or lower your team’s reputation in the CD community’s eyes.
So, I have a question. Does having an engineering notebook give you a higher chance in winning the Chairman’s Award?
It probably won’t, but it may up your chances for Engineering Inspiration or one of the technical awards. See Section 5 for complete details on the awards.
Lots of great pointers so far.
I would add that your team needs to be aware of each of the awards, and the criteria for judging them. Make an honest assessment of what your are likely compeitive for (innovation in control, industrial design, entrepreneurship, etc.) and then try to focus some of your materials and / or discussions to those features about your team.
Also, be ready to talk to the judges and have someone prepared and watching, so you can greet them when they arrive. Be prepared.
As other stated, something to give the judges is a help - a card or fler or something to help them remember your robot and your team.
Ahahah my quite a good laugh. Thanks 
At IRI, the computer gurus in our pit made and printed flyers about our robot while the girls had fun decorating the robot when we had a larger break between matches. Everything was in our team colours, and it was kinda ridiculously gaudy. It was most definitely fun though, and it got a few judges to stop and look closer at it, even if, in the end, we didn’t end up with an award.
Having fun with it was the best part. Don’t be so concerned with trying to get an award that you get too uptight and worried “Oh gosh… that judge didn’t stop… what aren’t we doing right?” If you’re having fun and you’re learning and you’re truly working together as a team to complete your tasks, and then happen to have some off time to make things pretty and eye-catching, the judges will notice your work more than your decorations.
At least, this is what I’ve come to notice.
We made sure that our chairman’s committee had at least one alternate. We use posters with out key points as a visual display that stayed up in our pits. One of us (We had two students switch off) would stay in the pits to talk to other teams, Judges, pretty much anyone that would listen. While the other two or three were in the stands. We covered ALL aspects briefly about our team, so the judges could better understand who we are and where we come from.
Also, we didn’t win the Sprit award THIS year, but in years past it has been attained. It’s courteous to your pit crew to cheer during matches. ESPECIALLY after a math, win lose or draw. It just good team values. Oh, and one more thing… Uniformity. Decide on a uniform, and make sure EVERYONE is wearing the SAME one.
Team 1086 wears our blue polos, cheese heads, and khakis. That’s the dress code. It would look messy to have past years polos, or other articles of clothing mixed in. It definitely leaves an impression.
It’s not about going for any of the awards. Awards are there to recognize what you are doing for First, your team, and the community. EVERYONE should be doing SOMETHING because it’s what you want to do to spread the message of first. Whether it’s participating in community events, doing dean’s homework, or sharing a row in you stands for a smaller team. 
Be gracious andd professional, but certainly have fun!
MARS 1523 (my team) won Chairman’s at the FL regional. I was one of the 3 people who presented. I can’t stress enough how important a business plan is.
Here are tips:
I wish you all the best of luck, and for those of you going to Georgia, MARS will see you there!
P.S. Pink Team 233 was awesome. MARS’ friends Swamp 179 was excellent. Cybersonics 103 was good too. The suction cup robot was cool too, it picked itself up when it tipped over.
we gave 'em big mini robotics posters (made by our sponsors)
