Good Morning Teams,
These are the last of the results from the 2010 FRC Team Survey. My thanks to everyone who participated. I hope more teams will participate in next year’s survey. As you can tell, I pay close attention to the information collected.
Question 37: What did you like best about your involvement in the 2010 FRC Season? Almost half the answers had to do with working with the students/watching the students grow which tells me FRC is working like it should.
Question 38: What did you like least about your involvement in the 2010 FRC season? These answers were more varied, but the financial stress on teams and the time commitment made by mentors came through loud and clear.
Question 39: If you could identify one aspect of the 2010 FRC season most in need of improvement, what would that be? I was surprised by how many of you skipped this question. I really want to know. I can tell you, based in part on this survey, the GDC is working to simplify/clarify the rules for the 2011 season and we will review the awards. We have already started improvements to the robot/field communication systems that we plan to test at FRC Beta Day.
Question 40 & 42 asked what elements of FRC teams want to see endure as FRC continues to grow. Gracious Professionalism and Mentor/Student teamwork are the hands down winners here followed by challenging original games and kickoff.
The last section of the survey was entitled future planning and covered areas where FRC could expand. 65% of respondents were interested in pay to play on-line virtual competitions, almost 90% were intrigued by the idea of FIRST expanding into science and technology programs beyond robots and more than 90% of teams said they would participate in a virtual mentor program. I’m not making any promises based on these questions, but I am encouraged by your answers.
In other news:
The GDC is gathering for another on site meeting this coming weekend.
FIRST is in a tie for first place in the Members Project race for $200K. Please take a moment to vote.
Thanks to the help of the FIRST Dean’s List Winners, I’ve started a facebook fan page and posted photos from both the Suppliers Summit dinner at Dean’s house and the outdoor robot demo. Please visit me at Bill Miller FRC
164 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Survey Results part IV
Good Morning Teams,
I’m almost done with the survey results, there’s just one more post to go after this one.
Question 31 asked teams to rate every event they attended on a scale of one to ten. This question was very helpful, not only because it let us know which events teams enjoyed the most (and which need more attention next year), but because it allowed us to sort responses to other questions into categories. For instance teams who attended bag & tag events in 2010 were more likely to prefer bag & tag (83% in favor) than teams who haven’t experienced bag & tag yet (29% in favor)).
Question 32 Would you want your state/region to adopt the District Model? Overall, the yes votes are slightly in the lead. Sorted using question 31, 94% of teams that competed in district events would like to see the model continue. 47% of teams that have not competed at district events would like to adopt the model.
Question 33 Do you prefer a two day event or a three day event? Responses were strongly in favor of three day events and we’re doing everything we can now to avoid two-day regional events in 2011. Michigan District events will continue to be two day events.
Questions 34 & 35 asked about team experiences with event volunteers. The Volunteer Development Department trains and certifies key event volunteers and wanted your feedback on how the program is going.
Question 36 asked participants to rate their level of satisfaction with their personal experience as a FRC team leader and with their overall experience with the 2010 season. We asked the exact same question after the 2008 season and received almost identical answers.
In other news:
The FIRST Dean’s List Award winners are arriving today and will be with us through Saturday night. We’ve got a lot of different tours and activities planned for them while they are here. The challenge for the FRC staff is finding time to meet with the Dean’s List students without slowing down on the projects we need to complete this summer.
FRC is holding the Supplier’s Summit this week as well. Every year we invite FRC’s generous suppliers to dinner at Dean’s house then spend a day with them reviewing the last season and preparing for the next. This year, several local FRC teams will be doing a demo for the suppliers giving the suppliers a chance to get hands on with robots built from their materials. My thanks to everyone who responded to the Kit of Parts survey. We’ll be sharing your input with the suppliers this Friday.
171 days to Kickoff
See you then!
I’m almost done with the survey results, there’s just one more post to go after this one.
Question 31 asked teams to rate every event they attended on a scale of one to ten. This question was very helpful, not only because it let us know which events teams enjoyed the most (and which need more attention next year), but because it allowed us to sort responses to other questions into categories. For instance teams who attended bag & tag events in 2010 were more likely to prefer bag & tag (83% in favor) than teams who haven’t experienced bag & tag yet (29% in favor)).
Question 32 Would you want your state/region to adopt the District Model? Overall, the yes votes are slightly in the lead. Sorted using question 31, 94% of teams that competed in district events would like to see the model continue. 47% of teams that have not competed at district events would like to adopt the model.
Question 33 Do you prefer a two day event or a three day event? Responses were strongly in favor of three day events and we’re doing everything we can now to avoid two-day regional events in 2011. Michigan District events will continue to be two day events.
Questions 34 & 35 asked about team experiences with event volunteers. The Volunteer Development Department trains and certifies key event volunteers and wanted your feedback on how the program is going.
Question 36 asked participants to rate their level of satisfaction with their personal experience as a FRC team leader and with their overall experience with the 2010 season. We asked the exact same question after the 2008 season and received almost identical answers.
In other news:
The FIRST Dean’s List Award winners are arriving today and will be with us through Saturday night. We’ve got a lot of different tours and activities planned for them while they are here. The challenge for the FRC staff is finding time to meet with the Dean’s List students without slowing down on the projects we need to complete this summer.
FRC is holding the Supplier’s Summit this week as well. Every year we invite FRC’s generous suppliers to dinner at Dean’s house then spend a day with them reviewing the last season and preparing for the next. This year, several local FRC teams will be doing a demo for the suppliers giving the suppliers a chance to get hands on with robots built from their materials. My thanks to everyone who responded to the Kit of Parts survey. We’ll be sharing your input with the suppliers this Friday.
171 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Announcing FRC Beta Day
Good afternoon Teams,
I hope you are all having a great summer! FRC Engineering is busy working on the 2011 FRC Game, as well as making improvements to the Field Management System and Robot Control System. We are looking for 15 to 18 teams to help us test these changes at a local event we are calling FRC Beta Day. The playing field will be set up to play the 2010 FRC game, Breakaway.
If your team is interested, please send a message to frcteams@usfirst.org and put "FRC Beta Day" in the subject line. Deadline to respond is August 15, 2010.
Teams will be selected on a first come first serve basis. Please note that while there is no registration fee for this event, participating teams will be responsible for providing their own transportation and food costs.
177 days to Kickoff
See you then!
I hope you are all having a great summer! FRC Engineering is busy working on the 2011 FRC Game, as well as making improvements to the Field Management System and Robot Control System. We are looking for 15 to 18 teams to help us test these changes at a local event we are calling FRC Beta Day. The playing field will be set up to play the 2010 FRC game, Breakaway.
- When: September 11, 2010
- Where: Merrimack High School in Merrimack, NH
- Time: 9 AM-2 PM
- Cost: FREE!
- Needed to participate: a working 2010 FRC robot and driver station console, team members to drive and support the robot, a completed Consent and Release form for each attending team member (student and mentor), and of course-- Gracious Professionalism!
If your team is interested, please send a message to frcteams@usfirst.org and put "FRC Beta Day" in the subject line. Deadline to respond is August 15, 2010.
Teams will be selected on a first come first serve basis. Please note that while there is no registration fee for this event, participating teams will be responsible for providing their own transportation and food costs.
177 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Survey results part III
Good Afternoon Teams,
Questions 22-27 asked for input on the on-line systems that changed for the 2010 FRC season. We introduced online consent & release forms (which will be expanded in 2011 to include adult team members), the Mentor invite system (also expanding in 2011), and the electronic team roster system (more improvements coming). We updated the electric award submission process (we brought the whole system in house, then new awards were added and returning awards were updated), the team picture submittal process and kit & kickoff registration. FRC needs a lot of information to communicate with teams, run events, track statistics and generally keep a handle on how things are going. IT and Operations work behind the scenes to ensure the systems work smoothly, to collect information securely and to communicate efficiently. We’ve come a long way from the early days when there were just a few hundred teams.
Questions 28-30 asked about robot shipping. At this time we’re considering expanding the Bag & Tag option. The FedEx donation, although very generous, is no longer enough to cover the cost of shipping robots. My staff are working now to find a way to use Bag & Tag where it would most benefit teams and to retain the FedEx shipping option where it makes the most sense. Unfortunately we’re faced with a lot of challenges, not the least of which is finding a way to make the system fair and equitable. When I know more, I’ll post an update.
In other news:
The more survey comments I read, the more I notice teams are still calling Championship “Nationals”. FRC became international way back in 1994 when a team from Kingstown, Jamaica joined the competition. The first Canadian Regional was held in 2002 and we’ve done our best to drop the word “National” ever since. Please join me in recognizing all our international teams by referring to Championship as Championship.
Source code for the Cypress board is now available. There’s a link on the Robot Control System page of our website, or you can go directly here.
Please continue to vote weekly for FIRST .
And in case you missed it, FRC is looking for a Software Engineer and a Kit of Parts Engineer to work with Kate and Matt.
178 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Questions 22-27 asked for input on the on-line systems that changed for the 2010 FRC season. We introduced online consent & release forms (which will be expanded in 2011 to include adult team members), the Mentor invite system (also expanding in 2011), and the electronic team roster system (more improvements coming). We updated the electric award submission process (we brought the whole system in house, then new awards were added and returning awards were updated), the team picture submittal process and kit & kickoff registration. FRC needs a lot of information to communicate with teams, run events, track statistics and generally keep a handle on how things are going. IT and Operations work behind the scenes to ensure the systems work smoothly, to collect information securely and to communicate efficiently. We’ve come a long way from the early days when there were just a few hundred teams.
Questions 28-30 asked about robot shipping. At this time we’re considering expanding the Bag & Tag option. The FedEx donation, although very generous, is no longer enough to cover the cost of shipping robots. My staff are working now to find a way to use Bag & Tag where it would most benefit teams and to retain the FedEx shipping option where it makes the most sense. Unfortunately we’re faced with a lot of challenges, not the least of which is finding a way to make the system fair and equitable. When I know more, I’ll post an update.
In other news:
The more survey comments I read, the more I notice teams are still calling Championship “Nationals”. FRC became international way back in 1994 when a team from Kingstown, Jamaica joined the competition. The first Canadian Regional was held in 2002 and we’ve done our best to drop the word “National” ever since. Please join me in recognizing all our international teams by referring to Championship as Championship.
Source code for the Cypress board is now available. There’s a link on the Robot Control System page of our website, or you can go directly here.
Please continue to vote weekly for FIRST .
And in case you missed it, FRC is looking for a Software Engineer and a Kit of Parts Engineer to work with Kate and Matt.
178 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Survey Results part II
Good Afternoon Teams,
Questions 8 & 9 of the FRC Team Survey asked about communications from FRC to teams. Let’s see if I can clear up some confusion. (click on the table to see a larger image)
For those of you who indicated you use ChiefDelphi.com as your primary source of information about FRC, I want to remind you, although the discussions there are interesting and often helpful, they are not an official FRC source. Always check www.usfirst.org for the game rules and latest team updates before making any decisions that affect your robot design or team play.
Questions 10 – 13 covered Team Support. The Operations Department is always happy to help teams who call 1-800-871-8326 x0 or email FRCTEams@usfirst.org. They can answer most questions and will direct you to someone who can help when they can’t. I’ve passed your survey comments on to them.
Questions 14 & 15 are specific to the Regional Directors. If you haven’t gotten to know your Regional Director, you can find their contact information here. I’ve passed your comments on to the staff who work with the Regional Directors.
Questions 16 & 17 were referring to this page. If you’ve never seen it, you’re missing out. I’ve passed your comments onto the Volunteer Development department who make this resource possible
Questions 18-21 asked about the Game Manual and the GDC Forum. Thank you for your honesty, I’ve passed your comments on to members of the GDC.
If you missed part one of the survey results you can find it here.
In other news:
We’re hiring.
Please don’t resell your cRIO to anyone outside of FIRST. National Instruments donated the cRIOs with the expectation they would be used by FRC teams.
There is still time to vote in the AMEX/Take Part Members’ Project contest. So when you get a chance, go here.
185 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Questions 8 & 9 of the FRC Team Survey asked about communications from FRC to teams. Let’s see if I can clear up some confusion. (click on the table to see a larger image)
Questions 10 – 13 covered Team Support. The Operations Department is always happy to help teams who call 1-800-871-8326 x0 or email FRCTEams@usfirst.org. They can answer most questions and will direct you to someone who can help when they can’t. I’ve passed your survey comments on to them.
Questions 14 & 15 are specific to the Regional Directors. If you haven’t gotten to know your Regional Director, you can find their contact information here. I’ve passed your comments on to the staff who work with the Regional Directors.
Questions 16 & 17 were referring to this page. If you’ve never seen it, you’re missing out. I’ve passed your comments onto the Volunteer Development department who make this resource possible
Questions 18-21 asked about the Game Manual and the GDC Forum. Thank you for your honesty, I’ve passed your comments on to members of the GDC.
If you missed part one of the survey results you can find it here.
In other news:
We’re hiring.
Please don’t resell your cRIO to anyone outside of FIRST. National Instruments donated the cRIOs with the expectation they would be used by FRC teams.
There is still time to vote in the AMEX/Take Part Members’ Project contest. So when you get a chance, go here.
185 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
I’ve been doing some light reading
Good Morning Teams,
I’ve been going over the results from the 2010 FRC Team Survey and want to thank everyone who took time to make comments. It’s a big help to have your input as we make plans for the future. Over the next few weeks I will share some of the results here and try to address some of your questions.
Question 1: Will your team be returning next year? 95.9% of you said yes. (Welcome back!) Teams that said they weren’t returning cited loss of leadership and financial concerns as their primary motivators.
Questions 2, 3 & 4 asked if adult and student members of your team have ever participated in FLL or FTC. We wanted to find out if students were experiencing the FIRST programs as a continuum like we hope (many are), and in the process we learned some adults are volunteering for multiple programs (thank you, you must be exhausted). I was excited to see a lot of current FRC mentors who originally joined FIRST as students on a FRC, FTC or FLL team. Thank you for returning to give back to the program!
Question 5: Does your FRC team support, partner or mentor robotics teams outside of FIRST? We asked this question 1) to find out who our competition is (always good to know) and 2) to learn if FRC teams are taking the mission of inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders out into the community. 17% of FRC teams who responded are engaged in robotics programs other than FRC, FTC, FLL or JrFLL. A lot of those teams are supporting local, grass roots programs that benefit students in their communities. Make sure you mention these projects in your Chairman’s Award applications.
Question 6 asked teams to pick a range that best represents their team’s annual operating budget. Thanks to those of you who answered, we learned 1/3 of FRC teams have $0 to $10,000 in annual support and ½ have $0 - $16,000.
Question 7: What is your team planning to do during the off season? Trying to put your answers into categories was a challenge because so many of you have very specific plans. The most common answer involved community outreach (running robot camps, giving demos, participating in fairs, festivals and other public events). Next came fund raising, then training (offering or attending) and work on your robot (refining the existing design, prototyping for future designs, programming, etc). Whatever your plans are for the summer, please don’t forget the off season is also a great time to acknowledge your sponsors, explore the FIRST website (there’s a lot of information available) and beef up your safety program.
In other news: Have you seen the FIRST newsletter? You can have future issues sent directly to your inbox by using the subscribe button at the top of this page. If you or your team want to share your accomplishments with our sponsors and donors, please contact us at marketing@usfirst.org
Congratulations to:
See you then!
I’ve been going over the results from the 2010 FRC Team Survey and want to thank everyone who took time to make comments. It’s a big help to have your input as we make plans for the future. Over the next few weeks I will share some of the results here and try to address some of your questions.
Question 1: Will your team be returning next year? 95.9% of you said yes. (Welcome back!) Teams that said they weren’t returning cited loss of leadership and financial concerns as their primary motivators.
Questions 2, 3 & 4 asked if adult and student members of your team have ever participated in FLL or FTC. We wanted to find out if students were experiencing the FIRST programs as a continuum like we hope (many are), and in the process we learned some adults are volunteering for multiple programs (thank you, you must be exhausted). I was excited to see a lot of current FRC mentors who originally joined FIRST as students on a FRC, FTC or FLL team. Thank you for returning to give back to the program!
Question 5: Does your FRC team support, partner or mentor robotics teams outside of FIRST? We asked this question 1) to find out who our competition is (always good to know) and 2) to learn if FRC teams are taking the mission of inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders out into the community. 17% of FRC teams who responded are engaged in robotics programs other than FRC, FTC, FLL or JrFLL. A lot of those teams are supporting local, grass roots programs that benefit students in their communities. Make sure you mention these projects in your Chairman’s Award applications.
Question 6 asked teams to pick a range that best represents their team’s annual operating budget. Thanks to those of you who answered, we learned 1/3 of FRC teams have $0 to $10,000 in annual support and ½ have $0 - $16,000.
Question 7: What is your team planning to do during the off season? Trying to put your answers into categories was a challenge because so many of you have very specific plans. The most common answer involved community outreach (running robot camps, giving demos, participating in fairs, festivals and other public events). Next came fund raising, then training (offering or attending) and work on your robot (refining the existing design, prototyping for future designs, programming, etc). Whatever your plans are for the summer, please don’t forget the off season is also a great time to acknowledge your sponsors, explore the FIRST website (there’s a lot of information available) and beef up your safety program.
In other news: Have you seen the FIRST newsletter? You can have future issues sent directly to your inbox by using the subscribe button at the top of this page. If you or your team want to share your accomplishments with our sponsors and donors, please contact us at marketing@usfirst.org
Congratulations to:
- Garima Gupta, Chris Parkins and Andrew Stoecker who were awarded scholarships from the Gates Corporation
- Team 2753 Team Overdrive of NJ. Their patent application has been filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
- Yale Fan and Kevin Ellis from Team 1540 Flaming Chickens. Kevin and Yale received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award.
- David and Christen Talaiver who included their team robot in their wedding last month
See you then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
