Good Afternoon Teams,
As the countdown to kickoff enters the final days, I want to share some upcoming dates with you.
December 31st - Before the close of 2010, I want to thank all the volunteers (and my staff) who make FRC possible. The 2010 Season went very well (and is currently tied with Aim High for the best FRC game of the past 19 seasons survey). We were able to hire additional FRC staff (two of whom are FRC team alumni), we have more registered FRC teams than ever before (2081 at last count), we have 13,864 students registered in STIMS, we have 11,184 Mentors registered in TIMS and we have an exciting game lined up for 2011. Thank you all for a wonderful year.
January 1st – Happy New Year! May the 2011 FRC Season be the best yet!!
January 7th - If you can’t make it to Manchester for the Kickoff Workshops on Friday, you’re welcome to join the webinars. Click on the title of each workshop for sign up information.
January 8th - Thank you for all the video clips celebrating FRC’s 20th season. We’re going to include a few of the best during the kickoff broadcast. All the ones I know about are on the FRC Teams Global playlist here (If yours isn’t included send me the url at FRCTeams@usfirst.org so I can find it.)
We’ve are going include written messages from teams during certain portions of the show as well. I’m collecting comments here.
January 28th – I know the deadline to register for second (or third) plays has passed (the 28th is the payment deadline), but we do have a few slots open at the Regional Events listed below. (Events are listed from most spaces available to least spaces available.) If your team is interested in attending an additional event, send an email to FRCTEams@usfirst.org and if there’s still room, we’ll see what we can do about getting you in.
Bayou
Duluth
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Seattle
Kansas City
Hawaii
Toronto
Las Vegas
Lone Star
Peachtree
Utah
Fingerlakes
Arizona
Palmetto
Buckeye
Oregon
Midwest
Washington DC
New Jersey
Silicon Valley
Connecticut
North Carolina
Colorado
Florida
Boston
In other news - My congratulations to Rebecca Kekelishvili of Team 375 Robotic Plague who I am told has been selected to receive both the Nation and Tri-State 2010-11 National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing.
10 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
What we are doing while it snows sideways
Good Afternoon Teams,
The Northeast is experiencing blizzard conditions today, but FIRST is still hard at work. The weather has caused a delay in today’s scheduled shipments to the most distant kickoffs, but staff are still able to work on other projects. (If you are worried about kits not making it to your kickoff in time, don’t worry, we deliberately build in extra time for weather related delays. We expected the problem to occur as the kits crossed the Rocky Mountains, not as they left the warehouse here in Manchester, but here or there, we do have a cushion.)
One of the other projects is now ready. I mentioned back in September that Google gave FIRST a grant to develop and implement an environmentally friendly student driven fundraising program. In the 12 weeks since then, FRC and FTC teams have received email blast updates as the FIRST Green E-watt Saver Program was developed. Today it is ready! Team main and alternate contacts will be receiving an email soon with details, but you can learn more right away by visiting the resources page on our website. The initial program is for US High School teams, however we do have plans to expand internationally.
12 days to Kickoff
See you then!
The Northeast is experiencing blizzard conditions today, but FIRST is still hard at work. The weather has caused a delay in today’s scheduled shipments to the most distant kickoffs, but staff are still able to work on other projects. (If you are worried about kits not making it to your kickoff in time, don’t worry, we deliberately build in extra time for weather related delays. We expected the problem to occur as the kits crossed the Rocky Mountains, not as they left the warehouse here in Manchester, but here or there, we do have a cushion.)
One of the other projects is now ready. I mentioned back in September that Google gave FIRST a grant to develop and implement an environmentally friendly student driven fundraising program. In the 12 weeks since then, FRC and FTC teams have received email blast updates as the FIRST Green E-watt Saver Program was developed. Today it is ready! Team main and alternate contacts will be receiving an email soon with details, but you can learn more right away by visiting the resources page on our website. The initial program is for US High School teams, however we do have plans to expand internationally.
12 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Happy Winter Holiday of your choice
Good Morning Teams,
The first official game hint is here.
I recommend you get lots of rest over the next couple of weeks. The season is coming!
18 days to Kickoff
See you then!
The first official game hint is here.
I recommend you get lots of rest over the next couple of weeks. The season is coming!
18 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Friday, December 17, 2010
The FRC staff doesn’t know it yet, but we’re having Haagen-Dazs at 2
Good Morning Teams,
If you’ve been anxious to reserve hotel rooms at championship, your wait is over. Steele Meetings will open the Championship registration portion of their website today at noon.
Talking about Championship, I want your input. I will be hosting FRC Live again this year. Last year’s topics were the Technology Roadmap, Robot Shipping and the Kit of Parts. What would you like me to discuss this year? Send your ideas to FRCTeams@usfirst.org.
In these final days before Kickoff, Beta Test Teams are holding open houses to share what they’ve been working on with teams. Go here for details
I hear some teams were surprised to learn they’re registered for a Bag & Tag event. If you have any questions at all about the process, we’ve created a FAQ document to help you out.
If you’ve already viewed the FIRST Choice information on our website. I strongly suggest you go take another look. Yesterday, Kate added more details on the items available for order.
If you haven’t visited the Virtual Technical Advisor System yet and you’re considering volunteering to help other teams, register now. We’ve just invited the Advisors to a conference call next Wednesday with Colin Fultz, current FRC staff member, former mentor and student team member.
My apologies for neglecting to mention Israel’s Assistant Regional Director Yaarit Levy In Wednesday’s blog. She visited Manchester earlier this week alongside Alisha MacIntyre. Yaarit plays a key role in the operation of FIRST Israel and does a great job planning, promoting and executing both FRC and FLL activities within Israel alongside Alisha; and we’re glad to have her on the team.
My thanks to the 292 of you who have already voted for your top three FRC games of all time. Right now Breakaway and Aim High are leading the pack with FIRST Overdrive and Rack ‘n’ Roll close behind.
In light of the upcoming holidays, stand by next week for upcoming game hints.
22 days to Kickoff
See you then!
If you’ve been anxious to reserve hotel rooms at championship, your wait is over. Steele Meetings will open the Championship registration portion of their website today at noon.
Talking about Championship, I want your input. I will be hosting FRC Live again this year. Last year’s topics were the Technology Roadmap, Robot Shipping and the Kit of Parts. What would you like me to discuss this year? Send your ideas to FRCTeams@usfirst.org.
In these final days before Kickoff, Beta Test Teams are holding open houses to share what they’ve been working on with teams. Go here for details
I hear some teams were surprised to learn they’re registered for a Bag & Tag event. If you have any questions at all about the process, we’ve created a FAQ document to help you out.
If you’ve already viewed the FIRST Choice information on our website. I strongly suggest you go take another look. Yesterday, Kate added more details on the items available for order.
If you haven’t visited the Virtual Technical Advisor System yet and you’re considering volunteering to help other teams, register now. We’ve just invited the Advisors to a conference call next Wednesday with Colin Fultz, current FRC staff member, former mentor and student team member.
My apologies for neglecting to mention Israel’s Assistant Regional Director Yaarit Levy In Wednesday’s blog. She visited Manchester earlier this week alongside Alisha MacIntyre. Yaarit plays a key role in the operation of FIRST Israel and does a great job planning, promoting and executing both FRC and FLL activities within Israel alongside Alisha; and we’re glad to have her on the team.
My thanks to the 292 of you who have already voted for your top three FRC games of all time. Right now Breakaway and Aim High are leading the pack with FIRST Overdrive and Rack ‘n’ Roll close behind.
In light of the upcoming holidays, stand by next week for upcoming game hints.
22 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
20th Season update
Good Afternoon Teams,
We have a 20th season logo! (No, this is not the 2011 game logo, we’ll reveal that at Kickoff.) You can view it and more here. We will continue to build this page during the season so check back often.
As we celebrate the 20th season of FRC, I want to know which games you think were the three best of all time. Tell everyone on your team, tell all the FRC alumni you know; I’m looking for everyone affiliated with FRC to vote. Refresh your memory by reviewing the games here then go here to indicate your choice for the top three. The system will limit voting to one vote per computer. Please be gracious and vote only once per person. Deadline, Wednesday, January 5th at 8PM ET.
Now is a great time to visit Think Tank where teams are helping teams prepare for the season. While you are there, I recommend you take a look at these two articles recently submitted by John V-Neun and submit articles of your own.
I strongly recommend teams visit FIRST Choice now, before the system opens for orders on January 10th. Make sure your team can access the system, see what’s available and make absolutely sure you understand how to order when the time comes. A little pre-planning will go a long way to making your experience a positive one.
If you are having difficulty accessing the system, review the FIRST Choice Ordering Process and remember, only teams that have paid their 2011 registration have access to the system.
Michigan has added a 9th event to their District schedule:
March 11-12 (Week 2)
Waterford FIRST Robotics District Competition
Waterford Mott High School
1151 Scott Lake Road
Waterford, MI 48328-1526
Alisha McIntyre, Regional Director for Israel visited Manchester this week and told us teams 2214 RobOrde and 2672 Osfia were both affected by the recent forest fires in the North of Israel. All of the team members are physically ok but most lost possessions in the fires. The FIRST Israel community is doing everything they can to help the team get back on their feet. If you want to join me in them the best contact first@firstisrael.org.il and we’ll make sure your message gets to the teams.
Congratulations to Rachel Holladay from Team Combustion 1912 who is a winner in the 2010-11 NCWIT Awards for Aspirations in Computing.
24 days to Kickoff
See you then!
We have a 20th season logo! (No, this is not the 2011 game logo, we’ll reveal that at Kickoff.) You can view it and more here. We will continue to build this page during the season so check back often.
As we celebrate the 20th season of FRC, I want to know which games you think were the three best of all time. Tell everyone on your team, tell all the FRC alumni you know; I’m looking for everyone affiliated with FRC to vote. Refresh your memory by reviewing the games here then go here to indicate your choice for the top three. The system will limit voting to one vote per computer. Please be gracious and vote only once per person. Deadline, Wednesday, January 5th at 8PM ET.
Now is a great time to visit Think Tank where teams are helping teams prepare for the season. While you are there, I recommend you take a look at these two articles recently submitted by John V-Neun and submit articles of your own.
I strongly recommend teams visit FIRST Choice now, before the system opens for orders on January 10th. Make sure your team can access the system, see what’s available and make absolutely sure you understand how to order when the time comes. A little pre-planning will go a long way to making your experience a positive one.
If you are having difficulty accessing the system, review the FIRST Choice Ordering Process and remember, only teams that have paid their 2011 registration have access to the system.
Michigan has added a 9th event to their District schedule:
March 11-12 (Week 2)
Waterford FIRST Robotics District Competition
Waterford Mott High School
1151 Scott Lake Road
Waterford, MI 48328-1526
Alisha McIntyre, Regional Director for Israel visited Manchester this week and told us teams 2214 RobOrde and 2672 Osfia were both affected by the recent forest fires in the North of Israel. All of the team members are physically ok but most lost possessions in the fires. The FIRST Israel community is doing everything they can to help the team get back on their feet. If you want to join me in them the best contact first@firstisrael.org.il and we’ll make sure your message gets to the teams.
Congratulations to Rachel Holladay from Team Combustion 1912 who is a winner in the 2010-11 NCWIT Awards for Aspirations in Computing.
24 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Monday, December 13, 2010
FIRST Choice Home Page
Good Afternoon Teams,
Good news, FIRST Choice is now available for viewing. To see the site, please follow the instructions in “FIRST Choice Ordering Process” . For those of you who don’t have the login information for your team, you can still see what’s available on the FIRST Choice site by checking out this document. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
Don’t forget, if you have questions, please visit our forums. If someone else hasn’t already asked your question, post it and check back for an answer.
26 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Good news, FIRST Choice is now available for viewing. To see the site, please follow the instructions in “FIRST Choice Ordering Process” . For those of you who don’t have the login information for your team, you can still see what’s available on the FIRST Choice site by checking out this document. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
Don’t forget, if you have questions, please visit our forums. If someone else hasn’t already asked your question, post it and check back for an answer.
26 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Some loose ends
Good Afternoon Teams,
If you haven’t been following the release of FIRST Choice I suggest you read up on it this weekend and I STRONGLY suggest you visit the site on Monday when it opens for viewing.
Operations tells me they’re getting a lot of calls from teams confused by Bag & Tag. First of all, check the list below. Are you going to any of these events?
If yes, you will receive bags and tags in your Kit of Parts. Read Section 5 of the Competition Manual and Attending a Bag and Tag Event carefully.
Are you a High School Junior or Educator? Check out the Bezos Scholars Program at the Aspen Institute. They’re accepting applications right now for all-expenses paid scholarships totheir 2011 program.
29 days to Kickoff
See you then!
If you haven’t been following the release of FIRST Choice I suggest you read up on it this weekend and I STRONGLY suggest you visit the site on Monday when it opens for viewing.
Operations tells me they’re getting a lot of calls from teams confused by Bag & Tag. First of all, check the list below. Are you going to any of these events?
- Alamo Regional, San Antonio, TX
- BAE Systems/Granite State Regional, Manchester, NH
- Finger Lakes Regional, Rochester, NY
- New Jersey Regional, Trenton, NJ
- Greater Kansas City Regional, Kansas City, MO
- Pittsburg Regional, Pittsburg, PA
- New York City Regional, New York City, NY
- Arizona Regional, Chandler, AZ
- Oklahoma Regional, Oklahoma City, OK
- Sacramento Regional, Davis CA
- Seattle Cascade Regional, Seattle, WA
- Seattle Olympic Regional, Seattle, WA
- Autodesk Oregon Regional, Portland OR
- SBPLI Long Island Regional, Hempstead, NY
- Washington DC Regional, Washington, DC
- Waterloo Regional, Waterloo, ON Canada
- Greater Toronto East Regional, Mississagua, ON Canada
- Greater Toronto West Regional, Mississagua, ON Canada
- Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional, Minneapolis, MN
- Minnesota North Star Regional, Minneapolis, MN
- NE Utilities FIRST Connecticut Regional, Hartford, CT
- Silicon Valley Regional, San Jose, CA
- Colorado Regional, Denver, CO
- Virginia Regional, Richmond, VA
- Any Michigan Event
If yes, you will receive bags and tags in your Kit of Parts. Read Section 5 of the Competition Manual and Attending a Bag and Tag Event carefully.
Are you a High School Junior or Educator? Check out the Bezos Scholars Program at the Aspen Institute. They’re accepting applications right now for all-expenses paid scholarships totheir 2011 program.
29 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Two steps forward and one step back
Good Afternoon Teams,
It happens this way every year. There’s a big push by teams to get registered for events and signed up for kickoffs before the deadline, then it seems teams take a breather. What’s happening here at HQ is completely different. By the time teams could sign up for events and kickoffs we were done with the big push to schedule events and recruit volunteers. Now that registration is over, we’re working feverishly to finalize the Game Manual, gather the remaining elements of the Kit of Parts, ensure game elements and pieces are ready to go, and plan Championship. I will continue to keep you updated during this crazy time and I suggest that you take advantage of the next few weeks to read the first half of the Game Manual , brush up on your programming skills, recruit more members and sponsors and get some rest.
That said, I have a few important items for your team before you break for the holidays.
I announced the posting of the FIRST Choice Ordering Process on Monday and was surprised to receive a few questions. The original description is in my November 15th FIRST Choice blog (how quickly we forget) and on Nov 17th I answered a few questions that trickled in by then
I also posted a video request for team input into the kickoff on the FRC Teams Global Channel on Youtube and haven’t heard from anyone yet. There are just nine days left until the last possible moment for me to include team videos in the live broadcast. Submit your team’s short funny, creative, 20th anniversary themed video in the comment box and I’ll pick the best for inclusion on January 8th.
If your team hasn’t completed the team information section in TIMS, now is a good time to make sure everything is up to date. December 16th we’re going to pull that information out of the system to start printing Program Books. If you want your team information included, fill it in now. Program books make great souvenirs for your sponsors and supporters.
31 days to Kickoff
See you then!
It happens this way every year. There’s a big push by teams to get registered for events and signed up for kickoffs before the deadline, then it seems teams take a breather. What’s happening here at HQ is completely different. By the time teams could sign up for events and kickoffs we were done with the big push to schedule events and recruit volunteers. Now that registration is over, we’re working feverishly to finalize the Game Manual, gather the remaining elements of the Kit of Parts, ensure game elements and pieces are ready to go, and plan Championship. I will continue to keep you updated during this crazy time and I suggest that you take advantage of the next few weeks to read the first half of the Game Manual , brush up on your programming skills, recruit more members and sponsors and get some rest.
That said, I have a few important items for your team before you break for the holidays.
I announced the posting of the FIRST Choice Ordering Process on Monday and was surprised to receive a few questions. The original description is in my November 15th FIRST Choice blog (how quickly we forget) and on Nov 17th I answered a few questions that trickled in by then
I also posted a video request for team input into the kickoff on the FRC Teams Global Channel on Youtube and haven’t heard from anyone yet. There are just nine days left until the last possible moment for me to include team videos in the live broadcast. Submit your team’s short funny, creative, 20th anniversary themed video in the comment box and I’ll pick the best for inclusion on January 8th.
If your team hasn’t completed the team information section in TIMS, now is a good time to make sure everything is up to date. December 16th we’re going to pull that information out of the system to start printing Program Books. If you want your team information included, fill it in now. Program books make great souvenirs for your sponsors and supporters.
31 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Monday, December 6, 2010
FIRST Choice Ordering Process
Good Evening Teams,
As promised, the FIRST Choice ordering process is now posted on our website.
33 days to Kickoff
See you then!
As promised, the FIRST Choice ordering process is now posted on our website.
33 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Friday, December 3, 2010
The view from 30,000 feet
Good Afternoon Teams,
I just got back from flying to Pennsylvania with Dean to look for additional FRC corporate support. During the plane ride (yes, Dean was the pilot) I thought of a few more things to tell you this week.
Safety animations are due this coming Monday, Dec 6th. Animations must be submitted by your team’s student award submitter in STIMS The winning animation will be shown during the live Kickoff broadcast on January 8th. I’m looking forward to seeing your submissions.
NASA grants are posted
FIRST received the $200K grant from AMEX. Thank you to all of you who voted!
Are you planning to have a week zero event? (For those of you who don’t know, a week zero event is when teams gather together the weekend before robot ship day to try out their robots in a competition like atmosphere.) We want to know who’s hosting week zero events (even the small ones). Please drop me a line at FRCTeams@usfirst.org and let me know.
Please note the version of Workbench provided in the FRC Kit of Parts (2009 – 2011) is not certified for use on 64-bit Windows operating systems. Please use the C/C++ section of the FIRST Forums for questions about this issue
If you haven’t visited Think Tank lately, you might want to check it out. WPI has just finished a number of upgrades and the site is bigger and better than ever. There’s a lot of information for teams by team about how to have a successful season.
With the extraordinary number of rookie teams this year (386 at last count) we’re looking for successful veteran teams to share their areas of expertise by contributing articles to the website. Does your team know how to use encoders? Have a fool proof method for debugging? Build custom driver station hardware? Submit an article to Think Tank and share your talent with the FRC community.
We’re also looking for a few good mentors to act as approvers for the Think Tank website. If you know of someone highly respected for their knowledge who consistently provides FRC teams with impeccable advice, please send their name and area of expertise to FRCTeams@usfirst.org. People with multiple nominations will be invited to join the elite team of approvers at Think Tank.
Watch Dean, Former VP, Al Gore and Sec. of Education, A. Duncan and the MythBusters’ team talk about FIRST during the Global Online Town Hall sponsored by Time Warner Cable.
National Robotics Week is looking for slogan suggestions to make more people aware of this annual celebration of technology. More details can be found here.
36 days to Kickoff
See you then!
I just got back from flying to Pennsylvania with Dean to look for additional FRC corporate support. During the plane ride (yes, Dean was the pilot) I thought of a few more things to tell you this week.
Safety animations are due this coming Monday, Dec 6th. Animations must be submitted by your team’s student award submitter in STIMS The winning animation will be shown during the live Kickoff broadcast on January 8th. I’m looking forward to seeing your submissions.
NASA grants are posted
FIRST received the $200K grant from AMEX. Thank you to all of you who voted!
Are you planning to have a week zero event? (For those of you who don’t know, a week zero event is when teams gather together the weekend before robot ship day to try out their robots in a competition like atmosphere.) We want to know who’s hosting week zero events (even the small ones). Please drop me a line at FRCTeams@usfirst.org and let me know.
Please note the version of Workbench provided in the FRC Kit of Parts (2009 – 2011) is not certified for use on 64-bit Windows operating systems. Please use the C/C++ section of the FIRST Forums for questions about this issue
If you haven’t visited Think Tank lately, you might want to check it out. WPI has just finished a number of upgrades and the site is bigger and better than ever. There’s a lot of information for teams by team about how to have a successful season.
With the extraordinary number of rookie teams this year (386 at last count) we’re looking for successful veteran teams to share their areas of expertise by contributing articles to the website. Does your team know how to use encoders? Have a fool proof method for debugging? Build custom driver station hardware? Submit an article to Think Tank and share your talent with the FRC community.
We’re also looking for a few good mentors to act as approvers for the Think Tank website. If you know of someone highly respected for their knowledge who consistently provides FRC teams with impeccable advice, please send their name and area of expertise to FRCTeams@usfirst.org. People with multiple nominations will be invited to join the elite team of approvers at Think Tank.
Watch Dean, Former VP, Al Gore and Sec. of Education, A. Duncan and the MythBusters’ team talk about FIRST during the Global Online Town Hall sponsored by Time Warner Cable.
National Robotics Week is looking for slogan suggestions to make more people aware of this annual celebration of technology. More details can be found here.
36 days to Kickoff
See you then!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Initial Event Registration
Good Afternoon Teams,
I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. I made the trek to Pennsylvania to visit some family...and to eat my weight in turkey, of course.
I want to remind you that initial event registration closes tomorrow, December 2nd @ 8 PM EST in TIMS. Also closing tomorrow is the Kit & Kickoff Preference section -- same time, same place. If you require assistance completing either task, don't hesitate to give your friendly Operations Team a call at 1-800-871-8326 ext. 0. Haley, Erin, and Naomi will be happy to assist you! (Don't worry. We will still register late arriving rookies for as long as we can.)
I also want to remind our Veteran teams that they cannot purchase Rookie kits. In lieu of this option, we are piloting FIRST Choice (for your reference, this was announced here on the blog on November 15th) so that teams have the option of selecting additional items that they would like to add to their kits free of charge (however, teams must incur the cost of shipping). The system will open on Monday, December 13th. Remember, FIRST Choice is FIRST come, FIRST served! I strongly encourage all teams to visit this new FRC site.
NASA grants should be awarded in the next 24 hours! Keep your fingers crossed!
37 days to Kickoff
See you then!
I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. I made the trek to Pennsylvania to visit some family...and to eat my weight in turkey, of course.
I want to remind you that initial event registration closes tomorrow, December 2nd @ 8 PM EST in TIMS. Also closing tomorrow is the Kit & Kickoff Preference section -- same time, same place. If you require assistance completing either task, don't hesitate to give your friendly Operations Team a call at 1-800-871-8326 ext. 0. Haley, Erin, and Naomi will be happy to assist you! (Don't worry. We will still register late arriving rookies for as long as we can.)
I also want to remind our Veteran teams that they cannot purchase Rookie kits. In lieu of this option, we are piloting FIRST Choice (for your reference, this was announced here on the blog on November 15th) so that teams have the option of selecting additional items that they would like to add to their kits free of charge (however, teams must incur the cost of shipping). The system will open on Monday, December 13th. Remember, FIRST Choice is FIRST come, FIRST served! I strongly encourage all teams to visit this new FRC site.
NASA grants should be awarded in the next 24 hours! Keep your fingers crossed!
37 days to Kickoff
See you then!
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