October 17th Rookie Team Workshop

What:

This workshop is intended to introduce all new FRC teams to the FIRST program. We will cover many topics in workshop sessions, listed below. Come visit some of the veteran teams, attend our workshops to find details on various topics. We will have a robot expo, last years game setup, robots on the floor, and some veteran teams (mentors and students) who can answer your questions.

Who:

All new teams, mentors, and potential teams and mentors. You can bring all or just part of your new team. We highly recommend teachers, mentors, and your key students attend this workshop. Your entire team is cordially invited.

When:

Doors open at 9:30am and we should be wrapping up around 3:00pm. The venue is a small high school. Bus facilities are available. Parking is not abundant, so carpooling is suggested.

How:

If you are coming, let us know about it. At the bottom of this page is a quick little form to tell us how many you intend to bring. This helps us plan for food and drinks.

Cost:

This event is free, except for lunch. We will do the usual Pizza and Soda style lunch. We are asking for $4.00 per person for lunch.

Schedule:

During the day, we will run a total of 8 workshops. The morning schedule is repeated in the afternoon so you will have an opportunity to get into half of the workshops. We recommend a strategy meeting with your team to insure that your team is exposed to all of the information being presented. Pick and choose schedules for your team members and mentors.

FIRSTWA tries very hard to stay on schedule, so please make arrangements to be there on time!

FIRST WA/ Aviation High School Rookie Workshop

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Aviation High School
615 S. 200th Street
Des Moines, Washington 98198

Activity / Workshop Session 9:30 9:45 9:50 10:00-11:00 11:00-12:00 12:00-1:00 1:00-2:00 2:00-3:00 3:00 - 3:30 Facilitators Room

Doors Open X

Welcome & introductions X Kevin Ross

FIRST Overview X Kevin Ross

Team Organization x Donna Lew

Fund Raising x Robert Steele

Preparing for the Build Season x Steve Evans

Finding Resources x Jim Wright

The Build Season x Robert Steele

Being a Mentor x Kevin Ross

The Robot x Jim Wright

Website Design / Media x Brian Thomas / Alex H

Robot Expo X X X X X X Individual Teams Gym

Q&A Lounge X X X X X X Veteran Teams Cafeteria

Lunch

Team Organization x Donna Lew

Fund Raising x Robert Steele

Preparing for the Build Season x Steve Evans

Finding Resources x Jim Wright

The Build Season x Robert Steele

Being a Mentor x Kevin Ross

The Robot x Jim Wright

Website Design / Media x Brian Thomas / Alex H

During the entire day, students and mentors can come down to the gym and see full size robots from last year practicing, running on a mock up of last year's field. Students will get a chance to operate some of these robots.

We will be needing volunteers for several workshops.. Please contact Robert Steele steelerc@hsd401.org to help us out.

Click here for a PDF version of this schedule

Session Descriptions

Team Organization

Donna Lew of Franklin team #488 XBot will discuss how to herd, manage, and engage members of your team. Donna has one of the largest teams in our state, and has a great deal of experience marshalling and organizing her team, dividing and conquering problems, and insuring that everyone has a chance to participate and contribute.

Fund Raising

Robert Steele of Aviation High School team #1983 Skunkworks will share ideas about doing fundraising. He will discuss both activities that are community based plus more formal fundraising at the corporate level.

Preparing for the Build Season

Steve Evans of Eastlake High School team #1294 Eastlake Robotics will share ideas about preseason activities your new team can engage in including pre-season building projects, safety and tool training, and other activities to prepare your team for the season.

Finding Resources

Jim Wright of Bellevue High Schools team #949 will share information and ideas on finding resources for your team. He will give you a preview of where to find materials, online shopping, local suppliers, and lots of information gained from years of experience.

The Build Season

Robert Steele of Aviation High School team #1983 will cover what happens in the build season. He will take you from Kickoff day all the way through contest day, discussing key milestones and process issues you will face in the design/build/ship phase. He will also discuss our pre-ship event held at Aviation High.

Being a Mentor

Kevin Ross of FIRSTWA will share his perspective on how to be a mentor to your team. He will include what to expect from the students, from yourself, and what you can expect as far as scheduling your time and activities to have the best impact on your team.

The Robot

Jim Wright of team #949 will take you on a detailed tour of a FIRST robot. He will show you the components, systems, and design ideas behind FIRST robots. He can also point out specialized parts and where to find such parts.

Website Design / Media Team

Brian Thomas will be discussing how you can get a website up and running to allow other teams to find you. Alex Herreid will give you information about your team producing media (photography and video) that will help showcase your team and to be involved with the FIRSTWA Media group.

Robot Expo

For most of the day, there will be veteran teams in the gym with previous year robots doing both demonstrations, and being available for all new team members to ask questions of. All new teams are encouraged to meet with the veteran teams and get to know a few. They can and will help answer lots of questions and convey their experiences to you.

Q&A Lounge

For most of the day, we will have veteran mentors and team members available away from the action for you to ask questions in a more one on one setting. You can ask them anything you wish about FIRST. They are here to help.