GameSense Holiday Special

On Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 9 p.m., FRC Director Frank Merrick will be sitting down with the FRC GameSense crew to talk about Recycle Rush at www.frcgamesense.com. Teams will have the opportunity to join in the chat and ask questions.

Last week's Behind the Lines episode, "2015 Kit of Parts," which featured FIRST and AndyMark Staff, as well as other previous episodes, can be found on the Behind the Lines page. 

Change is Here: New Match Scoring Format

Due to the nature of this year's game, instead of the typical "win-loss-tie" format that FIRST has been using for a while, competition rankings will now be calculated by average score across multiple matches. Teams will be informed if their match caused an increase or decrease in their overall competition rank. Additionally, teams are not necessarily competing directly against each other in the playoff/elimination rounds. Instead of the winning teams of each matchup moving on, the teams with the highest scores of the round will move to the next level of play.

The full post can be found on the FRC Blog.

With Thanks

Ellen McIsaac, an alumna of and mentor for FRC team 1124 and valuable member of the NE FIRST community, will be leaving us to take a new position in California.

Ellen has served as our NE FIRST Alumni Network (NEFAN) Co-Director and has been member of the CT State Operating Committee as the CT FIRST Alumni Network (CTFAN) Director since 2011. As CTFAN Director, Ellen founded and administered the UTC-FIRST scholarship, planned social and networking events, organized the annual alumni luncheon, managed the alumni mailing list, and coordinated the alumni newsletter. Her position as NEFAN Co-Director encompassed many of the same duties, including coordinating the NE-wide alumni luncheon at the District Championship.

In addition, Ellen served as a member on the 2012 and 2013 CT Regional Planning Committee, Volunteer Coordinator for the 2014 Hartford District Event, and Side Events Committee Chair for the 2014 NE District Championship. Her efforts earned her the well-deserved Volunteer of the Year title at the 2014 NE District Championship. She has also held multiple volunteer positions for FRC since 2009, including but not limited to referee, field reseter, queuer, and pit announcer. Ellen has volunteered for FLL as a judge, referee, and queuer and for FTC as a referee, as well.

We thank Ellen for her generous contributions and dedication to NE FIRST. While she will be greatly missed, she will continue to be active within the FIRST community and is planning on volunteering at events in California.

Additional Event Payment Deadline

Teams that have registered for an additional District event, Inter-District event, or Regional must submit their payment by Friday, Jan. 23. Additionally, teams that are pre-qualified for FIRST Championship (Hall of Fame teams, 2014 FIRST Championship Aerial Assist winners, and original and sustaining teams from 1992 and beyond) must submit their payment by this deadline. Teams may pay for their event registration in any of the following ways:

1. Check, made payable to FIRST
2. Visa, MasterCard, or AmEx, either through TIMS under the Event section or by phone to FIRST Finance at (800) 871-8326 ext. 563
3. Purchase Order with FRC team number and event, sent to FIRST Finance by email at ar@usfirst.org or fax at (603) 206-2079
4. Signed commitment letter from Grantor or Sponsor

Full details about payment can be found on the FRC Payment Terms page.

Hotel Rooms for FIRST Championship

Teams hoping to attend the 2015 FIRST Championship can now reserve their rooms through Experient. The process does not require credit card information and teams will be able to cancel their reserved block of rooms without charge. The Process is outlined below:

1. Go to http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/first-championship.
2. Click the "Secure your FIRST Championship Room Block" link, which will send you to the Experient site.
3. Select "Teams Request Block."
4. Create an account and provide your contact info.
5. Select 8 hotels in order of preference.
6. Fill out other applicable information and submit the form.
7. Your request will be processed and your room block confirmation will be emailed to you.

This information is only to hold rooms for FIRST Championship and will not work for any of the other events. For more information, visit the Championship travel page.

PTC Donating Software Library to FIRST Teams

PTC will be donating their software library to all students participating in the FIRST Robotics Challenge. Of particular interest to these teams will be the inclusion of PTC Thingworx, an Internet of Things (IoT) application builder. The software will allow robots to collect sensor data and display it on the application via the internet. Students can then use this data to iterate their robot's design.

Thingworx registration will be available soon at http://www.ptc.com/communities/academic-program/k12/students/first/internet-of-things.

The full article can be found on the PTC website.

Internet of Things Showcase Opportunity

Arrow Electronics is looking for a FRC team with a working 2014 robot to show at the Internet of Things immersion event being held in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center on Thursday March 26, 2015. The idea behind the Internet of Things event is to bring together the best and brightest minds from business, education, and government industries. This is a great opportunity for local teams to get exposure and meet new Sponsors or Mentors!

Arrow Electronics has generously provided FIRST with a 6'x4' area at each of these events, which leaves about enough room for 3 people and a robot. They are looking for experienced and accomplished representatives of FRC, but at least one must be an adult. Since Arrow is highlighting education, they'd also really like to see students there.

Load-in runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the presentation is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. For details, contact Steve Cremer at scremer@nefirst.org.

Award Submission Deadlines

The following awards require submissions prior to competition in order for their application to be considered. Note that some awards have additional requirements for a complete application:

• Woodie Flowers Award - Thursday, Feb. 12, noon
• Entrepreneurship Award - Thursday, Feb. 12, noon
• Dean's List Award - Thursday, Feb. 19, noon
• Chairman's Award - Thursday, Feb. 19, noon

All veteran teams that received a NASA grant are required to submit an application for Chairman's. Award requirements and instructions for submission can be found in the FRC Administrative Manual.

Volunteer for the NE District Events!

Several NE District Events still need volunteers for key roles. Interested volunteers should sign up through VIMS. Descriptions of event volunteer positions can be found at http://www.usfirst.org/community/volunteers/frc-volunteer-event-positions.

Upcoming Important Dates

2015 FIRST Championship Conference Proposal Deadline

Monday, Jan. 19

The application can be found at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1glt28GLt0_xyAmt19cTh9r7fPFM-965N_rlSuNsmI54/viewform.

Visit the Workshops and Conferences page for more information.

Additional Regional/District Event Payment Due

Friday, Jan. 23

See the FRC Payment Terms for more information.

Championship Payment Due for Pre-Qualified Teams

Friday, Jan. 23

See the FRC Payment Terms for more information.