District Event Volunteer Reminder

All teams competing in the NE District Events must provide at least one event volunteer. Several NE District Events are in need of key volunteers, such as Robot Inspectors and Referees, especially the Week 2 Pioneer Valley and Reading Events. Volunteers should sign up through VIMS ASAP. Descriptions of event volunteer positions can be found in the Volunteer section of the FIRST website.

NE District Event Updates

Practice Day Inspection

As a reminder, every District Event officially starts at 5 p.m. on Practice Day/Day Zero, not at 8 a.m. on the first day of qualification matches. If possible, please make sure to have your robot inspected by the end of Practice Day. Waiting until the first day of qualification matches for inspections could result in match delays or your team missing its first qualification match.

To ensure inspection goes smoothly for your team, take a look at the Inspection Checklist before taking your robot to be formally inspected.

NE District Event Webcast Links

The NE DIstrict Event webcast channels are now up on TwitchTV! The Waterbury, North Shore, Pine Tree, Rhode Island, and Hartford events will all be broadcast on the Red Stream, while the Granite State, Springfield, UMass Dartmouth, UNH and Northeastern events will be broadcast on the Blue Stream. The District Championship will be broadcast on the Blue Stream. Each event's webcast link will be included in the "Upcoming Events" section of the newsletter.

Dean's List Interview Clarification

Teams that submitted nominations for the Dean's List Award may have received an email stating that students must sign up for interviews at the District Championship. While the award is given out at the District Championship, nominees should sign up to be interviewed during one of the District Events.

Woodie Flowers Finalist Award Banners

Former Woodie Flowers Award (WFA) winners have been working with FIRST to develop a way to provide more recognition to mentors, especially those who have received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award (WFFA) at a Regional or District Championship. In addition to the trophy each winner receives, starting in 2015, all Regional and District Championship Woodie Flowers Finalist Award recipients will also receive a "Blue Banner" for their team to display. Teams with previous WFFA recipients can order a banner from First Impressions that can be customized with the event and the year.

The original post can be found on the FRC Blog.

SlingShot Screening Fundraisers

Paul Lazarus, FIRST Executive Advisory Board and longtime volunteer, wrote an FRC blog post on Monday about his film, SlingShot, a documentary about FIRST Founder Dean Kamen and his 15-year quest to solve the world's water crisis. FIRST teams have the opportunity to host their own screening of his documentary as a fundraiser. Screenings can be hosted anywhere a DVD or Blu-Ray can be played, and teams can make the screening part of a larger community event or fundraiser.

The screening form and more information are available on the Host a Screening page under "FIRST Teams."

Connecticut Team Demonstration Opportunities

We have two opportunities for teams in CT to demonstrate their robots coming up. We are looking for a UTC-sponsored team to demonstrate in the afternoon on Tuesday, April 14 in East Hartford. In addition, we are looking for a team to do a robotics workshop for middle-school girls on Monday, May 4 in West Hartford. If interested in learning more, please contact Kathie Kentfield at kkentfield@usfirst.org.

Upcoming Important Dates

Award Deadlines

• Media & Technology Innovation Award - Saturday, Feb. 28

Award requirements and instructions for submission can be found in the FRC Administrative Manual. All awards except for Dean's List should be submitted through the Youth Team Member Registration System.