Out to New England FRC teams...

NE FIRST Things FIRST

Week of June 29, 2015

Welcoming Our New CT Senior Mentor!

We announced a few weeks ago that Kathie would be leaving her position as Senior Mentor after eight years of dedication and service to the FIRST community. FIRST Senior Mentors serve an important role in support of all FIRST programs by building community relationships, starting and supporting teams, and recruiting volunteers for teams and events. Therefore, we are excited to announce that Stacey Gray will be taking on the role as our FIRST Senior Mentor for Connecticut starting this month!

Stacey became involved with FIRST 3 years ago as a non-technical mentor for FRC Team 1071 in Connecticut. Over the next few years, her admiration for the mission of FIRST grew, leading her to volunteer at Jr.FLL, FLL and FRC events. She has also been part of several NE FIRST District Event Planning Committees as a Volunteer Coordinator or liaison for Media/Communications. Outside of FIRST, Stacey is the Social Media Manager for Crowley Auto Group as well as a Social Media Consultant. Additionally, she has extensive experience with Community Outreach and Public Relations.

Stacey's commitment to FIRST and professional expertise have already been a valuable resource within our community and we are excited to have her onboard as our new FIRST Senior Mentor! Until her FIRST email is activated, she can be reached at staceylg@gmail.com.

MA FLL Qualifiers Seeking Event Hosts

FLL in Massachusetts is currently seeking FRC teams who can host an FLL Qualifier for the upcoming season and beyond. FLL in MA continues to grow beyond our ability to add events, and therefore requires us to limit the number of teams who can sign up. Last year and likely this year, we have had to limit the state to 400 teams, although the demand is greater. We are seeking a minimum of 1-2 new events for this year.

Currently, most of our FLL qualifiers are hosted by FRC teams (61, 246, 467, 839, 1100, 1289, 1735, 2713) and it's a great way to support the younger students in your community, build confidence and skills in your FRC team members, and raise funds for your FRC team.

We have a SIGNIFICANT need for events in Eastern Mass., where our growth is greatest, and we recently lost a large, 48-team event. If we have a lot of demand to host events, teams serving this area will get priority.

We'd need to know ASAP if your team can host so planning and prep can begin. Information about requirements for hosting an event can be found here. Please contact mafll@wpi.edu with the information requested if you are interested. If your team is interested in potentially hosting an FLL qualifying tournament, please review and fill out the form located here.

Boston Greenfest 2015

Teams are invited to take part in the Boston Greenfest 2015, one of the largest events of its kind in New England, on Friday, Aug. 21 through Sunday, Aug. 23. FIRST is being provided with a tented area in the Boston City Hall Plaza. Our part of the event would run from noon until 4:30 or 5 p.m., with load-in taking place before 11:30 a.m. Tables and electrical outlets will be provided.

This event is an opportunity for FIRST Teams to display their robots and to present their team activities to visitors in the center of Boston at the Plaza of Boston City Hall. From past years, we have received numerous accolades from both teams and the visiting public.

All teams from across all of New England are invited to participate in this event and teams will be allowed to attend for multiple days. If you have any questions, or if your team is interested in participating, please contact Steve Cremer at scremer@nefirst.org or 781-784-8935.

Boston Children's Museum Tinker Tent Event

On Sunday, Aug. 23, Boston Children's Museum will host its second "Tinker Tent", celebrating tinkering, engineering and making. The Tinker Tent, sponsored by National Grid, will showcase the work of tinkerers and makers from across the region, along with activities run by Boston Children's Museum. The event will take place under a large tent deployed next to the Museum near Boston Harbor

The event is requesting a few groups of FIRST participants to join the event and show off their work, specifically for teams to bring their robots to a demonstration area and interact with visiting children. Power and tables will be provided.

This is a great opportunity for teams to show off their work as the event draws thousands of visitors. If you need further information or have special requests and would like to attend, please contact Steve Cremer directly at scremer@nefirst.org. The sooner we know about who is able to join us that day, the sooner we can arrange for parking, when possible.

NE FIRST University Day in Connecticut Workshop Requests

This year's University Day will be on Saturday, Sept. 12. The event is an opportunity for members of the FIRST community to learn, meet, and share their knowledge with other teams. The event is open to FLL coaches, mentors and students from FRC, and invited guests.

If there's a workshop that you would like to see us host or one that you would like to run yourself, email your request to Lauren Jefferson at ljefferson@usfirst.org.

2015 Championship Conference Materials Available

The materials and presentations from this year's FIRST Championship Conference are now available on the FIRST conference website. Check them out here.