NE FIRST Things FIRST - Week of November 2, 2015

Out to New England FRC teams...

NE FIRST Things FIRST

Week of November 2, 2015

3000 Teams!

As of Tuesday, FRC has reached a total of 3000 registered teams for the first time in history! Read more about it here.

Additional Event Registration

As a reminder, additional In-District and Unrestricted Regional Event registration opened today at noon. Inter-District Event registration opens next Thursday, Nov. 12, at noon. First and second event plays take priority over any additional event plays; if you have not already registered for your first and second event, please contact your Regional Director and register ASAP.

Boston Celtics Event

On Friday, Dec. 18, NE FIRST has tickets reserved for an evening game between the Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks for teams to sell.

Here's how it works:

One month in advance of the game, your team indicates how many tickets you want at a base price of $20 a ticket.
Teams sell the tickets at a price of their choosing (at least $20/ticket) and keep the profit.
If you have not sold all the tickets, the left overs can be electronically placed into the general ticket pool at no charge to your team or NE FIRST.

We also have blocks of tickets for the day before and day after Thanksgiving if the December date doesn't work:

Wednesday November 25: Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers, ticket cost $10 (actual value $31)
Friday night November 27: Celtics vs. Wizards, ticket cost $35 (actual value ~$61)

If your team is interested in participating, contact Steve Cremer at scremer@nefirst.org ASAP. Attending teams might also be able to put up a display in the concourse of the arena and help spread awareness of FIRST to the community.

2016 Safety Animation Award Details

The topic for this year's Safety Animation Award competition is 'Working Safely with your Robot'. Every FIRST Robotics Competition team designs, builds, and competes with a robot. Every team also needs to work safely with their robot

when it's being built and tested,
when it's being moved to and from various locations at events,
and when it's being moved to and from the events themselves

Create an animation showing our community the best practices for handling the robot during these times! Your animation doesn't necessarily need to show all three of these contexts, but if you can do so in a fun and engaging way - and in a 40 second animation - please do. It's not a requirement, but FIRST would love to select an animation in keeping with the medieval theme of the 2016 FRC season.

The team with the winning animation will receive a trophy, be highlighted in an FRC Blog and in FIRST Social Media, and have their animation played at every official FRC event of the season.

Official information about the animation can be found on the FRC Safety Page. The original blog post can be found here.

NE FIRST Swap Meet & Sale

Clean out your workspace before kickoff and share -or- sell your spare parts and materials with other NE FIRST FRC teams! The Swap Meet & Sale for NE FIRST FRC Teams will take place on Sunday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the NE FIRST Headquarters (400 Woodland Ave., Bloomfield, CT 06002).

Schedule:

9 a.m. - setup
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. - sale begins, first-come, first-served

Event Details:

Held Rain or Shine - Indoor, heated facility.
Bring display tables, chairs, extension cords (outlets are limited).
Materials too large to bring? Bring a photo and arrange for pickup after the sale.
All leftover materials must be removed from the premises at the end of the sale!

RSVP for the event is required. Please RSVP here if you plan on attending to either shop or swap.

Something New - Team 'Standards'

For the first time ever, FIRST Robotics Competition teams will be allowed to create a Team 'Standard', or flag, that will be flown over their player stations on the field during matches! The Team Standard is completely optional and will not affect gameplay.

At the start of every event, each team will be given a 'history patch', that will indicate the week in which the event occurred.
Teams earning the Chairman's Award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, the Rookie All Star award, or being a member of the Winning Alliance at any events will be presented with Achievement Streamers during the awards ceremony.
Hall of Fame teams and Original/Sustaining Teams will also receive unique streamers so they may display these accomplishments.

Full Team Standards specs are shown here. See the FRC blog post for more details.

NE FIRST University Day at UMass Amherst Registration

NE FIRST University Day at UMass Amherst will take place on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. To register for the event, please fill out this form. Email FIRST Senior Mentor Dana Henry at dhenry@usfirst.org with any questions.

2016 Award Submission Deadlines

The Chairman's, Woodie Flowers, Entrepreneurship and Dean's List Awards opened for submissions today at noon. Be sure to add these deadlines to your calendar:

Thursday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.: Chairman's and Woodie Flowers Award
Thursday, Feb. 11 at 3 p.m.: Dean's List and Entrepreneurship Award

Detailed information regarding the awards will be posted in the 2016 FRC Administrative Manual, which will be available soon.

For more information about why deadlines are earlier than in the past, check out last week's Frank Answers Friday.

SlingShot Documentary Available on Netflix

Paul Lazarus, EAB member of FIRST and director of Slingshot, created a documentary about FIRST Founder Dean Kamen and his 15-year quest to solve the world's water crisis. The documentary is now available on Netflix; be sure to check it out there if you haven't seen it already! The trailer for SlingShot can be found here.

4-H Youth in Action Awards

Applications are now being accepted for the "4-H Youth in Action Awards"- the highest award honor a 4-H'er can achieve. The deadline to submit an application is Monday, Nov. 30 at noon. For more information, visit the 2016 Youth in Action Award Information site.

Upcoming Important Dates

Additional Inter-District Event Registration OPENS

Thursday, Nov. 12, noon

District teams are eligible to register for any open spots in other District events. The open spots are identified after all teams within a District have had the opportunity to sign up for two events and any additional plays they may desire.

Payment Due: 1st and 2nd District Events

Monday, Nov. 23, 5 p.m.

Please visit the 2016 FRC Payment Terms for more information, including the full pricing structure and payment terms and instructions. If your team is having trouble coming up with the funds for registration, reach out to your local Regional Director ASAP. Additional resources can be found in the FIRST Fundraising Toolkit.