Today (Feb. 4) was supposed to be the final FTC-Iowa Qualifier in Blair, NE. But instead, we had a great FTC Adventure and experienced Gracious Professionalism at its finest.
A team of the most fantastic FTC volunteers (Dan Edwards, Carl Gloe, Jerry Lalor, Andy Marshall, Craig Martinson and Rebecca Whitaker) traveled from Iowa City to Omaha, NE - about 250 miles west - on Friday morning. In the early afternoon we, along with FTC team #3550, had a speaking engagement at St. Wenceslaus School in which we presented to 400 students about FIRST.
After the presentation, around 2pm, we received a call from the Event Coordinator for the Blair event. Due to some projected severe weather, the venue decided to cancel all events for the weekend. This not only included the FTC-Iowa Qualifier, but also a high school sporting event.
We spent the next half hour investigating other potential venues and were unsuccessful. We had to cancel the event. We felt deflated. We were sad/disappointed/bummed, etc. These teams had worked so hard on their robots and we couldn't do anything for them. By 2:45pm, we had sent an email and had called the teams and coaches. The volunteers were notified through appropriate channels (Judge Advisor notified the judges, Head Referee notified the refs, etc.). Additionally, we had to cancel our lodging arrangements as well as catering services for the event. Notifying the teams and volunteers was one of THE of the worst moments we have had all season.
Event was canceled.
We couldn't let the disappointment get to us. We still had an important meeting with the school administrators and teachers, at St. Wenceslaus about the importance of FIRST and the concept of Gracious Professionalism.
Thanks to the wonderful work and quick thinking of Emmaly Burkland, coach of Beta #3550, and Bryan Butcher, coach of #3609, Des Moines North High School we had an offer on the table. Des Moines North High School's facility was willing to be our surrogate host. We said yes! We were moving the event - about 120 miles east of Omaha, NE.
Time to recruit the volunteers! Where do you go when you need volunteers on a very short notice? John Deere! Within 30 minutes, we had 10 previously experienced FTC judges and volunteers. (We had several Rockwell Collins folks already lined up.) Team #3550 also provided some volunteers and we were ready to roll.
Event is back on!
Time to re-notify the teams! We understood if teams weren't going to be able to make it, but we wanted to give an opportunity for those that were able to make it. By 5pm, all the teams were contacted, again!
Gracious Professionalism at its BEST.
We cannot express the amount of gratitude to the administration at North High. Team #3609, the students and staff at North, did a fantastic job of planning a tournament (from notification to start of opening ceremonies) within 16 hours. It was amazing. They saved the day! The Booster Club was ready, the custodial service was ready, and we were going to have this event! Although not all of the teams could make the switch to Des Moines (their schools out homes also may have received a lot of snow), we had some very excited teams who were glad to make the switch!
In the spirit of Gracious Professionalism, we decided to advance four teams from those who could attend the competition at Des Moines North, and four teams who could not. We will be having a 32-team competition in Iowa City on Feb. 25th.
In summary, the event went very well. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!
A team of the most fantastic FTC volunteers (Dan Edwards, Carl Gloe, Jerry Lalor, Andy Marshall, Craig Martinson and Rebecca Whitaker) traveled from Iowa City to Omaha, NE - about 250 miles west - on Friday morning. In the early afternoon we, along with FTC team #3550, had a speaking engagement at St. Wenceslaus School in which we presented to 400 students about FIRST.
After the presentation, around 2pm, we received a call from the Event Coordinator for the Blair event. Due to some projected severe weather, the venue decided to cancel all events for the weekend. This not only included the FTC-Iowa Qualifier, but also a high school sporting event.
We spent the next half hour investigating other potential venues and were unsuccessful. We had to cancel the event. We felt deflated. We were sad/disappointed/bummed, etc. These teams had worked so hard on their robots and we couldn't do anything for them. By 2:45pm, we had sent an email and had called the teams and coaches. The volunteers were notified through appropriate channels (Judge Advisor notified the judges, Head Referee notified the refs, etc.). Additionally, we had to cancel our lodging arrangements as well as catering services for the event. Notifying the teams and volunteers was one of THE of the worst moments we have had all season.
Event was canceled.
We couldn't let the disappointment get to us. We still had an important meeting with the school administrators and teachers, at St. Wenceslaus about the importance of FIRST and the concept of Gracious Professionalism.
Thanks to the wonderful work and quick thinking of Emmaly Burkland, coach of Beta #3550, and Bryan Butcher, coach of #3609, Des Moines North High School we had an offer on the table. Des Moines North High School's facility was willing to be our surrogate host. We said yes! We were moving the event - about 120 miles east of Omaha, NE.
Time to recruit the volunteers! Where do you go when you need volunteers on a very short notice? John Deere! Within 30 minutes, we had 10 previously experienced FTC judges and volunteers. (We had several Rockwell Collins folks already lined up.) Team #3550 also provided some volunteers and we were ready to roll.
Event is back on!
Time to re-notify the teams! We understood if teams weren't going to be able to make it, but we wanted to give an opportunity for those that were able to make it. By 5pm, all the teams were contacted, again!
Gracious Professionalism at its BEST.
We cannot express the amount of gratitude to the administration at North High. Team #3609, the students and staff at North, did a fantastic job of planning a tournament (from notification to start of opening ceremonies) within 16 hours. It was amazing. They saved the day! The Booster Club was ready, the custodial service was ready, and we were going to have this event! Although not all of the teams could make the switch to Des Moines (their schools out homes also may have received a lot of snow), we had some very excited teams who were glad to make the switch!
In the spirit of Gracious Professionalism, we decided to advance four teams from those who could attend the competition at Des Moines North, and four teams who could not. We will be having a 32-team competition in Iowa City on Feb. 25th.
In summary, the event went very well. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!
