Email Blasts

The Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee sends out timely Email Blasts to the registered teams in order to communicate important, key and critical information regarding the event. Here are the latest email blasts for the 2015 season:

Email Blast #5 March 17, 2015

Final Instructions

Teams -

Email Blast #4 March 11, 2015 

Central Illinois Team Social

Teams-

Email Blast #3 March 3, 2015

Food Options at Central Illinois Regional for teams

Greetings Teams!

Now that build season has finished, we know you are looking forward to competing and the Central Illinois Regional. Here is an important update regarding food at the Regional.

Bradley University food services department provides the food options for our Regional.

You have several on-campus options for getting food at the Central Illinois Regional

1. There will be concession stands in the Renaissance Coliseum with hot dogs, bratwurst, soda, popcorn, candy, etc. type options.
2. Box lunches are available for pre-order using the form attached. These box lunches will be delivered to the venue and can be picked up at Concession Stand #1 on Southeast side of Renaissance Coliseum, so your team will not need to leave the venue. Orders must be placed by 3:00 pm on March 17, 2015.
3. A food court is available in the Michel Student Center, which is a short walk from the Renaissance Coliseum and has Chick-fil-a, Moe’s Southwestern Grill, Topio’s Pizza and Pasta, & Greens To Go. Hours for the various food and concession areas are attached.

There is an Illinois High School Association basketball tournament in Peoria on Friday and Saturday and we expect local hotels and restaurants to be very full. We believe the on-campus options offered by Bradley will be both practical and convenient for team’s food needs.

More information will be forthcoming soon on the Team Social being held from on Friday, March 20th from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Bradley University Markin Family Student Recreation Center on campus.

A campus map is available at http://www.bradley.edu/dotAsset/180548.pdf

If you have any questions regarding the CIR, please contact us at frccir2014@gmail.com

The email blast and all the attachments will also be found on the Illinois FIRST webpage under the Central Illinois Regional. http://www.ilfirst.org/frc/events/central-illinois-regional/

Best regards,
Tim Koch
Central Illinois Planning Committee Chairman

Attachments:

• Bradley Box Lunches Pre-Order Form
• Bradley Food Court & Concessions Hours of Operation

Email Blast #2 January 19, 2015

Greetings Teams!

We are sure you are deep into your build season, but we want you to be aware of three special
opportunities for your team at the Central Illinois Regional. You will find several attachments to this
email that describe each opportunity in detail. Please print these off and make your students aware of
them as soon as possible as a few have time sensitive deadlines.

Central Illinois Regional Poster Contest: We had over 30 entries to this contest last year and saw quite
a variety of creativity. One of the favorite photo-op spots was the wall of posters.

Central Illinois Regional Lamp Contest: Not only did these “brighten” the tables for the VIP event, they
created conversation regarding the scope of the program that attracts multi-talented students, not just
someone who wants to build a robot. The VIP’s were quite impressed.

Central Illinois Regional Student Ambassadors: We are anticipating the possibility of over 100 VIP’s
and Special Invited Guests that will be attending the Central Illinois Regional for the first time. Students
are the ones who will tell the story best and compel these individuals to support us going forward with
financial support. The highlights of the VIP event last year were the Pit Tours and the VIP’s joining
students in the stands with their team, watching the opening rounds. Please read the attachment
regarding this program and recruit students from your team to participate. They may be meeting their
future employer!

If you have any questions regarding these opportunities, please contact us at frccir2014@gmail.com
The email blast and all the attachments will also be found on the Illinois FIRST webpage under the
Central Illinois Regional. http://www.ilfirst.org/frc/events/central-illinois-regional/

Best regards,
Tim Koch
Central Illinois Planning Committee Chairman

Central Illinois Regional Poster Contest

Teams - you can design the 2015 Central Illinois Regional Poster!

The object of this contest is to provide an opportunity for the creative, artsy, marketing savvy members
of your team to showcase their talents by designing a poster for the 2015 Central Illinois Regional.

The winning poster design: (1) will be featured on the CI Regional web page and used by the Regional
Planning committee in any advertising and promotion of the event. (2) A digital copy will be emailed to
all participating teams for their use in PR, marketing, brochures, school/community flyers, invitations,
newsletters, etc; and (4) the winning team / individual will receive special acknowledgement and
recognition at the CI Regional Event.

The Winning Poster design along with the Honorable Mention(s) poster designs will displayed on the
Illinois FIRST webpage and at the event!

Timeline
Friday, February 16 – Poster Submission Deadline – (Winning Posters Announced February 18)
2015 Poster Guidelines / Rules

• Open to all CIR teams – Teams may submit up to 5 entries as long as artists are different.
• Digital entry size must be 8” x 10”. Digital entry must be submitted in both .jpg and .pdf file formats only so they can be easily enlarged and printed to full standard poster size.
• Email entries to firstcir2015@gmail.com with “CIR Poster” in the subject line.
• Poster Designs MUST contain the following Information / Items:

The Robots are Coming
Robotics Competition
Central Illinois Regional
http://www.ilfirst.org/frc/events/central-illinois-regional/
Bradley University Renaissance Coliseum, Peoria Illinois
March 19-21, 2015 9am-5pm
Free Admission
FIRST Logo
Central Illinois Regional Logo (downloadable at Illinois FIRST website)
Recycle Rush Logo
**Note: Branding & Design Standards and Policy on Logo Use as specified by FIRST must be followed!
See http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/marketing-tools/brand. Also files for logos can be found
here.

Optional Information / Items:

• Photographs / Custom artwork - Photographs used must be the property of the one submitting the poster or attach permission from the photographer to be used.
• Team name / number and/or individual artist autograph
• Favorite FIRST quote etc.

– Get Creative, Have Fun!

You must include in the body of the message:

• Name (first name and last initial), Team Name, Team Number of the artist(s)
• Name and email address of the Mentor Contact for the student(s) submitting
• Winner(s) will be decided by the CI Regional Planning Committee and will be notified on or after February 18, 2015.

• Winning poster design will be featured on the CI Regional web page, the Illinois FIRST webpage, and used by the Regional Planning committee in any advertising and promotion of the event.
• A digital copy of the winning poster design will be emailed to all participating teams for their use in PR, marketing, brochures, school/community flyers, invitations, newsletters, etc.
• The winning team / individual will receive special acknowledgement and recognition at the Central Illinois Regional Event.

Get CREATIVE -Have FUN -GOOD LUCK - To All!

Central Illinois Regional
VIP Table Lamp Contest

The object of this contest is to provide an opportunity for the creative, innovative, and artsy members of
our FIRST FRC teams to showcase their talents by creating a lamp for the Central Illinois Regional
Competition.

We are asking teams who would like to participate to make a centerpiece lamp to be used during the
VIP Breakfast held on Friday, March 20, 2015. Entries must be received by 12pm on Thursday, March 19,
2015 for judging and use at the VIP breakfast. An award will be given for the most creative entry
selected by the VIP’s at the Regional Competition. The winning entry may be used by the Regional
Planning committee in any advertising and future promotion of the event.

The guidelines are simple.

1. Size—24” high and max 18” in diameter. Not too tall to sit on Tables
2. Theme can be the team’s choice or combination of FIRST logo, Central Illinois Regional, this year’s game, and robot parts to design and make the LAMP.
3. Use the FIRST Green e-watt saver bulb
4. Minimum 6’ long electrical cord
5. Must be ready no later than 12 PM on Thursday, March 19, 2015

The deadline for your response to participate is THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015.
The lamps will be returned to the teams at the end of the competition.

Thank you,
Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee

2015 FIRST Robotics Competition
Central Illinois Regional
Student Ambassador Program

Call for 2015 FRC Central Illinois Regional Student Ambassadors:

The Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee requests that each team attending the Central Illinois
Regional from March 19th to March 21st select two FRC team members to serve as Ambassadors for
FIRST during the three days of competition. Do not select members of your drive team, chairman's
presenters, pit crew or other critical positions who will need to be available to your team. If your team is
short-handed, you are not required to select anyone. Students ambassadors will need to be ready and
available from 8:30 to 10 am on Friday March 20th morning to escort the VIP's when they conclude their
morning presentation.

Ambassador Responsibilities:
• Serve as tour guides for visitors at the competition. Ambassadors will work to escort VIPs,
potential sponsors, educators, and/or groups of students visiting our competition. If you are a
rookie team, we will try to pair your student with one who has previous FIRST experience.
• Provide information to guests as they enter the arena.
• Leave space with your team in the arena for the VIP’s to sit with your team on morning of
Friday, March 20th.
• Must be available to attend the training meeting on Thursday, March 19th between 1:00 and
3:00 PM.
Ambassador Qualifications:
• Student should be a veteran (not their first year) with a good knowledge base of FIRST, and
thorough understanding of this year’s game.
• Good communicator and works equally well with adults and children.
• Possess the ability to talk with guests about the FIRST experience, its benefits, and why they are
involved in FIRST. They will be giving tours of the pit areas.
• Dress and behavior positively reflect FIRST and the Central Illinois Regional.
• Wear their team uniform and a nametag provided by the Regional Planning Committee that
distinguishes them to guests.

http://www.ilfirst.org/frc/events/central-illinois-regional/

Here you will find archived copies of the Email Blasts for the 2014 season sent to team leaders.