From when we started in 2015, we’ve held a kickoff before each event. For the Off-Seasons, that event was 6-7 weeks ahead of the competition, and for the official seasons those kickoffs have taken place on the first non-holiday Saturday in January of each year. At the kickoff, teams learn the game to be played at the following competition/season, as well as pick up their kit of parts, attend workshops to learn about how to build a robot and manage a team, and meet/establish contact with other teams, who they can then call on for help later, helping all teams learn and grow together.
Our kickoff in 2019 for the 2019 FIRST LAUNCH DESTINATION:DEEP SPACE was held at PERPA Ticaret Merkezi in Şişli/İstanbul. This kickoff was one of the highest attended in the world, with ~1300 attendees. Sixty-nine different teams attended the event, with two semi-official kickoffs held outside İstanbul for the first time this year that were managed by teams – in Izmir, team 6429, and in Sinop, teams 7637 and 6025. Teams at those locations received kits on kickoff day, the same as the teams who gathered in İstanbul.
For the 2020 season, due to rapid continued team growth in Turkey, kickoffs were mostly held by teams, in consultation with the Foundation. Seven (smaller) kickoffs were held across Turkey, four in İstanbul(two in Asia, two in Europe), and one in each İzmir, Ankara, and Mersin. The Foundation jointly managed the İstanbul-Üsküdar Kickoff with Avrupa Sınav Koleji.
List of Kickoff Events held by the Foundation:
- 2020 Üsküdar Kickoff – Joint with Avrupa Sınav Koleji – Bağlarbaşı Kongre ve Kültür Merkezi – 4 January 2020 – 18 teams
- 2019 İstanbul Kickoff – Perpa Trade Center – 5 January 2019 – 69 teams
- 2018 GameX/Turkish Robotics Off-Season Kickoff – TUYAP İstanbul Convention Center – 6-9 September, 2018 – 53 teams
- 2018 İstanbul Kickoff – Perpa Trade Center – 6 January 2018 – 53 teams
- 2017 Turkish Robotics Off-Season Kickoff – Akatlar Culture Center – 6 October, 2017 – 54 teams
- 2017 İstanbul Kickoff – Perpa Trade Center woo online casino – 7 January 2017 – ~7 teams (Snowed out)
- 2016 Turkish Robotics Off-Season Kickoff – Şişli Professional Industrial High School – 30 September, 2016 – 44 teams
- 2016 İstanbul Kickoff – Ayhan Şahenk Sports Center – 9 January, 2016 – 20 teams
- 2015 Turkish Robotics Off-Season Kickoff – Bahçeşehir University – 16 October, 2015 – 28 teams