Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

(1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

What is the best way to earn multiple sponsorships in R/C car racing?
Having the correct equipment and building relationships with other drivers is needed in order to get sponsors, but my best answer is attending big races because it will get you the exposure necessary to get you noticed by potential sponsors. It also shows how good you are compared to other drivers on the circuit. Your sponsors want to see that you are worthy of their support, and the only way they could tell is if you race outside of your comfort zone and race against other high caliper racers. My team manager Randy Pike stated that he would rather see someone make the bottom of the main against 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

Asking different people, fellow racers, team managers took some time to do, but they gave me the same answer. Everyone said that you need to attend big events if you are interested in getting sponsors. Also there were several articles that I researched on LiveRC.com that I used to figure out that racing at just your local track is not enough to get sponsors. 

(3) What problems did you face?

During the first semester, it was hard to find research on my topic. Most of the articles I found were foundational. I had enough foundational information at the time but what I needed was information about sponsors and current news in the industry. 

Another problem that faced was switching mentors. My first mentor helped me all the way through summer, but unfortunately, he moved. I was forced to find a new mentor and that really set me back. 

How did you resolve them?

To resolve the first problem which was research based, I found a really helpful website online through my new mentor. The web site was called LiveRC.com, and it included a new article every week regarding tips on how to earn sponsors. Also the web site was updated every day with new product that were released in the industry. This gave me a huge advantage against other people because now I am up to date with the newest products and trends. 

For the second problem, one of my racing friends, Brendon Larrowe agreed to be my mentor. He knows so much information about racing. He has been through it all, and he was the perfect choice for my mentor. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

LiveRC.Com - provides me with the latest information about the industry including info about when companies are accepting resume's for sponsorships and jobs.

Brendon Larrowe - He helped me focus and come up with an answer to my essential question. He is a walking encyclopedia, and he knows exactly how to get sponsors behind you.

(5) What is your product and why?

Over these nine months I have made a number of friends and people that have the same interests as I do. If it were not for my senior project forcing me to go out and find people that I can learn from, I would have never had the opportunity to meet them. I think my most important product is my ability to make new friends. I think that this skill has always been there, but this experience really made me polish this skill. To me, nothing fells better than being known and recognized by people all around at different places that I race. I’m not just another racer on the grid. During the summer days of mentorship I didn’t know that many people so I would keep to myself and do my own thing. I would miss out on new setups and information. Now mostly everybody knows me, and I have built up a reputation at other tracks. It’s a great feeling to have people come up to you and ask questions and an even better feeling is when you help them out. I may not compete anymore because I get more out of it if I simply help other people. Now I wish to take all of these skills and apply them to my future. The Senior Project opened up a new world for me and I am glad everything worked out.