Ian Curtis
15-10-2013, 22:09
I just wanted to thank 2046 for putting on Girls Generation in Washington, and doing a great job running the event. Unfortunately we had to pack up and head home partway through the elimination tournament, but the kids we brought (7 gals, 2 guys) had a fantastic time. It was really awesome to give our rookies a chance to drive on a real field, and experience (some of) the stress of competition. It was a real eye opener to me to see how compact District schedules could be if they don't fill up, and how little time we'll get between matches even if they do. It's been several years since I've been to an off-season, but a gym pit was just as spacious (:D) as our event pits have always been. The A/V crew did a great job as well, which bodes well since Kevin said they were using the same setup for this upcoming year.
The impact it had on the kids was obvious and immediate too. Even though last year's robot has always had its uhhh... struggles, they had a great time just being there and an even better time when it scored the few points it did. In a telling sign, today was a shop cleanup day and most of them stayed late. If you stay late to help clean up the shop, you know the hooks are in deep!
A girl-centric sounded like a great idea before I went, but having gone events like this really are game-changing. I am quite sure the gender gap on our dedicated team that stays late during build season this year will be significantly smaller than previous years, and it may even be 50/50.
The impact it had on the kids was obvious and immediate too. Even though last year's robot has always had its uhhh... struggles, they had a great time just being there and an even better time when it scored the few points it did. In a telling sign, today was a shop cleanup day and most of them stayed late. If you stay late to help clean up the shop, you know the hooks are in deep!
A girl-centric sounded like a great idea before I went, but having gone events like this really are game-changing. I am quite sure the gender gap on our dedicated team that stays late during build season this year will be significantly smaller than previous years, and it may even be 50/50.