Finale--is it worth it?
 

So our team qualified for Champs through EI last week at FLR, and we accepted the invitation. Now, we just need to find a way to bring and lodge the team! We've looked into the Steele reserved hotels, and it appears that we can get a better deal (by almost $2000 for a team our size) if we don't book through them, and go to a different hotel. However, we would be missing out on the Finale party. I know that last year was Will.i.am, which is very exciting, but this year doesn't look to be terribly intriguing. Will we be missing out on something fun if we choose to save the money?

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Last year, Will.I.Am was not part of the finale party, but rather a separate performance on Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome. I must say, if it is your kids first time going to St. Louis (I bet it is for most of them), they will not want to miss the arch! If you end up not going to the finale, definitely make time as a team to go. We left last years finale early because we as a team didn't find it very enjoyable. The one's in Atlanta were really fun, and I hope the one in St. Louis this year will compare. It sounds better than last year to me (a room with grinding high schoolers and another with not enough carnival and arcade games...). Also, I must say the Science Center in St. Louis is lots of fun and cool to see!

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Our team has been to two Championships in Atlanta and last year's in St. Louis, after going to one Finale we have never heard great things about them. If you can save $2000, that is a lot of money, I suggest you take the savings, you won't be missing much. But if they have another special secret concert on Friday like last year's, don't miss it. (Someone should lobby Steele to offer better deals!)

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

We went once in Atlanta. By the time we got there, food ran out and the entertainment was hard to participate in with limited space and too much people.
Not worth the high price/person in my opinion.
Hopefully, its better this time around.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Does anyone remember when the concert was announced last year? Was it contingent upon people buying tickets through Steele?

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

It was a secretive affair -- scheduled as "a special show with will.i.am and friends". When we received our Chairman's wristbands for the floor in our registration packet the lady wouldn't even tell us what they were for. Just for "tonight". And that we "wouldn't want to miss it for anything" (I'm pretty sure the second half pertained to the announcing of the Chairman's winner at the concert/filming). :p

edit: I will say that each Finale I've been too didn't seem worth it, but I'm a bit of a party pooper, especially when I'm tired...

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

The only reason it seemed, to me atleast, that our team went to it was for the $100,000+ fireworks show at the end. To date, those fireworks shows are the best I've seen anywhere.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Is there anything actually describing the finale so far? When I click the link all I see is the banner that says Finale Party, but it seems others have more information.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Nothing when you compare them to the ones on the Detroit river for Canada Day and The 4th of July. Literally the biggest firework show in the world. Nice when the river is just down the street from your house lol


I enjoyed the finale when i went in 2010. The food was good, and the games and stuff after was enjoyable. I would definitely go again. But I heard that last years Finale couldnt compare to the ones held in Atlanta.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

That's odd, it was there yesterday. I don't remember the whole thing, but you have three options: Some sort of talent show, a visit to the Big Arch, and a trip to the St. Louis Science Museum.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

There was also an option of going to the City Museum.

Since I live here in St. Louis, I must say that the Finale Party this year seems like a lot of fun, but I don't see it as a necessary thing to go to if you're trying to save $2000. You can always come back to St. Louis and enjoy the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Science Center and the City Museum.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

We've been to the last 3 finale parties. The 2 in Atlanta were great and all of the team enjoyed it immensely. The one last year in St. Louis was a joke and we were all quite disappointed.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Hang on. Can you only attend the finale this year if you booked through Steele? That seems a little crazy to me, especially because of the enormous price difference.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

There hasn't been an entertaining finale since Mandy Moore...

:rolleyes:

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Come up to NY City early this July....

In previous years teams could buy Finale tickets without booking a hotel through Steele.

Also in previous years, we found the Finale parties reasonably entertaining, but none of us would cry if we had to miss it. Late year's was "strange", but I am guessing they will take a different approach this year.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

We're having the same difficulties. We found hotels that offered rooms at $80 a night, but couldn't give them to us because they were all committed to Steele, who wanted $180. If you booked the room for four people, they wanted over $400 where usually a hotel only adds $10-20 per person, if anything.

Since we are coming in a coach bus, we are widening our search and will probably be driving in from a distance each day because of it.

It seems to us that the whole Steele Meetings thing is a way to gouge teams for extra money.

As for the after party, out team has never gone to them and spent the money on a team dinner somewhere. It's worked out really well.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

I haven't like the finale's since '03 when FIRST rented out Six Flags (although the EPCOT finales leave them all in the dust)

I've always sent the kids in, with one or two mentors that volunteered to stay behind and be contacts for the kids, as well as escort them back to the hotel. Then the other mentors (3-4 of us) would find a nice restaurant and have a quiet dinner together congratulating each other on a good season, and just unwinding from 3 days of competition.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Oh boy, I was about 6 years old when that happened, and I still remember making my parents wait so we could watch the fireworks and the GIANT confetti cannons go off. Oh how I miss Epcot.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Epcot finales certainly were awesome. Free rides with no lines, and if there was a line, it was all robotics people :)

I liked the Atlanta party in '09, and haven't been to CMP since then.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

You just made me realize how old I am... :rolleyes:

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

I also miss Epcot.
One year I bought an LED message device that you spun and it would show your message. I had programmed the word "applause" on it and I was twirling it in the line for Imagination. People would applaud when I spun it and stop when I stopped. What power!!!

My advice, save the $2000 for next years robot.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

That's how they make their money. It is very similar to how people were camping outside of Best Buy stores to be first in line to buy the PS3, only to turn around and sell it for double the price on eBay.

My advice: save the $2000 and use it elsewhere... it isn't worth it.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Given the geography and variety of finale events, I'd guess that your options for it are more an or than an and for participation. I went to see the arch on Sunday morning last year. Made a reservation for the tram (under advisement) but still waited quite a while in a longish line just to get in the place. That is, the tram reservation does not get you admittance past the security checks. Then met some FRC team members in the room at the top. Might be worth seeing the city at night form there, since I don't think it is normally open at night.

You may have to pick which of the activities you want to attend. I think it would be quite a stretch to see the museums and the arch all in the same night.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

It was wildly entertaining, is a bizarre sort of way. I can still see her coming out on stage and yelling "Hiiii Guuuuyyyyyssss".

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

I sent an e-mail to Steele asking about Finale tickets, and their reply was "It has not been determined yet if we will have tickets available on site. If we do, they will be $45 each and we can only presell them to teams that reserve hotel rooms with us."

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

I sent an email to FIRST Friday about this. We book through a travel agent and it saves us a ton of money. Last year you did not have to book through Steele to go to the after party. Prior to that, it was $50 to buy them separately. FIRST told me they would be available to purchase on the STEELE website. But, I can't find where. I have emailed FIRST back, but have not heard anything yet. I will post if I find out anything more.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

The Black Eyed Peas concert was only open to teams registered for the Championship itself; we encountered a team that had a few individuals come to St. Louis just as spectators and to hang out, and they had a hard time getting tickets to the concert.
So if there is a special secret Friday night concert set up the same as last year, you will be able to go no matter what hotel you stay at.

There are local St. Louis teams at the Champs, not staying at any hotels; it would seem there would have to be some mechanism for them to enjoy the extra events.

My team's students enjoyed the finale, but not ecstatically. I think if they had had to pay extra for it, most would have skipped it.

And as a native St. Louisan, both the Arch and the City Museum are great engineering/technical marvels, great fun for teenagers. The Science Center is certainly good, but not as much of a "WOW" factor in my opinion. The museum at the base of the Arch is pretty good, too, but the main attraction is going up to the top of course.

See if you can get some Ted Drewe's custard while you're there.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

We called FIRST, and they said that we were pretty safe making dinner plans for Friday night, so I doubt there will be a surprise concert again.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

I think that this year's finale was definitely worth it. While the tornado warnings made for a tough start, I think the Science Center was totally rocking with tons of food and entertainment. The City Museum was really cool too!

IMHO, this year's finale was the BEST!

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Did anyone else find it hard or confusing to get their 'black wristbands'? Were there signs or announcements as to where to pick these up that we missed?

We finally found them at FRC PitAdmin, but it was a struggle to do so. We ordered them thru Steele as part of the hotel. I should have been checking on that during the week but was so busy. Always thought they would announce or something.

Just checking to see if they did and I had my head in the sand.

We only did the City Museum, and it was a pretty neat experience. I was really POd at FIRST or Steele in the evening when we first started to try and find out how the events, busses, and wristbands were to work - but after the sirens and how much they had to deal with in the weather - I did think the Explore St. Louis group (red windbreakers and bus drivers) did a good job at salvaging a hectic night.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

An email message was sent out to teams registered through Steele about where and when to pickup the Finale tickets.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Personally, I liked Atlanta in 2010 better than this year. It might just be because 2010 was my first Championship, but I felt like it was more social than the one in St. Louis, and I talked with a lot more people.

Re: Finale--is it worth it?
 

Our team went to the Arch on Saturday evening and were turned away.
Apparently there was an additional "lanyard" that we were required to have that was not alluded to in the communications as far as I can tell.

The weather also dampened the evening activities, so the team remained in the hotel. They were pretty tired after 20 hours of matches.
When I first heard the fireworks, I thought another storm had moved into the area. :ahh:

Fortunately, they got to visit the arch on Sunday morning, but the other activities were a wash. I do wish we had tried to go to the City Museum as I understand that it is tres cool.

Nonetheless, I found the Finale events in Atlanta to be more communal and celebratory.