Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Like everyone else I am totally on board with the idea that we need to be shown on a larger scale by a big network. Comcast has a partnership with NBC so maybe something could happen there. I would love to see all the district championships broadcast on a big site like Youtube. If we could get someone like NBC to broadcast all of the last day or even just the four division championships and Einstein I think we would be able to really get out there. Another big thing would just to get all of the sponsors to put something up on their websites to direct more traffic to the finals.

Another thing I think they we really did to do is get more celebrities like Will.I.Am to spread the message of FIRST. I remember in 2011 they had a whole big thing where they had a ton of celebrities make little videos saying how awesome they thought FRC was. If we could get more famous people to go out and spread the word then I think we could really grow and one day members of FIRST will become the new celebrities.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Things to note already from this thread...

The YouTube idea....I really like that. If the bored "masses" got on YouTube one day and saw huge banners and a feed from a FIRST Championship event...chances are people would begin to realize who we are.

Secondly....I'll share my vision of what a Championship television show should be like...

Start out the cast with a familiar sports cast personality or a voice that america is familiar with. Have them explain and show the game animation."
Then the fun begins with a rotating back and forth between a few qualification matches in each division and some team interviews in the pits.
You could even start the program with a breakdown of the entire FIRST family of programs current year breakdown...but I think the televised event should primarily focus on FRC because it is the...."flagship program"

Keep in mind I'm sayying that logistically....I actually favor FTC...so I hope I'm not offending anyone.



The primary focus of the show will end up being on the divisional elims and Einstein. With "in the que" short interviews during field resets.


simple enough format....and I think having some FIRST alum who've created projects like this already need to take a major part in this...Mike&Justin...TheRoboShow...etc..

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Not my idea, but I heard it bounced around in TRA chat room during Einstein and thought it had merit. So here you go...

Break a world record, or many.

The two I heard suggested were:
Longest conga line
Most self-proclaimed nerds under one roof

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

I hate that word...FIRST is about breaking stereotypes, not endorsing them.
Conga line sounds like a good one.

Actually. I believe you've that wrong.
The entire mission of first is take those "nerds" and place them in the celebrated and distinguished category in which they belong. To all cultures and to all people.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Right, thereby destroying the stereotypes that relegate such individuals to places where they are not distinguished and celebrated :)

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Just because spectators are allowed in for free doesn't mean that FIRST loses their broadcast rights, i.e. their rights to charge money to broadcast the event and bar everyone else from doing so that hasn't paid up. That being said, I don't see anyone paying FIRST money to show championships any time soon. In fact, it could possibly be a worthwhile investment for FIRST to buy time... has anyone ever considered that?

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

will.i.am bought an hour of ABC primetime with a couple of FIRST sponsors to promote the sport 2 years ago.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

Here is a link to the broadcast: http://www.dptv.org/programs/robotic...cmpgn=shorturl

I think they did an excellent job, without impeding on the event. If we could get somebody to do this at Championship, that would be awesome.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

A couple of points on broadcasting FRC:
FRC is really really hard to shoot and produce compared to most sports. In general, most sport videoing uses the follow the ball method which is way easier when their is 1 ball. Having helped with the MSC broadcast, it is really difficult to follow all the important action in a match, and even to know what is important at that moment. I thought the crew did an outstanding job this year at MSC, but re-watching the finals, there is still a ton of room for improvement. One of the more difficult issues is that some of the neatest tricks are the "wild-cards" pulled by some of the best teams. 469 and their FCS was something they only brought out when needed. Same with their 5 Disc centerline auto. Blocking 67 from attempting the climb wasn't attempted mcuh in qualifying, but was a key focus during elims. Pool noodle blockers were only special occasions during qualifying, but became key decisive elements in elims...
Overall, I think that live filming of FRC is more akin to filming auto-racing. More appropriately more like a mixed series auto-race like Le Mans where true fans understand the different classes that are simultaneously racing, and the i8mportance, but to the casual observer, you don't understand why they are showing the "race leader" of a GT class getting passed by LMP1 & LMP2 cars... We will keep working on this. I actually think I will watch a lot more short course racing to see what tricks they use tohelp with this sort of stuff (think tough truck, or moto-cross).
Lastly, this may be a bit hard for some of us to hear, but most FRC matches are not of the quality to have broadcast appeal. Often in the past the game itself did not have the appeal. Going back to the racing analogy, only a driver in 24 hours of Lemons is going to watch race footage from a Lemons race. Whereas 24 Hours of Le Mans has a much larger appeal because of heritage and the quality of professional racing.
Realistically, qualifying is a lot like watch Indycar qualifying. The hardcore fans are interested inthe time trials, but most folks would only watch the race. I think doing a higher production quality broadcast of Elims should be a goal for regionals and Regional Champsionships.

All this being said, there was a huge bump in quality across the board this year, and the game was really interesting even to non-FIRST people. The last few games ahve been pretty easy for outsiders to understand, and this is important to mass appeal. I was really impressed with the variety and quality of this years teams. I thanked Frank and the GDC for making such a great game. I hope that all of the enablers that made this one so much better for median teams continue next year. This game was very enjoyable at 1st event venues, and was awesome at 2nd event venues. By 3rd event venues, the play was through the roof, and even qualifying was incredibly exciting.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

I think what we need to do, is not aim for ESPN off the bat. We need to improve our current webcasts. What made this MSC broadcast so awesome? Yes the HD helped but i will argue that it was the commentary between matches. This really helped to keep the viewer involved, the replays the talking about strategy all of that.

So what can we do? During some webcasts next year get some experienced people to do commentary. This can be anyone from a first year student that is good at explaining the game, or a 15 year vet that knows the teams inside and out. Have them talk between matches. And put on a good show. This will make us appear even more TV worthy, and helps increase our appear to a network like ESPN

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

I guess what I'm going to do personally is I'm going to start up a commentary similar to the Roboshow for the Palmetto Regional for next season pending the Palmetto Partners approval.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

One way that FIRST can help uninitiated audiences is to put markers on the scoring elements, showing what things are worth. For example, a lighted 3 above the center goal this year, that shows a 6 during autonomous. The same could be said for last year's goals as well. I remember that the balls used in 2004 had labels on them showing how much they were worth. Some of this can be done for the in-arena screens or webcast with an simple on-screen overlay to explain the scoring before matches, but having the camera pick up how much something is worth makes it that much easier.

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

I'm going to volunteer 836's help if Palmetto is on our destination list for next year (and I sure hope so - the MBCC was my favorite Regional venue ever). Any word if it's returning to Myrtle Beach?

Any plans for a post-match play-by-play analysis with the hand-drawn overlays commonly used in NFL and the likes?

Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...
 

I'm planning on joining the Regional Planning committee, If allowed you will all hear an update on palmetto in the Regional Competitions thread soon. Palmetto is transforming to becoming the best regional with best venue yet being at the MBCC. Hopefully we can keep it there.