Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

We've done the same for the last 4 years. I parked in the closest spot each morning because our scouting team wanted to be near the front of the line :yikes: so that helped getting out for lunch too. But most teams don't have that option, and it would be nice to have something edible inside the stadium.:ahh:

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

For a large scale multiple day event that other cities would like to capture, FIRST has negotiating leverage. The city or Edwards Dome management can force the vendor to comply.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

My freshman year in high school I played traveling hockey, was on varsity quiz bowl, in theatre and on the speech team. All of those are winter activities and it just wasn't possible to do everything plus FRC and school. I ended up dropping all of my activities except for speech in order to commit to my FRC team and take up leadership roles. Overall I believe that FRC is exciting enough to give up other things to be a part of.

That being said I am a FIRST addict and am always talking about robotics to my friends and basically anyone that will listen. Some of my friends ended up giving up their saturday to come down to the U of M to support my team at regionals. When they got there they were drawn in by the energy, the size, and the excitement of the event and they went to school on monday talking about it.

FIRST is something unique and special in my mind. FIRST is targeting everyone in my opinion and it is most definitely exciting enough.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

I agree that there should be more choice in food, but.... This happens, literally all the time. I'd even go so far as to say it's the norm. Even if there were a variety of choices available I'm sure plenty of kids would still buy the cheap greasy stuff. As long as they're getting enough calories to keep going, I'd wager 3 days isn't going to do them any harm.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

I wonder what the catering is like on the EJD VIP-level.

I have been to VIP level at TBTF in Tampa (Tampa Bay Lightning) and AC in Orlando (Orlando Magic/Solar Bears) and the food/beverage is quite different. That is why I asked if the EJD VIP-level caterer could be more involved.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

Not much better. Nor were the VIP dinners. And when asking about vegetarian options we (I was sitting with several other vegetarians) got a bit of flak.


(This post merely to provide information, I'm not really complaining just letting folks know this is an issue at all levels of the event... and I'm apparently the only very vocal proponent that alternate diets should be respected)

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

Maybe I'm not being so direct, but I absolutely agree with you.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

Yes, many kids will continue to make poor dietary choices, but that doesn't mean that everyone should be FORCED to make poor choices. At least among our team members, healthy dietary choices are important. And perhaps your observation is true of a single meal (as I mentioned comparing this to a Rams game), but over a 3 day period (or longer for some teams), being forced to eat junk can have a deleterious effect on several fronts than can take a while to recover from. Please don't dismiss other people's concerns so cavalierly.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

While it certainly wasn't favorable to alternative diets, the quality of food in the VIP areas was substantially higher than elsewhere.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

I just wanted to mention that, while the box-lunch Salad on Friday was pretty meagre, the veggie burger on Saturday was one of the best I've ever had. I think it was rice and black beans; whatever it was it tasted amazing.

Re: 2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative
 

Thanks. I was trying to gather all internal to EJD food options: teams, volunteers, and VIPs since my knowledge is limited to EJD Volunteer food. I get to smell the grease from the funnel cake stands on the way to/from the dome or on my way to/from the Volunteer food room. In four years, I've never eaten outside the Volunteer room (or what was provided to us in the pit by our VC) when on duty in Americas Center.