Definitely don't get rid of the video! You could do without cameramen easily. Topdown and from the sides would give you plenty to look at.

Personally, I don't care all that much about the parties, it really wouldn't be that hard for us on here to set something up if it really mattered that much.

Well, I know for sure last year that a lot of teams had more fun just messing around in the hotel rooms. I think that the team party is definately expendable. You can always find something fun to do.

On the other hand, I think the cameramen are great. A lot of teams, especially at venues like that of Motorola Midwest at Northwestern University, have to sit way way up in the bleachers and sometimes can't see what's going on. Although there are other methods like SOAP and such to find out a team's weak and strong points, as long as the camera is fixed on the matches and not people out in the stands, I would like to keep them. A lot of times that is how a team's 'secret weapon' is exposed and adds a lot of strategy to one's gameplay.

Can't dean chip-in a lil

He's morgaged his house 2 times to pay for company bonuses. He's doing everything he can.

Also, A/V wall ISN'T a nice addition, it's a REQUIREMENT. Why? With no A/V wall, that means no instant replays or any "anxious untill score is displayed" moments. It would but a strain on the announce to repeat things multipul times, and many teams will miss things.

Drop all the team party's. Nobody goes to them and they have progressivly gotten worse over the years.

I think it would be better to scrap the parties. This being my first year at FIRST (no pun intended) I ahven't managed to catch too much but I have been to a competition and it seems that energy is more fun than any party could ever be. And like the others said, the A/V wall seems pretty important. If it costs around the same for each just cut the parties and divert it to the wall. I hope my first time won't be messed up by keeping the parties around


See ya,
Matt

Hell, ditch some song licences and just play a few songs, then a moment of silence, then play another.

I hope that all the parties are being cancled first before they start taking away the camera and lighting. Not to sound like i did not appreacite (sorry for spelling) the though of the party but i really did not like it any way.

Keep in mind that it is not FIRST themselves that are obtaining the licenses(as far as I know,) but rather the DJs themselves, who are contracted by each site to provide the music. I have a feeling that you would be hard pressed to find a DJ who would say, "ok, i'll charge you half as much if I only play half of my songs..."

I think it's almost unanimous- everyone loves the A/V board. Tell me now... how are teams going to fare at nats on the Einstein Field? That will certainly be a sight (pun intended).

Although I realize that FIRST is a program that takes up a lot of time and money, I think sometimes there is inefficient funding uses going on. A DJ isn't necessary... I'm positive one of the teams would volunteer and play songs from their own Morpheus lists and home CD collections. I believe music like at IRI this past year was the exact same quality of the official FIRST competitions. I wonder how much money they're blowing on someone to play a couple techno songs and the macarena?

Also, the team party looks as though it's been voted out by this forum. I realize that FIRST is only trying to integrate fun in the competitions, but I think I had more fun playing Twister on the plastic grass in Florida than I did at any team party. FIRST goes through a lot of hard work and effort to provide teams with those parties, but sometimes they just seem unnecessary.

Lastly, I realize that everyone loved having an event like Mandy Moore at the end of nationals this year. How many people would like to have the A/V board instead of a show at the end? Personally, I thought the concert was incredibly cool, and I did stick around for a part of it, but after while I just wandered into Epcot to have some fun. I think I'd rather see what's going on in the matches than have Mandy Moore tell me she wants to be with me.

All in all, I feel a little ungrateful for all that FIRST has provided in the last year. I love all the little bonuses and extras that we get when involved with the program, but if worse comes to worse, they could really cut back in the extras and still provide accurate and helpful things (like the A/V board) for teams.

over and out.

That would be highly illegal. The last thing anyone would want is a lawsuit by the RIAA against FIRST.

Yikes! Calm down! no RIAA!!!!!!!

RIAA = bad.... they sue the wrong people :o :mad:

Alright, stupid comment on my behalf. Still, I bet just between teams, everyone has more than enough music for the weekend.

Point taken.

over and out.

I'm much in agreement of scraping the team party in an effort to keep live A/V. DJ's aren't needed and dont play enough 'good' music because nobody has the same tastes. Even during the competitions scrapping liscensed music and possibly playing techno mixes teams can make and more play-by-play announcing would be sufficient.

Drop the DJ costs, keep the A/V.

I can't even imagine how incredibly boring the competition would be without high-energy music. It helps keep people excited, encourages them to dance and act like fools, and covers up those akward moments when teams fail and no one cheers. Ditch the party / social, keep the DJ & the big screen. As most of us know, unfortunately that whole money thing is a big issue for companies these days :( .

Mike

ps. if I hear another person say that Dean has a lot of money and he should pay for everything I'm gonna scream

Just by reading the letter, it seems like the team social is essentially out (not that it matters based on the response in this thread), but as far as the a/v wall goes, there are plenty of alternative setups which can be used. Someone mentioned earlier in the thread something about just posting stationary cameras on vital portions of the field. That's a good idea. My 2 cents as an a/v nerd- don't use digital betacam cameras. They are far too expensive. Comperable picture quality can be produced by a 500$ mini-dv cam. Theory- use less expensive equipment, nix the camera men, rent the projectors and screens, and you're all set. Total setup like that for one regional wouldn't break 5,000 at the most, and when compared to the 250,000 required to run a regional, that's small beans.