I have so many things to say about IRI, and so many thanks to give.... Only I don't think posting on this forum is going to be good enough. The friends I made at IRI deserve so much more. So instead, I am going to save the words and emotion up, write them in letters and represent them in the form that I feel will best express how I feel, and send them out.

But I will say this for now...

Thank you, IRI. You changed my life.

From all of us at Team 1022 we would like to thank the IRI crew for putting on a wonderful competition. We would also like to send out a big thank you to team 47 for taking us with them into the finals. It was a great time for our team. We wanted to also thank all the teams that lent us their blue light covers (101, and 1018, i know there is one more but I can't remember sorry). Thanks to the aliens for the lexan. Thanks to the rest of the teams for a great experience:)

Wow, IRI was a lot of fun! Thank you all for inviting me to judge, not laughing at Ashlee and I too much for dressing up as flower children, appreciating our hugs, and enabling me to have the most fun at a FIRST event that I've ever had.

I look forward to coming back next year!!!


ByE

erin

p.s. It was also great to have finally been given the chance to meet many of you in person!

I feel like I'm repeating everyone before me, but...

Andy Baker for letting me volunteer after driving 13 hours so that I could have free food and feel special, and for making me a name tag at the last minute. :)

Libby Ritchie for keeping me smiling and enjoying everything. And for the fantastic organization of IRI.

"Big Mike" for letting countless chiefdelphi users invade your room until ungodly hours of the night.

Team 25 (and especially Cokeley) for reminding me why I stalk you guys (just kidding). And for letting me keep my stuff in your pit and help out a little. And if Cory ever puts that stupid red stocking on his head again...don't even get me started.

The Chiefdelphi regulars: Erin, Jeff, Amanda, Aaron, Rob, "Big Mike," John, Sarah, etc. for making me feel like a part of a community and for the countless laughs and the late hours.

Jeff Waegelin for walking around the hotel and the parking lot with me and Sarah until 2 am whilst we were being extraordinarly goofy and for putting up with me.

All the other volunteers and whoever I forgot for making everything run so smoothly and efficiently so that I could actually watch some matches on Saturday.

Oh yea, I'd like to congratulate/thank Sam Harding for having really, really cool hair :)

I am not going to list everything here, i do not see it fit for all and many of you expect to receive a letter from me. But here is a short list of who i really want to say thanks to...

Libby and Steve Ritchie, David Kelly, Chris Foltz: Thanks for the great event, with out you this event couldn't have been pulled off. You truly are amazing people and in my book, and i hope to work again with you all some time.
Andy Baker: You are one of the best people i have ever met, a true role model. You really made me happy with what you had to say to me, and thanks for the constructive criticism while volunteering, i look forward to the next time our paths cross.

Ken Leung:Ken where do i start, you let me work with you and you put up with me for 3 days whether it was while setting up the system, or it was while you rested and i did the scoring. You are an amazing person and it was truly an honor to sit by your side and work with you as a score keeper, it was not only a learning experience from what you taught me about the system but also just what you didn't know what you taught me. I personally can not thank you enough for the time spent at the scoring table or trying to fix the two button boxes, you are awesome and are another role model. I wish to work again at an event with you, it would be my pleasure.

Team 222: For who did not know this team 222 made special arrangements to make room and take time out of their schedules to work it out for me to go, they took me and roomed me. This is an amazing team on and off the field, for the problems they have overcome and the amazing amount of outreach they have. They may be from the middle of no-wheres (lol) but they are an exemplified team. I thanked each of you before personally, and i would love to work again with you all, cliff the Xplorer is evil (take a look for all who may be confused in the iri photo album for the Ford Explorer from 222)! I had a blast with you all and i hope to go again to another event with you all (take this as my asking of travel next year with you) and also i hope that my team does run with you guys at an event, you guys will always be looked at me as a team I'm welcome on. Also Steve and Cliff thanks for taking your own time out to do the 11 hour drives and to work with your team to get them and me there.

The C.D. Regulars; Katie R., Jeff W., John V.N., Aaron L., Sarah R., Sara from 30, Big Mike, D.J. Fluck, Both Gilberts, Erin R., Alshlee S., Chell, Josh and all others i may have forgot: It was great meeting you all and i had a blast being crew with most of you, it was a great time seeing you and finally placing a face to many screen names and user names, you are true friends and thanks for all who introduced themselves to me...

Refs: Thank you to the not so many of you who took the times out of your schedules and the time away from your teams for being there and doing the belly checks and all the great calls, great job being a ref this past weekend, you all were great and it was a nice time.

Paul and Dan: Thank you for doing the announcing, you made this event a step above many others with great commentating and some impersonations (Dan doing Raul). It was cool seeing both of you again, and next year i just hope that we see both of you again somewheres doing your announcing as a team, your both one of a kind!

Hosting Teams and Cyber Blue Parents: Thank you for taking your time out to organize and make this event a happening. This would not have been what it was with out you all.

Kenny Ardizzone: Thank you for Representing Soap there and to make the web-cast possible. You are great and it was a nice thing for you to travel to IRI to do the web-casting and the archiving.

All other Volunteers and those who i forgot: Thank you for just saying hi or introducing yourself to me, it was also great of you to volunteer here and work to make this whole thing happen. You all deserve a thank you but i just cant go on and on here...

All the Teams: Thanks for coming, this could not have been the event and competition with out all the teams that were there. All the matches i enjoyed and found that you all are awesome people with great team work.

If any of you would like to contact me my aim screen name is Dezdezdez25 and my email address is Dezdezdez25@netscape.net

Yours Truly,
Michael Dessingue

I'd like to thak all six finalists for a really exciting end to a wonderful regional!!!

In Addition to thanking everybody who has all ready been mentioned I would like to thank

Clark Gilbert Without the music selections you made I dont think IRI would have been have the fun it was, great job filling time between the finals matches.

Who can forget the Smurfs' techno remix & the outburst of Spongebob in the middle of IRI?? All I'm complaining of is not having a voice to sing all the great songs played.

Or what about "Sweet Home Indiana"? I got a kick out of that.