Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

:ahh: Wow I'm amazed at how much attention we got!! I mean, it's my first year on the team and i get bombarded with people asking for pictures and how we doing. It's like we're celeberties or someting. I personally would like to thank Team 1422 for cheering with us even when they didn't have too! As well as team 1097 even when they didn't have as many of their team members there as they did in San Jose. All I really have to say is I had a great time in Atlanta with all of the teams from all over the US and the world and I hope I have as much fun next year as I did this year. I would stongly like to have team members from teams 1097 and 1422 reply to this message as well as anyone else would k! :D

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

Dear Bo,

Take my word for it, you are no ce·leb·ri·ty ;)

Jack
PS: Just kidding my friend :) You guys are stars in my book :D

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

I liked most everything. The venue is nice and the food wasn't too bad but not Disney. People flow needs the biggest improvement. The almost two mile walk from Archemides pits to seating area got a little tough to handle after 7 matches. Why should you have to go up 6 levels then come down two and walk to the opposite diagonal of the dome? I attended the electrical seminar which was well attended. I would guess that the others were the same and that means a lot of people were able to get some great info on robots. Keep the seminars but change the times so there are none that occur during match times. The pits didn't seem too confining but the aisles nearest the field did fill up on occassion. I would leave the jib cameras out for next year. There was no interesting video coming from them and I know they are very expensive. Ceremonies on Einstein should be viewable on the other fields and on the big screens in the dome just like last year at Houston. You could at least keep tabs on other teams. The big screens in the pits should be dedicated to individual divisions and placed over the pit area so divisions could see their standings and not crowd into the center aisles. Teams should be able to transport pit gear directly to the pit floor and not need to share elevator space from the top level. The convention center has a full size truck dock and several drive up overhead doors for that purpose. Outside traffic flow should improve when construction is complete so that should be better next year. The food police should be a little more flexible in that food purchased at the convention center should be OK for the dome. I saw many people stopped for having pop or water purchased in the convention center as they entered the dome. Bathrooms should be checked more frequently to clean up and remove paper from containers.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I spoke with a rep from the GA Dome on Saturday afternoon. She told me to send all good/bad feedback to atlantafalcons.com and georgiadome.com. I went there to find an email address, but the only one I could find was feedback@fans.atlantafalcons.com. If anyone else can find a feedback email address on either site, please post it so that we can let them know what we think needs to be improved.

They loved hosting it because of the nature of the event. Rarely does the dome host an event of that size which is educational and fun. Hopefully they'll have all the kinks worked out by next year.


-Randy

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

The Good
1. Venue was out-standing. It was clean, bright, and well organized.

2. The Pits were very good. Good spacing, aisles generally clear, enough light to see.

3. The robot transport from the pits to the playing field was very good. It was relatively short and direct. Combined with the generally open aisles (compared to Disney in 2001 especially), it was very easy to get from the pit to the field and back again.

4. Good spacing for matches and good number of matches.

5. Field announcers were excellent (as usual).

6. Refs were very good.

7. The food situation in the World Congress Center was pretty good. There was selection and the prices weren't all that bad. OK, there were coffee and apples at reasonable prices. I don't know about anything else.

8. There were several things to do in WCC (such as the Hall of Fame, the Rover Mock Up, the FIRST store, the Conference). If you had a free moment and were tired of lurking in the pits, you weren't likely to get bored.

8. The practice field in the pits was wonderful. We only had an opportunity to use it for one practice, but that made up for the practice that we missed on the actual field.

The Bad
1. Load in was horrible. What an unpleasant surprise. When we arrived at 7:00 on Thursday, it took forever to find out which entrance FIRST had arranged for us to enter (no signs to speak of or confusing signs). When we entered, there was a looooooong line for the freight elevator. We ended up bypassing the freight elevator (at considerable physical effort) to finally get into the pit. I think we trimmed it down to :30. Still, there is no reason that we shouldn't have been into the venue and in our pit in :05.

2. The Load Out was not much better. Announcments wanted us to leave the pit by 5:00. However, the event ran past 5:00. So, if you wanted to beat the rush or make their deadline, you had to unload and repark to watch the rest of the event (there goes another $8).

3. The travel time between the pits and the venue to watch matches was both excessive and fatiguing for pit crew members. We lost valuable pit time when the pit crew went to watch our matches. So, we stopped going to watch matches in order to be ready to work on the robot. Perhaps in future years they can install a "pit crew lane" between pits and competition venue and give the three pit crew people expedited access to the arena just like the robot operators.

4. Pit announcments needed some work. With the "first call, second call, final call, final final call, no we really mean it this time call, GET YOUR ROBOT OUT HERE NOW call" there was a constant, annoying pit announcer buzz. If you actually responded to first call, you ended up standing at the playing field for a very long time. They need to get the timing between calling matches and playing matches refined.

5. The pit announcers stopped announcing "Team XXX needs a YYY part" in order to keep up the incessant match calls.

The Ugly
1. I had a vague, undefined, and undefinable feeling that this event was not "about the competitors" but about something else. For those of you who remember when FIRST pushed up the match times in 2000 in order to do "Good Morning America" you know what I mean.

2. I realized at some point over the weekend that I was at a robot competition. The message to "compete, compete, compete" was louder than the message to "inspire, inspire, inspire."

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

One thing I was disappointed about was the lack of free FIRST event shirts like we have had at nationals for at least the past 4 years. This years shirts didn't even look like event shirts and you had to purchase them, and they weren't cheap. The ammount of "reserved" seating in the stands for oppening ceremony and the finals/awards was bothersome. Attendants would say, you can't sit there because its reserved seating, then no one would sit there and they'd open the section after the ceremony had started which caused masses of people to get up a move around during finals matches.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

I think the problem was that they didn't make it known to the volunteers that they had a section reserved for them; there were only a handful of us up there. Three rows were also being reserved for the hearing impaired, so they could have a good view of the signer.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I didn't like how they had the Lego League on Einstein, mainly because you couldn't hear what was going on on the other fields. The audio from Einstein dominated over the rest of the fields, and in my opinion, took away from what was going on on the four other fields. I think in the future, if they are going to put Lego League on Einstein, they need to adjust the sound levels. It was nice to see the Lego League there though. The food at the event wasnt too bad either.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I probably shouldn't but here goes-
Basically atlanta was a really bad choice
Between the panhandlers and the drug deals to the charges for transportation to the crappy hotels to the less than good food, this was the worst experience I have ever had at a FIRST competition.
No parking or in and out parking - paid $48 to park 1 night -
Loooooooong walks
load in and out was a joke
not organization at all.
Atlanta sold FIRST a bill of goods
Can you tell I wasn't happy.

KY

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

And i forgot about the parking police who almost gave us a ticket thursday morning trying to find where to go, thanks to an many more lost souls for helping us out of it. With a year to plan they didn't. and the volunteer who wouldn't let me in to the pits with only 50 feet between me and our crate.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I have to admit i was happier with Atlanta than I was with Houston, but yes, to every competition there are positives and negatives. The distance between the pits and the ramps etc, were not nearly as bad. The food was still overpriced (and if you noticed they changed the prices each day based on what sold and what didn't), but far better than the stadium food last year. The arena and the pit area were nicer and more organized. I have only positive feedback this year, and I hope the negative things people find can be changed and improved for next years' competition.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

Hehehe. The food was great. You had about 50 differnt choices. Some of those boothes actually surprised me. I never expected that I could buy Starbucks or even roasted nuts with my coupons. The hotel we were in was actually very luxurious. I guess it depended on where you stayed. Also, I think people's experiences depend on whether you are from a city or not. People from the cities are more used to most if not all of the complaints since we deal with them everyday.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I was quite happy with this year's nationals. My only problem with it is that teams didn't seem as spirited as they were at regionals since there was such a seperation between the stands and the field. You didn't feel as much apart of it, I least I didn't, when we were sitting there watching our team play.
Food wasn't too bad. I actually had an excess of tickets it felt like.

I really dont have any negative things to say about it.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

I just liked the simple fact that hundreds of nerds and techgeeks took over a city that was 8 years ago taken over by the olympics.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I personally liked Atlanta. This was my first national trip and i was pleased. Yes i did feel sorry for all those who had to go up 5 escalators, around the building, down another escalator and 1/2 way around the Georgia Dome two times an hour and the congestion on Thursday's unloading. However, they did do a good job realizing the problem and finding a really quick, easy, and organized (from what I saw) way to load up our bus after the competition. The practice field was very nice too. I wish I would have seen the booth where the FIRST apperal was being sold at, but being in the pits all day, I didn't get out much.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I know what you mean Bo when I was at the Hall of Fame booth people kept saying that they use our web site all the time. And when I was walking back and fourth people where saying that we were really doing a good job.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

You must have stayed on the wrong side of the dome.

A couple tips if you're going next year

• Be sure to reserve early and stay in a 4 or 5 diamond hotel ... Hyatt, Omni, etc. In general, they are in better areas, and don't cost any more under the FIRST package.
• If you pass by an agressive panhandler pick up your cell phone and call 911. Panhandling is illegal in Atlanta. If you're still uncomfortable, walk in large groups, no one wants to mess with a large crazy looking group all wearing the same shirt.
• For food, drop a line at georgiadome.com or atlantafalcons.com to complain about the quality/price. Or, you could always hop over to the CNN center for lunch. There they have a lot of the major chains at regular prices.
• Parking -
  1) Park at the hotel and walk. The dome is only a few minute walk from the Omni, and was only a 15 minute or so walk from the Hyatt.
  2) Find close lots. We paid $8/day for parking @ the dome, and were only a 1 minute walk to the door

-Randy

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

Well hey you guys are like celebrities to us. It's not like you get to meet people who run one of the largest message boards related to FIRST robotics. Hehe next year maybe we can get our SCHOOL to go to nationals. hehe largest cheering section ever. :D We had a great time cheering with you. We'll get our skip-clap practice down and maybe an exercise routine for next year.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

I agree with Al on all of his points with special emphsis on the pit walk and food situations. I think the 2004 Championship was much better than the 2003 Championship and I know the "issues" that still exist can be solved or improved upon.

That being said, I'd still love to see FIRST and Disney come to an agreement in the long run. Nowhere else can 20,000 people have fun of all different kinds and still be safe and in the "same place". The only part about Disney that wasn't as good was the lack of an actual stadium.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

Here are some good and bad impressions-

good- diversity of foods were available at the stadium
bad- the price still was pretty poor- $8 got you a soda and fries....
solution- instead of FIRST requiring the purchase of meal ticket plans where the tix were essentially worh a buck why not just publicize the prices at the venue and let people pay cash? It was especially cheap for the vendors to refuse to give change for the vouchers, thus jacking up their prices even more

good- the view of the fields and such from the stands at the stadium
bad- the poor handling of the open ceremonies and parade from the view of the fields on the opposite side of the stadium
solution- make sure that the events on the main stage are aired on the big screen for all the fields. Why this wasn't done is beyond me but it was surreal to hear a big commotion and see crowds of little kids in the distance marching towards some horizon. Kind of made the Newton field seem unimportant....

good- the Omni hotel- the place was beautiful and rooms were nice
bad- why do the hotels at all these FIRST events insist on breaking up teams to rooms all over the building?
solution- since the hotel gives THS blocks of rooms they should give clusters of rooms to the teams. Unless they prefer to have teens all over their building unsupervised?


good- the closing party. The hypnotist was great and the fireworks were a real spectacle amongst the big buildings and reflective surfaces. The BBQ was also pretty good and the food service was well planned
bad- I think the moon walk mardi gras was probably better suited to younger kids and it didn't seem like many kids were using them
solution- How about a name act like Blue Man Group for next year?


good- the Georgia Dome Complex- it was huge and big enough to bring 600 teams to the nationals.... hint hint
bad- signage and locations of things- while working in the info booth it seemed that the same questions were being asked over and over and this was simply because no coherent signage was visible.


good- MARTA- I was shocked to realize that my entire team got to the venue and back without a hitch
bad- the venue crowd control- when 5000 people are trying to exit and there are only three turnstyle doors you open the ten other doors right next to them so people can get out. Some folks need a bit more common sense...

Overall my team found the event the best Nationals since Disney.We had a great time and the team really grew from the experience. Of course we still want to go back to Epcot but Atlanta was the next best thing.

WC

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I heard a rumor it's so there wouldn't be a team having a big block party - splitting the team solves the problem.

I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with that idea, until you put it, "all over their building unsupervised".

I requested all our rooms be together. I requested the girls' room be next to ours. Neither happened, until after we got there we were able to move the girls next to our room. 1/2 our team was even in a different tower.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

Since this was my first trip I would say it was good. I have a problem with the walk from the pits to the stands and the cost of parking was insane for a day. We stayed near the airport because the cost of the hotels near the event was insane for our small team. I believe that the cost was to high for the teams.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

What I say here is based on my experience with Atlanta compared to the rest of my nine years of attending FIRST championships.

1) Overall, I like Epcot. The atmosphere is fantastic. The food is decent. If your team stays on-property, you are probably the best place in the world for turning 15,000 teenagers free to have fun without getting into trouble. It is not that great for watching matches on the "big stage," but otherwise, from the competition standpoint, it is pretty good.

2) Atlanta, overall, is much better than Houston. There were hotels close to the competition site. The food was somewhat better. It was much easier for the drive teams to get from the pits to the playing fields. It was a little better for the spectators to get from the pits to the playing fields, and the "wrap" party was very good. The party was, to me, better than the ones at Epcot.

If I had my choice, we'd still be at Epcot, but overall, this years championship was a very good event, and with lessons learned, should be even better next year.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I have to agree with Kit about Epcot being better than either Houston or Atlanta.

Houston was a bad choice but you don't really know that until you've tried it. The venue was difficult to navigate and the neighborhood surrounding Reliant Stadium made me feel like I was in a demilitarized zone. Not much to do with 40 students/mentors/parents that was within walking distance. Oh well, lesson learned.

Atlanta was light years better than Houston. Good proximity of hotels to eating establishments (one of my favorite past times), MARTA, the Dome and GWCC, and other after-hours points of interest. The walk to the field from the pits was great for the field teams but rough for the spectators. Dean could make a killing selling Segways at an event like this! :) The venue itself was clean, neat and well organized. Event staff were realtively friendly although I agree that they were a bit tight on allowing food purchased on site to be taken between the dome and GWCC. On more than one occasion I saw serious "discussions" relating to this. All in all, Atlanta was a good site.

That being said, Epcot still rules! The event site is set up for the needs of FIRST and the competition rather than FIRST adapting to what they are provided. Close quick walks for everybody from the pits to the fields to the food. Disney puts on one heck of a show! And I don't have to worry about my students after hours. They all have someplace to go and something to do and it's all "G" rated! Being on Disney property is like being in a different world and there are no worries when you're there.

My vote is still for Epcot but Atlanta was a reasonably close second place.

Sean

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

One thing I loved about Houston and Atlanta was the fields! Each field had proper seating for everybody. If anybody remembers two years ago (or more) all fields except for Einstein were cramped, and unless you team was competing, you could only really have 1 or 2 people watching matches. Though the Stadiums might seem a bit big even for a program like FIRST, it makes me think that in 5 or 10 years, maybe the entire lower section will be filled, and in 10-20 years, maybe the whole stadium (imagine how many fields you would need).

I will agree though that because we were in a Disney World resort area, that I felt safer overall. I loved being able to walk to Marketplace as well!

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

A couple of years ago, I happened to be driving through Orlando (on my way home from visiting relatives) when the FIRST Nationals were being held. I stopped by to watch a match or two of the finals. Unfortunately, my home town's TechnoKats were no longer in the running by the time I got there. I remember thinking three things about the location:

• It was outdoors and hot, with little or no shade for the stands.
• Even though it was not in an enclosed area, the music was uncomfortably loud.
• If it had been raining, it would have been very bad.

I think having a covered (and climate controlled) stadium is a much greater benefit than being in the middle of Disney World.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possibl
 

Well, everyone here knows my Houston vs. Disney opinions, so I'll just say that I'd too rather be at Disney, but Atlanta was a great substatue and did all it could. Anyway....

Food: Good choices, bad prices. Simple as that. I would keep the current system but remove the whole $2.50 thing and have the people refuse to give change thing. If you had a problem with the prices, you could go to the Omni, but that wasn't known to teams, and many found out from second hand comments of teams staying there.

Transportation: We walked, so from the Omni, it was great. Only saw two pannhandlers, but being from Cleveland and having to deal with lots more, I thought it was good.

Walk: Yes, the walk was horrible. Couldn't they just open it up so people could just walk from the first elevator out into the plaza where they had the GM exhibit, and then into the Dome? Or could they just go through where the bots did? Could be improved, but this place wasn't designed for what we inteded it's use to be, but isn't that what engineering is?

Competiton: Overall, great, but I did sense a bit of "Dean is talking to the media about you now. He'll talk to you latter" type thing. I remember back at Disney when he went in the pits to talk and even talked to kids around the competition. Man, I miss those days.... :(

Party: Wayne said it best, get a big name that people that we like and know. No Mandy Moore, get Blue Man Group, or Evenessence. Hyptnotist was great, but mabey if they had him as a warm-up act.

Overall, I liked it better than Houston, but it's still no Epcot. Disney's business was to entertain and handle people, Houston didn't have much experence in that, and Atlanta only did it 8 years ago, it's not like you have to re-invent the wheel every year.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

over all i thought everything went pretty smoothly. people that had to scout definetly got a work out walking back and forth between the field and pits. everything was clean and well organized for the most part. i know im not the only one thinking this, but we definetly had a nice area to hack it up or play frisibee. there was plenty of room to do both. we had people playin frisibee while there was a 17 person hack circle goin on. we all had a really great time. hope next year is better if thats possible. for this bein my first year with delphi E.L.I.T.E and it was incredible. i met so many new people. alot of people from 1126 sparx and just people from all around like michigan. and students that were in college. i cant wait til next year.

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

The four "division" fields were in air conditioned tents. They were reasonably good for watching matches. Sometimes, there seemed to not be enough seats, but in general, there were.

Everyone played a match or two on the Einstein field which was outdoors. The stage was under cover, but the seats were not, and the seats were too far away and too low relative to the stage for good viewing of matches. One of the (few IMHO) advantages of Atlanta over Epcot, is that it is much better for watching "final four" matches, if you get a seat early in a good area. Our team was stuck over by the Curie field for the awards and finals matches, and we couldn't see the matches at all except on the monitor. The lower center area was full or "restricted," the second level was full, and for some unknown reason, they wouldn't let us go to the upper deck. Maybe they will next year, or at least that is a suggestion.

Demilitarized Zone???
 

Sean, you are a teacher? Students, as Sean indicated, this is a great lesson learned, "When you are using the written word, you must be VERY careful because it's more dangerous than a loaded gun!"

Houston has no demilitarized zones and there are no tanks or GIs patrolling my neighborhood streets. If you are in Houston, please contact me and I'll be happy to show you around a great city!

I've had enough of the Houston bashing, it's time to start defending my demilitarized zone,
Lucien

P.S. Again, congratulations Atlanta for putting on a great Championship!

Re: Demilitarized Zone???
 

Food and party was much better than in Houston. I think the party was even better than Epcot party's at Disney in the past. Overall I give Atlanta a two thumbs up. Still room for improvement, but that's expected in anything and anywhere.

Re: Demilitarized Zone???
 

Sorry, Lucien! I wasn't trying to bash Houston. I just didn't feel as safe around Reliant Park as I did on Disney property in Orlando. Of course, there aren't many places in our country, or the world for that matter, that are as safe as Disney.

The smart aleck side of me wants to point out that my reference to that portion of Houston around Reliant Park as a DMZ was a simile, and not a direct reference to any particular piece of real estate in Houston that was, in fact, demilitarized. The nice guy in me realizes that words can be harsh and I went a bit far in my analysis of Houston.

I'm sure Houston has a kinder, gentler side and I'd like to see it someday.

Sean

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I have been to 4 national championships over the past 5 years, and as many have already said, there are ups and downs of any venue. I'll start like this:

Epcot-

Probably the best fundamental place to hold a robotics championship. Epcot is supposed to be a showcase of technology and potential future applications of technology to improve quality of life. As many have said, it's one of the safest places you can turn thousands of teenagers loose and not worry about very much trouble.

Logistically though, I feel FIRST has outgrown it's homeland. I remember in 2000, before divisions were created, we rotated fields every match. Seating wasn't too much of a problem, as teams had to shift from field to field to follow their team, so it seemed more people were up and walking than sitting, which made things very comfortable. I didn't get the opportunity to attend 2001, but in 2002 it seemed much more crowded. Teams would pick out sections of bleacher and sit, waiting for their team to come up, not moving much otherwise. It seemed very tight, and very difficult to find seating to watch matches. Maybe it was because there were 3 fields in the same relatively small tent, but there really wasn't much room to breathe. True, the tents were air conditioned, which was nice and freezing cold in the morning, but I remember at one point, the air conditioners broke down, and it instantly became an oven.

The parties in Epcot were always fun, with decent food, and of course, all the ammenities Epcot has to offer (exhibits and the like). Overall though, Disney was good times.

Houston-

I was a referee on Curie for Houston, so I didn't have a team to hang around, but as an individual I didn't think it was bad. It was my first time traveling by myself, and that made for a very interesting experience. I met a lot of great people, like Ken L, and the volunteer food wasn't bad at all. I can't speak for the facility's food, since I didn't get a chance to sample it. My main dislike were the same as many- the mile trek from the pits to the fields, which was probably about the same as it was in Atlanta, except there were ramps instead of escalators, and robots had to go the same way, up all those ramps. Given the proximity of hotels this year, the whole bus thing seemed a bit of a pain, although that wasn't much differant from Disney anyway. The team party I have mixed feelings about. I don't think a standard theme park makes for a good party place, especially when it's still open to the public. Of course, rides are fun, but it doesn't have the same atmosphere somewhere like Epcot or Centenial Park has, where you can meet with other teams and talk for a while.

Atlanta-

I was back with my team for the Georgia Dome. Overall, the venue was pretty good. Plenty of seating for each division (except for the finals, it seemed a little tight for everyone to be gathered around one field.) The walk from pits to stands was pretty long, but the escalators helped quite a bit. As someone else mentioned, plenty of room for random teenage activities- hacking, frisbee, etc. And I really can't complain about the food. Stadium food has a reputation for being particularly bad, but I really didn't find anything I couldn't stomach in the dome. Nice thing was, if you didn't like one thing, there were 4 or 5 other places you could try, not to mention the close by CNN center and easily accessible Starbucks.

Personally, I think this year's team party was one of the best I've ever been to. The food was excellent, considering the preportion of people they had to feed. The activities were great- laser tag, hypnotist, fireworks, the inflatable bounce-around things, hacking, frisbee, and of course, socializing. The park had a very friendly atmosphere, and I felt it really stimulated much team bonding. I saw many students actively taking on mentors in the obstacle course, the jousting thing, and the novelty boxing. To respond to someone who said FIRST should get one big name act- I'll respectfully disagree, and say I doubt you'll be able to find any one act everyone in FIRST will enjoy. The amount of people involved surely represent a very diverse interest, especially concerning music. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to have an artist or two come to perform, but I hope they'll have other options open for the people with differant tastes, like they did this year.

There's my shilling and a half, for what it's worth. Here's hoping that FIRST puts on a great event next year! And of course, thanks to FIRST for all they've done so far!!

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

The venue was great and the pits were better organized than Houston. The team party was really great too, but ended way too early!

You are somewhere else
 

Ahhhhh, I see defending Houston will be a 24-hour-a-day job :(
Joseph, that goes without saying after this quote last year.
Also,
*The world's largest rodeo where 1.9 million people attended this year and over $100 million went to scholarships, graduate assistantships, endowments and grants.
*The Superbowl
*NFL, NBA, & MLB teams
*Brand new METRO Rail with tens of thousands of hotel rooms within a block of the rail
*Shell Houston Open PGA Tournament with over $5.2 million in charitable donations which ranks 2nd on the PGA tour behind our friends hosting the Byron Nelson in Dallas
*4th largest city in America

Yes, Joseph, we have proven that we can handle and entertain people; and yes, FIRST does listen to all of your comments made on CD; and yes, your comments do have a reflection on your team.

Again, congratulations Atlanta for putting on a great Championship,
Lucien

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I'll bet you stayed at the "Super 8 Hotel". This was the worse dump I have ever been in.

I also agree that the panhandlers were a constant bother..you could not get to the CNN center without being hit up several times..this is real bad..not a first issue, but the chamber of commerce or mayor of Atlanta needs a few letters..

Load in was horrendous. We had a first volunteer get militant with us on Wed night, telling us that we could not get info on the load-in because it would give us an unfair advantage...huh? I am sure that the freight elevator location and info was a major part in us coming in Second in Newton finals..
;-)

But I think my experience would have been better If we had been at the Omni hotel or the embassy suites..less walking and staying off the streets for panhandlers..

Re: You are somewhere else
 

Natchez,

The truth is I loved Houston and would love to go back. People on this forum will always use past events to compare current events and in that manner Houston will always have a black marks of sorts.

You've got to look at what the places we have been built for. Disney is built to handle thousands of kids who are tourists. It has that safe feeling. Disney spoiled FIRST for several years. But I gets the impression that some people hold Epcot as a perfect unattainable goal. They compare everything with epcot and say everything else doesn't live up to it. I've only been involved for two years now so I can really say but I've got my impression that epcot had it's share of problems.

The second place is Atlanta. Everything was built specifically for the Olympics. So they built it so it would be really nice, lot a hotel rooms adn restaurants in a walking distance, and have a lot of space in the GWCC and Georgia Dome. Being downtown had a intimate feeling for FIRST.

Last you've got Houston. I love the facility. I loved the pit set-up in Houston a lot more. I even enjoyed running up and down those ramps (I thought it was exciting to be coming up when someone who had just won their match (or at least was spirited) was coming down. I loved six flags and Heeeyyy. People just never gave Houston a chance. I thought it was a blast................Okay I lost what I was trying to point out. I've just realized how much I really loved being in Houston. Sure their were slight issues but Atlanta had issues, epcot had issues.


Issues: I guess my biggest issue with Houston was having to eat at the golden corral multiple times because our team can't make decisions about what to eat so they go buffet. Ordering a buffet when your not very hungry isn't worth it. I have yet to go on a robotics trip where a have a warm pool when I get there. I guess it hasn't stopped me from going in. The no longer Radisson Astrodome and the Embassy Suite both had ice cold pools.

Re: You are somewhere else
 

I understand your defending your city. I'll even defend my original home town of Kokomo, Indiana, but the fact remains that the Houston event had many more "issues" than Atlanta or Epcot. The one thing that we can all appreciate is that things were put together quickly enough that we were able to have a championship in 2003. Even having the event was probably in question for a while.

One thing that kind of bothered me is that the historic Astrodome was conspicuously ill-maintained and appeared to be waiting to be demolished. I consider it historic because, to my knowledge, it was the first indoor stadium of its type built for playing football. Having been to Europe several times, I've seen a lot of the "preserve and restore" mentality of, say, Italy and I like it in contrast to the "throw it all away" mentality of America. I guess that is off-topic, and to my knowledge, the Astrodome is still there. It just looked like it might not be for long.

Re: You are somewhere else
 

Knew that was going to come up. But in order to be gracious and professional, maybe we should discuss this more in Emil and PM. Now, back to our regularly scheduled post...

The Superbowl, METRO, and the rodeo happened THIS year, not last. As someone who as grown up in a city, I can say that much can change over one year. I still stand by my stains that Houston has and is designed as a CITY, a place where people come to do work, eat lunch, and then go home, just like Atlanta. Disney moved people like crazy. Wanted to go back to the hotel to get something? There were busses and even more busses. At Houston, you had a small 3 hour window in the morning and evening to go back to the hotel. Not only to say that my comments were taken out of context, that I wanted to SEE Houston before I jump on the 'YAY! MY HOMETOWN IS HOSTING CHAMPS! IT WILL BE GREAT" bandwagon. Notice the date? Yeah, it was 4 months before Champs. I offered my opinions and you can take them or leave them.

I know my comments reflect my team, as do yours. I don't know why you have to 'defend' Houston, just as if Richmond held the Champs and it didn't do as well as the previous year that I would defend it. Separate hometown pride and FIRST. Sure, Disney wasn't the greatest, I'll be the first to say that, but for moving people and having them entertained, I'd take Disney over Houston or Atlanta, or even Richmond, ANY day due to the fact that it can handle and entertain people better and they don't have to reinvent the wheel every year.

PS, We have one person on our team from Houston, so we knew the in's and out's of the place.

If you want to continue this debate, send me a PM or Emil me at josephm1314@yahoo.com . I'd love to continue it, but I don't think that the people on CD want to continue to hear it.

Joe Matt

Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)
 

I liked Atlanta a lot. A lot of people are complaining about the homeless, but they really didnt bother me. Living near San Francisco my whole life, I'm used to much more aggressive homeless people doing a lot of drugs.

Our hotel was really great. Kudos to FIRST for getting deals with all these nice hotels, at good distances from the venue.

The venue was good. The setup of the venue wasnt the greatest. Pit aisles could stand to be widened a few feet. It was darn near impossible to get through some of them throughout the day. I thought pit size was pretty good, but maybe a tad smaller than the standard 10 feet.

The walk from the pits to the field with the robot was good. The security people there were a little overzealous in their quest to turn back people without badges, but you can't really blame them.

The walk from the pits to the dome was WAY too long. There has to be a more direct route. I know there were stairs, but the escalators delayed everything. you would have to leave the dome almost 30-40 minutes before your match started if you were a member of the drive team.

Food in the dome, while overpriced was not that bad. Had you gone to an Atlanta Falcons game, the food would have costed much more than what we paid. Quality of the food was not top notch, but at least there was a fair selection. I see all these people complaining about food prices, but then at the competition I saw all these people trying to get rid of their extra meal coupons on Saturday, so I'm not really sure where the complaint is.

Was I the only one that discovered "Food World" on the lower level of the GWCC? Good, cheap food :)

The Einstein sound system "leaked" into the Galileo and Curie fields during FLL. Not the end of the world, but a little annoying. Kind of unavoidable.

The upper decks above Einstein should have been opened during the finals. I know the second one was, but during the awards/finals, people were stretched all the way from Curie to Galileo.

The Team party was awesome. I didn't do any of the games and stuff, but it sure looked like there was a lot of cool stuff to do, and I had a bunch of fun.

Overall, not much to complain about beyond the walk from the pits to the stands. I will look forward to an even better competition next year :)

Cory