Re: the good and the bad
 

Let me alaberate on what i said earlier

When i said that, i was meaning by having easier acess, less technical issues, and overall, better qualitywise webcasts broadcasted, for example, some regionals arn't as exciting as others, and those that are exciting end up having the problems, for example, i can say GTR was the best regional hands down AFTER a week when the SF's and F's were archived onto websites, i tried to tune in and it didn't work on saturday morning, i tried all day saturday but yet, nothing changed, i posted my problems on CD and nothing changed.. I think that every regional (UCF, VCU, the ones at the collages), probally have a TV crew, Film Club or something of that nature, maybe use their etquitment or personall, and that way, these people would get real world experance, and if it so happenes that the collage students end up having problems, they have the pro's from NASA or w/e voleters to fall back on

Think about all the Regionals that can be broadcasted useing this method. I think it's cost effective, because it's not like renting out servers, just use the schools, and your letting collage students get inspired by doing this and this way, i think everyone would win

Re: the good and the bad
 

If they are using ISDN modems we are in trouble. If each regional already has contracted the video work to another company things become a lot easier. I believe for the Florida Regional and others they used "Top Productions" Its very easy to set up a stream but the personnel it requires to send people to each event where a NASA site isn't located makes it difficult. Bandwith is not a problem. The problem is justifying having to send a computer and a rep to each event.

Re: the good and the bad
 

The Good:

-The Importance of Autonomous- Last year although autonomous was key, it usually did not deter the outcome of the match. This year, auton has EVERYTHING to do with the match.
-Boston regional-to echo some people, the Boston regional was one of my best FIRST experiences ever.
-The ramps- a really neat way to add a spin to the game

The Bad:

to add to a lot of people, the real time scoring. Although it was a fantastic idea it caused for a lot of mayhem at some of the regionals, and hopefully it will be used again next year, just improved upon.

Re: the good and the bad
 

Good
Robots actually moved and did something in autonomous.
Easy-C. Our team always seams to bog down with programming. This year
the programming was very do able by the students.
The alliance picking scheme.

Bad
Each year the entrance fee and funding hurdle seams to get bigger. Our school distinct supposedly supports our team but they sure Know how to put hurdles in our path.

Re: the good and the bad
 

Well for now, I would have to say the bumpers were a great addition this year. It help robots defend other robots without getting damage. Hopefully FIRST will keep this for years to come.