SOAP GameDay
 

It is with great pleasure that I introduce what I've been working on all day -- SOAP GameDay. To put it simply, it is an in-browser event viewing portal. Event information, embedded webcasts, scores, and rankings are all displayed in real time, at the same time, so you never need to rummage through dozens of URLs to get your daily FIRST results. And to top it all off, Meebo's embeddable chat is included for all of those watching to chat it up before, during, or after events. Everything is automated, so it will take care of itself and move onto the next week when the time comes.

This is an idea I have always had but never sat down to actually put together. I started working on it when the NJ regional kicked off, and 2 hours later had something for those watching the NJ webcast to experience. Since then I've been working on a more polished product, which is what you will see when you visit the site.

Several of you saw it in action earlier in an ugly and simple prototype with only the NJ regional. I appreciate all of the feedback I got. This is merely a "beta" and many more features will be added in the upcoming week. (expect a lot tomorrow during the events) I wanted to do as much as I could and release it so we could all use it for the last day of week 1.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I'm too beat to get my thoughts together. So please, snoop around, check it out, and spread the word. I am open to any feature requests and ideas. Thanks!

http://gameday.soap108.com/

Notice: The main page is meant to display all of the webcasts that are streaming on the current week. Its simple, sloppy, and broken in IE. I will have a better "week dashboard" by next week. Click on an actual regional to dive deeper.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Will the Midwest Regional be broadcasted?

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

This is awesome! Very well done. Love the name "gameday".

The only issue I have is when you hit a tab, it logs you out and back in of the chat and its kinda annoying cause it may not recognize me as the same person.

Other than that, I love it.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

HAHAH!!!!! Oh, man. I was just about to start a thread to suggest just a system after reading about awful camera work. Awesome job, looks good so far. I'd like to help out in this effort, so if there's anything you need or want help with, email me.

music4david@gmail.com

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Midwest is streaming right now.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Awesome, wow, great... been looking for and thinking, wishing for something like this... thank you, thank you, thank you!

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

great job, it would be nice to actually see the aliances as well,

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

so is it live or recorded......either way it's really nice.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

It is 100% live. So watch it now, then revel in it's glory on TBA later!!!

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

coooooooool this makes me want florida regional to come even more than before!

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

I've been watching the Midwest Regional as glued to it as I am to football (love the name). I think that SOAP GameDay is cool and hope that they can keep this up every week.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Great idea and good execution. Very cool! :D

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

All I can say is wow. That's a great idea. :)

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

I want to thank 108 for the SOAP GameDay! For the first time in my 4 years with team 836, I had to miss a tournament. I was (and still am) stuck in California - but was able to watch my team at the NJ Tournament because of your efforts! Thank you!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

It was awesome. I felt not only like I was in the action, but watching it with over 50 people (Meebo chatroom) who felt the same way. I like how it handles more than 70 people and still moves smoother than a greased gear. My only gripe is that the chat doesn't stay the same place when you swith regionals, but that's only minor. Otherwise, awesome awesome awesome!!!! :)

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

You're are all very welcome! I am very glad to hear that you guys found it useful and enjoyed it. I really appreciate all the support I have gotten the past couple of days.


The chat situation will be fixed in the next update.


It will be up every week, supporting every regular season event including all of the championship fields.


My biggest goal for creating this was to create an environment that would make you feel like you were apart of the action. The chat really brings things together. Instead of all of these people watching from their boring stand-alone player, they can interact with others and the information. Yesterday, the chat averaged about 71 people at any given time, and peaked at 86.


I am working hard on this next version to make your experience even better. If you have any feature requests, feel free to ask! Thanks again for everyone's support! I will respond to any requests as they come in.

--------

Chat Notice: I have received a few complaints about some people's lack of GP while using the chat feature. PLEASE only say things that are safe to say here and keep the garbage to yourself. We want people to feel welcome. We certainly don't want people to make a bad name for themselves, their team, other teams, or FIRST in general.

Some of the users were outside users, totally not involved with FIRST, and they were taken care of when I spotted them. Others were apart of the FIRST community and were simply out of line. Because Meebo's chat is lacking in features, I am the only person able to immediately ban people. If I'm not around, they will remain in the chat. In order to ban someone as a group, you must warn them. After a few warnings, they will be kicked and banned. I am currently looking into other chat alternatives, and may even write my own from scratch. If we decide to continue to use Meebo's chat, you guys need to help each other out and warn those that need it. Thanks.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

I was thinking the same thing about outside users or whatnot. Maybe find an alternative where you could delegate a few mods.

One small request, I noticed that each regional has a different layout. I'm sure you're working on it, but I just wanted to bring that up. Keep it up!

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

This is an absolutley phenomenal idea, and something I look forward to using. Great job, another quality service to the FIRST community coming from SigmaC@T.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

I havent seen this but I was curious as to how this worked with multiple regionals on the same day?

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

At the top where there's an error, it turns into multiple tabs. Wait, he just brought it down for an update. Well, there were tabs at the top of the pages, basically you clicked them and it took you to a different regional webcast, standings, and match info. Also, the chat followed, but Meebo Rooms are somewhat a pain because it always changed your name.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Ok, I spoke with all the right people, and I can provide Buckeye. Thanks Matt!

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

UPDATE

I have been mindlessly working on a ton of new features for you guys to enjoy for this weekend. There are still a couple key features that need to be sewn in before I can release it. (They are developed, just need to integrate them with the system) That being said, the next version will go live Friday at 9am EST. So, for you to enjoy your practice day webcasts, I have left last week's version online and updated the events to support this week's set. This link will only be valid today, so don't rely on it past this evening.

http://gameday.soap108.com/v1/

Expect an extensive post tonight or tomorrow morning outlining this week's GameDay feature set. There are some really neat features that I'm sure you guys will enjoy, and I can't wait to put them in your hands. Until then, happy thursday and enjoy those webcasts!

This week's webcasts: Greater Kansas City Regional, Arizona Regional, NASA / VCU Regional

NASA / VCU Regional webcast link is still unkown. As soon as it is released, I will update the system.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

Thanks Matt. You guys always amaze me. Can't wait to see the new features (and Arizonia regional:D ).

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

This is so awesome! Thanks for all of your hard work.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

its looking great! are you guys going to put the VCU webcast up there too??

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

I am so sorry guys... I fell asleep accidentally.

VCU is up.

Re: SOAP GameDay
 

So, will gameday be up and running for atlanta?