[Conor Ryan]

I really don't get all the complaining over this. Change happens and First is trying to give everyone a better experience, emphasizing the celebration part of the championships.


Look back to when the championships were in Disney. Plenty of teams signed up for a robotics competition but got a theme park trip too. Back then the division set up was quite similar it was to what it is going to be in St. Louis.

When the championships moved to Atlanta teams felt like First was taking the fun away out of the championships (mostly because they couldn't see Mickey Mouse), a few people also felt that by taking the fields away from the pits the event had a completely different feel to it (it felt nothing like a regional to some). People have grown accustomed to that in the last few years in Atlanta, but now we are in a different venue with different people and First has the ability to shake things up, so why not? Bringing in entertainers is something that I would call "Thinking Outside of the Box" for First, its never been attempted before on the scale like this, so you need to give it a shot before you go ahead and complain.

Having some level of competition in the pits should bring out the regional feel a bit, and I think having a world class entertainer will be a little bit more entertaining than having somebody speak again. But remember, those nutty people in Manchester who run this show are watching too, if it doesn't work out too well, they'll learn their lesson, but if it does work, oh man we might have found a way to solve the lack of STEM education in the world.

Also: For all you people who are wondering why they can't have the performers perform on the field: many of their contracts stipulate they cannot perform unless they have a stage that meets certain specifications. FIRST fields do not currently meet that.

Some words of advice: Go into it with an open mind, you might be surprised.