[robobandmom]

The Championship event was a great competition, but like most events, it had its highs and lows.

The Highs

Lots of great hotels pretty close to the venue. We qualified Week 6 and nice hotels downtown were still available.

Impressive facility. I can understand why St Louis was chosen; the Edward Jones dome and convention center are nice, HUGE facilities.

Upper Deck seating for Einstein. We were on the upper deck and you could see and hear things pretty well.

Friday Night Concert. I went as a parent chaperone, and it was great. I'm not really a huge BEP fan, but the concert had lots of energy and the kids loved it. It was a fantastic bonus for the RCA winners that got floor passes. Our kids had a great time. It would have been nice if the teams that had to play in the pits for 2 of the 3 days got floor passes.

Vending machines for drinks. This seems like a little thing, but if you ask me not to bring outside drinks I expect to be able to get a drink easily...and I could.

The Lows
One area to enter the complex was difficult. In Atlanta you could enter thru the Dome and thru multiple sides of the convention center. I don't understand why you could only enter from one area.

Lack of trash cans. This has been mentioned, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that thought this was a problem. One day I carried trash to several overflowing trash cans before I finally just sat my trash down next to an overflowing can.

Three stalls. The 2 women's restrooms closest to the Newton field and pits had 3 stalls each. There was always a line...usually a long line. Why were some of the restrooms in the pits blocked off? Perhaps they were under construction, but we really could have used them.

Layout in the pits for robot traffic. When you entered the pit area, you were immediately crossing the robot lane to get to the dome. This was not safe. I am careful and pay attention so I didn't get clobbered, but I'd be surprised if no one else did. Maybe a crossing guard is needed.

Seating for the Pit Fields. The seating was terribly inadequate. If Championships continues to be run in this way, they will see a drop in attendance. I for one will not bring my family and will discourage extended family from coming. It was too difficult and uncomfortable to sit in the pit fields all day on Saturday. I would expect this to also effect large teams. You can't bring all your students and supporters if you don't have anywhere to put them.