[Alex2614]

Less than 100 teams in a division would be great. Also, I agree with the idea of division awards. When there are 400 teams, that means that over 90% of teams attending the championship will come home with nothing as far as hardware is concerned. This is too big of a margin in my opinion.

FIRST really needs to do something on their online system. Not only is the FIRST website clunky and hard to navigate around, some of its most important information is very well hidden. For example, how do I find out what awards a team from my area (or something like that) has won? It is impossible to find, especially for "outsiders." Stuff like that should be easy to find and more up-front. And it's not just for awards. It is hard to find any information about teams and events, and when you do, a lot of times it is very outdated or misinformed.

Going along with that, why has the Hall of Fame been swept into the corner and out of the way the past two years? They should be out front for everyone to see. I was disappointed with its location last year tucked into a corner. This year, I was even more disappointed with its size and location. Had I not known what I was looking for, I would have missed the Hall of Fame teams. These are your best teams and the model teams for FIRST. They deserve to be out front in plain sight for everyone to see.

The finale was much better than last year, but it was a logistical nightmare. Granted, it was complicated even more with the weather issue. However, I know we almost had some issues keeping track of our students across four different venues, and I can't imagine how hard it would be for some other teams. Keep it in one place, or two places at minimum. Having four different parties going on at once is just too much.


On a lighter note (and I guess this belongs in the positive), I am very glad that FIRST has stepped away from the path they were trying to go down last year. Rock stars, rock concerts, famous people, big names are all great, but when they overshadow what the event is truly about, it becomes disturbing. Don't change who we are to appeal more to the outside world. Change the outside world around us and inspire them to join. I am very glad that FIRST has put a better balance on what is important.