[Pendulum^-1]

Originally Posted by JamesSpencer

Overall I believe most people’s championship experience was a positive one but there is one issue that we still need to fix as a community. Saving Seats!

So very glad that someone (besides me) started this thread, and that so many people echoed concern about the problem. As the pit crew leader on a small team that does not practice reserved seating, I could write a huge wall of text about my experiences over the last several years. But I'd rather just focus on a proposed solution.

Proposed solution:

Event organizers would designate a two cheering sections, one for each alliance. These cheering sections would be comprised of 60-100 seats each, and would be among the very best seats in the house. Comparable to those reserved for the VIPs. (It could even be to the left and right of the VIP section.) The teams for each alliance in each match would self-organize alliance cheering squads to fill the seats. When their match ends, both entire cheering sections would vacate immediately, and the cheering squads for the alliances in the next match would fill the Red and Blue cheering sections. This cycle would continue all tournament long.

Notes:
1) It should not be much of an issue, time-wise, for people to migrate into/out of the cheering sections. Field resets take more than 5 minutes, and it takes less time than that for teams to file from the higher levels of the arena to the field and back to get their awards.

2) The energy levels in preliminaries would go up dramatically. WIth reps from three teams sitting in each alliance cheering section, and sitting near the field, these sections would be loud, indeed.

3) Students, aside from just the drive teams, would get to know and visit with their counterparts on other teams. Networking opportunities would go up A LOT.

4) Any solution would have to impose minimal requirements on the event staff. The teams themselves should be able to police this themselves, especially after a few rounds, and teams start to understand the concept better.

5) My number of 60-100 is entirely flexible. The community can figure it out over the course of several events, and come to a suitable number. I only suggest that entire rows of a section be designated, in order to facilitate entry/exit.

6) This should take some of the pressure off of teams to reserve huge sections of stands. Sure, some large tracts will still be reserved, but the situation won't be quite as contentious, as it is during the mundane qualification matches on Friday and Saturday am, when multiple rows of prime seating are laying fallow for hours, just waiting for their big team to occupy the seats during the elimination matches on Saturday afternoon.

7) It is critical that these sections be among the best seats in the house. If not, they won't be used as intended.