Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol
I've always liked how the three programs have always been together under one roof, so that the participants of each program can check out the happenings of the other programs. To me this is a great way to enhance the unity of the programs; to show the world that the programs are a progression and not three separate paths. I'm willing to bet that a large proportion of the students there have never really watched a match from one or both of the other programs. If FTC/FLL are physically separated from FRC, I would be worried that very few participants and spectators would take the time to go visit the other location.
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I've often heard this cited as a good reason (which I think it definitely is... theoretically) to keep FLL, FTC, and FRC close together at the World Championships... but I'm curious how many people take advantage of the relative ease we have to "get out and see the other programs?"
From personal experience, I actually don't think I've ever visited the other program fields or taken the time to tour the other program pits any of the times I've been to CMP (2003 and 2004 as an FLL student, and 2006, 2010, and 2011 as an FRC student or mentor)... with the exception of in 2003 when my FLL team was fortunate enough to win the 1st Place Director's award, we sat in on the Einstein matches and award ceremony, where we were re-awarded the Director's award. On that occasion - at least as a 11yo FLL student - I wasn't overly interested in the Einstein matches. (I actually found FRC kinda lame compared to FLL when I first started to transition from FLL to FRC... now I find the opposite.)
Am I the only one that's so absorbed in competing with my team for that particular program that I rarely take the time to check out what else is going on? If the MAYHEM FRC and FLL teams ever qualified for CMP in the same season, I almost certainly would pay more attention... but having relatively little invested in the other programs each year, I rarely paid much attention to anything but the program I was competing in. Is this different for spectators or people that have simultaneous involvement in the programs?
Really, I'm saying that even though having FLL, FTC, and FRC all under the same roof sounds great on paper, how many people would it affect how much to have the programs in adjacent/nearby buildings? If I'm in the minority and many people are actually checking out FIRST as a whole, then perhaps this is quite important; however, I'm just curious how much this argument is "real" and not just "on paper."