[Aaron.Graeve]

I had the fortune of helping the teams at Comicpalooza Saturday and Monday. Here is my suggestion for teams considering demoing at any multiday convention, prepare for it less as a demo and more as a competition.

A normal demo for me was with a relatively static crowd. Comicpalooza had a different dynamic. Since the crowd continuously changed, robots were run for much longer periods so more people could see the robots in action. This meant charged batteries were in short supply and more mechanical problems ensued. You should bring spares of anything you would bring to a competition because it will break. As an example from this weekend, Texas Torque had a driveteain malfunction and the Robonauts had a shooter issue on Saturday alone. It can happen to you.

The convention ran 4 days about 9-5. That is longer than a normal regional and the robots were being run each day more than they would be at a regional (several hours each day compared to an hour over a regional, albeit with lesser defense). You will get tired. Comicpalooza was wellorganized with a large nuber of teams so whole teams could run in shifts (3 robots running at a time while the others are cooling down). This gave the robots and teams a rest. Props to Allen for making that work.

Overall, I would say it was a very positive experiance for all the teams present and all the con-goers as well.