[Brandon Holley]

The key takeaway here is that Frank is focused on the Team Experience.

This is so unbelievably important. That value should be the guiding light for Volunteers and Event Staff. Asking yourself "Is this making a good experience for the team(s)?" should be a very common activity.

Having a guiding principle such as that will help through any number of situations. While Dallas is the focus, this is not the first or last time Event Staff will cause a team or alliance angst (there are many examples now in the past that I will leave out of the conversation).

Key volunteers have a staggering amount of weight as far as how a team experiences an event. From inspectors, to safety advisors, to judges, referees, queuers, pit administration, safety glasses folks- all of these people GREATLY affect how a team experiences an event. An inspector with 'pet rules' they are choosing to enforce without rule backing (potentially quoting safety as the trump card enforcement). A safety glasses pit enforcer who FORCES people to rewalk 2-3 steps because they removed their glasses as they were leaving the pit entrance threshold. A head referee who verbally acknowledges to other volunteers that they see a team waiting in the question box but likes to 'make them sweat' before they engage in a conversation.****

All of these examples are 100% unacceptable IMO. They ruin the experience of teams and students and do not reciprocate the gracious professionalism being shown to them by a vast majority of teams. Teams are forced to bite their tongue in the name of GP, and to avoid their name (or number) being dragged through the mud (ie: given to judges with a black mark).

This is a slippery slope, and there needs to be a better system of checks and balances in place that a team can implement without fearing backlash. Bottom line, we need to hold people accountable who step into key roles.

I'm extremely pleased to see Frank putting Team Experience first, and I look forward to doing everything in my own ability to ensure this is the path forward at any event I have the pleasure of attending.


-Brando


****All of these are 100% true, first hand accounts of real events within the past season or two.