[brrian27]

This year my only official interaction with FRC was volunteering as field reset at the Utah Regional, and chaperoning my old team at the Championship.

---
Volunteering for the first time was nice, but could have been more organized with instruction of what to do and where to go. (But, I was late on day 1 due to a ~1 hour drive, so can't complain too much.)

---
I had a great time being with my team and old friends at Champs, but was pretty disappointed in many things. For context, I have only gone to Champs one other time (2013).

First, the opening ceremonies on Thursday morning. In 2013 that was a nice way to start off the event and feel like it's "real." My team skipped this year's opening ceremonies because it was just another thing after a long day.

For the webcast, just do one overall camera view. While watching it in the pits on the big screen, we could hardly see any detail at all.

Also, I disliked how the division finals/champions awards were handed out. My team's alliance made it to finals of Archimedes, and handing out the medals/trophies just seemed rushed. It was just kind of walking down and high-fiving the refs (after a controversial call that knocked us out too..) and didn't have a special feeling the kids deserve.

Oh, one other small thing is that the fourth alliance drive teams in the division finals should be brought out to the field to shake hands. We were a fourth member, and it was just kind of disappointing to not see the students get any recognition as being part of the alliance.

And oh, then there's the Einstein event/closing ceremonies. I was very surprised and disappointed at this.

First off, start things on time please. I watched our division playoffs, then went to the pits and we had enough time to pack everything, etc and when we all came back, we still had to wait a very long time for Einstein to start. First needs to better plan the timing of events.

Of course on Einstein, there were all the A/V problems. The terrible echo, split-view on the webcast, bad camera angles, spending way too long on camera on individuals in the crowd. Those all can and should be fixed easily.

Then, besides the matches, I was just not entertained much. My idea of a good show does not involve sub-par music, and jokes that aren't that funny. Step up the performance and make it more professional. Have entertainment that appeals to an audience of anyone.

We didn't stay for closing ceremonies, but moving everyone to the opposite side of the dome just isn't a good idea. Additionally, I heard that Dean talked for almost two hours, which is just not okay. His message is important, but again things need to be on schedule and entertaining. Also, Chairman's should be given more recognition than they were (as we, and many others, had already left and not even seen the award).

---
Anyway, sorry if I sound cynical. I had a great time at the two events I attended, and hope that FRC can continue to get better.