I was busy at the Championships so finally got to watch the video of the Town Hall today. After reading this thread I was honestly surprised how cordial it was given the level of passion around the topic. Anything approaching disrespect from the stage was coming from the moderator more than the panel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jared Russell
More precisely, they are devaluing competition. Most teams don't win, but all teams compete. A high level of competition is (IMO) one of the most powerful tools of inspiration that FRC has.
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As a thought experiment let's say that in 2017 with half the geographic coverage we degrade the competition to "only" the level of the 2015 Einstein semi-finals. For me, and I suspect most attendees, this would be just as inspirational as the current championship model.
I agree that philosophically many know there are awesome teams who are not appearing on Einstein, but that's always true due to the vagaries of competition advancement.
My primary objection to the 2 Championship model is similar to Sandra's, although I don't think that "divorce" is a good analogy.
Splitting World Championship does damage the sense of FRC as a single global community with a common set of goals. The Championship event was the opportunity to come together and celebrate those goals with others from across the community and this just won't happen after 2016.