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Originally Posted by Basel A
With all this discussion of scouting going on, I feel it's necessary to insert a small but practical point: I've never seen any evidence that FIRST cares one iota about scouting. I can't remember FIRST ever acknowledging it, let alone making rules/concessions around making it easier.
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Besides the Tableau license, it seems like scouter appreciation varies based on the event. A couple of the regionals in the Midwest (Wisconsin, at least. I think there's a few others that do this) hand out "scouter passes," and they have a dedicated seating area for scouts. The only problem is that there isn't nearly enough seats for 20-30 teams to have 7 scouts there, so it ends up not being worth the effort to get these seats. We're a team of 50-something students and 7 mentors, and at Midwest we tack on another 50 parents, sponsor reps, FTC students, etc. It's pretty hard to move that number of people fast enough to get to the best vantage point possible. A dedicated scouting area certainly has its merits, and I'd like to see FIRST show a greater appreciation for something that has become such a massive part of the culture of any successful team.
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Originally Posted by Citrus Dad
So we should continue to force teams to arrive at 5 am on competition mornings, thus depriving students of up to 2 hours of sleep, so that they can get seating under your proposal? Is maintaining the current seating rule so important that we should undermine the health of our students? (And saying that they just shouldn't get up so early is a cop out--address the reality of the situation.)
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I'd just like to take a moment to say that I want this on a gigantic poster, in bold, italic, double underlined red text. The fact that I had to be up at 4:30AM for alliance selections at Champs was understandable, they have to cram a lot of stuff in. However, having to wake up at 5:30-6:00 for a normal day of regional quals matches is silly, not to mention this rarely is early enough for us to get good seats.
This whole thread has gone off in about a hundred different directions, so here's my opinions on the topics laid out a little more definitively:
- Seat saving is fine when it is done reasonably. Teams being together is part of the FRC culture, and it's evident when you look up from the Einstein field and see a patchwork of team colors stretching across 40,000 seats. It's awe-inspiring, not offensive.
- Scouters, and scouting in general, deserves to be recognized by FIRST. It's not like scouting is a niche thing that only the world elite teams do. Everyone does it, and it is deeply ingrained into the culture of FRC. Tableau was a nice step forward, but the place where scouting is underappreciated is at events.
- We always push the GP thing, but not everyone understands it. As people have mentioned in that harassment thread that has been going around recently, mentors and parents are to blame for rude or aggressive behavior >99% of the time. With this ridiculous proportion, I believe it is up to the students to restrain their leaders when they feel it is necessary. As a graduating student to other students, don't be afraid to call out one of your mentors if they aren't being gracious or professional. (graciously professional?) Mentors are people, very smart and dedicated people, but they aren't tyrants. On that note, and pardon me if I'm talking out of place, but... to mentors who are aggressive about seats, chill. It might be frustrating, but a little bit of patience goes a very long way.