Quote:
Originally Posted by Rombus
In Columbus and Albany, I felt there were very appropriate sized crowds. Of course your not filling the stands for every qualification match, but I did not see that at worlds either. I know some of the teams I talked to enjoyed the fact it was at an "Arena". It made it an event to them, something more memorable than a high school gym. Some teams that go to the districts wont make the state championship. Most teams that go to states wont get to Worlds, but if GA First can make it an memorable event for every competing team for the time being, then why not?  Its inevitable that High School events will be the future, especially if FIRST Grows, but i think we have quite a few years before that's the norm. |
Sure, have state championship in an arena. I've got no problem with that. I like the idea of bringing the championship experience down to the DCMP level.
But the idea that we had appropriate sized crowds any event, but especially Albany, is ridiculous. There were probably around 100 people in the stands at any given time during quals at Albany, in a stadium designed to seat several thousand. Call me crazy, but that's not appropriate: that's tons of wasted space.
Don't even get me started on Columbus. We've all been scarred by the astro turf.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rombus
The other nice part of "Arena" scale events is you can have the local community tie into the event. The Columbus event was part of a Mini MakerFair, and was used by the local schools to drum up interest in STEM for the grade and middle-schoolers who don't have FTC/FFL Teams yet.
|
Sure, yeah that's cool. Why can't we do that at a high school though? The Atlanta Maker Faire held this past month was held on a high school football field. Don't see why that couldn't happen....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rombus
On a purely selfish note: Things like a Loading Dock and proper facilities to accept Semis make load in and load out much easier on the volunteers. I got to experience 2 years of helping load in and load out a off season high school based event back in '10 and '11 when the field fit in the back of a 27' box truck. The one bay loading dock was off the lunch room kitchen. Some of the road cases barely fit and required some expert maneuvering. It sounds silly, but even the little things like this make a big difference when it comes to how smooth an event can go.
|
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PayneTrain
Is there any data to back this up, or am I/are we just expected to be forcefed this undying meme of more arenaz = more better? There are traceable examples of cash-strapped/cash-hungry RPCs poaching team sponsors for lavish-ish events in arenas and convention centers, but the idea that teams like arenas is something that to my knowledge is a) unproven, at best and b) a result of the gross miscommunication of the value proposition teams can face when the region focuses on cheaper venues.
|
To my knowledge this isn't a money issue; this is GeorgiaFIRST partnering with colleges, and instead of a pure donation asking for free/deeply discounted venue space. In that sense, it's definitely not a bad deal. But I think (and like I've said, this a personal opinion) that venue quality and location is sometimes sacrificed in the name of networking with colleges.