Quote:
Originally posted by BBFIRSTCHICK
Have you looked into how much FIRST is charging just for registration, Regional and then Nationals... and then they get a kick back on the hotels???? Not very cheap!!! at all!!!!
|
I would highly recommend that you do a little homework before making such statements. FIRST does not get kick-backs from the hotels that support the regional and championship competitions. I defy you to produce any documentation or evidence that they do. To state that they do is incorrect, ill-informed, and insulting. Given that kick-backs are unethical and usually illegal, your statements also constitute libel.
Yes, the registration for the FIRST competition costs more than it does to register for Battlebots. But given what it costs to put on a competition event, the teams are getting a bargain. With FIRST, the teams pay more but the organization has complete control over the conduct and presentation of the event. The FIRST events appear to the public as high-quality, high-energy operations with professional conduct. FIRST, and the teams, get to control their own fate and how they are presented to the public.
With Battlebots, the teams pay less, but in exchange for the lower registration fee, the TV producers pick up the costs that the teams are not paying and take control of the public presentation of the event. A Battlebots competition can be just as high-quality and high-energy as a FIRST competition. But then Comedy Central gets to add on a layer of insipid commentary, a brain-dead bouncing hostess, meaningless "insights" into robot-building, and enough tacky crap to make even Bill Nye run away in order to sell commercials on the broadcast. Teams need to understand the trade-offs between the lower registration cost and the "dignity cost" of the Comedy Central presentation of Battlebots, and basically do their own cost/benefit analysis to see if it is worth it (note that I make a BIG DISTINCTION here between how Greg and Trey originally wanted to present Battlebots, and how Comedy Central trashed it up to turn it into the WWF of robotics).
-dave