SilenceNoMore, I can understand some of the frustrations that you’ve shared with us in your post. I just think that you’re picking some of the wrong battles.
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Originally Posted by SilenceNoMore
Where do I start? The kit of parts was absolutely a mess and when replacement and extra parts were ordered they took weeks to get their destinations. Overnight means two weeks in their book. I have come to the conclusion that FIRST is propping up companies that would otherwise fail in their free market. Parts in the kit were substandard, especially the drill motors. If FIRST is strapped for cash, they should not include as many parts in the kit or raise the entrance fee, no provide poor quality parts to the teams.
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There’s only so much FIRST can do with regard to the quality of the motors and other components in the KOP. They rely on heavily discounted items or items donated free of charge. I think raising entry fees to cover the costs for “higher quality” components would drive away or force the folding of many teams. FIRST already has enough issues trying to break even on a lot of Regionals (roughly ½ to 2/3 of the events this year had scaled back A/V, and very few had a Team Social). I don’t know about you or anyone else, but I would rather have FIRST find a way to provide full A/V, and a Team Social at every event before they upgraded from the current motors. I think that the full A/V and Team Socials can do a lot to attract possible team and FIRST sponsors. I think it’s pretty safe to say that FIRST has bigger fish to fry than the quality of the KOP (which is pretty damned good, imho). Many thanks to the FIRST staff members who came up with the “FIRST Drivetrain.” You people did a huge service to rookies and veterans alike.
With regard to late shipments, I think Texan hit the nail on the head.
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Originally Posted by SilenceNoMore
At the two regionals we attended, the field crew and refs were rude, unprofessional and generally treated everybody like first graders. I guess they don't think that this punchline "gracious professionalism" applies to them. I personally witnessed refs dismiss questions, mock some teams robots as "crap", and even grab one of my teammates when they simply asked a question of a ref. His crime? He was blocking a walkway. At our second regional, the refs didn't seem to understand the game because they missed the practice rounds and were seemingly not paying attention during the games. At the first regional, the refs looked like they would blow a gasket at any moment, they were so high-strung. It was ridiculous!
If you were a field crew member, please stop treating us like five year-olds and show us some respect! We aren't out to get you! We are not the enemy!
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Having been a referee at a Regional, let me tell you that it can be quite stressful. Depending on the number of referees present, you may have to watch 5 different things all at the same time. As a referee, you want to make sure that teams play by the rules. Sometimes you need to go warn them after matches not to do something again, and sometimes you have to yell to them over the music to get their attention, but it all revolves around making as many correct calls as possible, and trying to limit the quantity of the ones you miss. Calls will be missed. It’s a fact of life.
As for saying that a robot is “crap,” that’s not cool. I’m with you that that shouldn’t happen. But how can conversations by anyone (team members, field attendants, and referees alike) about robots be regulated? It can’t be done.
I find it hard to believe that a FIRST referee assaulted a team member, but if they did I find it even harder to believe that this referee wasn’t removed or reprimanded harshly. This is, of course, unless this team member got into the referee’s face as if it were a baseball, football, or hockey game and had to be removed from the referee’s “personal bubble” (in which case, the team member had it coming, imho).
This kind of leads me to my next point… Volunteers are people, too. As a field attendant at many Regionals, I’ve had to evict many people from standing on the field without having an operator badge, and I’ve had to evict people from blocking walkways. As a longtime FIRST participant and volunteer I realize that the majority of the people I’ve evicted from the field area weren’t intentionally trying to break a rule (they were just looking for a better place to watch matches from). But rules are rules. You can’t be on the field during qualifications without an operator badge. As for blocking walkways… While there may not be a specific rule against standing in a walkway, you (as a participant or audience member) should have the common courtesy to observe the traffic patterns of people and robots and do your best so as not to block them.
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Originally Posted by SilenceNoMore
The scoring and annoucing systems were also appalling. Not only did FIRST get our team sponsors and partners wrong (despite the fact we updated the TIMS info MONTHS before kick off) they only announced them during the first matches and they didn't even bother to put them up on the board before a match. What happened to last year's system? Why did it look like they threw it together in Flash the morning of the practice rounds? FIRST has got to understand that many companies are buying advertising space, nothing more. Hopefully, not many sponsors showed up to the event because, they would of been miffed at the lack of recognition. If their name is not getting maximum exposure, they will not sponsor a team. FIRST is certainly NOT helping teams get more sponsors in that regard.
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Obviously you haven’t talked to any FIRST staff about their feelings on the scoring system. I’ve heard from many staff members from all over the country (who will remain nameless) that they were disgusted with how things worked out. You apparently don’t know the half of what happened this year. Even I don’t know what happened post week 3 (but I do know that we were downloading patches and updates on Wednesday night of week 3).
With regard to team sponsors buying advertising space… Yeah, they’re buying advertising space with that team, not with FIRST. If they want to be like GM, Delphi, etc. and sponsor FIRST, then they should contact FIRST. If the announcers accidentally didn’t mention your sponsors, it’s too bad, but not fatal. You put their logo on your robot, on your website, on your documentation, et cetera, right? You gave them one of your awards, right? That and a huge thank you ought to get you another year of sponsorship, unless they’ve fallen on harder times. Also, it’s not FIRST’s responsibility to help get your team sponsored. It’s your responsibility.
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Originally Posted by SilenceNoMore
Some teams totally subverted the idea of gracious professionalism this year. I personally witness many teams lie, cheat, and practically steal in order to be recognized as "gracious professionals". One common practice was for a team to go out and make a list of spare parts that each team had. When one team was looking for a part, the team with the lists would go a team with the part, claim they needed it themselves, and give it to the team requesting the part without any mention that they got it from another team. It is for this reason, that I cringe when I hear the term "gracious professionalism" because I know it has become nothing more than a punchline.
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Gracious Professionalism is a very screwy thing. It means different things to different people. I think that GP means that you’re a good sport, you are as helpful as you can afford to be, and that you’re courteous to people around you. I must admit that I, more often than not, cringe when I hear people go on about GP, but I feel that it does have its place. A few people on my team (myself included) were told that we weren’t acting graciously professional by a staff member for something unrelated to the event at SVR (what we did wasn’t a big deal. Things were blown out of proportion. PM if you want to hear.). I think that it’s inappropriate for FIRST or for teams to play the GP card to get their way. I’ve seen it happen more than a few times. If teams want to be isolationist, then they should be allowed. Teams and team members ought to be able to decide what they want to get out of FIRST.
When I first read your post, I drew some mental parallels between my reactions to this passage and my reaction to a post from February. Read the 2nd paragraph of my post and apply it to the current topic of GP.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...42&postcount=2
I would write more, but at ~4:15am this is pretty exhausting.