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Unread 22-04-2004, 17:20
Marc P. Marc P. is offline
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Re: Peoples Feelings on Atlanta's Nationals(like as many people to respond as possible)

I have been to 4 national championships over the past 5 years, and as many have already said, there are ups and downs of any venue. I'll start like this:

Epcot-

Probably the best fundamental place to hold a robotics championship. Epcot is supposed to be a showcase of technology and potential future applications of technology to improve quality of life. As many have said, it's one of the safest places you can turn thousands of teenagers loose and not worry about very much trouble.

Logistically though, I feel FIRST has outgrown it's homeland. I remember in 2000, before divisions were created, we rotated fields every match. Seating wasn't too much of a problem, as teams had to shift from field to field to follow their team, so it seemed more people were up and walking than sitting, which made things very comfortable. I didn't get the opportunity to attend 2001, but in 2002 it seemed much more crowded. Teams would pick out sections of bleacher and sit, waiting for their team to come up, not moving much otherwise. It seemed very tight, and very difficult to find seating to watch matches. Maybe it was because there were 3 fields in the same relatively small tent, but there really wasn't much room to breathe. True, the tents were air conditioned, which was nice and freezing cold in the morning, but I remember at one point, the air conditioners broke down, and it instantly became an oven.

The parties in Epcot were always fun, with decent food, and of course, all the ammenities Epcot has to offer (exhibits and the like). Overall though, Disney was good times.

Houston-

I was a referee on Curie for Houston, so I didn't have a team to hang around, but as an individual I didn't think it was bad. It was my first time traveling by myself, and that made for a very interesting experience. I met a lot of great people, like Ken L, and the volunteer food wasn't bad at all. I can't speak for the facility's food, since I didn't get a chance to sample it. My main dislike were the same as many- the mile trek from the pits to the fields, which was probably about the same as it was in Atlanta, except there were ramps instead of escalators, and robots had to go the same way, up all those ramps. Given the proximity of hotels this year, the whole bus thing seemed a bit of a pain, although that wasn't much differant from Disney anyway. The team party I have mixed feelings about. I don't think a standard theme park makes for a good party place, especially when it's still open to the public. Of course, rides are fun, but it doesn't have the same atmosphere somewhere like Epcot or Centenial Park has, where you can meet with other teams and talk for a while.

Atlanta-

I was back with my team for the Georgia Dome. Overall, the venue was pretty good. Plenty of seating for each division (except for the finals, it seemed a little tight for everyone to be gathered around one field.) The walk from pits to stands was pretty long, but the escalators helped quite a bit. As someone else mentioned, plenty of room for random teenage activities- hacking, frisbee, etc. And I really can't complain about the food. Stadium food has a reputation for being particularly bad, but I really didn't find anything I couldn't stomach in the dome. Nice thing was, if you didn't like one thing, there were 4 or 5 other places you could try, not to mention the close by CNN center and easily accessible Starbucks.

Personally, I think this year's team party was one of the best I've ever been to. The food was excellent, considering the preportion of people they had to feed. The activities were great- laser tag, hypnotist, fireworks, the inflatable bounce-around things, hacking, frisbee, and of course, socializing. The park had a very friendly atmosphere, and I felt it really stimulated much team bonding. I saw many students actively taking on mentors in the obstacle course, the jousting thing, and the novelty boxing. To respond to someone who said FIRST should get one big name act- I'll respectfully disagree, and say I doubt you'll be able to find any one act everyone in FIRST will enjoy. The amount of people involved surely represent a very diverse interest, especially concerning music. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to have an artist or two come to perform, but I hope they'll have other options open for the people with differant tastes, like they did this year.

There's my shilling and a half, for what it's worth. Here's hoping that FIRST puts on a great event next year! And of course, thanks to FIRST for all they've done so far!!