[indieFan]

Since my brain is basically fried and I still have a paper to write, I'll give you what little I can about Los Angeles.

First thing that happened was four giant post-it notes were placed on a white board with the following headings:

1. Complexity of Game and Field
2. Complexity of Kit of Parts (and missing parts)
3. TIMS and Registration System
4. THS

The people attending were then asked to place small post-it notes about the pros and cons under the appropriate topic.

The Game: In general, we all liked the complexity of the game due to the lack of obvious domination. Also, those that build an entire field determined that they did not want to see the player stations or full border changed, but that limitations within the border could be instituted (ie, a circular field). The major issue that came up was that blueprints of the field needed to be put out sooner so people could build it, and a copy of the actual playing field blueprints were desired as the interface between the horizontal and vertical bars were very different between the two prints. Also, people liked that the parts were a modular size (at most) of 4'x8' since that fits in a pick-up bed nicely.

Kit of Parts: The only real negative thing that I can recall was the IR system. Someone said that if they had shipped a working IR beacon rather than making the teams build them, it would have been more feasible. Other than that, you had the usual "more pneumatics, less drills" from some specific people.

TIMS: Only complaint was to make the coaches not have to click so many times to get into the actual system. Those of you that do registration for your teams should know what I'm talking about. Also included in this discussion was the Q&A section. We determined that this worked out much better this year than last with only one major flip-flop of a ruling (the servos).

THS: Only issue I recall was that one team couldn't determine if the rates were per room or per student.

Sorry I can't recall more, but I'm sure someone from LA will eventually add to or correct my errors.

indieFan