[jgannon]

As has been already mentioned, the animation and website awards (as well as the Founder's Award and volunteer award... not unimportant honors) are presented earlier because the winner is known in advance, as opposed to the technical awards, rookie awards, Engineering Inspiration, and Chairman's. My guess on why they put the Woodie Flowers award at the same time is so that the winner can be recognized through the whole event. I don't think I'd have had a chance to find and congratulate Paul Copioli at the last minute on Saturday, so I'm glad I was able to do so on Friday. Trash heap? I think not. Besides, much as I admire Dean Kamen and Larry Page, I think we were all pretty antsy for things to move along, and I'm glad we didn't have to wait through even more awards. The one point that I agree with, though, is that they should have been showing the animations between matches, both at regionals and in Atlanta. I remember seeing many animations countless times in Sacramento last year, but the only animations I've seen this year were the winning safety video and the award winners in Atlanta. Since the animations are about the ideals of FIRST, it seems like an appropriate interlude throughout the day. I am curious to hear why FIRST decided not to show the animations (I'm certain it's not out of disrespect for Autodesk, one of the largest contributers to the program), but I understand why the awards were part of Friday's ceremony.