Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Amanda Morrison
Perhaps I'm the only person who froze my tush off in Atlanta during the team party.
|
I, too, was cold. Having the competition in warmer climates helps, but it doesn't guarantee a warm sunny weekend, as we all saw in Atlanta this year -- it was cold, and rainy sometimes.
Quote:
|
While I agree that the flashier, more populated location is going to lend to more publicity, I can tell you honestly that I wouldn't want to take a teamful of twenty kids and release them in NYC or LA. There's a huge difference between Disney, which may as well be its own city, chock full of security and employees, and New York City, which would envelop the FIRST competition as if it were a science fair. There are simply too many 'what-if's'.
|
Well, yes, there are security concerns, but I think they exist anywhere BUT Disney. Even in Atlanta, there were issues. For example, for some reason some students on my team coming off the MARTA train from the airport (and let me tell you, MARTA was, um, an "experience"), decided to follow some random local Atlantan to our hotel. Now, how did they know he wasn't leading us into some dark alley to beat us up and steal our money? (He did hold his hand out at the end...) I'm not saying that all high school kids are like this, in fact, the majority, I've found, posess basic street smarts -- teachers and parents and mentors have responsibilities to make sure the students don't get into trouble -- and that exists ANYWHERE. It's going to be just as crummy if someone beats you up and steals your wallet in Atlanta or in NYC. And I certainly wouldn't want, as a mentor, to have to answer to an upset parent whose son or daughter was kidnapped while under my watch. That's called responsibility -- as a team chaperone, it is a requirement, and one I have never taken lightly.
I agree that NYC would probably "envelop" the competiton, but only because there are more people there. That's the whole point. Perhaps a smaller percentage of the population would hear about it, but a greater number of people would hear about it.
I also agree that larger cities have higher crime rates... but my point, I guess is that crime unfortunately, exists anywhere you go.