[rbgorbet]

On the practice field: we desperately wanted to put up a practice area but the space and the game conspired against us. In the end we had a driving area by 1114's pit which I'm not sure was well used (or used at all), and allowed shooting practice (but without targets) after close on Thursday/Friday. The field can't be used once it's cleaned and prepped for Friday (at least, that was the decision by our Field Supervisor). Our issue was that the only space we had to set up shooting would have meant shooting against a wall with no way to control the bounce of balls. We had some room on the far side of the field near the north wall, but we're restricted in that venue since we can't drive/roll on the matting (hence the masonite). Definitely something we want to do next year. If any teams would volunteer to do a 1/4 practice field for next year, we'd be more than happy to try to accommodate the space! 1241 had actually offered us their practice field this year, and 1680 had offered one end, but either was too big for the space we had.

On the sound: it was definitely an issue this year, more than last year. With the airwall closed most of the way last year, the pit area was effectively sectioned off and sound transfer was minimal. With the increase in teams the airwall had to be opened, and the pit area basically was acting like an amplifier for the field audio. We had complaints from teams, judges, and volunteers, and the AV guys tried their hardest all day Friday, but couldn't really do anything. Next year we will make sure there is a full-height curtain there to damp the sound.

This is great. Keep the comments coming!
Rob.