[Madison]

I've complained, so I might as well say a nice thing or two as well. Those who know me well know how hard this'll be and will appreciate the effort Many of these items may be inapplicable to the event itself, but there were some fun things that happened for us that deserve recognition.

• The volunteers in Atlanta were all exceptionally friendly. I think larger venues are less stressful for everyone involved. I certainly did not miss being yelled at by queueing volunteers and pit announcers.
• Tytus was, by far, the most amenable inspector we've ever encountered and everyone on our team loved having him come by. I think they appreciated that he seems to be as honest and blunt about things as I am Passing inspection by 1:30 in the afternoon is, for us, also awesome. So, inspection was good and sensible.
• The referees explained penalties and scoring idiosyncracies to teams before they'd left the field. Even if we didn't agree with all of their decisions, I was happy that they were at least telling us what to expect from the score. It's easier to be calm when you're not completely baffled by the score as it appears on the big screens. I did not see enough matches to speak to what others have said about inconsistency.
• I don't know why or how, but my team was able to provide me with a constant supply of croisants all weekend. As this was the only food I could keep down, this was a life saver.
• I'll devote a thread to this item, I'm sure, but I can't express how grateful 'team xbot' is to Mark Leon for taking the time to come to an ice cream social we held with our friends from the Pacific Northwest and Silicon Valley Regionals on Thursday evening. I can't imagine how many people and responsibilities were vying for his attention and it meant so much to the kids on my team to have him stop by and tell a few stories. People like him make FIRST what it is.