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Posted by MaryEllen, Other on team #180, S.P.A.M., from South Fork and Martin County High Schools and UTC/Pratt & Whitney, FL.

Posted on 5/9/99 7:52 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Is the Competition being de-emphasized? posted by Kit Gerhart on 5/9/99 9:37 AM MST:



: The tradeoff for giving the winners more recognition would not have to
: be a reduction in number of qualifying matches. It would only mean
: extending the ceremony by ten minutes, or reducing by a small amount
: the time spent by people making speeches at the ceremony.

There were two major winning categories - #1 Seed and National Champs.
That's 4 teams and a guess of 30 members per team. You want to shake
hands and pass out medals AND move 120 people across a stage in just an
extra 10 minutes? That's one person every 5 seconds which may be do-able.
But, on top of that, how long would it take to get them all out of the bleachers
and assembled by team? It would be a 20 - 30 minute procedure.
And over at EPCOT we had who knows how many Disney employees, on the clock,
waiting for us.
Although the pros & cons of the game are debatable, in my opinion FIRST did an
incredible job handling complicated logistics and I doubt there's much that could
change my mind.
And we cannot neglect the sponsors. In the midst of downsizing and
outsourcing, we're asking corporations and universities to give up money
to fund teams, the competitions and provide workspace & resources.
They've earned their place in the limelight and everyone, especially
the students, should know who's responsible for making it happen.