Quote:
Originally Posted by KathieK
Everyone knows from our Hartford experience two years ago I'm not a fan of combining program events. There is little to no crossover between programs (how many FRC people came to check out the FTC event? How many FTCers went to the FRC event? Do spectators check out all the events or just the one that they might be connected with?) I think the programs end up competing with each other instead of complimenting each other. So what's the point of doing them at the same time?
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I will argue fairly vigorously with this sentiment. After attending many multi-program events, I have become a complete fan of this approach. In virtually every case I have witnessed, there is a considerable amount of cross-traffic between the different programs on display. The NYC competition was no exception. I spent some time observing the "gateway" between the "FRC side" and "FTC side" of the event, and watched a very significant number of teams moving from one field to the other to watch matches and wander through the pits.
Many FTC teams are composed of younger students, and they really seem to enjoy the opportunity to be able to watch the "varsity" FRC teams and see what they may be able to do next. Conversely, I heard from some FRC teams that this was their first opportunity to actually watch an FTC competition in action, and they came away with a whole new level of appreciation and understanding of what the FTC program could do, and what you really could do with the current FTC platform. Their previous belief that FTC was a "toy-based" program was completely changed. That would never have happened had the FTC and FRC events not been coincident.
Some personal friends were in attendance at the NYC event. Following a quick explanation of what was going on and a basic run-through of the games, we turned them loose in the event. They spent the entire afternoon moving back and forth between the FRC and FTC activities. They found both competitions fascinating, and wanted to see and learn more about both. The ability to see two examples of FIRST in action, affecting a broad range of age groups, was a definite advantage.
I did notice one unexpected occurrence that made me laugh. The speaker banks for one of the FTC fields was arranged in such a way that it was pointed over at the east end of the FRC field. As the FTC field announcer would announce the activities on the FTC field, they could be clearly heard at the FRC alliance station. As the end of an FTC match approached, the announcer would call out the decreasing time "...and there are 10 seconds left ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ...5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0!!!" More than one FRC team would hear this while they were in the middle of a match, and think that their own match was being counted down. A few did get a bit freaked out, and were looking around going "the match is ending already? But we just started!"
-dave
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