All Those Balloons

[JoeCallahan]

I'm sure most of you saw all the balloons that were hanging around during the championship.

Unfortunately there was a giant white one right in front of my team's view of the red upper goal and another one in front of blue's score on the board, so we didn't get to see the whole of the matches on the field anyway.

Now since we unfortunately had to leave early, I have to ask a pretty stupid question.

My friends and I noticed (with binoculars) that on the sides of the balloons were wires going from the string holding it on to a small black strip on the side of the balloon. We also noticed a small antenae-type-thing near the connection between the sting and the bottom of the balloon. Our guess was that they planned to blow up the balloons.

My question now, since I didn't get to see, is did they? I had heard they filled them with smoke and confetti, (my friend said he had seen one blow up earlier that day and when light shone directly on the balloon you could see stuff in the bottom) but I haven't gotten any first-person accounts of what happened.

(Note: Whether or not they blew up, we only assumed that's what they were going to do and really had nothing to go on other than the strange wires/antenae on the side of the balloons.)

I was just thinking if they did, that's a sight I'd be sad I missed =P

[Joe Matt]

The balloons exploded after the chairmans was announced. It was set off using a 9-volt battery at the end of the cable. Lots of confetti from on top, giant sreamer launchers at the back, and then the balloons. Very cool.

[Morgan Gillespie]

A igniter on one of the balloons off to the right of us wasn't set off due to it falling off the side. Beyond that I don't remember what happened to it because it disappeared a little bit after that. The air conditioners were blowing onto the two balloons in our area, the first got taken away and the second didn't get set off.

[Heretic121]

HORRIBLE DECSION on FIRST's part IMO... blocked so much of the field if you were on the 2nd floor and couldnt not see the screen on either einstien OR curie from where i was... i acutally had 2 move 2 sections over because i was that determined to see the finals...

if they were up higher + out of the way fine but i dont think it was worth the compensation of viewing for teams...

[Elgin Clock]

For logistics purposes it was pretty cool. It would be better than a million balloons going all over the place to clean up than some confetti.

But, as Pat said, I have to agree that for viewing purposes it was pretty bad..

I saw no high goals from where my team was sitting cause of the balloons.

Bad placement.

Also, All the speakers (on the stage giving speeches, not the sound producing devices) were blocked by the balloons from where I was sitting as well.

Not everything can be taken into account when designing a crowd/production layout, but I'm hoping these very valid concerns will be looked into next year and it will be a little different.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

I have to agree that for viewing purposes it was pretty bad..

Bad placement.

Also, All the speakers (on the stage giving speeches, not the sound producing devices) were blocked by the balloons from where I was sitting as well.

From where we were sitting high up on the right side, the speakers (the sound producing devices, not those on the stage giving speeches) hindered our view of the nearest screen (Curie).

These problems could have been prevented:
--By having the balloons 10 to 20 feet higher, or more if needed
--By moving the speakers on the Curie and Galileo fields after the divisions were over

[Andrew Blair]

Balloons were pretty great, as far as the effect went. However, the confetti cannons were not such a great idea because they didn't go off all at once. Even though I'm sure most people noticed them on the concourse prior to closing ceremonies, when the first one went off, the entire stadium kinda hushed because when they fire, they give off more of a crack instead of a poof. After the initial shock, things went smoothly, but more coordination would've been a little more friendly to spectators.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

Balloons were pretty great, as far as the effect went. However, the confetti cannons were not such a great idea because they didn't go off all at once. Even though I'm sure most people noticed them on the concourse prior to closing ceremonies, when the first one went off, the entire stadium kinda hushed because when they fire, they give off more of a crack instead of a poof. After the initial shock, things went smoothly, but more coordination would've been a little more friendly to spectators.

NOt only this, but someone mistimed the upper deck's first shot. "This year's winner is"*crack!!!!from the other galleries* does not sound very good.

[ahecht]

I thought the funniest thing was when they showed a crowd shot of some girls in the upper stands and they immediatly stood up and started waving, but as soon as they stood up they were hidden behind the balloons.

Originally Posted by EricH

NOt only this, but someone mistimed the upper deck's first shot. "This year's winner is"*crack!!!!from the other galleries* does not sound very good.

Actually, that was the confetti cannons on the catwalk that went off early. It looked like they timed them so that the first confetti would hit the stands as the name was announced.

[neo]

lol, yeah i remember those. one of my teammates tried stealing one of them. he is actually a senior and should be setting the example for the freshmen not to steal.

a guy told him they were going to explode and not to take them.

[CmptrGk]

but what caused the ballons to explode? would a nine volt battery really do it?