Paper Airplanes!

[XaulZan11]

Another reason the paper airplanes need to stop: someone else needs to clean them up. During the awards/finals there was a stadium employee sweeping up hundreds of the paper airplanes on the stadium floor. Imagine how long it will take to go up and down all the rows and clean up all the hundreds of paper airplanes. I think its very likely they now have a different feeling of FIRST other than being inspired about science and technology.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Another reason the paper airplanes need to stop: someone else needs to clean them up. During the awards/finals there was a stadium employee sweeping up hundreds of the paper airplanes on the stadium floor. Imagine how long it will take to go up and down all the rows and clean up all the hundreds of paper airplanes. I think its very likely they now have a different feeling of FIRST other than being inspired about science and technology.

While I understand your concerns, I'm sure the arena staff would have to sweep the arena floor and clear every row of seats anyway... that's their job.

[GBK]

The paper airplanes are nothing more than a release. It would be very unfortunate if anyone got hurt, and no one has the intent of hurting anyone. I feel it would be a freak accident if someone lost an eye to a paper airplane.
Just like anything it is easy to get out of hand. A plane made of card stock and/or flying them when someone is on state speaking are examples of getting out of hand. To use reasoning of someone having to clean them up is way out there. At the end of the day on Friday some of the girls on our team were picking up the area we were sitting in and noticed that the entire section next to where we were sitting and the area in front of where we were sitting was real bad. Without being asked they picked up both sections with the exception of the area that a team sitting next to us in our section due to them still sitting there. When the matches were over the team that was sitting next to us, got up and left, leaving a huge mess in their area. Even after seeing our students picking up the rest of the section and the section next to us. So I doubt that it would be paper airplanes that would give the cleanup crew a bad taste for FIRST.

/old man rant done.

[stingray27]

Originally Posted by GBK

The paper airplanes are nothing more than a release. It would be very unfortunate if anyone got hurt, and no one has the intent of hurting anyone. I feel it would be a freak accident if someone lost an eye to a paper airplane.
Just like anything it is easy to get out of hand. A plane made of card stock and/or flying them when someone is on state speaking are examples of getting out of hand. To use reasoning of someone having to clean them up is way out there. At the end of the day on Friday some of the girls on our team were picking up the area we were sitting in and noticed that the entire section next to where we were sitting and the area in front of where we were sitting was real bad. Without being asked they picked up both sections with the exception of the area that a team sitting next to us in our section due to them still sitting there. When the matches were over the team that was sitting next to us, got up and left, leaving a huge mess in their area. Even after seeing our students picking up the rest of the section and the section next to us. So I doubt that it would be paper airplanes that would give the cleanup crew a bad taste for FIRST.

/old man rant done.

I also agree that the cleaning up part is not a valuable reason why to not throw paper airplanes. When our team left, we went through our area where our team was sitting with garbage bags and cleaned everything up; including the paper airplanes that fell from above. If anything, the paper airplanes needed to stop when the ceremony started. It was extremely disrespectful and took away from those speaking. Although I stand neutral on if other teams should throw them or not, I know I enforced with my fellow captains NOT throwing them or throwing the ones that landed in our crowd due to the safety reasons.

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by bduddy

While I understand your concerns, I'm sure the arena staff would have to sweep the arena floor and clear every row of seats anyway... that's their job.

While I have no care one way or the other on throwing planes your reasoning of "Who cares if it makes a mess because people are paid to clean is up" is completely wrong.

If people took more time to pick up after themselves and took efforts to not make a mess, then the people who are paid to clean up could go home sooner. Yes it's their job to clean up but we shouldn't make it harder and more tedious for them by making a mess just because its fun and other people will clean it up.

[GBK]

I completely agree that this should not have been going on when people were speaking.
I also don't think that it was done to make a mess for someone else to clean up.
If the only reason for not throwing a paper airplane is to not leave a mess for someone to pick up then so be it.
I find it hard to believe that any team was doing this just to make a mess or to be disruptive.
Who cleaned up all the confetti on the stage after Einstein. It is good that no one slipped on that paper and fell and broke something.
It is good that teams like 27 and others are willing to help out with cleaning up the area that we as FIRST use for our events. It is an example that many other teams should follow.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

While I have no care one way or the other on throwing planes your reasoning of "Who cares if it makes a mess because people are paid to clean is up" is completely wrong.

If people took more time to pick up after themselves and took efforts to not make a mess, then the people who are paid to clean up could go home sooner. Yes it's their job to clean up but we shouldn't make it harder and more tedious for them by making a mess just because its fun and other people will clean it up.

I agree, and I also should have said in my initial post that every team should endeavor to clean up the area around them. I just thought that the post I was replying to, like a couple others in this thread, was an overreaction. I think that throwing paper airplanes towards the field is a fun way to pass time during the seemingly endless delay before Einstein, although I definitely agree that this should stop when people are talking.

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Another reason the paper airplanes need to stop: someone else needs to clean them up. During the awards/finals there was a stadium employee sweeping up hundreds of the paper airplanes on the stadium floor. Imagine how long it will take to go up and down all the rows and clean up all the hundreds of paper airplanes. I think its very likely they now have a different feeling of FIRST other than being inspired about science and technology.

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

While I have no care one way or the other on throwing planes your reasoning of "Who cares if it makes a mess because people are paid to clean is up" is completely wrong.

If people took more time to pick up after themselves and took efforts to not make a mess, then the people who are paid to clean up could go home sooner. Yes it's their job to clean up but we shouldn't make it harder and more tedious for them by making a mess just because its fun and other people will clean it up.

This was my first thought! Also, I'm fairly certain that whatever the arena staff did sweep up, they put it into the trash. Think of how much recyclable material that is!

[timchen]

Simple solution:
1.every one downstairs put safety glasses on while facing the crowds
2.no throwing while someone is talking. Just do it prior to the speech or between the games.

[joe5joe7]

Originally Posted by timchen

Simple solution:
1.every one downstairs put safety glasses on while facing the crowds
2.no throwing while someone is talking. Just do it prior to the speech or between the games.

I could not agree with this more, I think the planes made for a very entertaining way to pass the time before Einstein. I know I for one, as well as the un-affiliated adult next to me, would have been at wits end by the time the matches started

And also I don't think the planes were as disrespectful as people are making them out to be. Yes there were some flying during speeches, but the ones I saw were thrown way before they even got to the podium, and all of the speakers didn't seem to have any problem with it.

[Gray Adams]

Originally Posted by joe5joe7

I could not agree with this more, I think the planes made for a very entertaining way to pass the time before Einstein. I know I for one, as well as the un-affiliated adult next to me, would have been at wits end by the time the matches started

And also I don't think the planes were as disrespectful as people are making them out to be. Yes there were some flying during speeches, but the ones I saw were thrown way before they even got to the podium, and all of the speakers didn't seem to have any problem with it.

There was some booing when the PTC speaker came up, mainly because a woman at the scoring table grabbed a plane out of the air. That was a pretty bad moment for everyone.

[GBK]

Tom, hit on something of a separate issue here. The amount of time that these teenagers (not to mention adult mentors) were expected to sit around and wait for thing to get get going is ridiculous. When you loose the attention of the group you have to expect something to happen.
The amount of time between alliance selection and the start of the divisional eliminations was so short that our alliance did not have enough time to get all together on the practice field. Our drive team and pit crew had just enough time to shovel down some food in the pit and rush out to the field. Then at the end of the divisional's I had time to pack up the pit, load the bus and still have time to wait two hours for anything to start on Einstein.
Then people want to complain about a harmless release like making paper airplanes. I think this group did very well listening to speeches from that they really did not want to hear after waiting that long to hear them.

[JesseK]

There's a pretty easy solution if it's important enough for them to stop: deny access to the upper tiers. Yet there were paper airplanes last year and it wasn't enough of a problem for them to deny it this year. Next year a small acknowledgement and request will probably suffice. "haha, thanks for remaining true to engineering -- yet let's have an applause and some respect for our incoming speakers and sponsors".

Mad props to whoever made the airplane that soared and hit the screen on the Galileo field.

Just wait, next year's safety award campaigns will include "proper" and "safe" paper airplane construction that "minimizes risk of poking an eye out".

[Grim Tuesday]

Denying access to the upper tiers is an atrocious idea. Our team was in divisional finals, so we didn't migrate to Einstein for a long time. By the time we arrived, literally all seats were filled. If they hadn't opened up the upper tier, then we would not have been able to watch Einstein.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

If they hadn't opened up the upper tier, then we would not have been able to watch Einstein.

So move Einstein to one of the long sides of the arena.