2013 Lessons Learned: The Negative

[Moon2020]

I want to see more solutions to the problems listed in this thread!

We should have enough LRIs and IMs to handle inspection for 8 fields of 50 robots to increase the number of matches per team. Still 400 teams total. It's whether we can fit two more practice fields and four more division fields within the space and if all the equipment is working (I know that we have at least one broken scale).

There needs to be a Pit Admin sign for FRC at normal person viewing level (not just the Division names hanging from the ceiling). A good portion of my time is spent being Pit Admin with the following questions being the most common: Where is Pit Admin, where do I put this (safety paper), where is lost and found, how do I get my crate moved, where do we check in, where is spare parts, where is the machine shop, where is the hall of fame, where is FTC, where is FLL, where is the other Division, have you seen my lost child, what do I do with a lost child?

FIRST needs to have a computer with a searchable database for team information versus a print out. I helped a bus driver from Michigan find his team after the event staff and police officer could not help him. He only knew the city of the team. Luckily, I had the master list of teams in an Excel file that included the team numbers, city, and sponsors. Additionally, it needs to include the teams' names to help make it complete. I cannot even begin to tell you how many teams I looked up for people.

The Pit Admin announcer needs to tell the crowd that the pit is closing not because the Volunteers and event staff want to go back to our hotels/homes, but because it is really about being fair to everyone about robot build/modification time.

I want teams to sit together and nobody left out. Nobody should be sitting/standing on stairs or standing in an aisle for safety reasons. Thus, I would like to see the number of team members plus four seats reserved for teams in the arena on their field (guests/spectators I'm sure would love to sit with a team and have the team explain). If you want to go to another Division's field to watch, you take what ever seats are left over. Einstein needs more seating. Must use the long side of the arena next time. It was way too loud. The buzzer went off and my ears nearly bled from the sound pressure.

Volunteer food times coincide with peak Robot Inspection times. I really need this fixed to ensure everyone who wants to eat gets to eat. For example: Breakfast starts at 6:30 am but the Pit opens at 7:00 am. Dinner on Wednesday evening is also a really tough one due to load in and bag-n-tag starting at 4:00 pm with inspections to follow. The food is far away from where we are located and it is a bit like swimming upstream in the flow of people to get to the Volunteer food room and back in a reasonable amount of time.