2013 Lessons Learned: The Positive

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Clinton Bolinger

The only downside is that I thought there were Thunderchickens everywhere!!!

Actually, had a parent ask why there were so many chickens on the field.

-Clinton-

Why did the Thunderchicken reset the field?
Because it was their job.

[James1902]

-Best game I've played as a FIRSTer.
-Frank has been fantastic all season and seems to be genuinely interested in keeping the teams involved in the direction FIRST goes.
-The Digital Media award is a great step towards recognizing a teams online presence. I'm looking forward to seeing that improved and expanded for next year.
-The Ri3D guys, and the TwentyFour blog I think really deserve a lot of credit for helping boost the level of competition this year. Stressing the importance of setting simple and achievable goals seems to have sunk in with a lot of teams.
-The amount of media being produced by teams seemed to jump this year in both quantity and quality. Team 3313 is a great example of a team that really embraced the idea of documenting and sharing their season online.
-The Michigan State Championship broadcast was incredibly good. This needs to continue (and i'm sure it will) and it serves as a great example of how to broadcast FIRST events in the future.
-The Orlando RPC deserves a shout out for trying new things this year and being open to experimentation. FIRST RoboVision was an invaluable service for teams both scouting and reviewing matches after the day was over (check out the Channel here) and the committee really gave The RoboShow a ton of support and were willing to take a chance on both projects because they want to keep innovating and improving their event.

That's all I have for now, overall a fantastic season that has made me very excited and optimistic for FIRSTs future.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by James1902

-Best game I've played as a FIRSTer.
-Frank has been fantastic all season and seems to be genuinely interested in keeping the teams involved in the direction FIRST goes.
-The Digital Media award is a great step towards recognizing a teams online presence. I'm looking forward to seeing that improved and expanded for next year.
-The Ri3D guys, and the TwentyFour blog I think really deserve a lot of credit for helping boost the level of competition this year. Stressing the importance of setting simple and achievable goals seems to have sunk in with a lot of teams.
-The amount of media being produced by teams seemed to jump this year in both quantity and quality. Team 3313 is a great example of a team that really embraced the idea of documenting and sharing their season online.
-The Michigan State Championship broadcast was incredibly good. This needs to continue (and i'm sure it will) and it serves as a great example of how to broadcast FIRST events in the future.
-The Orlando RPC deserves a shout out for trying new things this year and being open to experimentation. FIRST RoboVision was an invaluable service for teams both scouting and reviewing matches after the day was over (check out the Channel here) and the committee really gave The RoboShow a ton of support and were willing to take a chance on both projects because they want to keep innovating and improving their event.

That's all I have for now, overall a fantastic season that has made me very excited and optimistic for FIRSTs future.

Do you know if RoboVision and RoboShow will be happening next year as well?

[James1902]

Originally Posted by dodar

Do you know if RoboVision and RoboShow will be happening next year as well?

I don't. Both projects got a very positive reception from the community and the committee and I know the RoboShow crew wants to improve and expand for next year but everything is barely into planning stages right now. I'm sure there will be updates as the off season progresses.

[Taylor]

Something that FIRST has been improving, and is getting better with, is team introductions. My dad used to tell me that he hated that part of the competition - hearing a flood of sponsors, one right after the other, was boring, tedious, and meaningless. Teams can and do recognize their sponsors with pit displays, banners, robot signage, tshirts, etc. - thank you announcing crew for realizing this and putting the focus on the teams and robots.
To single out JonDarr, the best game announcer in FRC, he does a fantastic job of mixing one or two sponsors, team tidbits such as school, city, state, robot name, a bit of team history - that is different and interesting each time.

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Taylor

Something that FIRST has been improving, and is getting better with, is team introductions. My dad used to tell me that he hated that part of the competition - hearing a flood of sponsors, one right after the other, was boring, tedious, and meaningless. Teams can and do recognize their sponsors with pit displays, banners, robot signage, tshirts, etc. - thank you announcing crew for realizing this and putting the focus on the teams and robots.
To single out JonDarr, the best game announcer in FRC, he does a fantastic job of mixing one or two sponsors, team tidbits such as school, city, state, robot name, a bit of team history - that is different and interesting each time.

Its typical protocol to give the "official" team name(which is all the teams sponsors) during each teams 1st match. Then after they mix it up with other interesting facts and the teams more recognized nick names.

[ykarkason]

Roborealm was one of the greatest things for a programmer this year, loved it, and it was so easy to use.
Please keep donating Roborealm to the teams.

The game was great, pretty much an eye-candy for the audience, and awesome for the teams as well.

Can't wait for the 2014 season!!

[IKE]

Has anyone mentioned that FIRST published the qual schedule in advance?
I thought that was a pretty nice improvement this year over previous years.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by IKE

Has anyone mentioned that FIRST published the qual schedule in advance?
I thought that was a pretty nice improvement this year over previous years.

You mean the PRELIMINARY qual schedule.

[BigJ]

I would preliminarily love if every event preliminarily published a preliminary schedule prior to the event.

(preliminarily)

[Anthony Galea]

Originally Posted by BigJ

I would love if every event published a preliminary schedule prior to the event.

I agree, but they would have to have teams preliminary confirm for sure to make those schedules.

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by bduddy

You mean the PRELIMINARY qual schedule.

Thankfully for everyone, there was no IHOP near the dome. Otherwise the schedule would have surely changed.

[Jacq B]

What did FIRST do particularly well this year?

As this was our rookie year, I don’t have anything to compare, but I thought FIRST Championship was amazing. I have absolutely fallen in love with robotics competition and the FIRST organization. I appreciate the FIRST values of gracious professionalism and coopertition, and it was great to see it in practice; from the build season where my son learned how to program the robot from Team 358’s online labview files, to the tremendous support at the regional and world events from so many different teams.

I loved being able to meet people from around the world, to see so many different designs in action, and to be inspired for next years’ build. I was very appreciative of all the volunteers and the help they gave to our team, and while I hope that my team is able to go again next year, but if we don’t make it, I want to volunteer.

[jawebste]

My first trip to the Championships as well and the Safety Glasses lady rocked! And I agree the volunteers are wonderful. I was also very impressed with the Dome personnel and found them very helpful.

[AllenGregoryIV]

No need for major rules changes at IRI, means the GDC got it right.