#MakeitLoud Ideas...

[MisterG]

I know this thread is more about bring me solutions than bring me problems but I was talking about #makeitloud with some friends. The question of where we are going to put a large amount of spectators came up.

I think this is a very real issue that will need to be dealt with. Many or most robotics competition that I have attended at any level have had overflow crowds that are made of students, mentors and parents.

Can this be solved? Sure. Is it a challenge? A pretty big one I would say.

[JohnFogarty]

You make a good point.... The stands were almost completely full with just teams at Palmetto whenever everyone was required to be in them for Opening Ceremonies.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by MisterG

I know this thread is more about bring me solutions than bring me problems but I was talking about #makeitloud with some friends. The question of where we are going to put a large amount of spectators came up.

I think this is a very real issue that will need to be dealt with. Many or most robotics competition that I have attended at any level have had overflow crowds that are made of students, mentors and parents.

Can this be solved? Sure. Is it a challenge? A pretty big one I would say.

It also doesn't help when teams feel entitled to guard blocks of seats with various objects or scowling parents. I would say that probably doesn't give a good impression for people outside of our little world.

[James1902]

Originally Posted by John_1102

How many average citizens have a subscription to NASATV that they can get with their current package or get for free in addition to their current TV package.

I took a poll from people living near me, and the numbers came back just as I thought. 1/60 people in my area in SC have NASATV as a part of their cable/satellite package. Now while I know that the streaming is an option for anyone with an Internet connection..here's my thought that has been shared among many whom I've spoken to.

WE NEED ESPN BACK. I don't even necessarily think it has to be ESPN, it could be CBS, FOX, ABC...whomever. There needs to be at least one day of sports style coverage of the championship event...even if it's only finals day. This would be a great step towards getting FIRST out there......

I would argue that even more people have access to an internet connection then ESPN. Plus it's easier to share the broadcast if you only have to click one button to tell all of your Facebook friends and Twitter followers about it.
Add in that anyone can watch it on their own schedule and it becomes more of a video to pass around and discuss and can then lead the viewer to more information on FIRST itself. All through the same platform.

YouTube is reaching a point where the content is longer form, better produced, and easier to access then some television shows. There are now professional production channels producing amazing content exclusively for YouTube. I think this is where entertainment as a whole is headed and I don't see why FIRST shouldn't be the first sport to be covered via YouTube.

To borrow a hockey quote: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”
Television is where the puck is, I think the internet is where the puck is going to be, and FIRST should be right there with it.

[Ivan Malik]

What about Hulu? They are probably itching to get into the sports genre...

[ebeattie]

I have always though that we should find a way to contact the writers/producers of shows like CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" or FOX's "Glee" and have them incorporate FIRST into an episode. When Dean presented the Make it Loud award to Will, all I was thinking about is that we have to do this! There are upsides to having this on either one of these shows. BBT is watched by millions of "geeks" just like ourselves who would probably be completely dazzled by the idea of FIRST if they had no prior knowledge about it. With Glee, it takes place in a high school so it would be a perfect outlet to get FRC out there. I am by no means creative like the writers of these shows but if people are just watching their weekly shows and FIRST comes up, they are more likely to watch it rather than a documentary type show on it. It would be a great way to reach out to millions of people and they would still be enjoying what it is that they enjoy about these shows. I have not looked too deeply on FOX's site but CBS is not making it easy to contact anyone. Plus if BBT were to win the Make it Loud Award, a visit from the cast at champs would be AWESOME!

[JohnFogarty]

Bonus points to you.
Now that's what I call creative thinking.

[drew.spillers]

Originally Posted by ebeattie

I have always though that we should find a way to contact the writers/producers of shows like CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" or FOX's "Glee" and have them incorporate FIRST into an episode. When Dean presented the Make it Loud award to Will, all I was thinking about is that we have to do this! There are upsides to having this on either one of these shows. BBT is watched by millions of "geeks" just like ourselves who would probably be completely dazzled by the idea of FIRST if they had no prior knowledge about it. With Glee, it takes place in a high school so it would be a perfect outlet to get FRC out there. I am by no means creative like the writers of these shows but if people are just watching their weekly shows and FIRST comes up, they are more likely to watch it rather than a documentary type show on it. It would be a great way to reach out to millions of people and they would still be enjoying what it is that they enjoy about these shows. I have not looked too deeply on FOX's site but CBS is not making it easy to contact anyone. Plus if BBT were to win the Make it Loud Award, a visit from the cast at champs would be AWESOME!

I filled out and submitted a feedback form for CBS about this, We should all do this, and hopefully it will happen! it would be so Awesome if it happened!

[That 281 Guy]

Originally Posted by John_1102

I guess what I'm going to do personally is I'm going to start up a commentary similar to the Roboshow for the Palmetto Regional for next season pending the Palmetto Partners approval.

This sounds like an amazing idea, and if if needed I would love to help in any way I can. In about a month I will be an alumni of Team 281. I have been doing filmmaking all throughout high school and in August I will be going to college to study Broadcast Media. And if you need help with commentary I know virtually all the Palmetto teams inside and out, seeing as I was a student at the last four Palmetto Regionals.

I'm working on something pretty cool, but I have to keep it under wraps for now...

This has me excited... Every video that has come from the Hitchhikers has been amazing. This video is a perfect example of how FIRST event should be covered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=zXQmeuUIeQg

While robot-mounted cameras are probably is not feasible for live broadcasting, this video's use of split screens is effective, the small scoreboard doesn't take up too much space, and the audio from the drivers makes you feel in the moment. I'd love to see a similar model applied to live broadcasts in the future.

The VERY LEAST we can do for competition coverage is use HD cameras!!! The live feeds of some regionals were simply painful to look at due to horrible quality.

[JohnFogarty]

I think that the three of us, considering my bet is were all going to be attending Palmetto. Should collaborate on creating a show. (Are we all going to be attending SCRIW III?) I know I will be there because since I'm transferring campuses within the USC system I'm going to be working with 2815 for the next few seasons. Maybe we could even do a rough demo cast for SCRIW. Anyone interested?

I also just got a PM from James sayying that they'd be open to discussing ways to make the shows better on both fronts. Here and in Orlando.

I'm really excited about the direction this is going.

Does anyone know any ways we can approach Google/YouTube about covering FIRST events?

[Dominick Ferone]

Originally Posted by animenerdjohn

Fox is starting a new channel in August called FoxSports1 which is supposed to be a competitor to ESPN. Because ESPN already has contracts with most major sports, foxsports1 is having to pick up less televised stuff. Maybe FIRST could contact FOX and see if they'd be interested in broadcasting champs next year? I'm sure they'll be eager for programming their first year especially since ABC has NBA rights at the same time as champs

Actually back in the early 2000's ESPN used to televise FIRST matches

[That 281 Guy]

Originally Posted by John_1102

I think that the three of us, considering my bet is were all going to be attending Palmetto. Should collaborate on creating a show. (Are we all going to be attending SCRIW III?) I know I will be there because since I'm transferring campuses within the USC system I'm going to be working with 2815 for the next few seasons. Maybe we could even do a rough demo cast for SCRIW. Anyone interested?

I was actually already planning on volunteering at SCRIW, so that would be great! What kind of format are we thinking of for this show? Match footage and commentary? Interviews with teams? Is it going to be live, or uploaded on the internet? What kind of equipment will we need? We need to start thinking about these things. And doing a demo run durring SCRIW would be great in preperation for Palmetto.