FrankAnswersFridays: October 25, 2013: Safety at Championships

[AdamHeard]

Lotteries, etc... are silly and resource intensive.

We just need a better system to handle the first come first serve. Also, reducing the "sprint distance" would help.

In 2011, the line for pit was allowed to go inside, and right up to the pit doors. Thus, when the doors were opened there was no incentive to sprint... you were already there. 2012 and 2013 had a dangerous 500' sprint.

I'd be nice (but I'm less familiar with the dome layout) to do the same thing for the 4 divisions. Form a line right at the entrance to the seats themselves, so that minimal sprinting could even happen. This also makes what is currently one massive line, 5 smaller lines.

[Justin Montois]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Lotteries, etc... are silly and resource intensive.

We just need a better system to handle the first come first serve. Also, reducing the "sprint distance" would help.

In 2011, the line for pit was allowed to go inside, and right up to the pit doors. Thus, when the doors were opened there was no incentive to sprint... you were already there. 2012 and 2013 had a dangerous 500' sprint.

I'd be nice (but I'm less familiar with the dome layout) to do the same thing for the 4 divisions. Form a line right at the entrance to the seats themselves, so that minimal sprinting could even happen. This also makes what is currently one massive line, 5 smaller lines.

I agree with most of this. However it doesn't address the problem of a team sending a 1 or 2 people to save 30 seats or more.

While a lottery may be "resource intensive" it solves both issues. There's no running, and everyone has a set amount of seats.

Also, to prevent teams from saying they have 50 people just to "be safe" it may be a good idea to have a system in place that the bigger the team is, the less likely they get seats up front.

I'm all for simple solutions but at the same time I don't want to half solve the problem.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Justin Montois

I agree with most of this. However it doesn't address the problem of a team sending a 1 or 2 people to save 30 seats or more.

Am I the only one who just explains that you can't save those seats and continues to sit in them? Not trying to be a jerk but if your 30+ member team is represented by 2 team members and some jackets, then I'm going to still take the seat.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Am I the only one who just explains that you can't save those seats and continues to sit in them?

There are more than a few of us who will happily claim an unoccupied seat. If challenged, I'll just as happily offer to vacate it upon the return of the team member it's being "saved" for.

I even followed through on that offer the one time a team member did need the seat before I left. :-)

[aryker]

I think one of the major issues with seating was how little seating in the facility was made available for people--the Championship is held in a huge stadium, and yet what the staff seemed most concerned about was the fact that everyone stayed on the first level of seating. It seemed like 60 percent of the seats in the facility were unused! Maybe the crowd would thin out a bit if teams were allowed to make use of all the available seating, rather than just a small portion!

[Kevin Leonard]

I think FIRST should take a look at how well the scouting section at the GTR Regional (I can't remember which one) that is being held at 610's school. If the whole "Scouting Section" business runs efficiently there, I see no reason why they shouldn't attempt something like it at championships. Especially if they could find a space to set up a full-field view.
This would alleviate the problem in the stands immensely by moving scouts who need priority seating out of the stands and into a scouting section.
I think they find four relatively large areas in the convention center to run these sections. Preferably a relatively quiet area. This might also encourage collaboration between teams that are scouting.


Another thought: What if they used the high-up seating that is unused above a section to facilitate the scouting section? Would it be difficult to set up a projector there? It also has the benefit of being close to the actual seating and field.

The reason I'm so concerned about this is that our scouting operation is intense. We run six scouts, a head scout, a paper filer, and a data entry person. We also collaborate with other teams for our scouting. And anyone who knows FRC knows that scouting wins matches, and good scouting wins regionals.
So whatever solution is presented, I want to make sure that scouting is considered as a high priority item.
I have no doubt that most of you understand this, but it's something that could easily get thrown under the bridge in the name of organization.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Thunder910

Another thought: What if they used the high-up seating that is unused above a section to facilitate the scouting section? Would it be difficult to set up a projector there? It also has the benefit of being close to the actual seating and field.

Given the option I don't think there's a single team that would rather watch the match on a screen rather than live when it comes to scouting.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Cory

Given the option I don't think there's a single team that would rather watch the match on a screen rather than live when it comes to scouting.

Agreed. As someone who takes scouting very seriously I have never seen a video stream or angle that would come close to being a supplement for scouting. I remember scouting at Champs in 2009-2010 in some of the very back rows and still be able to do so successfully with identifying bumper numbers and where people were on the field.

There is a small level of scouting you can do via a video feed but if you want to do it properly you need to physically be watching everything on and off the field. I am curious to see the 610 setup for their regional but I am still very, very skeptical.

[Ernst]

Originally Posted by Cory

Given the option I don't think there's a single team that would rather watch the match on a screen rather than live when it comes to scouting.

I did data entry for my team's scouting group at MARC over the summer. I set up at a table in a hallway. It was quieter, cooler, and I could lay out everything I was looking at instead of balancing a laptop and several accordion folders on my lap in the bleachers. Given the choice of entering data in a hall like I did, in the stands, or in a room with tables and a stream of the match, I would pick the streaming.

I don't think that the whole scouting team would have liked the secluded room, given that a lot of the fun is getting to sit as a team.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by Cory

Given the option I don't think there's a single team that would rather watch the match on a screen rather than live when it comes to scouting.

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Agreed. As someone who takes scouting very seriously I have never seen a video stream or angle that would come close to being a supplement for scouting. I remember scouting at Champs in 2009-2010 in some of the very back rows and still be able to do so successfully with identifying bumper numbers and where people were on the field.

There is a small level of scouting you can do via a video feed but if you want to do it properly you need to physically be watching everything on and off the field. I am curious to see the 610 setup for their regional but I am still very, very skeptical.

I understand that. And that's why I'm curious to see how well 610's setup will work.
However, given the choice of not having seats to scout or scouting via full-field-fisheye (henceforth known as F^3), which would you choose?

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Thunder910

I understand that. And that's why I'm curious to see how well 610's setup will work.
However, given the choice of not having seats to scout or scouting via full-field-fisheye (henceforth known as F^3), which would you choose?

Neither. I would show up at 5 AM and get seats.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by Cory

Neither. I would show up at 5 AM and get seats.

Fair enough.

[Nate Laverdure]

I don't understand the basic foundations of this discussion. It's the Championship-- stop sitting and start walking around.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

I don't understand the basic foundations of this discussion. It's the Championship-- stop sitting and start walking around.

But who will save my seat when I get up to look at things?



I'll be competing at GTRW with the remote scouting room. I'll relay observations to CD.

[JB987]

Originally Posted by Cory

Neither. I would show up at 5 AM and get seats.

And we will still show up at 4:59 am