FRC Blog - Entry and Seating at the FIRST Championship

[cgmv123]

http://www3.usfirst.org/roboticsprog...T-Championship

We want to make sure everyone attending the FIRST Championship has a safe and enjoyable experience. We’ve made a few changes to entry and seating we think will help improve things this year.

One Additional Entrance Open

Both Entry A and Entry B at the Edward Jones Dome will be open for arriving teams. Entry A we used last year, and is at the southwest corner of the dome at Convention Plaza and Broadway. Entry B is located at the southeast corner of the dome at Convention Plaza & 7th St. See the map here: http://explorestlouis.com/wp-content...es-5-22-13.pdf .

Crowd Control Barriers

Crowd control barriers will be present at both entrances. Individuals will be following an S-shaped path through the barriers to reach the doors. This should help control the flow.

Security

Venue security and additional volunteers will be stationed inside and outside the entries to help keep everyone safe. All bags will be checked by security staff upon entry.

Additional Deck of Seating

An additional deck of seating will be open to allow teams to watch matches. This deck is not large, but it will provide some additional space for teams.

Team Viewing Area

We’re piloting an active viewing area this year for Divisions. Only team members from teams in the match being currently played will be allowed to sit in those reserved seats. When a match is complete, the next set of team members will rotate in. Security staff and volunteers will be on hand to help ensure smooth transitions between groups. The seating capacity in this area is not unlimited, so we ask larger teams to be considerate of others in sharing the space. It may take us some time to get a handle on this process, and we appreciate your patience. The primary intent of this change is to help ensure team members can get good seats when their teams are up. This may also help lessen concerns over getting just the right seats when the doors to the venue open, but we will see.

Your Help

Fans wait outside a Beatles concert in Seattle in 1964 (Stuart B. Hertz/seattlepi.com file)

Even with these changes, we still need your help! It’s great to see that the opening of the doors to the FIRST Championship generates about as much excitement as the opening of the doors to a typical Beatles* concert used to, but we really need everyone to take their time, be considerate of others, and listen to instructions by staff. Safety is the priority. With these changes, we’re hoping to help make things safer, and more fun.

Frank

*The Beatles were what us old-timers call a “rock band”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles I recommend The White Album (not its real name BTW), specifically the track ‘Revolution 9’. But I don’t recommend listening to that particular track in the dark, using headphones.

Frank for the win! (Again.)

[JohnFogarty]

I mean the guy obviously reads our posts. #BestGuyFrank

[Jared Russell]

It's suspicious how right after we talk about something on Chief Delphi, Frank addresses it. Let's put it to the test.

WE DEMAND FREE CORNDOGS FOR ALL MENTORS UPON ENTRY INTO THE EDWARD JONES DOME.

#yourmovefrank

I think we should be thanking Cory for sending his email.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Jared Russell

It's suspicious how right after we talk about something on Chief Delphi, Frank addresses it. Let's put it to the test.

WE DEMAND FREE CORNDOGS FOR ALL MENTORS UPON ENTRY INTO THE EDWARD JONES DOME.

#yourmovefrank

Good Guy Frank is good, but not THAT good.

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

I think we should be thanking Cory for sending his email.

I think it's the doings of a lot of the community, not just one specific post or email- remember that Frank did address that they had plans in place, quite a while ago. My guess is they were waiting to nail down some more specifics before releasing.

That said, this is just another great example of how FRC is responsive to its community - which can only be a good thing. I hope the community will follow through on these changes with respect and appreciation for the volunteers and staff helping to handle it.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

I think we should be thanking Cory for sending his email.

I doubt anything I did had much of an influence on this. It sounds like it was in the works already based on a lot of feedback at the end of last season.

I'm glad FIRST made this a priority. This was a very big safety issue that will hopefully not be a problem this year.

[Jon Stratis]

The timing of the release is about right, too - a week before the event. If they had come out 2 months ago and said "here's what we're doing to help with crowds at champs...", no one would remember it. Now, at least, it gets some visibility while everyone is preparing for champs, so hopefully they keep it in mind and act a little calmer going into the arena.

[Patrick Flynn]

Can anyone tell if entrance B will remain open throughout the day, or if after the initial morning rush they will then close it and only have entrance A?

Also can anyone confirm from the past that both the upper and lower 100 level seats were open and this blog post is suggesting that now the 300 level which use-to be the media level will now also be open?

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Jared Russell

It's suspicious how right after we talk about something on Chief Delphi, Frank addresses it. Let's put it to the test.

WE DEMAND FREE CORNDOGS FOR ALL MENTORS UPON ENTRY INTO THE EDWARD JONES DOME.

#yourmovefrank

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...atch-Schedules

I'm disappointed

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by Libby K

Good Guy Frank is good, but not THAT good.

Nope, he is.

[Wayne Doenges]

I have one problem though. For the past three years at Championships I have been one of those volunteers that helps with the inflow of the crowd. I'm usually stationed on the ramp leading up to the seating.
EVERY year I have had to tell students to slow down only to have them take off running 30 feet past me. If a volunterr tells you to slow down and not run....Then don't run. I have seen several students go down because they were running.
* rant is over *

BTW, way to go Frank

[Abhishek R]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

I have one problem though. For the past three years at Championships I have been one of those volunteers that helps with the inflow of the crowd. I'm usually stationed on the ramp leading up to the seating.
EVERY year I have had to tell students to slow down only to have them take off running 30 feet past me. If a volunterr tells you to slow down and not run....Then don't run. I have seen several students go down because they were running.
* rant is over *

BTW, way to go Frank

Yup, but the only way to solve that problem is to have volunteers stationed everywhere. No way to stop all 400 teams' worth of students from running the moment they are out of sight of a volunteer. It's really up to the mentors and chaperones of teams to combat this.

[Wayne Doenges]

Originally Posted by Abhishek R

Yup, but the only way to solve that problem is to have volunteers stationed everywhere. No way to stop all 400 teams' worth of students from running the moment they are out of sight of a volunteer. It's really up to the mentors and chaperones of teams to combat this.

Can't we just shoot them

[Abhishek R]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

Can't we just shoot them

I didn't mean "combat" literally, plus as a student I'm not sure how much I would enjoy that