Petition to end things that confuse the public

[dcarr]

Thanks for introducing a much-needed dose of common sense with "Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT" - I too have heard it less and less often as the years have gone by, and I think it has had a continuing positive impact as the practice is no longer being "passed on" to new teams who might have otherwise picked up the practice without knowing any of the context behind it. Also, now is as good a time as any to say, congratulations on the WFFA!

Originally Posted by sanddrag

And believe me, I have seen the pure and genuine joy and excitement on my student's faces when they're out there doing their thing, but to the unfamiliar observer, it is difficult to relate these goofy activities with a highly technical robotics competition. It's confusing, and hard to "get." I've been to other robotics competitions outside of the FIRST league, and they just don't have the same energy and appeal. But, I'm not convinced it's these silly songs and dances that make FIRST events what they are.

Have you encountered people who are confused or turned off by the intermissions that happen between elimination matches? I think things like this are a part of what makes FIRST culture unique. I'm not sure there would be much of a net positive if some of these fun traditions were removed or reduced.

[artdutra04]

While I'm not generally one who enjoys hearing the same six dance songs every few hours at events, I don't believe they necessarily are a negative part of the competition experience.

They have parallels to things at existing sporting events. Take baseball for example. Between every inning at baseball games, there are all kinds of weird shenanigans that entertain the crowd while the teams switch sides.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

This year, I began thinking about other things that perhaps are turning people away from wanting to be involved in this wonderful program we run. While attending events this year, I realized what some of these things are. We are a goofy bunch of folks, who have built a culture around celebration of what we do, in some strange ways that are not at all related to what we do. You all know what I'm referring to when I talk about the pauses between the finals matches at regional events. It's the dances, to the same goofy songs every year.

It's like a Grateful Dead (or Phish) concert with Robots.

You walk in to the arena, the action on the stage is inscrutable, the audience is wearing colorful clothing and dancing a lot, people are responding to the action in unison and you're not sure why, and everybody is really nice to each other, GP.

Originally Posted by sanddrag

This year, I began thinking about other things that perhaps are turning people away from wanting to be involved in this wonderful program we run. While attending events this year, I realized what some of these things are. We are a goofy bunch of folks, who have built a culture around celebration of what we do, in some strange ways that are not at all related to what we do. You all know what I'm referring to when I talk about the pauses between the finals matches at regional events. It's the dances, to the same goofy songs every year.

In the end, I think it is about the students celebrating their hard work and that is a priority.

I am a little tired of the same songs too, etc.... but it works, and it is a collective activity, so, I dance with them.

I am also GA and we have had discussions in our conference calls about activities during the timeouts that have to occur this year for Robot "cooldown" in the SF's and Finals. We are trying to "mix it up" with activities that keep the audience attentive.
Your suggestion about doing awards between the matches is a good one, but awards require a cleared field for teams to walk down and be recognized. Probably won't happen until the CMP.

So, IMHO, no petition needed here. The petition about the shouting of "Robot!" had it's desired effect. This concern is more complex.

[Koko Ed]

I'm down with banning the Chicken Dance (and take the Macerena with you when you go)!

[The other Gabe]

the games themselves are quite confusing, but we can't really get rid of those

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I'm down with banning the Chicken Dance (and take the Macerena with you when you go)!

noooo not the Macerena :'(

On a different note; these competitions are not done for the bystanders, but for those who spent an inordinate amount of their time building a robot and want to have fun at these events. and let me tell you, after 2 hours straight of sitting, scouting matches, a dance break is more than welcome (especially at districts- those darned bleachers hurt!). Part of the atmosphere of FIRST is having fun at events, being serious only when needed and having fun the rest of the time. and awards cannot necessarily be given in between matches; if not given at the end of the event, some teams' improvements/cool stuff they do cannot be seen until near the end.

I could also go off on a tangent about how much I dislike your petition to end the shouting of robot, because that was another thing I liked about the atmosphere of FRC competitions, but that's for another place

[Basel A]

As someone who probably hasn't danced at an FRC competition since 2009 (my freshman year of HS), I think it's obvious the effect it has on the energy level of the students and the competition. As odd as it is to have so much dancing at a robotics competition, removing it I believe would be detrimental to the impact that FRC has.

[GreyingJay]

Yes, I liked the fact that showing up at an FRC event felt like going to any other sporting event like a hockey tournament, complete with silly music, sound effects, cheering, the wave, and so on.

Anything that makes STEM seem like a fun party time is a good thing, I think.

My local university used to broadcast courses on a cable TV channel. One that I would periodically tune into was some civil engineering course where the project was to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks. The prof would then load-test each bridge design to see how much weight it could handle before catastrophic failure. It was fun to watch - sort of - the guy was your typical dry stuffy prof and there was obviously mostly silence as he did the work in front of a quiet classroom. Your average jr high or high schooler would have got bored and switched the channel pretty quick.

Compare that with the energy levels at an FRC regional.