2015 Lessons Learned: The Negative

[alecmuller]

Championship in particular and FIRST as a whole could really benefit from more effective communication.

This event could have been far less confusing, especially for teams like mine that haven't been in 4+ years.

1. Mark acceptable load-in locations on the map shared beforehand. Even the FRC-uniformed volunteers I spoke with didn't know what was allowed. They told me several times that "they would prefer" that we load in through the doors in the back of the building even though 30+ teams (including mine) had already dropped their gear along 7th and Convention Plaza. Security eventually did let those teams in.

2. Simulcast the Opening Ceremonies, or make it viewable from all 8 sections of the stands, or at least tell people they need to move if they want to watch. It's bad enough to make 10,000 people shuffle a quarter of a mile from one side of the stadium to the other to participate. It's worse when they don't bother to announce it to those people.

3. After alliance selections, tell teams they need to set up a new pit in center field. The 15'x15' pits make perfect sense, but I'd never heard of them until one of our alliance partners came and asked to coordinate which tools we took out there. They told me it was buried in some email FIRST had sent out a couple of days ago, but I didn't see it and still can't find it. This is definitely worth announcing to teams before they need to do it.

4. Train venue security so they know who they're supposed to let in. I saw scores of people with badges get turned away from entrances close to the team parking lots that had "Team Entrance" signs out front, forcing them to walk an extra 1/2 mile to get in through the main entrance and then loop back to the dome.

5. Remove unnecessary permissions from the FIRST Championship App. I don't know what the app offers (because I declined to sign over EVERYTHING on my phone, and I haven't found a decent description of it) but all I want are schedule-changes and other announcements. Apps that require everything a stalker could want do not inspire confidence that they use good security practices and will safeguard the data I share with them. Alternatively, they could explain what each of the permissions are needed for and offer reduced-function apps that need fewer permissions.

6. This is a general FIRST comment and not Championship-specific, but Please, please, please let me help you test the UI for your website. Everyone I've ever talked to about your website has had a great deal of trouble navigating it, and it's an embarrassment that I have to warn people about it when they decide to join after hearing all the awesome things I tell them about FIRST. Our Dean's List nominee almost got disqualified because her family got stuck trying to navigate all the way through STIMS.

I love that FIRST's goal is to change the culture to be more inspired by and appreciative of technology. Communication is a huge element in mobilizing that change, and there's a great deal of low-hanging fruit that FIRST can work on to improve it and speed up growth.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by alecmuller

4. Train venue security so they know who they're supposed to let in. I saw scores of people with badges get turned away from entrances close to the team parking lots that had "Team Entrance" signs out front, forcing them to walk an extra 1/2 mile to get in through the main entrance and then loop back to the dome.

Hear, hear.

Two mornings in a row, I got stopped and yelled at by people who apparently thought they were supposed to keep everybody out of the building until the pits opened. The orange VOLUNTEER strip on my badge did not seem to mean anything to them. It took quite a lot of explanation on my part, and some nodding from other nearby gatekeepers, before they would let me through.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Hear, hear.

Two mornings in a row, I got stopped and yelled at by people who apparently thought they were supposed to keep everybody out of the building until the pits opened. The orange VOLUNTEER strip on my badge did not seem to mean anything to them. It took quite a lot of explanation on my part, and some nodding from other nearby gatekeepers, before they would let me through.

During alliance selections on Carson, there was an individual keeping the team seating area empty of teams not in matches who didn't understand that there were no matches until 9:30, and we needed to be closer to the field to help 5254 whiteboard a pick to their field representative.

To his credit, I'm sure people had been giving him a hard time all weekend and he held his ground, but he didn't understand the way the event was to be run. The front set of team seating rows (which was fantastic to have when there were matches, by the way) stayed empty throughout alliance selections, and we did manage to find a few seats for a set of picklisting scouts and a whiteboard, but it was incredibly frustrating for not just 20 and 5254, but also at least a dozen other people trying to sit there for alliance selections.