2015 Lessons Learned: The Negative

[Travis Hoffman]

It sure would be spiffy if FIRST provided us an actual pit area with pipe/drape, signage, and power BEFORE we arrived to load in (see below). It sure would be spiffy if we didn't have to waste our time finding someone who could correct this issue and then wait around for them to find the myriad other people who actually were permitted to perform the labor to correct the various omissions.

Maybe we had to pay extra for that privilege, not sure....

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I actually think Show Ready adds a nice polish to the events. They just bit off more than they could chew this time around. When things start to go south some things needed to be cut loose for the sake of the show going on.
Now that they know what they are up against I suspect they will do a much better job next year.

My understanding was that FIRST took over handling some things that were formerly managed by SRE. This made trying to find answers and especially accountability a tougher road to navigate this year.

There was also a new AV company.

[Eugene Fang]

Originally Posted by MasterMentor

The way it was explained to me by one of the FIRST guys, what's uploaded is a difference between what's already in the "cloud" and what's on the scoring computer, based on tracking information stored on the scoring computer. In most cases the first upload can be "involved", but every subsequent upload is quite small.

It would only make sense to upload only the difference. What doesn't make sense, then, is why it would take so long to upload between matches. Are robot/field logs also being uploaded, not just the scores?

[GaryVoshol]

You can't double the size of the playoffs, and then add only an hour to the schedule to compensate. Yes, I'm talking about you, FiM and MSC. And it didn't help anything that the hour was taken up by a speech and award given by Dean to the governor, and by a field delay.

Regarding the MSC productions, RoboZone had the whole season to evolve and had excellent mentor direction in the first place. Jim Zondag for sure, but I'm sure there were others.

The crew from the PBS station that makes the MSC special also does their homework. They come to districts to see how the game goes, what kind of camera angles they will need, etc. And they often practice during the qualifications at MSC so they have it down before we get to playoffs. Not that there's no issues, like the time a couple years ago we had to convince the boom camera operator that he couldn't put the camera in the goal mouth because it would block game pieces. But in general, they do a good job of preparation to get the production values high.

I think this is the kind of preparation and partnership Carolyn wants to see between SRE and FIRST.

[RoboMom]

My perspective was from the Information Booth, aka, the crossroads of the worlds. Over the past 5 years - I believe I have heard every question there is out there dealing with team questions, volunteer questions, spectator questions, family questions, venue questions, first aid questions, and FIRST program questions (on and on).

We invite spectators in. We advertise the event at every Metro link stop and throughout St. Louis. Bring the kids! See robots!

Well...maybe. On Sat. at noon badging was packed up and moved out. But the throngs of people and lots and lots of kids came pouring in. We invited them! But think about this. What is there for them to do on Sat. afternoon.? FLL was closed. The pits were closed to the public. The Innovation Faire closed at 2. And FRC, if you found your way to the Dome - was it a 2 hour break???The Student Ambassadors were also packed up. And Union Station was shutting down.

What are we showing exactly?

And it was interesting that badging, which was SUCH A PRIORITY, on all the other days, causing some mentors and teams to stand in horrible lines on Wed. for 2+ hours (until it was decided to call off the required badging, BUT required to resume on Thurs - so teams would not miss the 5pm drivers meeting) and then it took at least 5 minutes to fill in the information for each badge, print it out, put in in the sleeve, put on the lanyard if the person is not pre-registered. But suddenly it become a non-priority on Sat. at noon. Boom. BUT how does that information get out to all house people so they know the change in status and that badges were no longer needed? It was a bit bumpy.

And suddenly, how do the VIPs get badges, and find their way to the VIP area and get access?

So the volunteers in the Info Booth are doing our best to give out the right info, and come up with suggested activities and actions and explaining what FIRST is.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by brrian27

We didn't stay for closing ceremonies, but moving everyone to the opposite side of the dome just isn't a good idea. Additionally, I heard that Dean talked for almost two hours, which is just not okay. His message is important, but again things need to be on schedule and entertaining.

He did not talk for two hours. It was closer to 25 minutes.

[Josh Fox]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

My understanding was that FIRST took over handling some things that were formerly managed by SRE. This made trying to find answers and especially accountability a tougher road to navigate this year.

There was also a new AV company.

While we're talking about AV...

I'm not sure how other fields were, but it seemed like every day when we came in the volume of the sound effects and MCs on Galileo were unreasonably loud. I had to go down stadium-side and get a volunteer's attention and ask them if they could ask the audio guy to turn it down several times, and frequently it seemed as if they did nothing. I heard numerous complaints from students, parents, and friends on our team and others around us.

Aside from the volume issues, there were several times when an MC's mic was clearly left on while they were trying to carry on a conversation at the side of the field mid-match, which didn't combine well with the GA calling the match and music playing. I mostly only heard snippets of Mark Leon talking about outer space (which is welcome any other time), but it was very distracting. The timing of music being turned on fairly consistently for the last 1/3rd or so of several subdivision awards speeches Saturday was also irritating. If we're trying to celebrate what teams are doing, it'd be great if we could hear what the awards were for.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Josh Fox

While we're talking about AV...

I'm not sure how other fields were, but it seemed like every day when we came in the volume of the sound effects and MCs on Galileo were unreasonably loud. I had to go down stadium-side and get a volunteer's attention and ask them if they could ask the audio guy to turn it down several times, and frequently it seemed as if they did nothing. I heard numerous complaints from students, parents, and friends on our team and others around us.

Aside from the volume issues, there were several times when an MC's mic was clearly left on while they were trying to carry on a conversation at the side of the field mid-match, which didn't combine well with the GA calling the match and music playing. I mostly only heard snippets of Mark Leon talking about outer space (which is welcome any other time), but it was very distracting. The timing of music being turned on fairly consistently for the last 1/3rd or so of several subdivision awards speeches Saturday was also irritating. If we're trying to celebrate what teams are doing, it'd be great if we could hear what the awards were for.

We got many reports at the "crossroads of the worlds" re: sound levels esp. on Galileo. They were all reported. It appears this was a struggle over many days.

[Bertman]

I think that it was demotivating for teams that worked hard all year to find that the divisions were combined and fewer awards were given. There should have be an EI, an Control, etc.. for each division.

I was also disappointed that the game was essentially a FLL game on steroids with no interaction between field halves, no strategy or opportunity for defense, etc... I personally feel that watching this game was on par to watching paint dry.

FIRST is an extremely expensive activity and I feel that teams deserve a better game than one that seems like an afterthought or teams should have a 48 hour period after kickoff to request a refund. Maybe then the GDC will come up with a game that teams would be able compete on a various levels.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Bob Steele

Putting a knowledgeable FIRST person with them who could assess the shots and the way thing were handled could have really made the production better. The little help I could provide might have been something but putting someone with a good idea of what people want to see is vital.

One of the reasons our PNW video crews put out a good product is that they are all team affiliated... many are students.... they know what THEY want to see... and they go after it.

I think all of the good video production that is going on is due in great part to the people doing it and their knowledge of the game and what those watching want and need to see.

Yes the equipment is important...but the people operating the equipment are more important. My hat goes off to all of the PNW video staff for the entire year and what they accomplished. I am sure the other video crews from around the rest of FIRST can say the same thing....

thanks for bringing this up Carolyn

I was going to say something similar. For the other aspects the SRE people know what needs to be done and have done it before. However for the video you really need someone behind the camera and switcher who knows/plays the game and shows what they would want to see which most of the time will be what the audience wants to see. Sure there will always be cases where that big play is missed because they can't have a camera focused on every robot all of the time.

Of course in the PNW district the district volunteers and staff run every aspect of the production at the district events. At the DCMP a production company is hired and they provide the lighting and audio though the video and streaming was done by some of the same people who handled it at the district events.

[Patrick Flynn]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

FIRST needs to put their long standing teams at a higher priority than mass expansion, and they need to hold some real feedback sessions with teams or an advisory panel of teams, because it seems they have a mission of what they're trying to do, and it doesn't always align with what the teams want and need.

Also, the timing of the Chairman's Award and other top awards needs to be communicated clearly, before any music festival or dance party, and certainly before everyone leaves.

Originally Posted by bam-bam

I'll add quickly that while the championship in person is a great experience, I feel like those unable to attend and have to watch through the webcasts were treated somewhat poorly.

Also, there was just poor scheduling on the behalf of award announcements. Not once throughout the entire Einstein broadcast was it mentioned that Chairman's would be presented at the concert, and that concert in turn is streamed on the exact same stream. At the very least, it could be mentioned in the passing when the awards will be announced, instead of leaving all of us viewers confused about when it will happened.

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Either stick to the published schedule, or have ubiquitous video screens showing when things are really going to happen.

Originally Posted by Jared Russell

Once again, FIRST totally dropped the ball on making sure people can follow events from home. The Championship streams were awful, and scores and rankings weren't event updating through most of the weekend. It is 2015. Why do PNW, FiM, dozens of regionals, or Chezy Champs have better streams than the FIRST Championship?

Originally Posted by Steven Donow

Plenty of things to go in both threads, but my initial though about Champs itself is the level to which badges/lanyards were regulated.
Even an, 'I'm going to the stands, my badge is there' was responded to with a, 'You need to go down to the registration desk'. Not to mention the fact that they were only allowing one direction at a time Saturday morning between the pits and stands, even going as far as cutting off teams from walking together...

Seems like there is a recurring theme here that no one has flat out said yet:
FIRST dropped the ball with communication this year.

From not knowing what the badges were, or when i needed them, or where to get them.
The last minute 2 championship announcement.
Poor communication about what was going on in the arena and when.
So many aspects of this year could have been improved with better communicate on FIRSTs part.

[5reided]

Originally Posted by Patrick Flynn

Seems like there is a recurring theme here that no one has flat out said yet:
FIRST dropped the ball with communication this year.

From not knowing what the badges were, or when i needed them, or where to get them.
The last minute 2 championship announcement.
Poor communication about what was going on in the arena and when.
So many aspects of this year could have been improved with better communicate on FIRSTs part.

From what I could tell, a team would need to check all of the following in order to know all of the available information about the Championship:

• FRC Administrative Manual
• FRC Game Manual
• Championship A-to-Z Guide
• FRC Championship Event page
• FIRST Championship web site
• FRC Blog
• Team e-mail blasts
• FIRST social media accounts
• Documents in the team registration packet
• Pit Admin announcements
• Explanations from volunteers

It seemed that most (but certainly not all) of the information was out there somewhere, but it was in so many places (and in some cases made available so last-minute) that most teams couldn't keep up with them all, and some teams don't even know everywhere to look.

[sanddrag]

Don't forget the app. It had the conference times, but lacked team divisions and pit area locations, and often crashed or didn't load properly.

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard

Not you in particular, just large teams that stand in front. Huge pet peeve.

that's why we do our obnoxiously loud cheering from the back

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by 5reided

From what I could tell, a team would need to check all of the following in order to know all of the available information about the Championship:

• FRC Administrative Manual
• FRC Game Manual
• Championship A-to-Z Guide
• FRC Championship Event page
• FIRST Championship web site
• FRC Blog
• Team e-mail blasts
• FIRST social media accounts
• Documents in the team registration packet
• Pit Admin announcements
• Explanations from volunteers

It seemed that most (but certainly not all) of the information was out there somewhere, but it was in so many places (and in some cases made available so last-minute) that most teams couldn't keep up with them all, and some teams don't even know everywhere to look.

^THIS^

Even as a veteran of FRC, the shear amount of communications/announcements, to-do list items, and media to follow were astronomical. To keep up with all that, on top of running a team and building a robot was daunting for a first year coach...