Award Ceremony & Divisional Playoffs...

[Ron Hartman]

I've been to Nationals each year since 1998 and this was, by far, my least favorite awards ceremony. In fact, it's a stretch to call it a "ceremony" at all.

With the exception of the Founder's and Chairman's, it felt like awards were being handed out simply as filler material between matches... an after-thought, just something to fill dead air time.

Personally, I prefer the contiguous awards ceremony approach. Ceremonies like we've had at Epcot really tend to emphasize the importance and prestige of the awards, and help promote the true meaning of FIRST... it's not just about the final competition, right? ...and the speakers have the undivided attention of the audience. In Houston, it felt like the only important thing was the final set of matches, everything else was scattered in between.

As far as getting more FIRSTers to actually show up and watch the final matches... well, yes, the stands were full this time, but I think that has as much to do with the seating arrangements and unobstructed viewing than the intermixing of awards and finals. At Epcot, it was often brutally hot and the view of the Einstien field from the stands was nothing short of pathetic. You could get a better view by standing in the pits and watching the TV screens.

Ron