Atlanta: The Wrap Up and Grading

[Joe Matt]

So, I'm in a good mode, listening to Chris Rock, just came back from the party (more on that latter). So, how does it stack up? Well, as most people know, I wasn't a, well, fan, of Houston. I preferred Disney every way. Well, I'm happy to say Atlanta is better than Houston, and, yes, better than Disney is some parts. Well, here we go, jump down the rabbit hole!

Venue:

Disney has the parks, Houston had something open for FIRST to use, and Atlanta is the best of both worlds. The place is beautiful, it's great. Atlanta has the best downtown space I've seen so far, much better than barren Houston. The Georgia Dome is also much cleaner, friendlier, and just nicer than the Astro/Reliant combo, not also to mention much easier to walk through. The pits were nice, and the place housing them had lots of plants, open areas, and other nice places to hang and rest. The Georgia Dome was just like Reliant, but just seemed a lot less sterile, also the audience wasn’t as far from the field, but unfortunately, they were still far compared to most regionals. Food has been a discussed as a large problem on Chiefdelphi in some threads. Well, I can say that IMHO that the food is much better than the infamous Houston stuff, but still has some way to go. Unlike Houston, you can literally get anything you want with Dining Dollars, so you aren't forced to eat what they pass off as food at some places. And if by some chance you hate the food, you can take a 5 minute walk to the Omni and choose from Wendy’s, Arby’s, Chick-fill-a, or Taco Bell. For the improvements, prices are still very big and the quality to price ratio is bad, and line were a problem at some times of the day. Overall, I’d give the venue a rating of 8 out of 10.


Competition:

I was a fan of Stack Attack. There was something that was amazing watching robots crashing through stacks of bins. And frankly, I never like Raising the Bar, I mean, how many years have we used balls in goals? Luckily many of the problem from the VCU competition have been addressed, including live scoring, times on the a/v unit, ranking systems, and field software, all of which were not done on Thursday of competition. Everything was polished from the first second all the way to the award presentations at then end. I give FIRST a huge “HEY!” for their efforts in turning around. I can also now say that the I was partially wrong, the competition is loads of fun, just if great teams are up. The finals were amazing, but most other matches were boring. For this year’s game, I’ll give FIRST a 6/10.


After Party:

This party could go two ways, it could be the most fun you’ll ever have, or it could be so boring that you’ll want it to be over NOW. Thankfully, I was part of the first group. The games were fun, including the spontaneous jousting fight, not also to forget the hypnotist that was pretty good (he was good, but I think the one at VCU 2002 was better, since he did more). Plus, we had our human player up there, so was R.Lopez from the boards, so that was funny to watch. The food was decent, not the best, but the fireworks were awesome. Also, the provided ice water and excess cups made great weapons against team mates, coaches, and mentors. Also, the centennial fountains were loads of fun, especially when you throw your friends and teachers in. Now, if torturing friends, teachers, and mentors wasn’t fun, nor the fireworks, nor the hypnotist, you can be seriously bored. So, for the party, I give a ‘nearly good as Disney’ 9 out of 10.


For certain reasons, I will leave out the transportation and hotel aspects, since everyone had vastly different experiences, I will only summarize this part and not include it in my total tallying of the event

The Omni was wonderful, the rooms very nice with loads of coffee and stuff. Everything was nice and beautiful. I would say the accommodations were better than both Disney and Houston. For transportation, walking was the best way, and quickest to get around. Not only that, but driving around was easy too.

Overall, I'll give Atlanta an amazing 8 out of 10.

[jpsaul7usa]

I thought Atlanta wasn't all that great. After the pits closed on Thursday two of my friends and I went out looking for a nice place to eat. After walking around for 45 minutes for something local and then hopping on MARTA to Underground Atlanta which we were told was a good place we ended up getting back on MARTA to eat at our hotel. The city shut down at 9. It was really disappointing. I was expecting that because Atlanta is an older city with a developed downtown that we would have lots of options, but it feels much more like deserted Phoenix (where I live) than Chicago (where I'm from). We didn't have time to go to the Coca-Cola museum, but aside from that what is there to do in downtown Atlanta? Kinda boring from my experience. Hopefully If we go next year I'll have my own room in the hotel where I can go to bed early. ;p

[Tonya Scott 476]

I heard a lot of people wanting badly to go back to Disney----well now, I remember people saying that Disney was too small (no place to sit in stands to watch matches) too hot (the last year there they passed out water, and the awards ceremony was 3 hours long in the hot afternoon sun) and not to mention difficult to get back to hotels, and VERY EXPENSIVE. So, in summary, there are going to be pros and cons to every venue.

Atlanta has far to many panhandlers and bums for my kids to go do anything in the evening. If your hotel didn't have a swimming pool, then there was basically nothing to do. Our adult engineers were threatened to be cut by a woman 3pm in afternoon while they were walking to Underground Atlanta thru a plaza.

The transporation is a nightmare. If you weren't staying at the Omni, then you had to forgo the bums to get anywhere. There needs to be a bus shuttle for FIRST people to get to and from hotels to competition.

Load in/out was a nightmare. Who ever heard of pushing tool benches thru the lobby of a convention hall??????

The THS company really messed us around! The Super 8 hotel was a flea bag---I had students with bug bites on them from their mattress and the soap from the towels and sheets gave everyone rashes, so we moved. THey had to split us up between the Holiday Inn and the Hampton Inn. Then the hotel got a fax from THS in which they wouldn't pay for one of our rooms, they got some of our team members names wrong and refused to house them, and they wouldn't return any of my phone calls. We ended up having to pay $124 for a hotel room after paying THS $6600. They promised to refund us for the 2 nights at the Super 8, but they lied about delivering a $1000 check to our hotel, so we ended up having to pay.

I enjoyed the team party and the dollars coupons, but I have serious doubts about THS. My school attorney is currently trying to contact them.

Did anyone else have such a horrible time with THS or did we just land on some bad luck????? I would really like to know.

The venue was closer(arena--pits), and the temperature was comfortable. The load in and out could have been better. Since it was the first year---things will hopefully be worked out next year.

How did everyone like the Conferences???

ts

[KathieK]

We had issues with our hotel but when I called, THS responded back quickly. They offered suggestions for us. They have not always been able to answer my many questions this year, but they have been good about getting back to me when I've called.

I complained to THS (and via them, to FIRST) about the raising of the food prices on Friday. That was just ridiculous as was the rule about not bringing food purchased at the Congress Center into the Dome and vica versa.

The walk was awful and so I didn't visit the Hall of Fame area (why was that in the pit area anyway???) until Saturday, when it was crowded with VIPs.

I never made it to the FIRST store - wish they could have had a second store at the Dome. (I'm assuming that because they sold items this year is the reason we didn't get 2004 Championship t-shirts? I wish that had been communicated to the teams in advance - our team members kept asking when they could go get one - had we known in advance I could have told them to plan on purchasing them down in Atlanta).

We missed several conferences because they occurred while we were having matches. I wish they could have been held on Wednesday instead.

I thought the party was wonderful; the food was decent considering it was pre-made for thousands of people. All the people working at it that I encountered were polite. The band at the Embassy Suites doorway was terrific! Awesome fireworks. Thanks to the hypnotist for offering to do his show at the last minute; RAGE is grateful for the fodder for our team banquet next month!

[Adam Y.]

I complained to THS (and via them, to FIRST) about the raising of the food prices on Friday. That was just ridiculous as was the rule about not bringing food purchased at the Congress Center into the Dome and vica versa.

They rose the prices of the food???

Atlanta has far to many panhandlers and bums for my kids to go do anything in the evening. If your hotel didn't have a swimming pool, then there was basically nothing to do. Our adult engineers were threatened to be cut by a woman 3pm in afternoon while they were walking to Underground Atlanta thru a plaza.

I would actually say that the number of panhanlers was about the same for other areas I have visited. I was approached at Washington D.C. and I am sure New York City has a few too but I really do not remeber any. I was not very worried though. Probably because I am a New Yorker. My one advisor was a merchant marine and he told me stories about other countries that was worst.

I never made it to the FIRST store - wish they could have had a second store at the Dome. (I'm assuming that because they sold items this year is the reason we didn't get 2004 Championship t-shirts? I wish that had been communicated to the teams in advance - our team members kept asking when they could go get one - had we known in advance I could have told them to plan on purchasing them down in Atlanta).

I was actually talking to the guys from the FIRST store. They were actually quite surprised at the amount of demand for their products. So much so that I actually felt sorry for the people making the shirts. There is such a wide variety of products. Also they do have an online website.

Well, I can say that IMHO that the food is much better than the infamous Houston stuff, but still has some way to go. Unlike Houston, you can literally get anything you want with Dining Dollars, so you aren't forced to eat what they pass off as food at some places. And if by some chance you hate the food, you can take a 5 minute walk to the Omni and choose from Wendy’s, Arby’s, Chick-fill-a, or Taco Bell. For the improvements, prices are still very big and the quality to price ratio is bad, and line were a problem at some times of the day. Overall, I’d give the venue a rating of 8 out of 10.

You have to be kidding me. Free Starbucks and you complain about the food.

[Matt Leese]

As for the Super 8 motel, I stayed there and I had zero problems with it. It didn't have many amenities but I didn't expect it to. The main reason I stayed there was the fact that it was $49 per night via Expedia.

Matt

[Elgin Clock]

Hooters and a Hard Rock Cafe right across from our cylinder shaped (Westin) hotel.

What more can you ask for?? I will go into a little more detail later, but now I still need sleep. (maybe?)

[byrne159]

I never went to Disney, as this is only my second year in FIRST, but I do think Atlanta was better than Houston. The Georgia Dome is in a much nicer area in Atlanta than the Astro Dome is in Houston (maybe that was Atlanta sucking up to the Olympics), the team social was great because you actually felt like you were at a big party, not just some random theme park (plus I'm not a big fan of roller coasters), and I thought the convention center was a much nicer place for the pits than the Astrodome.

The food was better this year, but they still have room for improvement. I've never liked the assumption that high school students only eat junk food, and I'd prefer some healthier options because I found myself eating my own food and wasting lots of dining dollars, which kind of defeats the purpose. The healthy stuff they did have, tended to be in the wilted lettuce salad or mealy apple category.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn and I really liked how close it was to the Georgia Dome, but I think it was the closest one. The shuttle system last year was really nice, but I'm not sure it was necessary this year, so whatever. I wish they still gave us t-shirts and I didn't really like what they had to offer in the store. I was looking for something a little more, shall we say, cheap (and by cheap I mean free). The security was weird because we couldn't use certain entrances/exits, and I didn't really understand why in some cases. And I agree that it was annoying how we couldn’t bring food bought in one building to the other.

I also liked that the drive teamd didn't have to pull their robots up millions of ramps in Atlanta. That was nice. Overall, the move to Atlanta was a good one.

[byrne159]

Oh, and for future Championships in Atlanta, I HIGHLY recommend Miss Pittypat's Porch for some good Southern dinner. It was like two or three blocks east of Centennial Park. Mmmm...tasty....

[Zzyzx]

Atlanta was fine. It had a good venue, good food, good hotels, and a good (and chalangeing) competition. Although a championship here in Seattle would be nice too.

[ngreen]

Originally Posted by byrne159

and I thought the convention center was a much nicer place for the pits than the Astrodome.

Weird. That was the one thing I definitely liked better in Houston than in Atlanta. I loved having the FLL event in the pit area, scholarships table set-up in the area. The matches playing in an area where you could see all field cameras from your pit. A place for team member to sit in the seating when not needed in the pit or stadium or while eating. The ramp to enter was wide enough it made coming in and out easy. The size of it all and able to see the complete pit area from the stand was an amazing site. This is just most of it. A large area to practice autonomous mode when not wanting to use the practice fields. And more space. A lot more space. Also you can't say your pit was on third base at GWCC, but saying your pit was on third base of the Astrodome is something beyond special. If you had a pit like the Astrodome (without the ramp even though I thought they were fun) next to everything else in Atlanta that would be awesome.

[Will Hanashiro]

i simply cannot express my satisfaction with the competetion this year. being on the drive team for four years, i have experianced things from the friendliness at disney, the the torture ramps at houston. atlanta was better than houson, but not as high as disney. however, i feel that no venue will be able to match the experiance that disney can offer.

venue- the pits were extremely roomy, enough for 4 fully grown engineers to lay down for a quick nap, and still leaving enough room for others to work on the robot. the walk to the field from the pits was a nice distance. the only problem i had with the site was that the doors werent tall enough; we had to pick up our robot to get it through, but that can be fixed with bringing a shorter cart next year.

food- nice and reasonably priced... i actually had a lot of my FIRST money left over after the competetion. the hot dogs were even delicious.

hotel- the omni hotel was simply the best hotel i've ever stayed at. dozens of fast food places, and even a couple high class restauraunts at the bottom level. the rooms were comfortable, and the bathroom walls were marble. my only complaint was with the long elevator lines.

ATLANTA- if there was a down point with the competetion, the city after-dark would be it. after about nine, atlanta shut down. several of my team mates were offered drugs several times when we went for strolls, and the bums literally ran up on us begging for money. we even encountered a couple prostitutes. also the people on the streets were extremely rude. but still, atlanta before dark was great. it is a very clean city that has plenty to do.

This is my second year with the team so I also do not know what Disney was like but I must say that Alanta was far better then Houston if just for the sheer fact it was less walking. I was able to walk from my pits to the hotel and back in about 20 minutes to a half an hour.

The only real problem I had as far as travel went was the escaltors. At random times during the day they would suddenly be out or not working. I was on one of them when it stopped, sending me forward into people and then back which landed me a lovely cut on the back of my legs.

I was truly displeased with the Omni hotel in general. While the rooms were nice, there wasn't much to do. The pool was outside and freezing cold. The hot tub was warmer but small and if the wind was blowing, oh god...look out. The only channels you got on the tv were basically CNN and if it wasn't CNN...it wasn't worth watching. The Turner Store closed earlier it seemed and because my team had most of wednesday with nothing to do, I was extremely bored for about seven hours. The hotel seemed to be alot of wasted open space. Since I am on video team, I had two cameras that had to be plugged in at night to charge batteries. I was also sharing a room with two other girls. We soon learned that the room had very few eletrical outlets and we ended up having to charge one girl's cell phone in the bathroom along with one camera at one point. The walls were paper thin and anything you said could be heard by your neighbors. God forbid you were a light sleeper because you'd never fall asleep. Myself and another girl know that for a fact because I spent one night up until 3:30 in the morning, unable to sleep due to our neigherbors.

The Underground was unimpressive and I had been expecting more then that. The Coca-Cola factory was interesting but had there not been a tasting area at the end I do believe I would have been saying it sucked. It was basically a history of advertising.

The city held no real attraction for myself and unless you were an adult, there wasn't much to do in the hotel either. I think I ended up in bed early one night just for the fact I was bored.

As for the competition, I enjoyed it and thought the venue was great for it. I just wish there had been more for the students to do.

[RLopez]

Originally Posted by JosephM

After Party:
This party could go two ways, it could be the most fun you’ll ever have, or it could be so boring that you’ll want it to be over NOW. Thankfully, I was part of the first group. The games were fun, including the spontaneous jousting fight, not also to forget the hypnotist that was pretty good (he was good, but I think the one at VCU 2002 was better, since he did more). Plus, we had our human player up there, so was R.Lopez from the boards, so that was funny to watch. The food was decent, not the best, but the fireworks were awesome. Also, the provided ice water and excess cups made great weapons against team mates, coaches, and mentors. Also, the centennial fountains were loads of fun, especially when you throw your friends and teachers in. Now, if torturing friends, teachers, and mentors wasn’t fun, nor the fireworks, nor the hypnotist, you can be seriously bored. So, for the party, I give a ‘nearly good as Disney’ 9 out of 10.

..umm what DID i really do while being hypnotized? .. :x mwahaha.. im still afraid of the chairs... they might bite me ;[ hmnn my opinion on atlanta, it was nice.. i like the city so i enjoyed it.. and of course our team drenched each mentor and team coach with ICE COLD water in the after party.. then with a little shaving cream fun later on taht night (*shuts up*) the centennial water fountain was great.. i loved it.. heh.. in my opinion transportation (the bus) was okay.. there what "quiet time" but i dont think it happened much ;D .. walking, it was a pain in the beginning but then i began to think "hey i have a media pass i can get in and out of the pits easier ;D" the food was awesome because u had a great variety of food to choose and u always had a few bucks extra to get more if u wanted anymore.. i was left with about 15 dollars of that paper money stuff afterwards.. the hotel was awesome.. we didnt sleep much tho ;D but it was worth it.. about watching tv, i dont think our team was interested much in watching it except when movies were coming on..the pool WAS pretty small, but it wasnt much in our interest in going in it because we were always finding other things to do.. one thing in the hotel/cnn center that i loved was the 8 story escalator.. it was one of the biggest in the us.. .. so overall, i liked it.. even though ive been to only 2 championships.. i still enjoyed it a lot

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by RLopez

one thing in the hotel/cnn center that i loved was the 8 story escalator.

Oh god, I hated that thing. I kissed the ground once I got off of it. Yes, if you want to scare the poo out of JosephM, I'm afraid of heights, and the media trio of Big Mike and DJ.