Agenda is out...

[Joe Johnson]

FIRST has publicized the agenda for the Championships.

One thing that jumps out is that the individual divisions each get to have an award ceremony prior to the Semi-Finals and Finals between the division winners.

Ideally, I think that the Final Four should be played as part of the award ceremony, but this is a step in the right direction.

This will let most teams pack up their pits, cry, hug, get cleaned up a bit and still have time to watch the Final Four play it out on the main stage.

Joe J.

P.S. I know having the Final Four as part of the award ceremony would make the award ceremony longer but you could use the matches to actually break up the time. Here is how I think it could work:

Welcome...
...blah blah blah....
...award award award...
...and now the first semi final...
...WOW WOW WOW...
...and now some words from Mr. Straightlace...
...blah blah blah...
...award award award...
...and now the second semi-final...
...WOW! WOW! WOW!...
...and now some words from Mrs. Warbucks...
...blah blah blah...
...award award award...
...and now the FINALS...
...WOW-WOW! WOW-WOW! WOW-WOW!
...Metals for the finalists on the left, metals for the champions on the right...
...(exiting off stage for any heart restartings, tear sheddings, cheering etc. required)...
...Settle down speech (Animation Award perhaps - we are culturally trained to be quite when watching movies)
...blah blah blah...
...Dean speech...
...and now the biggest award: Chairman’s Award...
...Metals for the winners on the the right...
...BOOM!...
...Party begins!

My heart is beating out of my chest just THINKING about it. This
would be SO great for FIRST.

Trust me, this would be a VERY good thing. This game needs a full crowd of folks that understand the game - TV will get it if there are 10,000+ screaming folks watching it.

Comments?

[Chris Hibner]

I think the Final 4 during the awards show would be great. The anticipation would be tremendous as everyone speculates who is going to win.

Another reason why the Final 4 would be great during the awards show: BATTERIES!!!

I don't know about other teams, but batteries are a real issue for our team this year. We can just barely get two matches in on one battery, but that is stretching it. Just to be safe, we only try to go one match on a battery. I've read some other posts here that other robots have similar battery life issues this year.

The teams competing in the championship matches will have to play in 5 elimination rounds. For our robot (and other robots with high current draw), that would take up to 10 batteries. It would be nice to have the two hour break just so all of the competitors are guaranteed fresh batteries. I would hate to have the finals be decided by a low battery.

[Andy Baker]

Having the finals during the awards would be great. Everyone would be sitting in the stands, watching and cheering for their favorites.

But... do you think that FIRST would change their agenda at this late time?

We brought up this same suggestion last year and they didn't change it... it was also brought up at the summer Forums, and they had reasons for not having the finals during the awards.

Putting myself in FIRST's shoes, they probably don't want the hassle of having the finals during the awards. Although it would be exciting, it would also be chaotic.

Andy B.

Originally posted by Joe Johnson
Welcome...
...blah blah blah....
...award award award...
...and now the first semi final...
...WOW WOW WOW...
...and now some words from Mr. Straightlace...
...blah blah blah...
...award award award...
...and now the second semi-final...
...WOW! WOW! WOW!...
...and now some words from Mrs. Warbucks...
...blah blah blah...
...award award award...
...and now the FINALS...
...WOW-WOW! WOW-WOW! WOW-WOW!
...Metals for the finalists on the left, metals for the champions on the right...
...(exiting off stage for any heart restartings, tear sheddings, cheering etc. required)...
...Settle down speech (Animation Award perhaps - we are culturally trained to be quite when watching movies)
...blah blah blah...
...Dean speech...
...and now the biggest award: Chairman’s Award...
...Metals for the winners on the the right...
...BOOM!...
...Party begins!

Joe,

How could you have forgotten the part when Dean shows off Segway?

[shane86]

i really think that new agenda thing is a great idea....it keeps people there and interested....and breaks up all the talking with some bot action....really great idea

[mike pawlak]

it sounds so crazy that it may actually work

[purplehaze357]

i'm stoked man....i cant wait for florida....we are a rookie to nationals..not the competition but i cant wait...and the countdown begins......9 days until we leave

[Mike Soukup]

Any change that gets more people to watch the finals will get my vote. Being in the final four last year was exciting, but the one aspect missing was a large crowd cheering us on. It was disappointing to look back and see the stands almost completely empty. I can't understand why people wouldn't want to watch the finals.

I believe the setup of Einstein plays a large part since it's impossible to see the stage from anywhere else besides right next to it. People in the floor seating & in the stands have to watch on the video screen.

Regardless of how well Wildstang does in FL, I will be watching the finals and I'll try to get as many people from my team there to cheer the teams on.

Mike