QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!! [7-22-01]

[Ken Leung]

Hi all, it's been a fair amount of time after National competition ended, and there've been news and talks about various off season competitions from across the country. Those off-season competitions weren't just some other set of matches for robots to compete in, but a great experience for teams to bond with each other as well as a show off to new recruits... So, with that in mind, here is the question of the week...

QUESTION 7/22/01 : How important do you think are the off season competitions?

Maybe some of you might think that they are SO important that there should be more official support from FIRST... Maybe it's not as important as getting the team started for next year...

-Have fun,
-Ken Leung

P.S. I am open to suggestions of any questions you want as the "QUESTION OF THE WEEK!!!"... So e-mail me at ken_leung@hotmail.com and show me what you got...

[mike o'leary]

i dont know how important they are. i think they give people a chance to play the game one last time, try out some different strategies, and keep the robot skills sharp over the summer. its also helpful to some teams, like mine, that dont do anything else over the summer to help keep us together and stuff

[Pamela]

I love offseason competitions, I think they are great. I feel they are important because they help keep teams together over the summer, it gives a reason why a team should work all year long anad not just from kickoff to nationals. I would like to see FIRST get more invovled and make offseason competitions even better, I feel they should use them as a testing period for new ideas as well as teams using them to test out new strategies and drivers.

[Nate Smith]

As someone who's worked numerous post- and pre-season events, I'd have to say that they're very important. Not only does it give teams a chance to try out new ideas, new drivers, etc. but for those events I call "pre-season" (those in September, October, etc.) it gives the new incoming team members(students and otherwise) an idea of what they're in for when the real thing comes around in January. True, for the majority of them, they're not building a new machine(CDI and OCCRA being the only exceptions that I know of,) but the whole event atmosphere takes a bit of getting used to...

[Joel J]

I believe that off-season competitions are just as important as any other competition. They are "lay-back" competitions in which you don't have alot of pressure on your shoulder. This allows you to enjoy the event without the usual "if I don't win, they'll kill me" attitude.

These off-season competitions also gives the participating teams another chance to play the game and to do better (if they didn't do well during the season). This greatly improves their willingness to come back for another year of robot competition.

Off-season competitions offer the perfect setting for teams to give other members a chance to operate the robot and gain experience for the next game. This is extremely useful to the adults, as it allows them to keep an eye out for good talent; It is also good for the students as they might realize that they are better robot operators than they thought.

Off-season competitions are just as important as any other competition. . .

[GregT]

ive never been to one, so i wouldnt know

My team ran out of money... we were happy to make it to NYC.

[patrickrd]

I love attending offseason competitons... They're often a lot more fun than regionals or nationals. The atmosphere is more relaxed. Most teams have fully functional robots since they've had lots of time to work on them. It gives other people on your team a chance to drive. It gives everyone on the team a chance to see their robot in action once more. I could list on and on. And all for only a small fraction of what it costs to go to a FIRST competiton.

Patrick

[David Kelly]

we use the out of season turney's as a recruting tool. we just invite them to come to see what it is like. we've had a few kids that decided not to join, but most decided to join. it's a good way to weed out some of the kids that aren't sure if they really want to take part in FIRST. we also let some of our underclassmen drive the robot and be in the action. in kokomo the underclassmen drove the robot during the qualification matches, they did alright. but when i unexpectly showed i was immediately told to drive. andy baker didn't like it (remember andy ) i guess i just had to save the day.

[Carolyn Duncan]

I've never been to one of the off season comps, but it seems to me that if FIRST got more involved there wouldn't be game modifications. What I mean is, one of the comps this year (I can't think which one) made their comp 2v.2. If FIRST got involved this prolly wouldn't have happened. Does this make sense? It seems to me that the comps are a great idea though and I'd love to get to one this year.

[EddieMcD]

IMO, off season competitions are exactly as they sound: off season. They shouldn't need FIRST's support, nor should they be taken as seriously. You don't need your real drive squad (look at the Big E last sept. for plenty of examples). I just look at them as get-togethers.

[mike o'leary]

david mentioned using off season comps as recruiting tools...its a very good idea and i imagine very successful..and one of the reasons i assume it would be successful is, as someone mentioned, off-season comps are very laid back, pressureless comps. i personally think that in some ways theyre the funnest competitions. nats is funner though, because theres so many people and bots there

[Christina]

I've been to a couple of off season comps, and they're alright. The best part of it is seeing my friends again. And being able to steal Patrick's bed. I like them, but I think the best part of 'em is being able to relax (since you're not AS stressed over you robot, or at all, if you're just a spectator) and to see people you haven't seen in a while.

~Christina ºoº

[A. Leese]

I think that off-season comps are semi-important because they allow the team to have just one more chance to sort of bond as a team before people go off to college or whatever. If your last comp is nats, you only remember that one very stressed, very tense competition. That and off-season comps let you see everyone you haven't seen since nats (or meet new friends).

~Angela who really wished Mayhem in Miami had happened this year

[Tom Fairchild]

Well, my team has never been to one, but I'm not really feeling a whole, if you get what I mean. Because of this, I'd have to say that they're not that important, but I have a feeling that if I went to one, I'd fine out what I'm missing!

~Tom~

[Justin]

Hi All,

I've been kinda quiet for a while...so why not reply to the QOTW while I have some down time. Anyhoo...I think that off season comps are tremendously important. They keep things going in a lot of cases. One thing that is cool about a lot of summer comps is they are held in conjunction w/some other summer event...and that can bring in a lot of public that wouldn't otherwise be exposed to FIRST. I think that it is becoming more and more important that FIRST be a year round event. Summer comps are a great way for that to happen.

I think FIRST provides a fair amount of support in renting the field out and stuff like that. Usally if you e-mail them w/problems/questions they are good abour replying. I think that summer comps are a good chance for Kids/Adults from teams to get a chance to feel what it's like to run a FIRST comp. I've helped w/River Rage the past few years...and planning a comp. is something I usally enjoy. It's a chance to use creative energies on something other than building a robot.

Lastly, What I love most about summer comps. The people who put them on, the people who go to them....they are the die hard FIRSTers. They're the ones who will battle summer heat in a gym, drive 3 hours +, give up a saturday of thier summer when they might otherwise be at the beach....because they love this game just that much. I enjoy meeting those people.

-Justin