2005 IRI Thank you's and Congrats

[Arefin Bari]

I just got back home. Its very late at night, but I do want to post in this thread before I crash.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who was at IRI for a GREAT weekend. I was warm welcomed by Chris Fultz when I reached the school Thursday night. The journey started off with the tornado, but it was Very cool.

Thanks to team 45, 234, and 393 crew who made IRI 2005 possible. Special thanks to the parents of IRI who was there to support throughout the whole way

I would like to thank all the mentors who welcomed me to stay with them and working with them. It was a great pleasure.

Thank you Brandon Martus, David Kelly, Ben L., Josh, Karthik and the crew.

Amanda Morrison - Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. I hope that the gift I gave you shows even a bit of appreciation. That was one of the most valuable thing that I kept for a long time.

Thanks for Paul and Dan for keeping it going for two days.

The more and more I see these two mentors in person, the more they amaze me. Andy Baker and John V. Neun. Thanks for all you have done.

There are two particular people that I would like to thank... Ryan Dognaux and Tytus Gerrish, who made this trip possible for me. Ryan let me stay over his house (even though I wasn't there all 3 days), also volunteered to give me rides everywhere I wanted to Go. Tytus has been there for me all the time. He was the one who got me into this and I thank him for that. It was a great weekend.

Thanks to team 116. It was a dream that came true. I was standing right by Dave Lavery trying to dry off their robot. They welcomed me warmly to help them dry off their robot. (Heidi took bunch of pictures of me, I am scared)

I would also like to thank Team 716. Team 716's arm was broken, also the lifter was bent. It was a challenge for me and 716's pit members to come up with a solution. It took us 1 good hour to get the materials, modify the claw and in time that robot was out on the field capping.

Finally, my friends, It was a great time hanging out with you guys (specially team 25, team 56 and Jess Jank who let me stay with them). I would like to point everyone out but the list would be so long. You know exactly who you are for making this weekend one of the most memorable weekend for me.

-Arefin

[Mike Martus]

The IRI continues to be the model for all off season events. The quality of the competition and quality organization of the event is second to none.

There are so many persons to thank, I think I will refer to the previous posts as they cover the thank you list very well. So many people putting forth their skills and expertise its awesome.

So from Team 47 - Chief Delphi a special thanks to team 818 and Team 111 for selecting us as their alliance partner.

Is it to early to sign up for the 2006 IRI????

[Lisa Perez]

Thank you to the IRI crew for another extremely enjoyable competition! You all did an awesome job making sure that the matches went smoothly and that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as possible.

Thanks to all of the mentors who've been there to help me and/or 573 out. To Mr. Kempf and Mr. Charlton, our own mentors - thanks for being there to teach us throughout the year. To Mr. Martus - your help when we were having trouble with the electronics is much appreciated.

To all the competing teams - it was a great and graciously professional competition!

To my friends - you guys keep me going, and have always been my stronghold through everything. Thanks for supporting me through thick and thin the whole time. You know who you are.

[Amanda Morrison]

At so many points this weekend, I had to tell people to 'hang on' or 'be right back' or something similar where I had something to tear me away. Although it couldn't be helped, I wish I could have spent more time with some of the friends I rarely get to see. For me, the best thing about the IRI are the people, and I felt like I didn't get a lot of 'face time' with as many people as I would have liked. For that, I apologize.

Andy Baker, Chris Fultz, and Libby Ritchie - Thanks for all that you do, and letting me get involved even more this year. Chris, thanks for being a great guidance this weekend.

Paul Copioli - Always a fun MC, and thanks for the compliments about my human player skills. However, all gratitude for that was lost during the mentors round when I drove.

Dan Green - I look forward to more events with you as an announcer... the best in the Midwest. Although again, like Paul, the comments about my robot driving skills were NOT exactly appreciated.

Josh Hambright, David Kelly, Brandon Martus, and Molly Menges - Thanks for keeping the scoring table going - the event went over really well thanks to your efforts.

Jerry Budd - A great field manager... although you missed my talent show to clean the field! (That's dedication, folks.)

Collin Fultz - I probably owe you the biggest thanks. You're the one that really made the talent show a 'show'. You're a great announcer, and kept the crowd going. I can't thank you enough for everything this weekend.

Clark Gilbert - The best DJ ever. I seriously rocked out all weekend long.

234 Parent Crew - Thanks so much for your tireless efforts! From working with the volunteer room to the silent auction, you were amazing!

Jeff Maberto - Thanks for all your help with the talent show... you and your crew really made it happen. I couldn't have asked for a better help. I'm still sorry about the curtain, though...

Tony Norman and JVN - Thanks to Tony for being my arm driver... we rocked out, I don't care what Copioli and Lavery say. Thanks for the IFI support this weekend, for letting us be your test site, and for your generous scholarship donation.

Ken Patton, Libby Ritchie, JVN, Tony Norman, Paul Copioli, Raul Olivera, and Dave Lavery - Thanks for being a great group of judges for the talent show, and keeping the audience laughing with your antics. You guys are a great bunch.

Arefin Bari - Thanks for your wonderful gift, it means a lot to me. Don't worry about it, though - mentors do it for the rewards, not the awards.

Beth Sweet and Tiffany Gach - 'Twinkie' and 'Bambi' were great in the talent show. Thanks for helping out Collin and I, and really making this a great success.

Teams 25, 48, and 1646 (especially Travis Hoffman and Bharat Nain) - Thanks for letting me be a part of your drive teams this weekend. Out of my three matches (my first times on the field during a match!) I won two, and lost one (by one point). I couldn't have had a better time, and I'm glad that I could help you guys out.

Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts - You guys did a great job stepping up with Team 25, and it obviously paid off in the end. You're both great volunteers and do a lot for the FIRST community... it's always good to see you guys.

Thanks to the Society of Women Engineers, Ball State University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Girls, Inc. of Indianapolis, and the Robot Chicks Union for helping to make the College Fair a success.

And most of all... it was great to see everyone this weekend (here's a short list):
jessjank, Mike Martus, Brandon Martus, Jeremy Roberts, Greg Needel, David Kelly, Molly Menges, DJ Fluck, the Gilbert brothers, Jerry Budd, Gary Dillard, April Dillard, Chris Fultz, Andy Baker, the Ritchie Family, Dave and Sean Lavery, Heidi Foster, Koko Ed Patterson, Dave Scheck, Dave Flowerday, Mike Soukup (Happy Birthday, and I'm sorry about the chocolate cake... I still feel bad), Dan Green, Raul Olivera, Tony Norman, JVN, Ken Patton, Chris Hibner, 'The Stevie', Greg McCoy, Kyle Love, Paul Copioli, Katie Reynolds, Aaron Lussier, Ernie Pacsai, Beth Sweet, Tiffany Gach, Jeff Maberto, Amy Przybylinski, Karthik Kanagasabapathy (the fact that I got cheered for saying your name correctly was amazing!), Chris Byam, the Nobles, the Kelso family (It was great to finally meet all of you!), Ben Lauer, Jason Kixmiller, David Bowker, Jennifer Baldwin, Carolyn Percifield, Steve Florence, Matt Auter, Ric and Courtney Roberts, Chris Husmann, Arefin Bari, Tytus Gerrish, Lisa Perez, Kevin Kolodziej, Josh Hambright, Ryan Dognaux, Barry Bohnsack, and everyone else that was there... all of you made it a weekend to remember. Thank you!

/edit: LUIS ENRIQUE QUINONES, I DIDN'T INCLUDE YOU IN THIS LIST BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE WITH TWO Q'S IN THEIR NAME.

[ChrisH]

Team 330 would like to thank 45, 234, and 393 for putting on an event that was worth travelling 1700 miles for!

When we were in Atlanta there were lots of great robots and teams that we didn't get to play with. They were in other divisions and were eliminated before the Finals. IRI gave us a chance to play with legendary teams and we thank you all for showing up! You are a big part of what made this competition great. Choosing alliance partners seemed to to be even more difficult at IRI than in Atlanta because there were so many good picks!

A big thanks to Team 503 for pointing out a huge potential problem with the robot we hadn't noticed. They could have just let us find out the hardway ... but they didn't. That was a very sportsman-like thing to do, and we made sure the Judges heard about it.

It was great to be playing on the same side as 980 for once and to work with Team 56 again. We did better than the last time, but there is still room for improvement.

Special thanks also to 33, 233 and 868. Those were three very exciting and clean matches. It was great to play with you guys and we look forward to doing so again in the future. This was the sort of play we came to IRI for and you delivered.

Finally thanks to the Refs and especially Andy. They were very patient with us as we worked to figure out what to do should a certain controversial situation repeat itself. Reffing is a difficult job and we would have chaos with out them.

ChrisH

[AmyPrib]

Well, I can't say much more thanks than everyone else has already expressed..... but..

Thanks Andy for allowing me to Ref my first event... I've done my fair share of complaining about ref calls, but I actually went out there and put myself in their shoes to see what it's like. It can be tough at times, but it was a lot of fun if you're prepared. You might see me reffing in the future..

Thanks to everyone at the scoring table - you made it look like there were no problems!! Cuz.. there... were none.. yeah.. .

Thanks to Amanda and Lavery for the entertainment - with a little more focus, will, and practice, Amanda might be able to hang.

Thanks to everyone who provided scholarships, and congratulations to those who received them...

Thanks to the volunteers of course, for their continuous hard work on and off the field.

Thanks to the coordinating teams for putting on such an awesome event year after year. It's amazing that teams travel so far just to be included in this off-season event.

Thanks to the announcer's and MC's - it wouldn't be quite as fun without you.. Paul - next time review and practice those names.

Thanks to the judges who gave their time to be involved.
Thanks for the VEX tournament.. I only saw bits and pieces, but what an amazing group of robots - some built in a day or less.
Thanks to all the teams who traveled from near and far to create such a great environment.
Thanks to 217 for the breakfast...
Thanks to all those involved in the talent show - some very cool acts, some very talented kids, and some very wacky judges.
Oh, and by the way, congratulations to the winners and all those who made it into the final rounds... With the caliber of teams at IRI, you definitely deserved to be there....
Hope to see you all in 2006!

[Courtneyteam330]

Hey I just wanted to say congrats to 33, 233, 868 for winning IRI! You guys were an awesome alliance and we were honored to be even playing on the same field as you guys. Best of luck in the future!!

980 and 56: We had sooooooo much fun with you guys! Thanks for being part of our alliance!

Team 503: Thanks for coming out and supporting us through our matches!!! I know my team and I had a great time with you guys and we really appreciate and love your team! See at the LA Regional next year right?

Thank you also to all the wonderful volunteers and event coordinators who made IRI possible. IRI was an amazing event and I really appreciate all the hard work you do!!!

-Courtney Roberts
330 Captain

[Chris Hibner]

Obviously I want to give a big thanks to the organizers of the event - as always it was the best competition of the year.

A big congratulaions goes out to the winning alliance of 33, 233, and 868.

Another big congratulations should go out to the runner-up alliance of 330, 980, and 56 - what an amazing competition - the finals were a great show.

Here are some more personal "thank-you's":

David Kelly - a VERY BIG THANKS for the rides to/from the airport

Amanda Morrison - Thanks for organizing and running the talent show. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time. It's also safe to say that I always have a great time hanging out with you.

Jeff Maberto - thanks for the help with the DSK show. We (the roadies, that is) couldn't have done it without you.

Tony N. and Andy B. - dinner. very nice.

Ken Patton - for letting me be on his great team. I REALLY appreciate the opportunity. I also really appreciate him giving me the opportunity to drive in the mentors' round - that was great fun.

IHOP - for bringing us good luck. We're going to ask for sponsorship money next year.

Dave Flowerday - Thanks for the mic's and stands. We would have had trouble setting up the DSK show without your help.

Mark Koors - for getting the PA equipment for the DSK show.

Ernie Pacsai, Andy Baker, Brandon Martus, and Dave Scheck - the show was great and I had a blast (being a roadie, that is). What was up with them introducing judges while we were checking if everything was on?

Teams 16, 25, 56, 116, 222, 233, 330, 364, 378, 716, 888, 980, 1108, 1114, 1305, and 1507 - for making the long trek to the IRI. It's teams like you that make the IRI so special

I would also like to give a big thanks to all of the people for hanging out and making it such a great time.

Thanks to everyone that participated for making this the best competition ever!!

[Masterfork]

thank you to 33 and 868 for there great allaince
and thanks 330 and there alliance cause that was the hardest final matches i ever played and i liked the competition between us

and thank you to all who helped with the IRI

Also i would like to thank 234 for letting our team stay with them it made our trip alot more fun and less stressful

and this was a really great event and we will try to come back next year probably

[rufu5]

I just want to think the IRI planning committee for letting us run the first ever open to the public VEX tournament at the IRI this year. Thanks Andy
Baker, Libby Ritchie, Chris Fultz, and everyone else who made IRI possible.

Thanks David Kelly and Josh Hambright for all your help with the IndianaFirst website and the press releases.

I also want to thank ALL the teams who participated, esp the ones who came from out of state, and the ones who built their robots the day of the tournament. Thanks a ton to John Wanniger from team 22 "bots 4 life" from WI for getting us all the match scheduling software we needed.

I want to give a GIANT thanks to Tony Norman from IFI for making the VEX tournament possible, and being our celebrity field starter. I also want to give a BIG thanks to Dave Lavery for hanging out with us and starting our finals matches.

And of course, I want to think the RoboEducators, because without them none of this would have been possible. Thanks Dan Ward, Marci Cochran, Luke Ward, Ken Berry, Steve Bardonner, and everyone else working with the RoboEducators.

I also want to thank everyone else who worked behind the scenes, built robots, came and watched the matches, cheered on our central Indiana vex champions, and made this a GREAT success.

[Kyle Love]

<forgot to thank some people earlier>

Thanks to Rufus Cochran, Marci Cochran, Dan Ward, Luke Ward, Steve Bardonner and Tony Norman for putting on a great VEX tourney at IRI. I hope theres one next year!

[Ashley Christine]

I was not able to make it to IRI. And was very sad.

First and foremost I want to thank Bharat for answering the phone at 2am thursday night and talking to me until 5am. I was having a bad day... and then my parens told me I couldnt go, so from Indiana he helped cheer me up!

I want to thank Bharat and Corey for calling me the night they got there, to see how I was doing and find out if I was going. Sorry I couldnt make it guys! I missed you.

I want to thank -- Bharat, Jess Jank, Corey, Mike(303), Meyers, Arefin, Barry, Vishal, Anthony and whoever else stayed with Bharat/Corey-- for talking to me everynight till the late hours of the morning on speakerphone about anything and everything. It made it like I was there only not. You guys are the absolute greatest!

I want to say sorry for killing Bharats cellphone battery. lol. I AM SORRY BHARAT! I think I killed Coreys too... sorry. lol

Thats okay tho, because my cordless phones died multiple times. So we are all even.

I want to thank Koko Ed for offering to bring me. Its a shame we couldnt make plans sooner, but its okay that things did not work out. Thank you for the thought though, and maybe we can do Wonderland! =) lol.

I also want to thank Wildstangs for the webcast... I slept in too late and missed most the matches.. and was busy on friday... but, it made my weekend that much better to at least see quarters, semi's and finals. =) [25 should have won! =P]

So thanks again Corey and Bharat for letting everyone use your cellular devices to keep in contact with me! I hope I didnt use too much of my own long distance to call you guys!

Love yah all!!

[Andy Baker]

This is a great event, and many people deserve much credit. Personally, I enjoy IRI more than all other events of the season. My only regrets are that I get so busy to spend time with friends who attend.

My thanks go out to:

Chris Fultz, for your overall leadership of IRI, coolness, wisdom, and ability to deal with my pickiness.

Libby Ritchie, Scott Ritchie, for your grace under pressure, your friendship, and the attention to detail to make IRI what it is.

Mark Koors, for giving power to all of the pits, for getting equipment for the talent show, and for leading the field packing on Saturday. Also, thank you for the wonderful friendship and partnership.

Amanda Morrison, for taking on a leadership role and paying attention to many IRI details, especially in managing the talent show, silent auction, indianafirst.org website, and college fair tables.

Josh Hambright, for managing the indianafirst.org website, working through scoring system issues, and serving as a referee.

Stu Bloom, Kevin K, Ben Lauer, Amy Przybylinski, Sean Schuff, Jeff Schunn, Dan Swando, for rounding out the best referee crew ever. Thank you for your hard work, your attention to detail, your class, your patience with me, and your ability to listen to the teams.

Steve Wherry, for your "above and beyond the call of duty" actions of registering teams and accounting for the event, all during the same time that you and your wife were having your first baby.

David Kelly, for managing the indianafirst.org website and working through scoring system issues.

Rufus Cochran & Scotty from team 447, for leading the effort to make Vex a great event. You did an outstanding job of developing the game & field, and providing a fair tournament for the competing teams.

Dan Ward & Marci Cochran, for instigating the Vex movement in Indiana and empowering Rufus and Scotty to do great things for the IRI Vex competition.

Dean, Eddie, Lars, Slash & Ozzy... you guys rock!

Dan Green & Paul Copioli, the best announcing duo in FIRST, for keeping the crowd pumped, well-informed, and creating an electric atmosphere.

Jeff Maberto & Jeff Smith, for helping with every facility issue imaginable at Lawrence North

Joe Turckes & Team Ford FIRST, for keeping a FIRST field in the Midwest and allowing our competition to use it.

Scott LaBundy & BAX Global, for shipping the FIRST field from Michigan to Indiana and back, along with other shipping help you gave to our event.

Tony Norman, for taking the time out of a busy schedule to attend IRI.

JVN, for bringing Tony, for listening to me, for helping to keep Amanda sane, for buying the quilt, and for continuing to be a friend.

Jerry Budd, for being the best field manager I've ever worked with. Not one match needed a re-start or a replay.

Molly Menges, for your dedication in keeping the scoring system working throughout the tournament, and for your patience with my mistakes.

Steve Florence, for coordinating the effort of 461 and 1646 to help IRI with tarps and volunteers.

Brandon Martus, for helping with the indianafirst.org issues, and for scoring help during the IRI, and for being B.Slash's roadie.

Ken Patton, for being the best "sounding board" for my questions, and for bringing sense to a touchy situation.

Dave Flowerday, for the equipment on Friday night and for the ability to provide a webcast of IRI.

Collin Fultz, for helping to coordinate the awards, for doing an good job as field announcer, and for doing an even better job as the talent show m/c.

Clark Gilbert, for rocking the house as the IRI DJ.

Attending teams, for making the effort to attend, for having patience with the match schedules and picky referees, and for helping IRI contribute to our Indianapolis community through your generosity.

TechnoKats, for helping with field setup & teardown, pit electrical setup & teardown, building the awards, and representing our team well at the event

Team 234 students, for doing field setup & teardown, pit setup & teardown, resetting the field, video recording the event, tetra repair, and countless other tasks.

Team 234 parents, for providing Friday night food, caring for the Crew and Judges, for helping with field setup & teardown, for managing the silent auction, and for many other tasks

Team 393 parents & students, for helping setup and teardown the field and pits, for assembling the awards, for helping to sell t-shirts and provide dinner on Friday.

Mike Trapp & Waterjet Cutting of Indiana, for providing award tetra clovers, for working with Stu Bloom and providing an outstanding sign for the Hague Road entrance... waterjetted for free... and congrats on winning the Vex challenge. (pssst... if anyone wants waterjet work done in Indianapolis, Mike provides great service and pricing)

Judges for taking the time to listen to every team at IRI, for making great choices as award winners, and for taking time out of busy schedules to serve as judges.

Dave, Nancy & Kristen Kelso for spending a summer "vacation" at IRI, serving as judges (Dave and Kristen) and field queing (Nancy).

Talent show acts, for having the guts to get up in front of your peers and perform. Good job to all. Start working on your acts for next year.

Aaron Lussier, Tytus Gerrish, Arefin Bari, Gary Dillard, April Dillard, & Ed Patterson, for travelling from far, far away to attend IRI and help as field resetters.

Joe Lambie, Jeff Mathis and Katie Reynolds, for keeping up the tradition of having team 93 members helping make IRI a great event, in serving as volunteers.

Entire team 93, for helping clean and pack the field after the awards ceremony was over (they've done this for many years).

Bharat Nain for trying to figure out our CMUcam calibration issues.

Greg Needel and Jeremy Roberts, for coming in and helping team 25 do so well.

Teams 1114 and 1305, for crossing the Canadian border and venture into our Hoosier state to compete at IRI... this gave us the great opportunity in having Dominic & Kristen sing both anthems at opening ceremonies.

Wildstang crew, for providing an exciting Human Player competition.

... and everyone else who helped make this event spectacular.

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

[Mike Schroeder]

Even though I was MIA at IRI this year, I have a few people to thank, well only 2, Greg and Jermey for helping out my team, when it should have been me being there, because i ended up bailing out relativly last minute, and screwed everyone up, so thanks to them for comming to 25's aid

[Dave Flowerday]

Well, I'm sure if I tried to make a list of individuals I'd miss quite a few, so I'll just keep it simple:

Thanks so much to everyone who helped out in making IRI the success that it is. Some of the people involved are very visible and well-known, and others are discreet and behind-the-scenes. Regardless of which group you may fall into, please know that we appreciate your effort. You all put on one amazing event, and I think even FIRST could learn a thing or two from you. The fact that IRI rivals some of the best regionals in the country and manages to do it on what I imagine is a small fraction of their budget is truly amazing.