Things you noticed in your first Regional

[Billfred]

What did I notice at my first regional (in my case, Palmetto in 2004)? In a word: SPAM.

For starters, there is the team. If you're in the same building as them, you know they're there. (Just listen hard enough, and you'll always be able to hear "S-P-A-M! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM!" in the distance.) And they cheer incessantly, something I love about them. (Tangentially, I also noticed the whole no-booing thing early on. It really is a Good Thing.)

Of course, there was also their robot from that year, SAM (Surface-to-Air Meat), which combined a holonomic base (the first one I'd ever seen, as I had barely heard of ChiefDelphi at that point) with a crazy-fast hanger that I couldn't believe when I saw it, even after a trip to Robot Rodeo. It's one of about four or five robots I remember from the event.

I do love SPAM--I can't wait to see what they have planned for UCF.