Championship 2007 - Atlanta - What Went Well or What You Liked

[rfolea]

The entire weekend was outstanding.

We had a blast.

We were impressed with how well they were able to deal with the inclimate weather and the social - kudos! How many other venues in the country could have accomodated that huge change at the last minute?

Someone mentioned that no one alliance stood out - that is a credit to the game design committee - they designed a game that required everyone working to gether to pull off a win, as compared to last year where one dominant team could carry the alliance. Congrats!

My suggestion list (these are VERY minor nits when compared to the overall experience, which was nearly flawless from our perspective):

1. Make the fonts bigger on the screens - the team numbers and scores are too small for us old farts to see. I took pictures of the screen at max zoom and still couldn't read the numbers ...

2. Why were the aisles so narrow in the pits - ours was only 8 feet wide, yet the aisles between the divisions were HUGE. Seems like the space could have been better alloacted - things were very cramped...

3. Hotel ordering system. We need to get receipts with the HOTELs confirmation number, not the vendors. We had an issue with the hotel and couldn't resolve it because the Hotel couldn't sync our confirmation numbers with theirs. The Hilton was VERY nice about it and got it fixed, but it took us 2 hours to register and get rooms for the kids.

Again - these are MINOR compared to the wonderful time we had - we can't wait for next year!

- Rick

[FIRST Rocks]

Originally Posted by rfolea

1. Make the fonts bigger on the screens - the team numbers and scores are too small for us old farts to see. I took pictures of the screen at max zoom and still couldn't read the numbers ...

This is not because of the font size, but the low picture quality of the screens they used. At regionals they used projector screens, which looked good. At Championship, projectors would block the audience's view of the screen, so they have to use LED screens. The ones they used had poor picture quality. They should get better quality screens. I'm sure they don't because of cost. That being said, I really liked the widescreen on Einstein. The only nit pick I had with it was when they showed both driver station views on either side of the match, they were so distorted I couldn't tell what they were showing.

[rarprrydude234]

overall, i feel this year went pretty well. the only thing i felt that was wrong was the random qualifying alliences. we were with many of the same teams throughout all of each competition and did not get to see all of the teams. i understand this at the championship with 86 teams in a division but i really feel that the teams that have the same alliance partners for 2 or 3 matches are a little distraught. this was not only our team but many others. i felt that the championships went pretty well. it was well organized except for what i have stated above and i do believe many teams would agree.
thanks for a great year.

[Billfred]

Well, I posted the down side, here's the plus side from me:

1) THANK YOU for leaving the FVC/FLL path open on Saturday. This path is also quite convenient for crew and other folks who access the internals of the Dome, and I missed having it last year.

2) I liked the change in procedure for volunteer parking on the Gold Deck. Using the sign-in list is a much cleaner setup than trying to scramble for passes on Wednesday night.

3) Whoever came up with the wide-screen idea for Einstein was a genius.

3a) Whoever came up with the idea for having the alliance station cameras on the sides of the main feed was also a genius.

4) The food seemed better than last year for the volunteers. Bravo to the catering folks.

5) Thumbs-up for moving the FIRST Finale indoors. Having it in the GWCC hall might not have been as awesome visually as in Centennial Park, but at least we stayed mostly dry. (And those brownies with the marshmallows are addictive.)

6) Awards were well-timed overall. Having something between Einstein F2 and F3 would've been nice, but it's understandable that FRC tournaments are unpredictable.

7) Of all of the years I've stayed for Einstein, this year seemed to have the clearest communication about who has reserved seating.

8) Fully realizing that repeating the FLL and FVC awards during the finals is impractical, I do appreciate recognizing the FLL Champions Award and FVC Inspire Award recipients.

9) The on-field highlight reels while teams came down for awards was great. (I'd love to see something similar for the division champions, if that could be edited down fast enough.)

If I can think of more later, I'll add to my list.

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by BuddyB309

There was a lot of things i didnt like about the nationals this year. The whole atmosphere of the finals didnt seem as intese as they did in the past years. In the past the normal lights in the stadium were shut off and only the stage lights were on. It just made things seem so more cooler and intese when they do that. No confettie when the chairmans award was anouced, I thought the chairmans was suppose to be the biggest deal. I thought it was the coolest thing when the winner was rained with confetie.

I dont know if it was either the game or the was it was presented it just didnt seem like a National event. Dont get me wrong, i still had loads of fun and learned a lot. And everyone was very polite and a grand time to be around. I dont know if its just me put i had the feeling the presentation aspect was a little lacking as compared to past years at nationals.

But over all i really really liked the expierence. My list for a good review is way longer than the negative for national. Those two things are the only thing I found i didnt like about This year at atlanta. With only two things wrong about anything is a really really job well done in my book. (unless those two things happen to be a major aspect.)

Perhaps move (delete and repost) this here?:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=56831

Just a suggestion.

Jacob

[Monochron]

Things went strange for us. We started doing our normal offense. Our max score on Thursday was 6 and we average around 3ish.
Late Friday though we changed to a defense strategy and didn't lose a single match. It was pretty great (except for me being arm operator).

defense was never a design goal for our robot, but it just worked great. No alliance (in ranking matches) scored more than 3 tubes against us.

[Luckyfish05]

There were so many things that I really enjoyed about Atlanta this year.

1. As usual the creativity and originality of the robots was pretty awesome. No, two robots are Identical. How awesome our minds are.

2. The presentations for the Closing Cereomonies were pretty awesome. Showing these students what they can accomplish if they want to is pretty sweet. But, It's also cool for everyone to see the "toys" that Darpa comes up with. Can anyone get me one of those cockroaches?

3. Dean Kamen's Arm- Completely amazing, makes me think about wanting to be working in the Prostetics part of the Medical world when I become a nurse. We'll see what the future brings. I can't wait to see how that changes the world.

4.Announcers and MCs- Ours on Newton at least were pretty awesome!!!

5. Georgia Dome and Convention Center- Seriously guys where else could we be able to handle everyone at once?

6. Good matches- Yes, I know, a lot of people don't like the way the randomization still occurs, but that said there were still a lot of good matches this weekend.

7. The Finals matches on Einstein- There is nothing better than the finals on Einstein.

8. Taking a group of 10 students (who have never been involved in FIRST before) and having them understand it by the weekend was over!- I had one student tell me Friday night that Friday was the happiest day of his life, and another tell me that next year they're ready to start on the Homework for next year. That says we did something right.

9. Of course, that screen on Einstein was pretty sweet too.

I've lost my train of thought and I need to get caught up on the studying I've missed the past couple of days.

[BlondeNerd]

Keep in mind that I had never been to the Championships before...

The sheer size of the event. When I walked into the Dome as a human player for the first time, I stopped because I was overwhelmed by the size of the venue

Playing with the other teams. The constant Frisbee outside was a really fun way to play with and meet other teams from other divisions and let off some steam

All of the Segways! I got to (try to) ride one!

The energized announcers! Their constant energy helped me wake up every time I entered the dome!

The Lego League teams. There were so many little ones walking around! The 'nerdlets' as my teams call them, are the future of the program. It was great to see so many young kids involved in their robots.

Having 7 matches. We were expecting 5, 6 at the max. We were very grateful when we received our schedule that we were playing 7 matches. It didn't help our ranking much, but it definitely added to the great experience of playing at the world championships.

Dean Kamen signed our robot! After a hard day with only 1 win, Dean's agreement to autograph our 'bot really lifted our spirits. That was really awesome of him.

[Alan Anderson]

Field problems were not an issue. The practice and qualification matches stayed pretty much on (or even a bit ahead of) schedule.

The pit area layout works well, with no obvious traffic jam spots. I didn't notice significant congestion at the inspection station or practice field.

I appreciate not having my backpack searched when entering the GWCC. Occasional small snacks are important when going non-stop for a couple of days.

It was very nice not having any confetti balloons in the way this year.

[AmyPrib]

Among the other positives noted previously, which I agree with, here's a couple more:

I felt there was a better presence of Dome staff around - and they knew what they were supposed to be doing for the most part. They were looking for credentials to different areas, and they were able to answer questions...at least the ones I encountered...and they were friendly too.

The seating areas around Einstien were roped off well and in advance, unlike last year. The only addition they might consider is adding signage to the rows or section entrance about which seating is for which groups (2 team reps, finals teams, judges, vips, etc). Maybe that could help others not just disregard the caution tape and realize there is a purpose to it.
On a side note of caution tape - I did find it rude that teams were disregarding the caution area during the water leak on Galileo. While extremely frustrating, most everyone respected and followed the direction of staff. The staff did what they could to get it opened, and we shouldn't be refusing to move when they obviously roped it off and restricted access.

I thought signage was better this year in general, directing people of different groups to various place.

Speeches and speakers in ceremonies were great. Kept pretty short, but had good impact.

Fields were on time! And apparently some ahead of time, which should be wrangled back to being on time by inserting some fun delays.

Wrap party indoors was a great move due to weather. I initially thought there weren't going to be backup plans. It was quite loud in there, but regardless, it looked like everyone was having fun.

[triggerhappy336]

Our team got to talk to Woodie Flowers. Then we gave him one of our highly sought after robotic pens, and he liked it just as much as you guys did

There was allot of other good stuff, most of which has been mentioned by other posters.

[JaneYoung]

I loved the Hall of Fame set-up, access, and availability.

Thank you HOFs for the time and effort you put into your displays and for manning them continuously.

That was a highlight. I hope everyone had a chance to visit and learn.

Jane

[Andy Baker]

What went well...

The FIRST signs all around downtown Atlanta were a nice welcome.

The view from the top of the Westin is outstanding. Many of the kids on team 45 have never seen such a facility or view.

The Braves game on Friday night was nice... good weather, great facility, and a good thing to do with a FIRST team. ... and 300 of your Indiana FIRST friends.

Teams in the Galileo division were great. As a mentor and drive coach on team 45, I did not run into a bad situation at all. I was even happy to get to know some people and teams that we have not known in the past.

The practice field for Galileo and Newton was managed incredibly well. Richard Wallace and another young lady ran it, and they did great. Major kudos to Richard.

Blair and Andy Grady on Galileo were a great pair at m/c and announcer. Those two are highly professional, and as entertaining as any duo.

Colleen Shaver, along with Dave and Nancy Kelso ran the Championship Conferences very well. As a presenter with Bill Beatty, their instructions and directions were clear. The facility was easily usable, and they were most helpful.

I liked that Ben Wrightsman and Gene Carey of Diversified Systems were located next to the AndyMark booth at the Supplier's Showcase, and they helped my wife at times during the 2 days that the booth was open.

I liked the opportunity to buy the "Behind the Design" and "FIRST" books at the Logo-Loc store. Also, I had the great pleasure of meeting Ann, the author of the "FIRST" book. She had me and my wife both autograph the book.

The announcement during Friday's opening ceremonies that Dr. William Murphy's father's Nobel Prize trust fund will be transferred to help support the Woodie Flowers Award was immense. Dr. Murphy is a hero to many of us in FIRST, and this gift to FIRST is huge. Many thanks to Dr. Murphy and his family.

Being a FIRST supplier, my wife and I took advantage of a few of the things that are offered to VIP's who are attending the Championships. The care of VIP's is impressive. We could not attend the dinner on Friday night, and will hopefully make it next year.

It was great to be allied with the Thunderchickens for the elimination rounds.

There are more, but enough for now.

Andy B.

[Madison]

I've complained, so I might as well say a nice thing or two as well. Those who know me well know how hard this'll be and will appreciate the effort Many of these items may be inapplicable to the event itself, but there were some fun things that happened for us that deserve recognition.

• The volunteers in Atlanta were all exceptionally friendly. I think larger venues are less stressful for everyone involved. I certainly did not miss being yelled at by queueing volunteers and pit announcers.
• Tytus was, by far, the most amenable inspector we've ever encountered and everyone on our team loved having him come by. I think they appreciated that he seems to be as honest and blunt about things as I am Passing inspection by 1:30 in the afternoon is, for us, also awesome. So, inspection was good and sensible.
• The referees explained penalties and scoring idiosyncracies to teams before they'd left the field. Even if we didn't agree with all of their decisions, I was happy that they were at least telling us what to expect from the score. It's easier to be calm when you're not completely baffled by the score as it appears on the big screens. I did not see enough matches to speak to what others have said about inconsistency.
• I don't know why or how, but my team was able to provide me with a constant supply of croisants all weekend. As this was the only food I could keep down, this was a life saver.
• I'll devote a thread to this item, I'm sure, but I can't express how grateful 'team xbot' is to Mark Leon for taking the time to come to an ice cream social we held with our friends from the Pacific Northwest and Silicon Valley Regionals on Thursday evening. I can't imagine how many people and responsibilities were vying for his attention and it meant so much to the kids on my team to have him stop by and tell a few stories. People like him make FIRST what it is.

[Grant Cox]

- the Finale was AMAZING. The shows were awesome (seeing our operator get hypnotized was something I would've paid to see), the music was loud, the dancing/socializing was fun, the food was good. I wasn't there last year, but from what I hear it was outside and spread out and just not as fun. I'd definitely vote for indoors again next year; just the atmosphere with dimmed lights and loud music and everything made it so much more fun.

- although this may have just been the outcome of having so many FIRST kids in one place, I loved the energy. Even after being eliminated fairly early (grumble grumble), I went back up to the stands and cheered with some friends for teams like 1902 and 233, just for the sake of cheering and having fun (resulting in the loss of my voice by the end of the day)

- being able to go outside and just "chill" between matches and such was such an unexpected, remarkable plus. Whether it was playing frisbee with other teams, talking to people, or just laying down in the sun or by the fountains, the spirit and atmosphere was just great. I tried so hard to get some of the other people on our team out of the pits and into the fresh air for just 10 minutes, just so they could experience a facet of the competition that really was unique to FIRST

It was a fun event for a LOT of reasons, but these were the three major elements that I wanted to make sure I threw out there. Other personal things that were cool were getting Woodie's autograph, seeing Steve Wozniak (he was a judge! ), and getting the chance to finally play a match or two WITH the TechnoKats instead of against them (you guys are awesome, I'd been waiting for that ever since St. Louis). I loved the DARPA guy too, as well as Chad Hurley.