Championship 2008 - Atlanta - Your Thoughts Please

[dangerousdave]

Please tell us what you liked or what could have been done better, concerning the 2008 Championship's that ends today.

Overall, I was happy with the way the GA Dome & World Congress Center facilities were repaired and made usable for us following the tornado one month ago. Also, the weather was great even with a little rain Saturday morning.
Dave

[XaulZan11]

Just one quick thing that is on the top of my head.

I understand that this has always been a problem and its hard to solve, but I think being behind on Einstein is a problem. One of the goals this year was to get get more people exposed to FIRST so they can see how amazing the program really is. Like the past few years, NASA was nice enough to let us show off the program on TV so the general public can see it. But, due to significant delays, we only got to the semifinals on Einstien before NASA cut it off. Think of all the people that didn't get a chance to see FIRST or got a bad impression (ie, "what is this unorganized program that cuts off before the finals?!"). I think it makes FIRST look bad and we missed a golden opportunity to show off our product to the general public.

I completely understand that its super hard to keep on time. Over 300 teams, hundred of volunteers, field errors and so on; there is just a lot that go wrong and cause delays. I just hope FIRST puts more importance on being on time. I did like that they changed some things in the past such as announcing the chairmans early before everyone rushes off to the finale. Hopefully they look more into this issue.

[EricH]

Definitely time. I was watching on the webcast and time was the #1 issue. For starters, plan for half the eliminations to go three rounds, and throw in a Timeout. If that doesn't give you a better estimate, I don't know what will. That way, we at least know what to expect.

That isn't venue fault at all, just procedure. (2 hours from the end of team intros to the end of semis hurts.)

I do agree that the changes seemed to help. No Robot Parade saved maybe 15 minutes of time. That is a good thing. Also, the good seats for the CA team during eliminations. I actually liked the changes, though I was surprised.

[BrendanB]

John, what do you mean by nasa cut off video in the semi finals. I saw the finals through nasa.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

John, what do you mean by nasa cut off video in the semi finals. I saw the finals through nasa.

NASA TV ended at 6. Webcast didn't end.

[BrendanB]

OK.

[ebarker]

It was disturbing when people started leaving after the EI last year.

This year the CA was done early and the EI last. That makes a lot more sense and give the winning CA team cool seats also. That made things a lot sweeter.

[ttldomination]

Championship was amazing. It was fun, amazing, confusing, frustrating, and joyful at the same time.

I just have one quick question...what *exactly* are ranking points.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

I just have one quick question...what *exactly* are ranking points.

RP have a formula...

Winner= 2 x loser pre-penalty score
Loser= own post-penalty score

Ranking score= SUM(winner RPs + loser RPs)/# matches played, without surrogate matches.

It's a strength of schedule.

[Nate Laverdure]

To this webcast watcher, the event seemed to run very smoothly.

In an ideal would, I would appreciate if these two sites to be updated on a near-real-time basis during Einstein awards/finals/closing ceremonies. At the time of this post (10:10 EST), they have not been updated.

I would also like FIRST to publish alliance selection information on some kind of dynamic page as well. Tall order, but I think it would be a worthwhile addition.

Seeing the confetti come down for the Champion alliance (as opposed to coming down for the Chairman's winner) was disappointing. Dean can say all he wants about not losing sight of the program's true purpose, but this year's change (presenting Chairman's first) must have removed some of our focus from the true goal here.

Four years ago my team only went to one regional a year, and if we were not involved in eliminations, we always decided to leave before the final awards were presented. We just didn't know what the big deal was-- we thought we were just playing a game with robots. After some gentle urging, my teammates decided to start paying attention to all the Chairman's stuff, and now we're a three-time RCA winner. In my absence, they continue to find innovative ways to make positive changes in their community, but if the Championship competition starts to honor the champions more than the CA winner, they may end up diminishing their focus on the advancement of science and technology.

As a more trivial aside, I should also note that that the presentation of the Highest Rookie Seed award on Galileo was a bit rough (the MC ran out of filler as the team worked its way up to the arena floor). Perhaps a new system should be worked out for the presentation of this (very important, if underrated) award-- maybe the winning team could be asked to gather on the field before it is presented?

[ebarker]

I didn't interpret the confetti as being part of the champion alliance thing, but simply as fireworks for the end of the whole gig. just my take though.

[colin340]

i did't like the ca first i think it played it down to much and the EI felt thrown in it should always come right before ca
i think dean's speech was very good i liked it alot
i really think it unfair not to give out the honorable mentions it hurt all the team going for ca by not giveing them feed back on what it takes
but all in all it all when real well
sincerely thank you to all those who give there time to first
-colin

[Freddy Schurr]

I don’t know if this happen or not in the morning ceremonies but I though that FIRST should had made a little tribute segment of the opening/closing ceremony for Mike Wade and others who have passed away this season. This individuals have made FIRST and their communities what it is today and we should have honor them for a brief moment of time.

[Kate00]

Originally Posted by Freddy Schurr

I don’t know if this happen or not in the morning ceremonies but I though that FIRST should had made a little tribute segment of the opening/closing ceremony for Mike Wade and others who have passed away this season. This individuals have made FIRST and their communities what it is today and we should have honor them for a brief moment of time.

They gave Mike Wade the Volunteer of the Year award.

[Doug G]

First of all, the dome and GWCC repairs were great - other than some visible plywood, it didn't seem to affect much.

They blocked off access to the second level of the dome. Why? Have you seen how many folks want to actually see the awards, speeches and einstein matches? They eventually had so many folks finding alternate ways to get to the second level, they eventually had to just give in. Which brings up another point - was it safe? Were there repairs needed up there?

Comparing it to my last trip to Atlanta back in '05, I have noticed a huge increase in people, teams, spectators, dignitaries, and such. It maybe either getting too big or they need to change the setup of the event. I think 72-75 teams per division is more appropriate.

I'd like to see either Friday qualifying rounds go to 6 pm and then finish qualifiers on Sat by 11am. Then Einstein would finish closer to 6 pm.

The Finale was awesome - but again felt crowded.

I liked having the CA first - it is the most important award and everyone pays attention to the first of anything.