2009 Kickoff Attendance

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Billfred

(Just remember to pack extra warm--when they say the state motto is Live, Freeze, or Die, they're not joking.)

Originally Posted by EricVanWyk

I've survived (barely) one New Hampshire winter and I hadn't heard it before. You evoked an audible chuckle over here.

Last year's kickoff was quite pleasant weather-wise. This was because Hawaii's governor brought the warmth with her. I hope she comes again and stays until the championship.

No, that would have been the hot air from all the politicians up there for the primary.

[vivek16]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I went in 2005 as a volunteer. The experience was great--picture the buzz of the crowd that amasses before the Thursday of a regional, only ramped up to eleven. There's no real competitive advantage to attending in my mind, beyond being able to touch The Actual Field Elements (hey, we can all read drawings, right?), but the Manchester Kickoff tends to draw a lot of the older-school teams that started going to Manchester before there was a choice. Tapping into the knowledge that a lot of those teams' mentors have can definitely provide some inspiration.

In short: yes.

(Just remember to pack extra warm--when they say the state motto is Live, Freeze, or Die, they're not joking.)

Haha, I'm from Minnesota, I'll live. I'll talk to my mentor about it, it certainly looks fun.

[JohnBoucher]

Originally Posted by vivek16

I've never been before, is it really worth it?

-Vivek

The energy is amazing. It a huge crowd on the field, all brainstorming, commenting on the game. The GDC is there and and you can ask them directly about the game and the field elements.

This picture is from 2007

[JohnBoucher]

I got a clarification from FIRST. The Founders reception is now limited to three people. Kickoff is not affected.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

I got a clarification from FIRST. The Founders reception is now limited to three people. Kickoff is not affected.

Cutting back from four per team to three is understandable. If the crowd at Westwind got any larger than it was last year, there wouldn't be much room to breathe. Moving from the hangar to handle more people at once would probably be a bad thing -- I've noticed that Dean Kamen tends to be a much more interesting speaker when he's talking to a smallish group.