2009 IRI - Event Update

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Taylor

Wow, the Mentor Matches return to IRI. Very cool.

Awesome! What are the age/experience limitations of this grand escapade? Are competitors playing for honor and glory alone, or will there be some form of awesome tangible compensation bling for persevering?

*throws modesty out the window* - Just sayin', but if any participating team is short a driver/copilot and wants one of the better (or luckier, I haven't figured it out yet) IRI mentor drivers out there (2-0-1 from 2004-2006 - I even survived the Karthik/Amanda Morrison Grateful they Volunteered But Not For Their "Skills" Emergency Team 48 Drive Team Partners Scare Of 2005 ), I will be available for "hire" and temporary team adoption...that is, if 48 isn't already fortunate enough to participate in the mentor challenge.

I can hear teams lining up for my services already.

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I agree that the IRI folks could stand to make even more money for charity if teams were encouraged to bid on their entry fees, given the ample positive talk we've heard from many on CD about wanting to do this again.

Perhaps the drive team with the highest entry bid could receive X extra orbit balls in their robot at match start as a bonus (scale down the bonus for 2nd highest bid, 3rd highest, etc.)?

And just prior to a match, perhaps you could "sell" additional orbit balls to each team for $1 per, and perhaps pre-charged supercells for $20?