2009 IRI THANK YOU

[Nick Lawrence]

I want to thank all the volunteers that made this event possible, most of them taking a fair chunk of time out of their summer, when they could be catching up on things such as life. (Wait, what? =P)

I also would like to thank 47, 254 and 45 for being such amazing alliance parters. We had a strong alliance, and we played really well together. We had amazing teamwork. Remember when we worked together to score a supercell? That was spontaneous, and well executed. I can't say I could have asked for better partners.

It was a fun experience, and arguably one of the best IRI's yet, with many upsets. So finally, I want to thank every student, mentor, parent and robot that was in attendance, for making my last event of the year one I'll never forget.

-Nick

[JaneYoung]

I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone. There were many opportunities in the stands, the cafeteria, and the pits, to hear team stories and learn about the regions that volunteers and teams traveled from and what that's about. It was also a golden opportunity to see the host teams working their butts off with smiles on their faces - the entire time. I visited the concessions stands several times for coffee replenishment and no matter the time or the day, the volunteers were smiling, cheerful, and generous.

I also want to tip my hat to each and every team that I spoke with, visited with, observed, and enjoyed. You were - all - magnificent. On the field and off the field. Sometimes delightfully so - like when observing an upside-down styrofoam cup seemingly moving and spinning across the floor all by itself - surrounded by members of 116.

To those who participated in the Talent Show. Thank you. I enjoyed every moment either smiling, laughing, or sitting with tears in my eyes. Meredith's white board comments often expressed what I was thinking. Talent Show judges - you guys were so fun and funny. Thank you for adding the spice, the running commentary via white boards, and also, for those quiet moments.

Hope everyone is returning home safely.
Jane

P.S. oh yes, a highlight that inspired this post. Arm-waving to the song, Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond - sitting behind 234 and watching them 'teach' the visiting teams across the way - watching hands, touching hands reaching out - touching me - touching you. It was beautiful.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

P.S. oh yes, a highlight that inspired this post. Arm-waving to the song, Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond - sitting behind 234 and watching them 'teach' the visiting teams across the way - watching hands, touching hands reaching out - touching me - touching you. It was beautiful.

"Let's steal from the play book of sports..." Dean Kamen

http://www.bostonspastime.com/sweetcaroline.html


Anyway, sounds like another great year at IRI for this fantastic off-season event!

[MissInformation]

To echo everyone else, thank you to the teams who planned, hosted and worked the event, especially those who had jobs that kept them away from all of the action on the field! That's a lot of work to do to create such a wonderful event for the rest of us, not to mention the money you raised for charity!

And thanks for the organizers for letting me volunteer as one of their photographers, it was absolutely amazing, even if I'm going to be editing photos for 3 days!

Congrats to all the award and scholarship winners!

Heidi

[Carol]

I agree with all of the previous posts. This was MOE's first trip to IRI and hopefully not the last. It was a very well run and organized tournament, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. (Maybe not the 12 hour bus ride, but that had a few good moments as well).

Thanks to 341 Miss Daisy for including us on their bus and transporting our robot - I'm glad I got the chance to get to know you all better.

Special thanks to those volunteers who helped me look through the garbage for our missing bag of team shirts (long story as to why we thought it was in the garbage). We did eventually find it; someone had put it in the hopper of our robot before it was loaded back on the trailer.

Thanks to the teams, especially Exploding Bacon and Frog Force, who helped us cheer on our team in the quarters. I hope you enjoyed learning how to use our wobblies! Our drivers commented on how nice it was to see the sea of green when they walked out on the field, much bigger than our small group of 15 people could do by ourselves.

Thanks to those who participated in the bidding war at the charity auction for our MOE shirt and assorted spirit gear (including MOE Stix), which ended up selling at the remarkable price of $90! (Did you hear us chanting GO FOR IT everytime someone stopped and look?)

And thanks to Exploding Bacon for allowing us to "taste" Indiana by giving us a box of White Castle Sliders. They are rare in the Delaware area.

[DiehardCybercard]

I am lucky enough to live within driving distance of Lawrence north high school, so i have the opportunity to help setup this wonderful event.

If anyone ever has the opportunity to help be a part of the IRI, do it. Being a part of IRI is one of the most awesome things ever. Meeting outstanding people like Steve Florance, Andy Baker, Mark Coors, Chris Fultz, and even Dave Lavery graced us with his presence.

Its an amazing event and it makes me smile knowing I help with it.

So if you have a chance to even just help set up the field, I would recommend you do it, its more fun that you would realize.

And thanks again to Chris Fultz and the the planning committee for putting together this amazing off season event.

[AndyB]

Big thank you to Chris Fultz, Andy Baker, and the rest of the IRI planning committee. Once again, you put on a fantastic event which left me with fantastic memories. Thank you to the volunteers as well. There is not enough I can say to truly express my appreciation for everyone who graced an orange or yellow IRI t-shirt this past weekend.

Lastly, thanks to team 1675 who graciously allowed me to tag along on their trip to Indiana. I had a fantastic time and I am glad to have met each and every one of you.

[MGoelz]

Thank you Jane! Cyber Blue is glad you enjoyed our little jig.

And thank you to everyone who came out to the IRI. It's always so exciting to see so many people come together, whether they're with a team or not, and enjoy themselves and partake in a wonderful off season event.

So thank you all!

[MadeAtMidnight]

I wanted to add my thanks also! Tonight our team met to unload the trailer and to discuss the weekend. We went around the room and asked for everyone's most memorable moments. It was quite a list that we came up with.

[Mr MOE]

As Carol had mentioned, this was MOE 365's first trip to IRI. What a terrific event. On behalf of all of MOE, thanks to all the volunteers who made the event run smoothly, especially those volunteers from teams 234, 45, and 1024.

Despite the field faults, I give credit to the field volunteers who moved as quickly as they could to move matches along to minimize the delays on Friday.

Thanks to CyberBlue 234 for selecting us at their back-up bot in elims. It was great being on the same alliance with your team and teams 71 and 503. We gave the event-winning alliance a run for their money. Congrats to 1625, 68, 469, and 16 for a very well-deserved win.

Thanks to all team members who kept the energy high the whole event. These were some of the best played Lunacy matches I have seen all year. IRI teams have demonstrated what Lunacy can be. Great job all!

And thanks to our bus-mates, Team 341. MOE greatly appreciates the opportunity to share a trip like this with your team. In today's economic climate, every little bit helps. We all should try to find ways to lessen our collective team expenses by collaborating. We thank you!

Great job by all. Apart from being flatter than we are used to in the East, the midwest is actually a pretty cool place.

[SushaK]

I would like to Thank everyone who worked so hard to make IRI 2009 happen. I definitely think this year was the best IRI year so far (well, out of the ones I attended). Also, the matches were very intense and really interesting to watch. I even enjoyed them more at IRI than at the Championships. Also thanks to all the teams who competed and made this event so awesome.

Also, I would like to thank Andy Baker and Chris Fultz for letting VizSeek and 80/20, Inc display their kiosks/gurney as well as for letting us promote the Contest INCITE. This Contest is really a great opportunity for teams to win great prizes that total up to $1500 with $500 of that being cash or a check to go toward the teams' robots for the 2010 season.

P.S. the contest is free for everyone to join, more info coming on CD soon

[David Brinza]

IRI becomes a better event each year. Chris, Andy and the rest of the IRI organizing team have created the "gem" of FIRST robotics competitions.

Team 980 had an unimaginably successful event. Of course, much of our success was due to our fantastic alliance partners throughout the competition. The experience of working with WildStang, Penn Robotics and the Tigertrons in the elimination rounds was amazing and educational.

Thanks to everyone who made this IRI very special to Team 980. We look forward to seeing you all next season!