Lessons learned 2005: The negative

[HydroSam]

As one of the members of the last group of students who actually remember what Championship events at Epcot were like, I think it’s important that a comparison is drawn between what the Championship event used to be and what it has become. For those of you who haven’t been in FIRST long enough to remember the 2002 or prior Championship events, ask an old-timer on your team, they’ll tell you how much better the event was when it was under the Florida sun.

Take the pits-field-stands distances. Once upon a time the pits were so close to the field that robots actually were sent back to the pits between Quarterfinals matches and retrieving something from your pits during a break between the matches wasn’t a 10-minute running ordeal but a two-minute jaunt. Also, instead of being nearly an entire story above and 10 to 200 yards away from the field your robot is on as it competes, in Epcot designated team cheering zones on the floor were established which put students less than 10 feet away from the field and on the same level as the drivers. Those distances seen in Atlanta present serious problems for scouting teams to relay information to their drivers during Qualifying matches or Elimination rounds. In Epcot I can remember my predecessor briefing the drivers on their next match in the elimination rounds by meeting them at the side of the walkway to and from the pits, not needing to wave them down and use dozens of cell phone minutes to arrange a shouted meeting held a few feet above the drivers’ heads.

Another place where the GA Dome facility simply cannot compete with the Disney facility is in the accommodations, transportation, food, and the party. Unlike the Omni, which fills up weeks before the event and forces teams into sub-par hotels far from the event, Disney had plenty of hotel rooms for the teams and punctual transportation systems (busses and monorail) which transported teams from the front of their hotel to the event site. Even as close as the Omni was to the event, that distance is easily double the distance a team had to walk when the event was in Epcot. For food, the prices in the GA Dome have become ridiculous. I know Disney’s not normally associated with inexpensive, but even they didn’t charge $10.75 for a sad-looking BBQ sandwich, a crushed bag of Lays, and a soda. Also, Disney didn’t go ballistic over teams bringing coolers of drinks into their pits to keep their team members properly hydrated over the long days of competition. And for the party, instead of cheesy stilt acts and carnival games, Disney had major recording artists perform at the Einstein field followed by opening the Epcot park with food and multiple sound stages with entertainment aimed at the high-school crowd.

But the most important difference between the days of Epcot events and the stadium-style of event used today was the difference in facility style. Epcot had massive open areas where inter-team activities like twister, limbo, Frisbee, etc. were encouraged. Nearly everyone participated because the fields were just a short walk from anywhere at the event. In stadiums, it’s a hike just to get to the aisle ways (which cannot be blocked by these activities), let alone outside to the nearest open area. Those activities were an important way that teams got to know each other through the most effective way possible: play. Unfortunately, such activities are far less common today and thus, less inter-team understanding and friendships are created.

The pits, also, are not what they once were. It seems that each year the aisles between them shrinks, and this year the aisles were skinnier at the Championship than at some regionals. The pits at Epcot were sufficiently far apart that I remember it being common for entire teams to accompany their robot back to the pits after a successful match to celebrate and coordinate plans for the rest of the day. Today it’d take 15 minutes or more to do something like that and the traffic jam it would create would be astounding.

The layout of the Epcot event also contributed to the more mobile and social feel of the Epcot-based events. Because divisions rotated through fields, teams didn’t colonize sections of the stands and sit there all day. They’d move into the stands for the field their match was soon to be on a few matches ahead of time, watch theirs, then move on to other things (either a celebration in the pits or to one of the outside events). Today teams have incentive to stay in the stands so that they can have reasonably close seating when their robot competes. It’s a lot easier to meet people and learn from others when you’re up and about instead of sitting like a zombie watching matches and talking to the same old members of your team.

What concerns me about FIRST is that they didn’t realize that the venue was as much a part of the problem as anything in Houston and picked a largely similar setup for Atlanta. There was a certain charm about the Championship event’s style in Epcot, a charm that experience now shows cannot be replicated in other places. I think three years is enough to prove that the Championship needs to return to its home: Orlando, FL. Unfortunately, as of next season, there will be even less people in FIRST who remember what the 2002 or prior events were like, and thus even less push to return it to a similar venue.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Ah yes, the fabled Golden Years. I'll admit that the events at Epcot were pretty nice, but they too had their problems. For one, the heat. The events were held in a parking lot, which was the venue's greatest strength and weakness. It was hot outside the expensively air conditioned tents, and it was cramped inside them. Since it was in a parking lot, it was also prone to flooding of all things. You were at the mercy of the weather, and Disney hasn't figured out how to control that yet.

There was virtually no seating for teams at the division fields, and teams most certainly did end up sitting in the stands for long lengths of time. Especially during the Elims. And seating at Einstein was worse than at these new venues. A sea of seats actually below the level of the stage and then stadium seating starting about 200 feet back.

I also remember being charged $70 per person for the wrap party if your team didn't spend the extra cash to stay on Disney property. This would be when my team starting saving money and skipping FIRST packages and wrap parties to stay at cheaper nice hotels and go to Medieval Times or Benihana for our own personal wrap party.

Epcot was far from perfect, and I'm certain setting up an entire stadium with AC and generators in a parking lot cost an awful lot more than renting an actual stadium for the same time period. Plus this way you get AC all the time and don't have to worry about rain. The rainstorm Friday would've been a near disaster at Epcot. Basically, though, Epcot got too expensive, and FIRST moved on.

And don't get me started about people complaing about Houston. You can search out my previous posts on the matter if you're curious about my opinion on the subject.



On a completely other subject, I had an idea to help with rules consistency. BEST robotics typically has a "prototype game kickoff" where the game is presented to the hub directors months before kickoff and is open for comments. This is followed by a prototype day where basic prototype robots are brought to play a simulated game. All of this helps iron out bugs in rules that inevitably pop up when the game commitee's perfect game is implemented in our sadly imperfect reality. I realize building several prototype FIRST robots would be expensive and difficult, but I'm sure the idea could be adapted somehow and ex-FIRST mentors could be drafted to help.

[Not2B]

I had several TGW/TGR (Things Gone Wrong / Things Gone Right), but most of them have already been noted. So I will give one that we do on our team.

- Thing Gone Wrong - we should find more items in the Things Gone Right list. We can find more positives. This is FIRST.

P.S. - Although I did not make it to the A T L baby, I still think Sir Charles rocks. He grows on you - I can't explain it.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

On a completely other subject, I had an idea to help with rules consistency. BEST robotics typically has a "prototype game kickoff" where the game is presented to the hub directors months before kickoff and is open for comments. This is followed by a prototype day where basic prototype robots are brought to play a simulated game. All of this helps iron out bugs in rules that inevitably pop up when the game commitee's perfect game is implemented in our sadly imperfect reality. I realize building several prototype FIRST robots would be expensive and difficult, but I'm sure the idea could be adapted somehow and ex-FIRST mentors could be drafted to help.

I like this idea--although I can't really go into any significant detail, as I don't really know much about the game design process within FIRST. Perhaps having Storytime with Uncle Dave would help anyone thinking about that end of things?