POLL: Friday-Sunday events vs Thursday-Saturday events

[ratdude747]

I'm split on this one, and due to this I'm glad Indiana does both.

One one hand the F-Su layout is better in terms of how many vacation days I destroy per event. However, that also means I miss a week of Church, which isn't a major issue since it's usually no more than two weeks lost (and I have a backup for my church role as AV operator). Pro's and con's both ways.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

One one hand the F-Su layout is better in terms of how many vacation days I destroy per event. However, that also means I miss a week of Church, which isn't a major issue since it's usually no more than two weeks lost (and I have a backup for my church role as AV operator). Pro's and con's both ways.

At least you HAVE a backup! Count your blessings. (I technically have a backup on lighting, but that means I'm pulling from the streaming, sound, or multimedia crew, so somebody else has to be filled in for.)


If I have a robotics event on Sunday, I take Monday off of work. I need that gap day to recover, refocus, and take care of stuff I normally take care of on weekends. I've noticed when I don't have that... So I prefer Thurs-Sat events. Vacation time, neutral; dealing with other "stuff", it just works better that way.

[Wayne Doenges]

Having done several Saturday-Sunday District event and then going to work on Monday and having to OD on Mt. Dew, I would prefer Thursday - Saturday.

[EmileH]

I'm happy that we had a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of events in NE this year. Several teams, notably 1519 for NE, do not compete on Sundays do to their religious background. However, many other teams prefer Friday-Sunday District Events so that they don't miss as much school. I personally don't mind either, and I think that the decision comes down to the priorities of the team members, and having the choice is best.

[rwodonnell]

Originally Posted by EmileH

I'm happy that we had a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of events in NE this year. Several teams, notably 1519 for NE, do not compete on Sundays do to their religious background.

I agree that that mix would be ideal. Unfortunately, of the 10 NE district events, only 3 were Thu-Sat, and two of those were the same weekend (Easter weekend). It makes me wonder if those would also have been Fri-Sun in a year when Easter is after competition season, as it (almost) is in 2017 (April 16th, 2017 - only the 2champs are after Easter). In NE, only the Pine Tree event was Thu-Sat on a "normal" weekend, and because of the double on Easter weekend, had to be the 2nd event choice for teams needing a Thu-Sat event. I hope next year there are a couple more Thur-Sat events to choose from in NE.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by rwodonnell

I agree that that mix would be ideal. Unfortunately, of the 10 NE district events, only 3 were Thu-Sat, and two of those were the same weekend (Easter weekend). It makes me wonder if those would also have been Fri-Sun in a year when Easter is after competition season, as it (almost) is in 2017 (April 16th, 2017 - only the 2champs are after Easter). In NE, only the Pine Tree event was Thu-Sat on a "normal" weekend, and because of the double on Easter weekend, had to be the 2nd event choice for teams needing a Thu-Sat event. I hope next year there are a couple more Thur-Sat events to choose from in NE.

Venue selection has a lot of facets to it. Many of the venues used in New England are extremely busy, with many sports, concerts and event schedules to work around. Many events fell to Fri-Sun due to scheduling constraints at venues. In an ideal world we could satisfy every requirement, but unfortunately last years cards landed heavy on Fri-Sun events.

Its quite a balancing act to schedule all of the events that satisfy 1. Budgets 2. Competition season schedules 3. Geographic requirements 4. Volunteer breakdowns, etc.

-Brando

[smitikshah]

Originally Posted by PatrickSJ

I'm very happy that FiM uses the Thursday-Saturday event model, or else I would have never been able to join robotics. Missing one day of school every other week wasn't really ever a problem at my school. If FiM had run the Friday-Sunday model, my parents wouldn't have been ok with me joining, and I would have missed out on all the awesome experiences I have had in FRC. I can definitely understand that Friday-Sunday would be much easier for a lot of people, but I am very grateful they don't use that model in Michigan.

Sorry this is a bit hard to follow. Did you accidentally mix up the event types?

[asid61]

I voted Friday-Sunday before realizing that it was ok for me to miss school for events, and I can't retract my vote.
After considering that I would rather have the Sunday off. That also lets traveling teams have a bit of wiggle room.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by smitikshah

Sorry this is a bit hard to follow. Did you accidentally mix up the event types?

No; Thursday is a Load in/Practice day here in Michigan. Friday is the only school day missed. Because districts.

No school would be missed in a Fri-Sun model, but FiM does not do that.



I also prefer the Thurs-Sat model because I need a recharge day before I start the work week.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by Madison

For me, having a day before the work week to recover and rest is far better for my health and productivity than the negative impact of missing another day of work.

Originally Posted by HelloRobot

I think I have to vouch for the Thursdays-Saturday competitions. Whether you're part of a team or a volunteer, you NEED a "gap day" before heading back to school or work! These competitions are exhausting (especially if you have to travel)!

What about taking the Monday off as a rest day instead of missing the day of work the week before?

[Andrew Schreiber]

This is a fairly complicated question for me. If it's Fri-Sun I probably take Monday off. Otherwise I take Friday off to attend the full day.

So, either way I'm taking a day off work if I attend the full event.[1] The hard part for me is if it's an a actual day of competition I can use what's called Civic Time and not use vacation whereas if I take Monday off I can't [2]. But there's also the option of simply flexing the time across our time reporting window. Which is entirely dependent on when in the billing period the event falls.








[1] I'm in the District system so the first day is typically after work anyway.

[2] There's some fairly restrictive rules around when I can use Civic Time but I'm really glad my employer is so supportive.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

What about taking the Monday off as a rest day instead of missing the day of work the week before?

Monday is a FAR too important day at my work. Everyone wants to start the week out right, so much happens.
Half of the Fridays are uneventful anyway.

[Dibit1010]

100% Friday-Sunday. Teachers give more tests on Friday (at least at my school) so I just have to make up the test, not new material.


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[ASD20]

I had voted Thursday-Saturday, but I've actually changed my answer. The former student in me preferred TFS events because, well, missing school, but the college student in me looking to volunteer really prefers FSS because it will make it a lot easier for me. I will say that the day of rest from TFS events is not just nice, but really important. I've found that if I don't take the one day after the event to recover, I will need to take that time eventually and it will usually become a lot more than one day.

[Chris is me]

Friday - Sunday is strictly better to me.

Even though going to work Monday morning after a Sunday event is terrible, I can just take Monday off if I need that day to recover. Friday-Sunday events force less time off if you don't need the day after to recover, and they require the same amount of time off if you do. So I don't get this "I need a recharge day so let's do Thursday - Saturday" - is it just that you feel guilty about taking a day off when there isn't an event, or something?

I understand religious reasons people prefer not to compete on Sunday, so some events have to stay Thursday-Saturday to accommodate them. But I hope at least half of events eventually become Friday-Sunday events.