POLL: Friday-Sunday events vs Thursday-Saturday events

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

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.

It's also worth nothing that Sunday isn't the only holy day. Some religions have it Friday, others Saturday.

[ASD20]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

It's also worth nothing that Sunday isn't the only holy day. Some religions have it Friday, others Saturday.

And there is exactly one competition in the entire world that does not include Saturday (also true for Friday depending on how you count day 0) and its in Israel.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Chris is 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?

For me, not missing out on Thursday helps with my productivity at work, and I'm not one to always be looking for excuses to ditch work But having had supportive managers in the past, I haven't always had to take vacation days for my volunteering. So the option between a "free", fully paid day to volunteer versus a vacation day (that could be used for other things, like visiting family) for recovery is a pretty clear one. It has nothing to do with guilt!

[Siri]

Originally Posted by 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?

This. Not every major volunteer needs a day off, and if you need it, take it. Also realize that the sample on CD will be biased toward active volunteers and taxing jobs. Friday-Sunday is much better for filling the many shorter- and smaller-job volunteer slots, not to mention attracting other community engagement. I certainly understand the religion-based desire for some Thursday-Sunday events in each region, but that doesn't mean they should dominate for that reason. Just given the churchgoing habits of the entire United States, it should be significantly less than half, and that's assuming all those who report going weekly would be unwilling to miss a couple for this. (Unless there's reason to believe the FRC population is more churchgoing than the country at large.)

[ASD20]

Originally Posted by Siri

This. Friday-Sunday is much better for filling the many shorter- and smaller-job volunteer slots, not to mention attracting other community engagement.

This is something interesting that has not been brought up yet in this thread. From my personal observations (I'd be interested if anyone has actual data on this), Friday Day 1's are a lot quieter than Saturday Day 1's. It seems that for the most part, the only people there on Fridays are teams (and many teams do not even have their full team) and maybe a few non-mentor parents. However on Saturdays, there are more students from teams, families, friends, and local spectators. The vibe on Friday day 1's also just feels a lot more laid back whereas Saturday day 1's, it feels like competitions get off to much more of a running start (when there isn't 45 minutes of connection issues before the first match). I know that all competitions still have day 2 on the weekend to "make it loud," but 2 loud days are louder than one (maybe?) and matches are just more exciting when there is a large crowd.

[smitikshah]

Originally Posted by ASD20

This is something interesting that has not been brought up yet in this thread. From my personal observations (I'd be interested if anyone has actual data on this), Friday Day 1's are a lot quieter than Saturday Day 1's. It seems that for the most part, the only people there on Fridays are teams (and many teams do not even have their full team) and maybe a few non-mentor parents. However on Saturdays, there are more students from teams, families, friends, and local spectators. The vibe on Friday day 1's also just feels a lot more laid back whereas Saturday day 1's, it feels like competitions get off to much more of a running start (when there isn't 45 minutes of connection issues before the first match). I know that all competitions still have day 2 on the weekend to "make it loud," but 2 loud days are louder than one (maybe?) and matches are just more exciting when there is a large crowd.

Agreed. Some of our school board members (Director of Science, Director of Math, Superintendent of Technology) all came to stop by our pit at NYC on Saturday and Sunday with their families and young kids.

After getting feedback from them, they not only understood FIRST a lot more by being able to come to watch, making them more likely to work with us on things like funding, space, and more events, but their kids (around age 6-9) were so inspired and wanted to do FIRST in their districts. Apparently 2 of the 3 kids of our Superintendent of Technology said that they want to be engineers now, after being able to come to watch the competition for two days.

Some of my family was able to come watch over the weekend, and they understood FIRST a lot more as well. Having them come watch meant a lot to me, and made it just that much better.

Seeing the crowds full on the weekend during events really gets the atmosphere a lot more energetic and makes me want to compete even harder.

All in all community and personal involvment in FIRST has increased a lot thanks to FSS events, at least in my experience.

[Tom Line]

I have a family. I need that Sunday to devote to them, and to recharge before work.

[smitikshah]

It's split 50/50 right now. Excited to see which way it'll sway

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by smitikshah

It's split 50/50 right now. Excited to see which way it'll sway

... I was about to say... are you all voting just to keep it 50/50?

I voted Thursday-Saturday mostly for selfish reasons - I really don't like traveling home right after a long day of roboting. My team almost always stays at the hotel the 'extra' night after a travel event. It feels safer because we aren't driving back dead exhausted, it's great team bonding (board game night/pool time/team movie with no pressure to go to bed), and it's the kids' reward for going to sleep at a responsible hour and working hard the previous three days. And as a bonus we aren't on a schedule if events run late (MSC anybody?). Friday-Sunday events would mean we'd be compelled to head out right after finals/awards.

[Liam Fay]

I voted for Thursday-Saturday because for me, the free Sunday is more valuable than the extra day at school. I can see how this could be different for others, though.

[asid61]

The fact that as I type the poll remains at 89-89 tells me that events will likely stay Thurs-Sat or Fr-Sun and not really change. I think this is the only poll on CD where there isn't a huge majority/minority that I've seen.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

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?

Yes. Also, I get away with taking time off for events without really taking time off. I don't feel good about doing that on the following Monday.

[jgerstein]

As much as I enjoy the rest day after a Thursday/Friday/Saturday competition, I went with Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

Unfortunately, while each individual competition is not a big deal, the missed days add up and all happen very close to each other. Missing five days over the course of the year is inconvenient but can be dealt with, but missing five days over the course of three weeks right before AP tests for DCMP and CMP definitely caused some concern at my school this year. If I were pulling my students out of school for two or three Fridays (and potentially Thursday if we travel to an event) in the six weeks before that, we'd be pushing the limits of what our students, parents, teachers, and administration would accept.

[Jsteel]

As a mentor, easy answer: Friday to Sunday is much preferable. Taking work vacation for the Thursday to Saturday events is tough.

[plnyyanks]

In general, I like Fri-Sun events for reasons already said (less class/work missed, etc). However, I do not like them when I volunteer at a Thurs-Sun regional followed by Wed-Sat on back to back weeks (NYC -> Tech Valley). That's once case where that extra day is really nice, and I sure missed it after the second event.