Please give your suggestions for improvement for next years event.
Dave
I know it’s not really a fault of FIRST, but Heatwave had a stroke of bad luck during our visit to Atlanta. Two vehicles associated with the team were broken into at separate locations and various valuables were stolen. It’s unfortunate that this sort of thing happened on what was otherwise an enjoyable competition. The only other complaint I have was the accessibility of the practice field. I know that at times there things that changed unexpectedly that we wanted to check on via robot operation, but since we had not signed up at the very beginning of the day, we were pretty much s.o.l. I don’t know if adding two more practice fields or even the designation a large carpet area to work out problems is possible, but I can say it would be a nice addition. Otherwise I personally believe that the competition this year was relatively well executed.
- better pairing of alliances during qualifying matches…I know you have to do your best to do good and overcome your troubles but this was just bizzare for us.
- Announcements need to be made, I handed it the notes on what to say and they never did (unless I missed something about no announcments being made but they told me to write it down so i did)
I know its too late for me cause im already a senior. But some kids joined first and fell in love with animation. There are no scholarships or collages there that offer animation. At least I learnd a lot about 3ds max and where to go from my freinds that i made.
Can you elaborate on #1 a little bit, what part of it did you not like, what division were you in etc.
Next year, I would like to see some sort of orientation (either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, similar to the driver’s meeting but in smaller group (half of the division maybe Where they could walk you through every thing like how/ when to cue and where to request parts. I don’t think any of this was a problem for people who have been there before (my self included) but I was asked many questions by teams near our pit who were there for the first time.
I think what he means is each team should face and be partnered with every team in the division once. Could be what he meant, even still that is my opinion.
maybe some more increased sercurity in the city. maybe even a “hobo round up” before the competition. some people may feel bad for them or think this is cruel but its been done. most are trouble. in one night walking from the omni to hooters over by the westin our group of 5 people were rushed by bums begging for money, offering services, selling things, one even attempted to pick pocket a kid.
what I’m saying is that it might not be FIRST’s fault for bad alliances but the attitude of the other teams…in our last match were strategizing and all of a sudden one of the team’s coach is like “ok guys, strategizing is too much for me…we’re just going to shoot”…other teams claimed that they could shoot very well so we gave them all our balls and they ended up taking no shots when we could have…all of our aliances were weak and we got totally owned. I found myself protecting our side from 2 robots at a time. I’m not bashing anyone or saying it’s the teams’ fault, all I’m saying is that the pairings were not fair.
So sorry to hear that “various valuables were stolen.” My camera is missing and until reading your email, I was hopeful that it would turn up. Does Chief Delphi have a lost and found thread for Atlanta? Maybe your items were “borrowed” too. 
They should definitely figure out a way to make the pairing up fairer. i know life not fair But our team did very well at regionals and had a robot that was able to play well but had teams paired up that didn’t do what they said they could, or would do. because of the pairings ant one point we had to play defense against two too three robots ant a time.
That’s all the luck of the draw. Sometimes you’ll be paired up with good alliances and sometimes you won’t. FIRST can’t/won’t purposely rig “random” alliances to make sure they are “good”. And neither can FIRST control the attitudes of the other alliance members.
Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. That’s just the way it goes. 
My response would be the Team finale and the poor trafficing during loading period. A few of my teammates had to end up directing traffic because the bus drivers wouldn’t make use of the open spaces further down and just clogg up the entrance. The team finale is definitely not what it used to be the first year in Atlanta. The food was horrible this year with just Hamburgers and hotdogs and not enough drinks available for all. For $45/ticket I am going to just recommend taking the team to a nicer place to experience some real southern cooking since they only stay for 1/2 hour anyways.
That’s my only complaint, the FIRST Pack food, though convenient, were not worth the value charged either.
Same story happens to everyone. In 2005 we were a GLR Finalist, but due to pairings in the Newton Division, we were ranked like 80th. This year we were ranked like 45th out of 60something at GLR (ok pairings) but we were ranked 7th out of 87 in Archimedes. It’s just luck of the draw where ever you go.
Please, please, please hold the WFA ceremony after all practice matches are over.
These are all good comments and they are being given in the right ‘tone’. Lets keep this Negative thread positive and give constructive ideas.
This proves the value of scouting and having good data on what teams can do. Lots of threads and posts on scouting techniques, that might be able to help you.
Although I do not know definitely, it appears the randomness of pairings includes a low number team (lots of experience), middle number team (some experience) and a higher number team (maybe a rookie). This helps keep alliances somewhat balanced but still subject to some unevenness because not all teams fit that “stereotype”. I don’t really know a better way to do it.
the alliance paring was bad. we had a good team 540 and we had a good bot we did our part in allicanes scoring an average of 31 points a round , we came in 85 and only won out last match.
Agreed, having stuff still going on took away from the ceremony.
Also, the WFA display in the Hall of Fame was not what I expected. I know better can be done, perhaps by the teams with the winners.
I’m thinking the WFA ceremony and display were a late addition, I expect better things in the years to come.
I saw that happen to a lot of good bots… we scored an average 40 points per match but since our alliance partners didn’t score any, we still lost and ended up with an undesirable record :-\
But I suppose that’s the luck of the draw.
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Move the projector screens in the pit to the side, maby even have a seating/standing section roped off. Its hard enough draging a robot around, let alone avoiding other card, inspection stations, and people randomly stoping to talk at intersections while 30-40 people take up the rest of the isle watching the screens.
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Clean up the dumpsters! Sometimes the smell was enough to make you puke going through that hall.
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I second bum patrol. Very few of them are genuinly down on their luck. Most are addicts/lazy/mentaly unstable and not the kind of people you want around students. One came right up to us while we were taking our pics with Ford in the park area between the pits and the dome and would not leave untill our team couft up “bus fair.” He even went as far as insulting our lower offerings (the few that gave money should of stod up to him then, but just wanted the guy to leave).
Precisely. It’s happened many, many times in the past and it will certainly happen again. It sucks to get bad pairings but there’s no way to know who will turn out to be a bad partner, nor is there a fair way to selectively pair. A big part of this competition is cooperation and teamwork. If you are unable to convince a team to strategize it sucks but it’s just how it goes. Everyone has bad luck sometimes, the best thing to do is hope it doesn’t happen again next year.