What was YOUR favorite moment in Atlanta?
I’ll go first:
while Dean Kamen was signing a part of our robot, one of our team members told him how much of an inspiration he was to all of us in FIRST. what shocked us though, was his reply (i know this isn’t an exact quote, but it’s as close as i could remember…) You might be inspired by my work, but the biggest inspiration in the room isn’t me, it’s you, the students in FIRST.
needless to say, we were all struck speechless by that for a bit…
now, time for your stories!
I would really like to hear other people’s stories, and i know there is another similar thread.
However, this thread is meant to be specifically for Atlanta.
i would really like to hear other people’s stories from Atlanta!
thanks,
-Z
ok, I have one for your thread. (Great thread title, btw. Just a thought - asking nicely can bring better results than making demands.)
1923 competed on Galileo and had quite a few knuckle biting moments of their own this year. In the stands you could see many team members/supporters of the various teams, some in large sections and swaths of color. (111 comes to mind, of course.) Yet somehow in all that color and amid all the larger teams, was a small group of team members that supported 1923. They wore the black tee shirts with the Midnight Inventors name, the 1923 team number, and the wrench logo that 1923 is becoming known for. They also had made some individual numbers, 1 9 2 3, that could be held and waved in support of the team. This small group danced for 3 days - I don’t know that they ever stopped. They cheered for 3 days - loudly. Well, until their voices gave out. No matter the day and no matter where these people found seating among the larger teams, they could be spotted. I think it was the joy that emanated from them. In the middle of their celebration and noise was Dr. Ruth Kamen, Libby Kamen’s mama, cheering, waving one of the tall numbers, dancing, and enjoying the fierce competition. I will never forget those three incredible days, the memorable moments, and this small group of team members, including the terrific team moms.
Congratulations on a job well done, team.
Jane
i’d have to say my favorite moment from atlanta was every time you walked the robot onto the Georgia dome floor. it was breath taking the first time and the awe of the memory is still memorable. that was the best end to my first year on the team.
When my team was riding the bus to the hotel on Thursday, we spotted Woodie walking on the street. We stopped the bus, and all 30+ members of our team came out to talk to him. It was really awesome.
My favorite moment in "Atlanta was when we won CURIE and were heading to instine and nearly became world champs!!!
Kettering announcing the scholarship winners and finding out that two of the students I mentored had won a scholarship from the school I was representing. 
My favorite moment was when a coach of a FLL team from Ontario stopped to say hi in the stands saying that they were inspired to start their own homeschooled FLL team by our FLL team Mindstorms Mayhem- http://www.mindstormsmayhem.org/
Another team member and I spent a good half of an hour discussing FLL and homeschoolers participating FIRST. It was a great conversation and even though I did not participate with Mindstorms Mayhem it was still awesome when she was talking of how they drove all the way from Canada to watch us perform at the NH State competition and said this, “I wanted to inspire them, I mean if they can do anything, we can do anything.” This was in reference to Mindstorms Mayhem winning the Directors Award in Atlanta in 2003, and then winning first place on the table and second place Directors Award the following year in Atlanta.
“Is that…Woodie Flowers?! Wait, stop the bus! Stop the bus!”
Oh, that was fun. You forgot the part where we got him to do the 503 chant, too.