QotW 07-13-03: IRI

FIRST Rumor Mill
1

(If you won’t tell, I won’t tell.)

Coming up this weekend is the Indiana Robotics Invitational, one of the premiere off-season events in the eyes of many FIRST participants.

Teams are traveling from all parts of the country to be a part of this event.

Question of the Week 07-13-03: What about the Indiana Robotics Invitational attracts teams and spectators from across the country? Why are you going? Why aren’t you going?

Maybe other event planners who are hoping for similar success, or similar recognition of their success, can learn about what sets this event apart.

2

I heard it was the place to be, so I thought I would come & check it out. I get to meet a ton of you people that post on the forums too, so that’s a plus. I don’t get to make it to the championship event that often often, and it seems like this is the next best thing [as far as meeting people that post on these forums from all around the country].

It looks to be a great competition, I can’t wait to leave: 70 hours & counting.

3

I wish I could come but unfortunately, I have summer school and I don’t think my parents would want to drive there for one day :confused:

Eh, there’s always next year :slight_smile:

4

not going… Beacuse I Live In Florida. would love to go though

5

I had been following the IRI thread since David Kelly started it way back before Nats, and I noticed just how many people were going to be there so at the Beginning of July, I decided I was going to go, Luckily I had some Graduation money that I could spend, I bought my Bus tickets and I was set. I guess the reason that I decided to go was because: 1. I 've never seen the mid west, except by plane, and 2 I get to meet people that I only talk to over AIM and on CD.

What about IRI attracts people?
I think its a combination of a powerhouse of really good teams, and a mixture of people from all around the US, It’s like a mini Nats… I guess

If event planners want to have similar success then they need to start a off season comp, get it noticed and get the best teams there, and it wont turn in to a huge competition the first year, If I remember correctly this is IRI’s 4th year of being held. It takes a while to be noticed. If you want to put on an IRI scale competition then its gonna take some time.

-Aaron

P.S Plus I get to be pit announcer :smiley:

6

Lets see I’m coming from Albany, N.Y. so this question i can answer well… First there is FIRST, when else can you road trip over 13 hours to a competition thats not even official. Also there is all you guys (and girls), not often to i get to go and work and just hang out with some of the coolest people in the robotics community. Also i get to meet a bunch of you i haven’t yet and that will be awesome. Another reason is i get to spend a total of 22+ hours in an Xplorer with the guys from 222 (i don’t know if thats good or not yet). I gotta say also that everyone has said tis is as good as a regional if not better so thats a plus, (hope the food and cost wise isn’t there). Again i gotta say the people there, this is gunna be AWESOME! Plus he he i get fresh Indiana corn!

48 hours and counting till i leave!!!
~Mike

7

I think what attracts peopel to IRI, is that alot of the “Top” First teams are in the Mid-West Area, and its a chance for little teams from NJ :stuck_out_tongue: to become known :wink:

8

What attracts people so much?
Probably knowing you get to compete along side with some of the best robots in FIRST.

Why am I going?
John: I’m going to IRI to be a ref
Me: Cool, can i tag along in your car?
John: Sure

And now I’m on staff as well.

9

68 hrs until I leave for the airport!

There are many reasons why I decided to go to IRI:

#1 THE PEOPLE!! It’s great to be able to see/meet people that I don’t normally run into more than once a year.

#2 BTB! I want to get as much off-season comp exposure as I can and “gather” ideas for the Blitz. There’s a lot of information/tricks out there that are best noticed in person.

#3 Andy Baker asked me to be a judge for IRI when we met at WPI. What an honor! I’ll love to participate in that aspect.

#4 MIDWEST? I’ve never been there, but I imagine it’ll be just like Connecticut except flatter. It’ll still be fun!

Some terminology to watch out for:

soda = pop
highway = expressway
sneakers = tennis shoes

any others? We NE folk usually make fun of people for saying POP, but I suppose out there it’ll be the other way around.

Well, I certainly look forward to attending and yes… i have been training for the pool fight (ish.)

cya there!

ByE

erin

10

Am I weird cause i live in the midwest and i say highway and soda??? Alright and i do have to admit to tennis shoes…

But anyways I love going to IRI because I live for the competition season. It’s like a reward for the 6 weeks of long hours we put in at school. I just can’t wait to get to IRI to hang out with my friends, cheer for my team, and meet new people. I still cannot beleive how big it is going to be this year and I am sure it won’t really hit me till friday morning. What competition besides the championships have the winning and running up alliances??? well IRI does…

Anyways I guess it’s just like a big party to me and i am goign to go and have one of the best weekends of my life. This is just a premature thanks to all of you guys who have been working hard and preparing one of the best offseason competitions.

11

Well, I’m going for a couple of reasons.

#1: I went last year, and it was a lot of fun. It’s one of the most exciting events in the country, and the competition’s great to watch or participate in.

#2: I love competition. Even when I’m not participating, I love FIRST competitions, and this is a great one.

#3: I asked Andy Baker if I could be a referee, and he graciously allowed me to join the illustrious referee crew… so I’ll be one of those dorks down there in the zebra shirts. Come say hi!

Oh, and I do say “pop” and “tennis shoes”, but I do call them “highways.” I used to say “soda” when I lived in California, but 10 years in Michigan has a way of changing your vocabulary…

12

Why do we all pack our robot up and head on over to Indy year after year? Because of the great competition of course. A lot of wonderful teams show up and even though most down play it, we all show up to win. The competition will be fierce and because of the best of 3 format, the eliminations may turn out to be more exciting & suspenseful than Houston.

I’m going because I like competing, showing & demoing our robot to others, and watching other teams compete. Oh yea, and of course I always enjoy the BBQ pork :slight_smile:

13

*Originally posted by M. Krass *
**(If you won’t tell, I won’t tell.)

Coming up this weekend is the Indiana Robotics Invitational, one of the premiere off-season events in the eyes of many FIRST participants.

Teams are traveling from all parts of the country to be a part of this event.

Question of the Week 07-13-03: What about the Indiana Robotics Invitational attracts teams and spectators from across the country? Why are you going? Why aren’t you going?

Maybe other event planners who are hoping for similar success, or similar recognition of their success, can learn about what sets this event apart. **

What set’s this event apart from the others? You said it yourself: it attracts teams and spectators from all around the country. It’s a mini-nationals. Why aren’t I going? Well, Rhode Island to Indiana is a long way.

14

Why aren’t you going?

I’m going to see Asimo for my vacation.:slight_smile: That is why I’m not going to Indiana.

15

Last year, I had a blast at IRI. This year, I’m looking forward to it mainly because this is the chance for my little rookie team to compete against the ‘biggest of the big dogs’ (thanks to Dave Verbrugge for that one). It feels really good to know that this team got that far… so that’s my number one reason.

And how could I ever pass up a chance to see Andy Baker, the Ritchies, David Kelly, Brandon Martus, Jeff Waegelin, Josh Hambright, D.J. Fluck, Erin Rapacki, Aaron Lussier, ‘Big Mike’, the Gilbert twins, and and the rest of the Chief Delphi celebrities? This is the most star-studded event of the year, so how could I pass? :slight_smile:

I’m really excited, but I can already feel that drain… that overwhelming feeling of I’m never going to get everything done in time…

16

Why is IRI so popular?
perhaps because a lot of the attending teams are really good teams, aka the powerhouses (Technokats, for example).

or perhaps it is so well known because people who are holding it post so much about it on CD (just a thought)

I woud LOVE to go, I have been trying to get to a competition where team 45 is wih no luck. That and I am busy on the 18th. And I hae no way of getting there. Next year I’m gonna try to gt there though.

Good luck to those competing!

17

The reason why I want to go there is to see the Pool fight! :smiley:

Really though - it’s because of the people. Aaron, Amanda, “Big”, Andy, and so many others. It’s one of the very-very few places that you can have an intelligent talk with out someone getting mad and walking off. (Yea - Robotics is a cool part of it in there.) Personally for me though, FIRST has been about people for me. When I entered FIRST - the 1st person that I saw from the organization was Woodie. I swore that I will get his picture/autograph before I got out of FIRST from the student side. 4 years went by - and this past Nationals - I got it. I swore to you all - It was as good - if not better - than winning Nat’s.

The reason that I can’t -

I just leased an apartment in the Chicago area - and I’m a little low on $$ and my mom won’t allow me…:frowning:

Next year though. I have the Blitz and IRI on my agenda if school will allow it for me…:slight_smile:

18

I think that the reason we’re going is that #1, it’s relatively close by, and #2, we’re really wanting to go to an invitational. I dont know about the rest of my team, but the reason that i’m so psyced about going to IRI is because it’s a chance to redo the game, after you figure out where you could have fixed things. I know personally, that I have looked over our games and strategy’s since the end of the season, and found places where i’ve thought that “oh we could have done that differently and won that match” During the season, you just dont have any time to thoroughly assess things to that degree, you’re always too busy worrying about other things (like certain drivers losing the robot at nationals when we’re about to go on). Plus, it’s always a lot of fun to go to something that is really hyped up because everyone’s all spirited, and excited. It’s always fun.:smiley:

19

I don’t even know why I am going… Oh yeah, that’s right, I am going because Championship Event got too big to be a personal, friendly competition to meet friends. Yeah… That’s it. I won’t be going to championship events anymore, because I am planning to attend IRI every year instead. It’s much easier to attend a smaller competition and meet with friends in a friendlier environment without 200 other teams around you.

I believe IRI is popular because some of the older, bigger teams are attending, like 25, 27, 45, 47, 58, 65, 67, 68, 111, 217, 222, 234, 308, 343. These are the teams I used to look out for back at the 00’, 01’ season. There are quite a bit of National Champions, regional champions, regional finalists among these teams.

That is not to say the rest of the teams aren’t competitive, and because they are, it just make IRI one of the toughest competition around the country. That doesn’t happen too often when local off season competitions have a lot of local teams showing up.

Oh yeah, I also think IRI is so popular because Andy Baker is so popular among the FIRST community. When Andy says so, you just can’t not go to IRI ;). All in all, IRI is popular because a lot of teams think others good teams are going, and want to play competitively.

Seems like it’s going to be fun.

20

*Originally posted by Ken L *
**Oh yeah, I also think IRI is so popular because Andy Baker is so popular among the FIRST community. When Andy says so, you just can’t not go to IRI ;). All in all, IRI is popular because a lot of teams think others good teams are going, and want to play competitively.

Seems like it’s going to be fun. **

Ken,

This is very nice of you to say. Thank you.

All,

There are soooo many people that make the IRI happen… I am just one of many.

The event is coordinated and led by Scott Ritchie of team 234. Libby Ritchie (Scott’s wife) is co-leading the event and doing the lion’s share of the detail work. Chris Fultz of Rolls-Royce is leading a parents group from 234 who will be feeding all of the teams on Friday night. David Kelly has done a great job in getting Kenny and SOAP to broadcast the IRI. Paul Osborne (393) and Mike Carmain (45) are coordinating all electrical work.

Ken Leung is riding in on his white horse to save the day and conduct the computerized scoring for the event. Robert Chiavaglia (247, 1034, 1035) is bringing down the ComauPico machine-shop-on-wheels.

Also, the facility where we will be playing not only is hosting the event, but also coordinating all of the concession stand food (at a good value to all)… and they are a rookie FIRST team! Thanks to team 1024 - the MegaBytes for this great support.

Also… we have two great engineers who will be announcing and M/C-ing on the field. Dan Green (Wildstang team leader) will be the announcer and Paul Copioli (Thunderchickens team leader) will be the M/C. We are all excited to see what Dan and Paul have cooked up to help entertain us all… now that their talents will be broadcast over the internet, I am sure that they will “kick it up a notch”.

There are many others involved. Many people have volunteered their time as crew members, referees and judges. It is really neat to see everyone pitching in to make this thing work. People are riding buses, road tripping in cars, and flying in on planes to help. I am proud to just be a part of it, really.

Andy B.