Re: Ohio 2014
Posted: April 27th, 2014, 9:18 am
Thank you for the explanation and acknowledgement of some of the unfortunate components of what took place with Helicopters. It really is appreciated.
I have a question I would like to understand, though I realize I should just let this go.
Why was a false ceiling not introduced when a change a venue was not possible? If it was being looked into being moved, the venue was clearly determined to not be good for Helicopters. False ceilings have been done in schools, why not in the field house when a change of venue could not be made?
Also, I think I heard times were being adjusted when a device became hung up, which was atypical of previous years, which could have been the cause of more arbitration. Again, if that was a decision that was being made, a better form of communication about the timing decision ahead of time would have been appreciated. Some schools that have are seasoned and have competed often in this venue, design their devices based on the conditions - i.e to get hung-up and still come down on its own with the longest time possible. If they don't adapt the device in some way, some look at launch points with one device, hedging their bets. Get one caught and get a long time and hope the other device has a decent flight time just to cover your bases. Sometimes you get unlucky and both get hung up. In the past, no big deal - two chances at a long time, but not yesterday. That meant two very low times in many cases. I imagine the schools were probably caught off guard when that exact situation occurred but they went from times of over four minutes to times of 50 seconds or so. I am sure that was surprising and not embraced. Especially if they were looking at a shot at Nationals.
I do not point this out to be difficult but rather to share that communication could have been given ahead of time about the timing change unless it was a last minute decision made that day. I do think you did the right thing throwing out the event when you met about the arbitration issues given the many factors involved.
That being said, it is easy to look back and point out all the places something could have been done differently. It is over. It is done. Kids will move on. The handful of affected teams will learn from this and take their lump and hopefully be better for it.
It sounds like the National Venue for this event is not good either based on the past threads. Maybe this experience will help that venue be adapted to be more appropriate. Although we missed that chance for this year, it would still be good for all the teams competing if that were to happen. It would be unfortunate if it does not. Live and learn and make it better next time. Nationals is the next time. Hopefully you can use this experience for good for that event.
I have a question I would like to understand, though I realize I should just let this go.
Why was a false ceiling not introduced when a change a venue was not possible? If it was being looked into being moved, the venue was clearly determined to not be good for Helicopters. False ceilings have been done in schools, why not in the field house when a change of venue could not be made?
Also, I think I heard times were being adjusted when a device became hung up, which was atypical of previous years, which could have been the cause of more arbitration. Again, if that was a decision that was being made, a better form of communication about the timing decision ahead of time would have been appreciated. Some schools that have are seasoned and have competed often in this venue, design their devices based on the conditions - i.e to get hung-up and still come down on its own with the longest time possible. If they don't adapt the device in some way, some look at launch points with one device, hedging their bets. Get one caught and get a long time and hope the other device has a decent flight time just to cover your bases. Sometimes you get unlucky and both get hung up. In the past, no big deal - two chances at a long time, but not yesterday. That meant two very low times in many cases. I imagine the schools were probably caught off guard when that exact situation occurred but they went from times of over four minutes to times of 50 seconds or so. I am sure that was surprising and not embraced. Especially if they were looking at a shot at Nationals.
I do not point this out to be difficult but rather to share that communication could have been given ahead of time about the timing change unless it was a last minute decision made that day. I do think you did the right thing throwing out the event when you met about the arbitration issues given the many factors involved.
That being said, it is easy to look back and point out all the places something could have been done differently. It is over. It is done. Kids will move on. The handful of affected teams will learn from this and take their lump and hopefully be better for it.
It sounds like the National Venue for this event is not good either based on the past threads. Maybe this experience will help that venue be adapted to be more appropriate. Although we missed that chance for this year, it would still be good for all the teams competing if that were to happen. It would be unfortunate if it does not. Live and learn and make it better next time. Nationals is the next time. Hopefully you can use this experience for good for that event.
