AWS55 - 30th June 2018 - Dunchurch Village Hall

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

None of these points are alien to an AWS though. We always operate within those timelimits (10 til 6). It's only been a problem once and that was for reasons of obvious delays (the pits were in a different room to the arena with no way to communicate between the two, ha.)

Chill out a bit dude. All you need on the day is to crack the whip a bit. Make sure the next 4/5 fights have been called out and people are listening and it'll be golden. Sign-ins don't take long. Form a queue, on the scales, in the cube, tick, next. We can be there at 8am if you want a hand putting out tables, setting up etc. and stay til the end for clean up. There's no way we're going to let you get in any trouble with the owners, don't worry.

If sign ups go truly stratospheric then we can compromise but, until you know if they actually show up or not on the day, you can't do much about it. I know it's a bit of a stress when you're the one who has to answer to venue people but we'll all help out if you need it. It'll all be fine, promise.

I'll try and gather myself and sign up in the next couple of days but I'm bringing 4 robots and I'm definitely coming

[cmalton]

I will put a call out for a team of volunteers nearer the date to assist with things like tables etc. I would far rather have a handful of people helping than everyone piles in and tries to help. The venue has very specific requirements regarding how tables, chairs, etc are stacked.

As a heads up to people (and I'll put the call out next week once my world is less "on fire" than it is now in a separate thread), I will, however, need the following:

• 0800-0900 - 2 x Venue Layout team (Mainly tables)
• 0800-0845 - 2 x Arena Crew (Likely to be me + 1 if my arena)
• 0830-1000 - 1 x Car Park
• 0845-1000 - 2 x Front Desk (Check-in)
• Throughout day - 5 x Judges - You cannot judge your own fights so 5 are needed as 2 judges may end up fighting each other
• 1700-1745 - 2 x Venue Layout team (Ideally same 2 as morning)
• 1700-1745 - 2 x Arena Crew (Likely to be me + 1 if my arena)

If you can help with any of those duties please wait for the thread to go up next week once I confirm exactly what I need.

As an aside: Anyone who knows how I run events knows that I "worry" about everything until I know it can't be an issue any more. It's in my nature, and it's virtually impossible to get rid of it from me. I like to have everything planned down to the last little detail, and I don't like to leave anything to chance. In reality, I've had too long to plan AWS55 and it's allowing me to worry about stuff. It's possibly a mild form of OCD. Maybe it's because I used to run a competitive paintball venue where we had to run a really tight ship, I don't know. What I do know, however, is that, yes, I am obsessive about perfection (to a point) - and I want to know I've done as much as possible to limit the number of things that can go wrong. I have a lot going on personally as well at the moment, *probably* shouldn't be running AWS55 - but I will because, a) I said I'd do it and, b) it takes my mind off the other stuff that's going on.

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

You're doing fine, my friend. Give yourself time to breathe and don't worry. When all is said and done, if you have a room, an arena and Antlog running, and everyone turns up and listens, then we can run the event fine. You've already finished the hard bit. We can carry you over the finish line if needs be but I'm pretty sure it won't come to that.
Feel free to get in touch if you need help with anything specific too.

[cmalton]

So there's some good news for those who haven't entered yet......

After an evening spent playing Tetris with 6 foot and 4 foot tables I've managed to find physical space on the venue for 56 teams (and now I've run out of tables, but have some spare physical space).

I'm therefore not going to close sign-ups at this point in time. That said, we have a hard cap at 128 robots (i.e. 52 more entrants) - I can't work around that as it's a limitation in Antlog.

[cmalton]

Call for volunteers is now open: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2739

[limpet]

If time is a big worry then you could run two arenas simultaneously for the earlier rounds.

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

It's a great idea, John. We're doing that for the October one.

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

My robots are in a box ready to be posted to England. They will travel further than me for this event

[theDaveB]

Don’t suppose anyone is going from Cheshire, Merseyside area. My son Kevin wants to go but am working.

Will cover petrol both ways if anyone is nearby.

Edit: we are in Widnes but could take him to a meeting point nearby.

Thanks,

Dave

[team warning]

can’t wait hopefully I’ll be able to bring 3 robots this time all of which will be equally crap

[TeamPanoramic]

Okay, which one of you on the signed up list is 'OwObotics'?

[cmalton]

Reminder: Entries close next Wednesday evening - we already have 42 teams and 94 robots so this is shaping up to be a very, very busy event.

[voorsk]

Is there a latest entry time on the day?

It's almost a 3 hour drive, and I don't fancy my chances of getting my son out of the door for 6am (can barely get him to school for 9am!).

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

It's not my event but based on previous experience of that level of competition, I imagine if you're not there and tech-checked by about 10am, you'd probably miss the draw. Just based on how much we'll have to crack on.

[cmalton]

Absolutely the case Dave - With the current entrants list it's looking like as long as you are on venue before 09:45 and tech checked by 10:00, we'll be OK.