2005 Governor Thomas Dongan Feis

When:	July 16th, 2005
Where:	Empire State Plaza Albany, NY
Competitors:	Ges (dancing/music) Devonna (dancing) Rebekah (dancing) Rachel (dancing/music) Luke (dancing)
Why We Went:	A target-of-opportunity weekend opened up in mid-July, so we took it to give Rebekah another chance to qualify for the Oireachtas. We could also go to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the way there and make Luke happy :-)
Previously Reviewed:

ORGANIZATION

The committee gave good driving directions on their website.
The feis website also had a link to the Empire State Plaza website so you could see something about the feis facility.

Other than the "What Went Right" items, the feis website seemed a little skimpy on details.
No online roster was provided until the week before the feis.

On the non-champion stages, all Beginners danced first, followed by all Advanced Beginners, then Novice, then Open/Prizewinner.
Dancers stayed on the same stage throughout their block of competition.
The Treble Reel at the beginning of the day was split by both age and level. This made it more fun for Rebekah, who wasn't up against 60 other dancers of varying age and ability.

Only two levels of adult competition.
Since adults are limited to traditional speeds in hardshoes, perhaps we should have been run during the Advanced Beginner block. Our presence in the Open/Prizewinner block slowed things up because the musician had to keep stopping to work our competitions in.

B+

The Main Room, which contained the non-champion stages, consisted of four stages on the lowest level (stages 1-4) and two more stages up on an auditorium-style stage overlooking the Main Room on one side (stages 5-6). Three terraces with tables surrounded the other three sides of the floor. The visibility from you camping area to whichever stage you were interested in seeing was extraordinary.
The Vendors Area was set up on the highest terrace directly opposite the auditorium stage containing stages 5-6
Results and Awards were set up on the highest terrace level against the side farthest from the Main Room entrance.
The rather sizable lobby you had to go through to get to the main room contained ample room for camping, a food vendor, tables for both Visual Arts and Soda Bread competitions, and lots of peg boards designated for selling solo dresses.
The entrance hall leading to the lobby had medium-sized ballrooms to either side, both of which were used for Championship stages
Parking was underneath the Plaza, swarming with security, and surprisingly cheap for a downton parking garage.
Devonna thought it was scary cool to be dancing on stages 5-6 in full sight of the entire feis.

Most of the stores in the Empire State Plaza were closed that day.
Some security on the main level outside the feis site would have been reassuring to some people.
Limited food selection.
No chairs for competitors to sit before taking the stage.
Sound from the one of the championship stages kept leaking into the Music competition room

A-. Not the biggest feis site we've ever been at, but a definitely a strong contender for "Most Comfortable."

Mass was held pre-feis up on stages 5 and 6. People didn't have to scramble at the end of the day to attend if they wanted to.
By the end of the day, Devonna's Visual Arts entry had vanished from its table. The committee had taken the entry for safekeeping so they could start tearing down the things they had set up in the lobby. Committeemembers were able to rapidly direct me to their private lounge in back where they were holding it until it was claimed.
Lots of load balancing late in the day during the Open/Prizewinner block.
Stage monitors seemed skilled enough to combine some Boy competitions (including one Luke was in) on the spur of the moment to get a legal competition (ie. more than 5 dancers) going.
BIG medals
Nice trophies, too, from what Rebekah showed us.
I continue to be impressed with Feisweb's Awards system each time we come to the Mid-Atlantic.
A celtic ensemble provided music for one of the non-championship stages.
The committee was very good about using the Main Room's PA system to announce when a particular block of competitions (such as, for instance, Novice) was about to start.

Parents weren't allowed on the same level as stages 1-4, or up on the auditorium stage. Since visibility was so good throughout the Main Room, this wasn't the problem that it would have been at other feisanna.
Musicians were often asked to play nearly half an hour at a time without stopping because the stage monitors were possibly a little too eager in getting competitions lined up and loaded on stage. It's no wonder they were getting tired by the end of the day.
Related note: the musician playing for stages 5 and 6 late in the day played the wrong tempo of music for an Open/Prizewinner hardshoe competition, as determined by both myself and a non-judging adjudicator standing backstage at the time.
It didn't matter to one committeemember guarding the door between the Music Competition room and the main room that I could produce a valid competitor number. Since I was an adult, he felt like I shouldn't be allowed in since I didn't have a wristband.
Devonna had the same problem at a different door and a different time of day where it didn't matter that she had a competitor number and was in costume. She wasn't going to be allowed in since she was an adult without a wristband. Neither of us particularly cares to be treated like some bum off the streets by some overmotivated worker who substitutes zealotry for rational thought -- especially after the amount of money we had paid to bring our family to this feis.