Neon Lights and California’s Fastest Pilots Take Over the Former SF Exploratorium for a Memorable Drone ‘Drag Racing’ Experience

3 years ago

Comcast Xfinity and the Aerial Sports League transformed the former Exploratorium building in San Francisco into a wild, gravity defying “Twisted ¼ Mile” to decide, for the first time, who is the fastest drone pilot in California.

To celebrate Comcast Xfinity’s new Gigabit Internet speeds, the California Drone Speed Challenge pitted 16 of California’s fastest, handpicked pilots against each other in a series of drag races. With a crowd of more than 200 in attendance, $10,000 in prize money and a feature broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area, bragging rights weren’t the only thing on the line.

Entering the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, attendees were greeted by reminders of the future and the past of speed. The first floor was occupied by an exhibit on the early US space program while in the distance gleamed the neon light and the sound of whirring drone propellers.

Upstairs in the viewing area, guests were treated to a pilot perspective virtual reality setup provided by Sixense, an Xfinity Lounge, refreshments and a first-row seat to the races. All while being protected by several layers of netting (these drones fly over 100 MPH).

Xfinity and the ASL didn’t want the event to just improve the public image of drones but emphasize the importance of technology moving forward. On hand to present a $10,000 donation to Girls in Technology was Kalpa Subramanian, Comcast Vice President of Engineering, who left attendees with the short but decisive message, “more girl power!”

After five rounds of high-speed action, a first-place winner emerged in the form of Colby Curtola, followed by Cory Ibanez and Shawn Allison taking the 2^nd and 3^rd places, respectively. Each taking their $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000 purses back home.

While the show was buzzing with live viewers, Comcast Vice President of Product Management, Preston Smalley, dropped a tidbit for viewers at home, “We’re experimenting and if this captivates the imagination, which I think it will, then we will find a whole bunch of ways to bring this to the viewer.”

The audience was as engaged in the races as they were online. Using the #CADroneChallenge hashtag, attendees were asked to tweet their most creative drone pilot name. With five racing drones on the line, we received dozens of entries before deciding the winning names: @kmillich (NosDronedamus), @RobHarries3 (Game of Drones), @TreLost (Thunderdrone), @GripEvo (Speedy Gonzales) and @Futurepeaksun (Flashterthanlight). Congrats future pilots!

Interested in hearing more about the ins and outs of the race?
ABC 7 News: Drone sports come to life at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts
SF Chronicle: Drone racing Lifts off, delivering ‘out of body’ experiences
CNET: Drone racing is a wild and crazy ride for big money
KPIX 5 News: Drone Drag Racers Vie For $10k Prize In San Francisco

About Aerial Sports League

The Aerial Sports League (ASL) is a worldwide leader in drone sports, entertainment and media. Since 2012, the ASL team has been creating and promoting drone sports, and has been a cornerstone of the drone sports community. ASL has hosted 650,000 spectators at live events since 2015, has earned over 8.5 million video views and over 50,000 social media followers. ASL pioneered fun-based drone education and has taught thousands of new pilots to build & fly drones through events, meetups and STEM education programs. ASL is currently developing dSports World, a full-time drone sports entertainment destination. Visit www.AerialSports.tv for more information.

Preparing for PSPS Events

Many of us are looking forward to a return to some form of normalcy as we work to rebuild and recover from the public health crisis. Californians are clever, resilient and optimistic people and we will find joy in every season no matter what happens.

While this year will probably feel very different, one thing that will, unfortunately, remain consistent is the threat of wildfires. June 1 was the official start of fire season and at Comcast we are working tirelessly to ensure we continue to serve our customers.

Concurrent with fire season, in many parts of California, we anticipate planned power outages – called Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) – during this time, which runs from June through November. When gusty winds and dry conditions are forecasted, combined with a heightened fire risk, electricity providers pre-emptively turn off the power to protect the public.

Comcast’s Internet, TV and landline telephone services for homes and businesses require commercial power to operate. During a PSPS event, these Comcast services may stop functioning within hours after the commercial power is shut off. Mobile phone service may also be affected by a PSPS event.

Comcast understands this disruption to services is frustrating and has a major impact on people’s lives and businesses. The safety of our communities and employees is our utmost priority and Comcast takes care during PSPS events to ensure public safety.

Comcast also takes care during PSPS events to ensure we’re keeping our customers informed. We’ve sent a letter and an email to our customers with important information about how to keep informed during wildfire season.

You may also see public service announcements on your local news channel reminding you how these power outages may affect your services.

Here are a few things you can do now to be prepared:

Confirm your contact information at xfinity.com/myaccount—We will use this information to contact you if we expect a service disruption caused by a planned power outage. You can also use My Account to check if your service has been restored.
Comcast Business customers can check their My Account app or the Comcast Business Status Center to get information and valuable updates.
Download your favorite shows and movies for offline viewing—With the Xfinity Stream app, you can watch shows and movies offline in case you lose power.
Download the Xfinity Connect App to receive Xfinity Voice calls via your mobile phone—Xfinity Voice customers can make and receive calls with their Xfinity phone number using their mobile phone.
Visit the Comcast California Blog where we will post information, updates and answers to commonly asked questions. On the blog, we’ve launched a special PSPS web page where you can get additional information.
Follow us on Twitter — our handle is @ComcastCA and we regularly post valuable updates.

Even if power is off, Comcast’s team never stops working for you. From our family to yours, we hope you remain safe.

A Look Back at 2020: Our Year in Review

3 weeks ago

Photo caption (Left to Right): Chinese New Year Parade in January 2020, Lift Zones announcement at Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, a Comcast technician examines an area after it had been burned from a wildfire, Comcast Leaders & Achievers scholarship winner, Black Joy Parade attendees in February 2020, Comcast’s accessibility leader joins a virtual LightHouse for the Blind event. Across the company and […]