2011, 2012 and 2013 Champs dates

[KathieK]

The following dates for Championships in St. Louis were announced on a post card being distributed at the 2010 Championships:


April 27-30, 2011
April 25-28, 2012
April 24-27, 2013


Edward Jones Dome and America's Center.
It also says "Start planning your trip now at www.explorestlouis.com"

Guess I'd better put in for my vacation dates now! :D

[MagiChau]

thanks for the heads up :D

[Shmee]

Thanks for the notice!

Is it just me or do the dates seem relatively late compared to Championships in Atlanta?

[MagiChau]

Thanks for the notice!

Is it just me or do the dates seem relatively late compared to Championships in Atlanta?

Maybe there is something happening that pushes back Championship back a week?

[KathieK]

Maybe there is something happening that pushes back Championship back a week?
Championships have been late before... I wouldn't speculate just yet - dates are chosen for many, many reasons (venue availability being just one of them). But I thought I'd share since it was out there on a postcard already.

[Phreadumb]

Maybe there is something happening that pushes back Championship back a week?

Hopefully more time for teams to prepare, especially for those teams that qualify and need to find some $$$.

[Phil Ross]

Pushing championships back a week might not be a bad thing. Likely the reason is that there is something already booking the event space. Because of this, team who compete in week 4 or 5 events and qualify for Championships will now have a little more time to plan and get everything together.

Can't wait!

[George A.]

Another reason for the push back could be to possibly add another week for regional competitions.

That way there wouldn't need to be as many fields made?

Just a guess, but arena availability is probably the better answer.

I'm glad though, it'll be the first time in a long while that Championships don't fall on my birthday.

[Zach O]

Bad news: Looks like most places you can't book a hotel yet! They won't let you book a year in advance? :D

[GaryVoshol]

One thing the later dates will allow is the return of Week 6 to the schedule. And possibly even a Week 7. If more areas go with the district/championship model (like in MI), those championship events wouldn't have to all be the same weekend.

[AlexD744]

Its too close to AP Exams!!!! :eek: :eek:

[santosh]

I hope/know that there is a solid reason. This is right before my/alot of other universities' finals next year... as well as AP tests

[Andrew Y.]

wow...no good. As a mentor for a majority college mentored team this is going to be very hard.

Also our students run off a college schedule which puts their finals closer to championships AND AP EXAMS!
:eek: :eek:

[smurfgirl]

Thanks for sharing this Kathie! When I was looking for this to add it to my calendar I couldn't find it anymore.

[FoleyParent]

Does anyone know where they would hold the Finale on Saturday night?

[David Brinza]

Does anyone know where they would hold the Finale on Saturday night?
How about under the Arch? I'm not kidding...

[SpaceOsc]

if there gonna be more events in the future an additional week of regionals must occur in the near future.

[Shmee]

How about under the Arch? I'm not kidding...

Not under the Arch, but definitely, I think, on the Waterfront. It's the perfect spot for fireworks (I was at the St. Louis Fourth of July celebration this summer) and there's a nice area for all the games, stage, and etc. that Centennial holds. And it's quite close to the venue, a little farther than the Georgia Dome and Centennial, but still quite close, if I remember correctly.

And I was wondering how the late date might affect regional stuff...Peachtree moved from a week 3 to a week 1 this year. I don't know if I want to experience a week 1 again :confused:

[Chris is me]

if there gonna be more events in the future an additional week of regionals must occur in the near future.

They've kind of hovered between 5 and 6 for awhile... how hard would it be to do 6 again?

[SpaceOsc]

You don't expect a time when 7-8 weeks will be needed? doubt the FIRST workforce grows quicker than the FIRST team count, only so many people around on a given week to make the trains run on time.

[Bill_B]

That website's calendar search shows only symphonic results for April 2011. see if this works. (http://www.explorestlouis.com/events/results.asp?coeMonthFrom=4&coeDayFrom=1&coeYearFrom=2011&coeMonthTo=4&coeDayTo=30&coeYearTo=2011&coeEventType=1&coeSearchType=date&pt=1)

[Bill_B]

..., only so many people around on a given week to make the trains run on time.
Dean's homework for 2011? 2012?

[EricH]

Does anyone know where they would hold the Finale on Saturday night?
Under the Arch, maybe. There's also a park over by the capital building with a decent-sized amphitheater (though it's criss-crossed by streets), a number of hotels with conference facilities, or whatever portion of the exhibit halls isn't taken up by pits and storage. I know for a fact that they were able to feed 16,000-17,000 people in halls 4 and 5 in an hour and a half (rotating basis), and most of the tables were rarely full, despite the crowds in the food lines. Might have been some room left over, too.

[Koko Ed]

One thing the later dates will allow is the return of Week 6 to the schedule. And possibly even a Week 7. If more areas go with the district/championship model (like in MI), those championship events wouldn't have to all be the same weekend.

YAY!
More events to volunteer for!

[Jimmy Cao]

They've kind of hovered between 5 and 6 for awhile... how hard would it be to do 6 again?

I believe the reason there were no week 6 events this year is because kickoff was not on the first Saturday of the year, as it usually is. When people realized that the first Saturday was Jan 2, and found it necessary to push back the build season by a week, it was too late to push back the Championship event. Therefore, there was no time for a week 6 this year, since it would have ended 3 days before the start of the Championship event.

I do like the sound of there being more weeks of events, it gives me more time to miss school/work to go watch FRC competitions, which are arguably the best form of entertainment in the world (when the GDC puts out a good game)!

[WynS]

I must say that for our team, the timing compared to the AP tests will be a big thing. We barely have resources for two events and will probably not be planning on going to Championships. I think that if we were fortunate enough to win a regional event again next year it would be a very tough decision as to whether to go on. Many of our students take at least one if not more AP tests and take school as well as robotics very seriously. There is a extremely good chance that even if we do well next year, we would not choose to compete at the World Championship in St. Louis. I wonder how many other teams will face the same dilemma next year.

[thefro526]

I'm really fond of these Championship dates. Hopefully it'll give teams that qualify late a better chance of making it to the Championship. I was also looking at the area around the Edward Jone's Dome and the America's Center and it looks like the Pits and Field should be just as close, if not closer than Atlanta.

[EricH]

I was also looking at the area around the Edward Jone's Dome and the America's Center and it looks like the Pits and Field should be just as close, if not closer than Atlanta.
Closer. I think it was in another thread where the close distance was estimated at 175 feet and the long at about 100 yards. Fully indoors.

Robotless humans go up one story and get the 100-yard distance is my guess. Might be possible to get a shorter distance.

[Pavan Dave]

Southwest flys there!!!! Awesome!

[Collin Fultz]

The date change also gives two more weeks for the weather to warm up. One of the things we'll miss most from Atlanta is how nice it always seems to be.

[Craig Roys]

The date change also gives two more weeks for the weather to warm up. One of the things we'll miss most from Atlanta is how nice it always seems to be.

Normal high's for the end of April in St. Louis are right around the low 70's (or low 20's for anyone outside the US) according to weather.com. Record highs have touched 90.

[AllieR2012]

Nooo!!! Those are the same days as TAKS testing for 2011. If we don't take/pass TAKS we don't graduate. Guess who won't be attending Championships for a standardized test. :(

[M.Wong]

ARGH! Right before AP Week

[Tom Line]

Thank goodness for the new timeframe. This year the Michigan District schedule was so compacted they ran the Championship over the Easter Weekend!!!! I can tell you how many people THAT upset, and quite a few of our sponsors couldn't come because of family commitments. I suppose they're going to upset people no matter where they put it, but this will certainly be nicer than having a regional on Easter.

[Adrienne E.]

Nooo!!! Those are the same days as TAKS testing for 2011. If we don't take/pass TAKS we don't graduate. Guess who won't be attending Championships for a standardized test. :(

Just a heads up this has happened before. If your school district can get special permission from the state you can have a certified teacher administer the tests at the events, in a hotel conference room or some place similar. This is what 148 is planning on doing. You need to start the process early though, I recommend as soon as the 2011 school year starts, get with your schools' TAKS administrator and start filing the paperwork. It is a huge inconvenience obviously, but it beats missing the World Championship.

[MagiChau]

Just a heads up this has happened before. If your school district can get special permission from the state you can have a certified teacher administer the tests at the events, in a hotel conference room or some place similar. This is what 148 is planning on doing. You need to start the process early though, I recommend as soon as the 2011 school year starts, get with your schools' TAKS administrator and start filing the paperwork. It is a huge inconvenience obviously, but it beats missing the World Championship.

Hmm I have to remember this :ahh: Thanks for the information :D

[KathieK]

I suppose they're going to upset people no matter where they put it, but this will certainly be nicer than having a regional on Easter. Since both Easter and Passover are not on the same date each year, there's always the chance that Regionals/Championships will fall on one or the other. As with state testing. These are some of the questions you should ask yourselves when choosing events to attend with your teams or to volunteer at, as outlined in the NEMO white paper, "Questions to Consider When Choosing Your FIRST Event(s)" - (which needs some updating when I get a chance!)
http://www.firstnemo.org/PDF/Choosing_Your_Event.pdf

[Andrew Schuetze]

Nooo!!! Those are the same days as TAKS testing for 2011. If we don't take/pass TAKS we don't graduate. Guess who won't be attending Championships for a standardized test. :(
This was an issue in 2005 or 2006 and some Texas Teams traveled but the number was less than most years. That was a one time conflict but will now be a three year conflict for all Texas FRC, FTC, & FLL teams just when the State announced a $1,000,000 grant to start new robotics teams in Texas. Texas Education Agency Testing calendars has TAKS exams the last week in April for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years with the schedule for the third year due out this summer.

APS:ahh:

[Foster]

In a much earlier (and much crankier note in another thread) I said that I was mystified that FIRST could not post dates on regional events earlier than 2 hours before registration.

I'm gawking at 2013 dates for Championships.

How about helping me out by telling me what the dates for the regionals next year are going to be? Kickoff? 5 or 6 weeks? I have wedding planning to influence, don't make me pick!

[Mark McLeod]

I'll bet Kickoff will be on 1/8/2011

but I think you should block out January through March...:)
Maybe a nice June wedding?

[Shmee]

In a much earlier (and much crankier note in another thread) I said that I was mystified that FIRST could not post dates on regional events earlier than 2 hours before registration.


If you email the regional coordinators, they *may* tell you when their regional is. They're probably not supposed to say, but sometimes you can also check the host place's website and FIRST may already be on their calendar.

[Foster]

Maybe a nice June wedding? And miss Monty?!?!?!?

If you email the regional coordinators, they *may* tell you when their regional is. They're probably not supposed to say, but sometimes you can also check the host place's website and FIRST may already be on their calendar. Yes I can call in favors from many people to get the info I need. I have both Colombo's and Monk's phones on speed dial, and Sher and I (sorry Sherlock) have started to deduce the dates. I even have the famous Dr. Jones from Indiana looking at the Mayan calendar to see what the 2011 (there is some problem with 2012 and later dates) dates look like.

But really, wouldn't it be better to get this from Bill's blog? "Hey gang, strap on your six shooters we are going to Texas in Week 3, and for you snow fans it's Waterloo in week 2!" ?

[waialua359]

I wonder if the World VEX Championships will now be the week BEFORE the FRC championships.
If its the week after, I can see a bunch of students not making it due to AP exams and other events during a busy May for lots of graduating seniors.

[KathieK]

As was discussed in other threads, the Regional dates are subject to change right up until the very last minute. That's why they don't release them. Our venue and date changed in CT last year... after it was announced. And there are lots of reasons why this happens. So I wouldn't make plans around what you might hear now. Besides, a wedding is far more important than a robotics competition! Pick the date you want and forget about robots!

[Phil Ross]

In a much earlier (and much crankier note in another thread) I said that I was mystified that FIRST could not post dates on regional events earlier than 2 hours before registration.

I'm gawking at 2013 dates for Championships.

How about helping me out by telling me what the dates for the regionals next year are going to be? Kickoff? 5 or 6 weeks? I have wedding planning to influence, don't make me pick!

As long as the Philadelphia Regional is hosted at Drexel University it will be scheduled during their Spring Break, by looking on the Drexel academic calendar you should be able to find out when the competition will be for the next few years.

[BrendanB]

In a much earlier (and much crankier note in another thread) I said that I was mystified that FIRST could not post dates on regional events earlier than 2 hours before registration.

I'm gawking at 2013 dates for Championships.

How about helping me out by telling me what the dates for the regionals next year are going to be? Kickoff? 5 or 6 weeks? I have wedding planning to influence, don't make me pick!

Just remember, booking an event at the Georgia dome or other large venue requires time, a lot of time. FIRST must love having Championships in late April so they decided to book it for 3 years to ensure they had the venue for the three years and on a certain weekend (aka week 7 or 8). Could you imagine the outcry if the intended weekend of the Championship got booked and FIRST had to either go earlier or later depending on the availability of the Dome and GWCC (yes we are out of Atlanta, but used it as an example).:rolleyes:

Regionals are slightly different as they can change them from week to week easier than a mega event (Boston was a week 2 for a while then moved to week 4 this year), especially the districts which take place in much smaller arenas. They do try to schedule them during school vacation weeks, but many times are not that lucky, even more so when kickoff is pushed off by a week.

[StevenB]

The following dates for Championships in St. Louis were announced on a post card being distributed at the 2010 Championships:

April 27-30, 2011



Nooo! My birthday and graduation are both that weekend! Would school let me out of the graduation ceremony as a birthday present? :D

[Roger]

Might have been an even earlier time that they booked those dates. Remember that they had finished a bid process for a multi-year hosting of FIRST (or maybe it had finished a couple years ago?) -- part of the deal might have been a "give us these dates" or "better rates for more years you pick now". I have enough time finding a calendar six months in advance -- I can't imagine planning three or five year ahead! Talk about time shifting....

[Jason Law]

In a much earlier (and much crankier note in another thread) I said that I was mystified that FIRST could not post dates on regional events earlier than 2 hours before registration.

I'm gawking at 2013 dates for Championships.

How about helping me out by telling me what the dates for the regionals next year are going to be? Kickoff? 5 or 6 weeks? I have wedding planning to influence, don't make me pick!

Bill's Blog tells us that there is 255 days until kickoff next year, from Wednesday, April 28. That should bring us to January 8. No need to guess :)

[johnr]

Just alittle fun note. I found some members of the team are now substituting the word "Championship" with the word Atlanta. So the conversation goes something like this, " Did you hear that they moved Atlanta to St. Louis? I was hoping that they would have put Atlanta in Indiana or even Disney." Now what is a non-firster suppose to think. :confused:

[Chris is me]

Just alittle fun note. I found some members of the team are now substituting the word "Championship" with the word Atlanta. So the conversation goes something like this, " Did you hear that they moved Atlanta to St. Louis? I was hoping that they would have put Atlanta in Indiana or even Disney." Now what is a non-firster suppose to think. :confused:

I've been doing this a lot.

"We're going to Atlanta next year..."
"They have an Atlanta regional?"
"I mean St. Louis."
"The regional or Championship?"

[TKM.368]

For those of you that do both VRC and FRC, looks like their Championships will both be the same weekend...


We are happy to announce that the 2011 VEX Robotics World Championship will be held April 28-30, 2011 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.


I guess there won't be some familiar IFI faces in St. Louis in 2011?

[Chris is me]

Well that will be... difficult. I guess one bus is going to St. Louis and one to Dallas from my team.

[waialua359]

You would think that for whatever reason, both wouldnt be on the same weekends.
Hopefully, Paul, Karthik, John or others can comment on this.

Personally, that spells bad news for us as our FRC and 359A vex driver are one and the same. Same with mentors.
We'd have to choose one or the other.

[ATannahill]

You would think that for whatever reason, both wouldnt be on the same weekends.
Hopefully, Paul, Karthik, John or others can comment on this.

Personally, that spells bad news for us as our FRC and 359A vex driver are one and the same. Same with mentors.
We'd have to choose one or the other.
What does remote control mean to you?

[JaneYoung]

The part that concerns me is knowing how many FIRSTers volunteer at the VEX Championship in support of the program and the teams. Both Championships impact many of the same people.

[NickE]

You would think that for whatever reason, both wouldnt be on the same weekends.I would suspect that IFI has had a contract with the convention center since before FIRST announced its dates and FIRST has had a contract with the event center in St. Louis since before IFI announced its dates. At least FIRST is announcing its dates for the next 3 years now rather than waiting till next year, so maybe this can avoid some future conflict...

[KathieK]

The part that concerns me is knowing how many FIRSTers volunteer at the VEX Championship in support of the program and the teams. Both Championships impact many of the same people. It's a concern in this household... :(

[Jason Morrella]

As the person who negotiated the contract for the VEX World Championship in Dallas, I wanted to take a minute to answer some of the questions and address some concerns/assumptions that have been made regarding the 2011 VEX World Championship dates.

1. How were the dates for the 2011 VRC World Championship selected?

A three-year agreement securing the Dallas Convention Center and Arena for the VRC World Championship was reached in the summer of 2008 – covering the 2009, 2010 and 2011 VRC World Championships. We agreed to the three years in Dallas for a variety of reasons, including: we knew the facility could hold a very high quality event, it had the space to allow well over 300 teams to participate (now over 400), it was a large city with a great transportation hub for teams and it had dates available that did not conflict with FRC at that time.

2. Why are the VRC World Championship and FIRST Championship scheduled on the same dates?

The date of the 2011 VRC World Championship was set almost three years ago. There were no other dates available (other than Easter weekend) and we knew that FIRST always scheduled their Championship in mid April. We contracted those dates (even though we would have preferred earlier dates) partially because we were trying to avoid conflicting with the FIRST Championship which we could only guesstimate would be scheduled the week or two before Easter in 2011.


3. Did FIRST or VRC schedule their Championship to intentionally conflict with the other?

As explained above, I can assure everyone with 100% certainty that neither organization was able to avoid this conflict. Our understanding is that FIRST would have preferred earlier dates in April but none were available in St. Louis, and our 2011 dates were set in stone almost three years ago. Both organizations know there are schools and teams that participate in both programs. As most know, we are very supportive of the FRC program and Championship. Many (in fact a majority) of those that work at VEX and with the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation support and mentor FRC teams in addition to VEX teams. Many of us attend both the VRC World Championship and the FRC Championship each year, and not being able to attend one in 2011 is going to be difficult for all of them. We know this does not impact a majority of the teams that would attend the championship of either program, and both will still fill their Championships and host wonderful events. But regardless, we know firsthand that it will impact some very passionate, dedicated and amazing teams and volunteers who participate and support both programs (including many people who work at VEX, IFI, and the RECF).


4. Can you change the dates of the 2011 VRC World Championship?

Our plan and intention from the start of the 2009/2010 season was to announce the dates of the 2011 VRC World Championship when we unveiled the new game (Round Up) back in April. When FIRST announced their new Championship dates in St. Louis for 2011, we obviously knew at that time that they had secured the same dates we had already secured two years earlier. We then spent months working with Dallas and also with the other conventions/conferences already scheduled in the convention center in April to see if any could/would change dates with our event in 2011 – none could. We started a new search to see if any suitable facility in any other city would be available other weeks in April, willing to move the VRC World Championship to avoid the conflict – none were, but we continued to look. We postponed announcing the 2011 dates at the 2010 World Championship, still holding out hope that we might be able to find a way to reschedule it in Dallas or move it somewhere else. Once we had exhausted all possible avenues and knew there was no way to avoid the conflicting dates, we announced the dates to the public.


5. Why is finding a week for the VRC Championship so difficult?

We (and FIRST) are both faced with a very difficult challenge to put on events of this size and scale in a very short time window of possible dates, while taking into account a variety of constraints, such as:

a. Schools have been very vocal over the years that they do NOT want the season to extend into May for a variety of reasons (Proms, state testing, Advanced Placement testing, finals – especially for the schools which end in May and so on)

b. With the huge network of over 200 VRC qualifying events, the World Championship can not be much earlier than April (as a temporary solution for 2011 we did look at dates in every city for March and even May, but still none were available).

c. Easter. The Easter holiday floats and changes dates each year – sometimes in late, mid or early April and even sometimes in March. Schools and families have been fairly unanimous when we have surveyed them that they would NOT want to attend events on Easter weekend (it is an important religious weekend for many, families travel, airfares are much more expensive, it would be difficult to send a team if key members/ teachers/ chaperones were unable to travel over Easter, etc…). This adds to the challenge faced by both VEX and FIRST and in some years limits the suitable choices to host an event to only one or two weeks (such as 2011).


Keep one thing in mind – VEX and FIRST are the two largest and most successful Robotics Competitions in the World. With both seasons ending towards the end of the typical school year in North America (April), it was not a matter of “if”, but a matter of “when” the Championships would eventually have conflicting dates due to the Easter holiday and the scarcity of facilities with open dates which can host events of this size. We had hoped to avoid such a conflict for as long as possible, and did everything in our power to do so, but in the case of 2011 Murphy enforced its Law and FIRST secured the same dates in St. Louis that VEX had already secured for Dallas.

Now that FIRST has secured their Championship dates in St. Louis for the next three years, we will certainly take those dates into account as we try to finalize our Championship dates for the next three years. We know some teams and volunteers will have a conflict in 2011, and we will work extremely hard to ensure that every team, participant and volunteer that attends the 2011 VRC World Championship will have an incredible experience they will remember for years to come.

I hope the information I’ve shared has helped clarify things and answer the questions many have asked. If I haven’t articulated anything clearly, or you have any additional questions, please let me know.

Best regards,

Jason

[KathieK]

Thank you for the clarification, Jason!