There are three major issues that need to be addressed when one considers changing the format for the Championship Event
+ The Setting: Location is key. The location has to be somewhat centralized, in a major city, with reasonable logistic options. (for example: i've heard the reason Indianapolis got turned down for the 2011-2013 Championship Event was because all they had was a bus service as a form of public transportation. St. Louis and Atlanta both had rail services running directly from the airports to a location which was walking distance away from the main venue). An International airport is a must at this point. There have to be things of interest besides the Championship Event itself that attract people to that particular city. For example, Atlanta had the Coca-Cola Factory, CNN, and the Aquarium, St. Louis has the Arch. Indianapolis has the motor speedway. The city also has to have a reasonable amount of hotel rooms, everyone needs a bed to sleep on and a place to crash. These hotels also have to be relativity close to the event venue. Visitors also need a place to eat nearby as well. a reasonable amount of food options nearby also need to be accounted for when selecting a city. FIRST transports the various fields using trucks, these trucks need to arrive in the city in a timely manner as well so that they can be set up for the big show. These things factor into the selection for a Championship site.
+ The Venue itself: I believe the city dictates the venue, and the venue will dictate the format of the event. Is it plausible for FIRST to switch over to a convention center style setup? or does FIRST have to stick to the Stadium/Convention Center Hybrid? (Note: the only cites with active dome type stadiums are Atlanta GA, Arlington TX, Detroit MI, Glendale AZ, Houston TX, Indianapolis IN, Minneapolis MN, New Orleans LA, and St. Louis MO.) These are questions that need to be answered before one can move on to selecting a proper venue. The America's Center has a little more than 500,000 square feet of exhibit space, including the dome. The Championship Event took up everything except for some of the ballrooms upstairs. For the championship event to expand, your going to need more exhibit space for pits and fields. As i mentioned above, you need numerous options for dining and lodging nearby the venue. The venue also has to be available for the dates listed. A major flaw with a venue like the LA live event complex is that it includes Staples Center, the home of the Las Angeles Lakers, Las Angeles Clippers of the NBA, and the Las Angeles Kings of the NHL. As most sports fans know, the playoff seasons for the NHL and NBA traditionally start in mid-April. thus, putting the availability for some portions of these venues into question.
+ The format of the event itself: does FIRST want the event to stick to it's traditional roots, with load in being late Wednesday afternoon going into Wednesday night? or are they willing to push this back further so that more things can be put on the event agenda / more teams can participate in the Championship event? does the venue dictate that FIRST has to be limited to x number of FRC/FTC/FLL/JFLL teams/fields? can FIRST expand this in any way. What should teams expect to pay when it comes to expenditures for the expansion of the Championship Event? Can students afford extra days off from school, can mentors/teachers/volunteers afford extra days out of school/work to attend the event? These are the types of questions FIRST should be asking when selecting a new location for Championship.
now, onto my opinion
I think within a couple of years, the event will either have to move back to Atlanta, or move to Chicago/Dallas. Cities like Las Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas and New Orleans are also viable options, although these cities are not centralized. If FIRST somehow makes it tougher for teams to get into the Championship event, keeping roughly the same number of teams/fields, then options like Denver, Indianapolis, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Houston and Phoenix become available.
Up until the end of build season this year, i was firmly a believer that having fields and pits next door in a convention center setup was a bad idea. that was until i saw this
Panoramic /
Seating Chart
That is the Adidas Center Court, which is a part of the NBA Jam Session that takes place during the NBA All Star Weekend. If FIRST could get bleachers like that for their fields. (there is seating just like that on the other side, and there was plenty of seating from behind that viewpoint as well.) then i don't think a lot of people would have a problem with fields being right next to pits in the convention hall. (Seating and noise were the two major concerns that i heard from people after last year's Championship Event regarding the fields in the pits. There's plenty of seating here, and those bleachers covering three sides of the field can create a good noise buffer between the field and pits.)
This is the qualification system I would prefer FIRST use, I believe it balances both the Competition and Award components of the program out evenly. (sorry for it being technical and everything, if there is anything you don't understand please feel free to PM me.)
I also think FIRST would like to keep the FLL and FTC championships under one roof with the FRC events. This is because
the kids in these programs are inspired by what we do in FRC. Why should the have that opportunity taken away from them? (this is why the field setup last year was the way it was. they could have fit three fields on the dome floor along with the BEP stage, but they choose not to partially because of this reason).
Personally, I'd love to go "all in" on Vegas. I think the mentors would have a blast, but im not so sure about all the students, and getting parental approval from stricter parents. (Not to mention getting the school board to approve the trip for those teams that have to jump through that flaming hoop).
Edit: I also like Tetraman's idea, although i think some teams/alliances may find that confusing.
