What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

This year will be my first time attending the St. Louis competition and I was wondering what you would all suggest for me to bring. (Personal items like clothes, passports...) Also if there are any tips you have they would be most welcome. Thank you!

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

I remember making impromptu tents while waiting for load-in in 2011 thanks to some quick thinking 2826 mentors buying tarps... with a minibot pole holding up the middle and multiple people holding up the sides with 1 or 2 people pushing up and dumping collection puddles.

Everything got super wet and I was soaked but it was a fun time.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

A toothbrush. :D
. You should bring money and definitely prepare for rain

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

camera, phone, earbuds/phone, chargers or batteries for them. safety glasses

your copy of the rules book to read again on the way to saint lou. I say again, because you did read it already, right? :rolleyes:

You should simulate your expected schedule while there and imagine what you're doing for each of the hours involved. Think what you'd like to have and take notes.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Snacks for the trip in general. I don't remember if food is allowed in the stadium but all the other times you'll probably still want food.

You probably don't need much in the way of clothing besides all the team shirts you own and a few pairs of jeans, a couple of jackets, and maybe something fancy for RoboProm if you're going and feel like dressing up.

I looked at my list from last year and it was pretty bare bones. You really don't need much stuff there.

I brought an extra pair of clothes and 2 extra pairs of socks in case they got wet (which they did) and also a refillable water bottle. Food isn't allowed into the venue, but they do have consessions in the convention center (warning:expensive). There are lots of food places close so you'll be good if you'd like to walk. The entire event is big and really spread out. Bringing breakfast and eating it at the hotel is smart. Scope out restraunts for dinner in advance to make a plan early and call ahead.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

For the sake of you and everyone around you, please bring soap, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, enough clean clothes for the whole event plus an extra set or two, razors if you need them, and soap.

Did I mention soap? Soap!

Clean geeks are far more preferable to... umm... yeah. Sometimes I feel like we need to address hygiene right behind safety in terms of importance.

<3

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Ouch. That was unfortunate, it was like a hurricane out there. I heard someone died as well : /

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

There was a tornado last year and it was absolutely pouring as we loaded our stuff onto our bus at the end.

But there's nothing in particular personal wise I'd suggest you take beyond what you would usually bring to a long distance regional.

I would, however, suggest bringing a camera and a notebook to talk to other teams, take pictures of their robots, and write down how they (the teams and the robots) work so you can bring back knowledge.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Well some important things I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Deoderant, cause no one likes smelly pepole in the pits.
2. 2 pairs of socks for evey day you will be there. Tip from a mentor on our team who does 24 hr auto racing. You can not believe what a fresh pair of socks does when your feet are tired.
3. Camera (if your phone doesnt already have one or that one isnt good enough) Cause you know you will run across something cool you want to snap a pic of

Just a few of the things I thought of off the top of my head, I know im probably forgetting some things. But thats why i start packing a week ahead of time.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

A power strip. If you have to share your hotel room with fellow electronics enthusiasts, you will want a power strip.
Also, having Advil and your choice in over-the-counter allergy medicine might be a good idea.


Oh! And don't forget your tiara!

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Not even kidding, there's always one time every tournament when somebody tells me they wish they had a bouncy ball.

Pros:
- Small
- Good teambuilding activity
- Usable on any hard surface
- Infinite Fun

Cons:
- Very easy to lose
- Must never be used near any other people, in the pits, or around other safety hazards

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Also a quick note...

Seems obvious but leave the leathermans/pocket knifes/etc in checked bags only! I recently had this issue when i left a small collection in my carry on bag.... (didn't check anything so had to make a box).

And a random note: it always amuses me I cannot bring any water, yet I am allowed to carry several LiPos that can do this

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

I reccommend a lacrosse ball for your bouncy ball. There are some baseball-sized squeezable balls sometimes called stress-relief, but you may have trouble running one down.

Instead of a power strip, see if you can find a power cube to multiply the outlet count in your room. Also avoid plugging into an outlet which has a lamp that is controlled by a wall switch at the door. Your electric device(s) that you were expecting to be charged overnight may be turned off by accidental switch movement. Murphy stalks the entire 'verse. Some even say e=mc**2 fails when you least expect it!

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Rain? Prepare for Armageddon to strike when you go to St. Louis. Two year in St. Louis. Two year's of Tornado scares. Tis the season.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

If you plan on renting cars, get full coverage that includes hail damage.
When we returned ours last year, we saw tons of cars with hail damage with NO insurance.
Thank god we elected to pay more to park in the covered structure Saturday of the tournament with basic coverage.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

I feel like this should be said...

Prepare for rain.

I feel like it needs to be said yet again, as when we were unloading in 2012, it started off as a slight drizzle that in 20 min turned into a downpour. I was very thankful that I was rooming with a friend of mine who wasnt in the early group to head to the competition that I trusted, I had her run through my stuff ad grab me more things to wear.

It was wet and rainy on and off that day, and downpouring when we packed up. Just before it was dinner, and during Einstein, there was gigantic hail and awful weather outside. I would also recommend a brain and a laptop or some device to be able to check the most recent weather updates and be able to contact someone at home with. [We had a fair share of terrified mothers who had my number. I was flooded for nearly an hour with calls after a robodawg mom and dad or two got a hold of my phone number.]

Aside from that, having so many people around, being polite about hygiene is a must. Have something fun, small, and contained to keep you busy, especially if you are stuck in the pits like I was [a joy of being team captain]. Don't forget to wander the pits and make sure to talk to some of the Lego League teams! Some of those kids are amazing!

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

A few decks of cards. Everyone likes to crowd around a circular table for a good game of Egyptian Ratscrew!
Might I also suggest; a few extra team shirts for trading.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

I haven't been to worlds, but I assume one would want to bring a bag for buttons :)

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Wear comfortable shoes. The pits are massive (the champs are like MSC but 10 time bigger). Also try to be patient when walking around. Security is very tight and will not allow you to walk into certain places whatsoever (there is no access to the arena floor at all if you are not part of a drive team like at the events) so have a good idea how to get from the pits to the stands.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Don't forget to bring your Gracious Professionalism!

[/Dorky mentor]

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Pre-load your phone with the necessary apps & services:
FRC-Spyder
Q&A
Manual
FRC-Megaphone
Also bring a charger to use in your hotel room AND the pits. Batteries usually last about 80% as long as you need them, and that last 20% is CRITICAL.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Items on my "essential" list for competitions, besides the ones already mentioned:

1. Clipboard! ...preferably one bought brand new at the beginning of the season, or one that has been "refurbished" with colorful duct tape and stickers. My own scouting notes are quite interesting (less robot-esque and more people-watching...), and a clipboard is completely necessary for this.

2. Purple pens ...my team is Purple Precision. If you're Marjie Jenkins, your pens will all be pink. Basically, a pen with your meaningful color of choice.

3. Permanent marker ...for those random sightings of awesome people. Awesome people can be defined any way that you like it. I've outgrown my "OMG it's DEAN!" phase, but I still adore talking to Mr. Flowers given the opportunity. He is such a gentle person. I also like to have a marker on hand for when I run into friends that I haven't seen in a while.


And, it's been discussed already, but DEODORANT!
I can NOT emphasize this enough. Please, please, please reapply every two hours, or more as needed. I know of a friend who carries Febreze to competitions with her, just in case she needs to freshen her team up. Bringing deodorant can greatly reduce your chances of random sprayings of Febreze.*

...*I do NOT condone the random spraying of strangers. It was just a funny scenario. I mean, imagine someone walking through the pits just randomly spraying some of the unfortunate people who forgot their deodorant. The safety advisers would have a field day, poor Green Shirts.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

In addition to deodorant, I'm a big fan of face wipes and dry shampoo. Not 100% necessary, but I like it because I just start to feel really gross by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Just a note on this: There are some tools that can be taken on airplanes in carry on bags. The list of them is here: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ohibited-items When traveling to Vegas this season, I went through PHL airport Security with a set of T-Handle Allen Wrenches, Allen Wrenches, a crescent wrench, a plastic container of misc hardware, and a set of pliers in my carry on bag and even though they were all 'allowed' to be carried on, my bag was pulled off of the conveyor and searched. Everything in the bag checked out fine, but the TSA agent suggested that if I were to travel with an assortment of tools again to remove them from whatever they're in and place them in a bin for easier viewing while being x-rayed.

Otherwise, here are some good things to keep on hand at the Championship:

-Pit Map
-Notebook and Pens (Bring a half dozen or more, someone always will 'borrow' your pens)
-Clipboard (I always bring one that can double as a dry erase board)
-Sharpie/Expo/Permanent marker
-Index Card/Business Card/Small Sheet of paper with important contact numbers and hotel information in case you lose your phone
-Phone charger
-Reasonable amount of cash
-Camera
-Safety Glasses

For those of you that are on Drive Teams traveling to the Championship, it's a good idea to keep a reasonable assortment of tools/common parts on your cart/with the robot when going to and from the dome floor. In years past, there have been instances where we would opt to not go back to the pits in between matches to avoid all of the extra walking and time taken to do so. With more teams at this year's championship, there may always been ample time between matches to go back to the pit.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Let's see... There was a Tornado here last week, it's been pouring rain here this week and the end of last week... Not really sure what to expect next week. Just know that out of the days you're in St. Louis, you'll probably see the sun out one minute, then pouring rain within the next fifteen, especially this time of year.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

In the past, we've had a driver bag that contained essentials like pliers, snips, zipties, electrical tape, and wrenches in the sizes we used on the robot.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Deodorant cannot be stressed enough. To quote a teammate "body odor is a body don't-or."
Also bring a slinky for the escalators. :P

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

This is just good air travel advise in general, my friend puts his various pocket and keychain tools (all TSA approved) in a separate ziploc bag ahead of time, and puts that in the bin.

Re: What personal items to take to St. Louis?
 

Jeez, sounds like Seattle! I'd agree with rain gear, and double agreement on the scary weather. (One reason to love Seattle: no tornados, no blizzards, and no hurricanes-- though the big Columbus Day Storm fifty-odd years ago was a very lost typhoon, and we do have lots of volcanos and a fault line or two. But the weather's mild, if mostly wet or overcast. Summer's gorgeous, though. [/parenthetical tangent]) Also, comfortable shoes that you LIKE and, preferably, that go with your team colors, because team spirit is important! :D