Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

If considering just a convention center, it's hard to top what we have here in Las Vegas...

The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip, encompasses approximately 3.2 million square feet with exhibit space of 2 million square feet and meeting space of nearly 250,000 square feet. The facility is one of the most modern and functional centers in the world - centrally located withing walking distance of 100,000 guest rooms.

Now if you could just convince the Visitors Authority and the hotel/casinos that 15,000 kids who don't gamble would somehow be a good thing for their businesses...and also convince the team's parents and school boards that Las Vegas doesn't have a lock on "sinful" behavior then you might be on to something:D

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

All I remember about Disney was how hot it was and how badly I wanted to find shade. I didn't care one bit about the robot.
Our lead teacher was right. The event wasn't about FIRST it was about Disney.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

We could move it to Toronto, there's 2 convention centers there with over a million square feet of space.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

If I could choose a FIRST city it would be Toronto all the way. I go to GTR West all the time and both Toronto and Mississauga are great cities.
Sadly it'll never happen.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

So the Astrodome that did not work well for 2003 has been shut down now.So those that attended in 2003 what was your opinion of just Reliant Stadium? And since I have never been to the new Reliant Center, which compares to St. Louis America's Center only larger, how would that work?

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Reliant Stadium is beautiful. Of all the venues for the championships I have attended Reliant stadium is the nicest one.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

You thought the walk from Astrodome to Reliant was long? The convention center (Cobo) is more than a mile from Ford Field.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

The Championship previously was held at Epcot at Disney in Orlando. The gigantic Orlando Convention Center is on International Drive and not on Disney property. The Disney entrance is about 10 to 15 minutes away depending on traffic. Further down International Drive (also about 10 to 15 minutes depending on traffic another direction) is Universal Studios. Late April is past the times for most Spring Breaks and too early for summer break so I believe the crowds are lower at that time leaving lots of hotels open. If a convention center model would work, Orlando would be a great contender for many reasons. And those who want to stay a little longer to site see and visit Disney, Universal, Sea World or Kennedy Space Center could do so. The weather is particularly beautiful in the evening at that time when many teams would be out and about. The airport is world class with plenty of flights and airlines servicing it. Not a central location for all FIRST teams is a negative and again, the convention center model may be challenging.

I enjoy reading your input! You are a long time FIRST participant and volunteer. Excellent!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Now if O-town can just get their light rail system finished on time...

I know KLM, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, etc. all have direct flights into Orlando (MCO). For our West Coast people, I have been on the direct flights from MCO to LAX and back on both Delta and Virgin America so I can relate on the distance/time.

I love both Houston and Las Vegas. No objection to either for myself, but just thinking Las Vegas could be a tad bit too wild for 20k students who are under age 18.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I was talking to a FIRST senior mentor at the CMP this year, and they said FIRST has it narrowed down to 6 cities. Those being Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, Anaheim, Indianapolis, and one other city.

He said that each of those cities are soon going to have to formally present to FIRST about why they should get the contract.

I am personally rooting for Indianapolis :)

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Unless Orlando is the other city, I'd vote for Atlanta.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I am sure the FIRST World Championship committee will give each city serious consideration, review all important points, and will make an outstanding decision. I look forward to hearing which city FIRST World Championship will be fortunate to have as host!!!

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I would like to see the Championship move across all 4 time zone.
If this could be done it would give a boost to FIRST in all regions of the country. We did Eastern and Central time zones, lets move to the Rockies and then Western.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

Detroit? Oh god,no no no! I live in the city. Five minutes from downtown proper. I don't think they have enough hotel space close to the event locations. You would have to take a bus to museum area, zoo or anything else you would want to do. You probably be safe enough in the downtown area but you wouldn't want to venture to far afield. Now , if they could tie it in with are neighbors across the river, windsor, canada, that would make it a true international event. Canada is so close the police departments of both cities used to have a tug-of-war across the river.

Re: Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?
 

I live in Houston and have attended the 2003 Championship in Houston as well as the 2012 Championship in St. Louis.

In 2003, they made the mistake of using the Astrodome for the pit areas and it was a disaster! Very hard to get the robots to and from the pits. On that score, St. Louis was undeniably better.

However, the situation has changed since 2003. The Astrodome has been all but abandoned and the Reliant Center has been built.

With 5 large halls and over 700,000 square feet in the center, there is no question that the Reliant Center is large enough to house the pit areas. Add in the space within the dome and the facility could hande championships even if FIRST decided to expand to 8 divisions. However, it is at least 200 yards across a the parking lot to get to the stadium, which means it would still be a problem to get the robots to and from the pit areas.

For those still pulling for Houston, there is hope. The county is considering plans to demolish the Astrodome. Once that is done, it is anybody's guess what additional development will occur.

IMO, an expansion of the Reliant Center to the point where it is attached, or nearly attached to the stadium is possible, but some years away. IF it happened, it would be an ideal location for a much larger FIRST championship. In the meantime, it doesn't make as good a venue as St. Louis.