(NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Since the inaugural Hartford district event is only three days away, I thought it might be time,
The Hartford district will be held at:
Hartford public schools: 55 forest street Hartford CT.
Team List:
http://www.usfirst.org/whats-going-o...rogramCode=FRC

With every team having competed once, some team even competing twice the competition is sure to be very tough, But with 5 weeks and 6 competitions already finished the Hartford district will surly be one of the best. Team 716 Will be looking forward to competing here and working with all the great team attending. Good luck to all!!!

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

I'm so ready for this!!! Can't wait to referee! See you all there!!!

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

I'll be there at the FIRST Info Table! If you want to learn more about FIRST's 4 programs, stop by and visit me!

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Looking forward to Hartford!!!! Coming off our great weekend in Southington, team NRG is looking to assist any team they can to accumulate enough points to qualify for Boston.

A HUGE THANK YOU to team 181 Birds of Prey for welding our pickup arm together the weekend before Southington. The arm never got bent once and because of your team we made it all the way to the finals. Thank you very Much!!!!!

We have separated the attending teams into 4 categories to allow us to focus on those who could use the most help.
1)Teams that have played 2 matches and cannot earn additional points
2)Teams that need an extra boost to get them as many points as possible
3)Teams that are close enough that they can earn enough points on their own
4)Teams that need a Chairman's win in order to qualify

We have identified teams in the second category that we will be focusing on whenever possible to help accumulate points in qualification, alliance selection and eliminations. We would encourage the eight other teams that are attending their third event to do the same in the spirit of Gracious Professionalism.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Myself and some other members from 195 will be in attendance this weekend. With most teams having competed twice already, we look forward to see how well everybody competes.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

My team fits in the second category and although I appreciate the GP and can respect it. Personally i would rather you go hard on us, we were not fully prepared for our first event and if we have pay the price, we do. I would rather see us not go then take the space away from another team that earned it. That being said everyone needs a break sometimes but i don't want one at another teams expense. I love that your willing to help other teams, I'm right there with you (if anyone need help at an event ill more than gladly do whatever i can for your team, flag me down. I'm the one with the beard). I would rather see every team, every match, do the best they can in the interest of wining.

Thanks
Paul

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Paul,
We're not looking to throw a match but offer help and support as well as some great strategy we learned this week in Southington. We forced team 195(Cyberknights) and their alliance to a third match in the finals and we will push just as hard this weekend. I agree we must all earn our place, but everyone can use a helping hand at times.

We went to Southington with 14 points so you're in better shape then we were. Make a plan and make it happen. I told our team if we kept playing like we did in Groton we would not make it to Boston. Our plan was simple, break down the points. We were shooting for 52-54 points and we got 59.
1)Win 10 out of 12 Qualifiers 10x2=20 points ---We won 10 for 20 points
2)Be a top captain or top pick 12-14 points ---We were #3 for 14 points
3)Make it to the finals for 20 points --We were finalists 20 points
Then we got a 5 point judged award for our total 59

The students pushed hard all weekend, they scouted better than they ever did and they made a lot of new friends. I look forward to meeting you this weekend. We're easy to spot, just look for the gearhead helmets.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

I'm terribly sorry, i thought you were implying that your team was going to throw matches for those eight teams and were encouraging others to do the same, we currently have 22 points fro WPI now that our shooter works and our code is stable we hope to be doing better. we wish to total 70 points so that means our goal is 48 points (a tall order). we would love the strategic advice, our team is small about 3 insanely dedicated kids and a few others. were relying on our friends at 228 and 558 to help us with scouting (we acquired mentors from both teams this season) so were hoping this will be our best event. I'll swing by your pit Saturday and take you up on that strategic insight.
-Paul

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Paul, we are totally willing to help you with scouting. We use simple paper scouting with an excel spreadsheet that can be sorted by category. It's simple but highly effective. Just stop by our pit, and tell us what you need. And take good care of Jacob for us. :)

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Ditto.
Hartford won't be like Groton or Southington. There will be some very awesome teams and it is going to get serious for the teams that want to advance.
If any team that is going to a third event wanted to help other teams advance then they would not become a picker and they would not become picked. Show up and volunteer for the event. That would be helpful. But taking points from teams is not helpful.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

FRC558 will not be throwing any matches or taking it easy. We will however continue to help anyone that needs support in the pit with robot modification/fixes, scouting support, or strategy. Asking a team to back down competitively is in my opinion not GP.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

personally I believe that the point model needs some improvement, teams competing at three or more events is hurting teams who are on the bubble. I believe those changes will be coming within a season or two.

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Jacob has been so great with the strategy and scouting along with so much more, sorry for stealing him but were keeping him. haha congrats for you win last weekend, we can't wait to compete with you guys.

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No apology necessary! It's hard for a mama bird to see her little chicks fly from the nest, but a proud moment, too. And he was with us last weekend, so we'll give him back to you for Hartford. :)

Fair warning, Jacob's already working on our senior caption Duna to join you guys if she winds up at WPI. We'll do our best to keep funneling them your way. She's a gem, too.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

i have a slightly different view, the good (or above average) teams seem to be the ones who do multiple regional, if you take all those teams out your left with a few above average teams, some average and some below average. making it easier to get those points for an average or below average team. It makes it really easy for a slightly above average team to steal the show (look at unh). On the other hand if the powerhouses get together in a district that counts they hurt each other (look at Groton). Having those teams around at our second events makes t fair for the teams that had to compete against them at there districts. otherwise we would have an easier time. Personally i don't think were going to see another groton style event until week 4 next year and it will be full of 3rd event teams. too many good teams got burnt point wise to want to do that again. We want to do a week 1 or 2 new Hampshire event, WPI (our home event) then a stacked event. we'll get our points and then go as hard as possible in preparation for the district championship.

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Were happy to have him back and we would love more students like him. Its a bit of temperature shock going from an established team to a growing one. Just a fair warning. but then again in our small team your never just a cog in the machine, your making a big difference every time you come.

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Would you mind lending some insightful guidance to those of us who are a little light on scouting personnel?

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Absolutely. We're looking to try out a few things with our own scouting system, and we would be more than happy to help you guys out.

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Although I do see your point behind this, I see the loss to be much greater then what a team would gain. For example a team that has accumulated enough points to attend district championship, is also going to be attending Hartford, therefore if they become #1 seed and make it too the finals and win. That is 46 points that is not being counted, and essentially is taking those points out of play. If a team that has only competed once and lets say did not do the greatest say they have around 10-20 points, those 46 points that could be given to them would be extremely helpful in them making it to Boston. It's one of those scenarios that could essentially keep a team from making it into Boston.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Okay, I've been biting my tongue here, but as one of the teams that is competing in Hartford and has already qualified for the district championship, I feel compelled to chime in (no big surprise to those who know me) to explain why we decided to do three district events this year.

We're a team of somewhat limited financial resources, and when the district model was announced we saw it as a great benefit to us. Normally, we're able to do one, maybe two (in the past couple of years) regionals. That's it. But with the district model, and three events being in our home state, we could do two events and add a third at very little cost. When we decided to register for all three CT events, we did so NOT KNOWING and WITH NO WAY OF KNOWING that we would qualify for the district championship. Our thought process was, simply, with no way of knowing that, and given the minimal increase in doing the third event ($1,000 registration, since all the events were local for us and the school provides transportation), why not do as many events as possible so our kids can enjoy the fruits of their labors?

So here we stand. Registered. Fee paid. Yet qualified for Boston. What would you suggest we do? Not show up? Forfeit our $1,000, because FIRST isn't going to give it back? Show up and throw matches? Try not to win any awards?

Our view is somewhat different. In fact, at our meeting last night, we were talking about how we would like to actually HELP teams earn qualifying points by helping them win matches. That's the flip side of the coin. It's not just about taking points away from teams, and has NEVER been about that for us. It is also about helping bubble teams earn points that might get them to Boston. If we can do that, for even one team, we'll be happy.

Oh, we've got stuff of our own we want to accomplish in Hartford. We're still tweaking our shooting, adjusting our strategy, wanting to be the best prepared as we can for Boston. And isn't that what it's about?

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Cosigning the post above -

One of the prime benefits of the district model is letting teams of limited resources play more robots.

There are teams of limited resources that, in the old model, could conceivably spend 6+ weeks building, testing and iterating their bot; show up at their one regional (5k$); play 10+/-2 matches and be done for the season. That model needed work.

Every event, every match, every time - play hard, play to win. You make yourself better and can elevate teams around you.

I could also see a case being made for using a third event (after already qualifying for DCMP) to get a backup driveteam or new members some good experience behind the glass.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Denise,
You put in words our exact philosophy. We too looked at a third event as a low cost alternative in the new model. We could actually get bumped depending where the points fall. Regardless, like your team we want to help other teams accumulate points and would forfeit the $1,000 if we didn't compete. We discussed using alternate drivers and felt it would not be fair to our alliance partners to not be on our best. I think it's in all our best interests to perform at our best. If a weaker team makes it to Boston because we don't push them hard enough, then they have a harder time because now the competition is now so much harder with the other teams that qualified.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Thanks for explaining that, you took the words right out of my mouth... I could not have described it better. Team 230 feels EXACTLY the same way. We planned for the 3 local CT events to give our students the most play time for the money and also hoping that we would qualify for Boston. It most definitely was not a ploy to "take points" from other deserving teams. We also hope to work with and HELP teams that may be struggling a bit to improve their performance (just as we did in Groton and Southington) as well as playing with them on the field and hopefully winning a few matches with them as our alliance partners... and as we have many times in the past we are happy to help other teams learn the ins and outs of scouting as well. Please come by our pit if you need help and we will do what we can to share our knowledge and experience.

Gracious professionalism and coopertition are about working hard and competing hard as well as helping other teams so that they are also at their best. I don't know about anyone else but I don't recall Woodie ever mentioning that it included bowing out of the competition or throwing matches.

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And THIS, exactly this, is why we encourage teams to sign up for as many events as you like. Some teams want the practice, some teams want to try new crews, but all teams are getting more time on the sticks.

Next year, play every weekend if you want (I'm looking at you, Miki Oliver). If you have the time and the money, and we have the space, I don't see why we can't make it happen.

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I think every team show go to this event with the intent to win. I see enough politics at work, I like FIRST because everyone helps each other.

I do not believe this should start being a charity case. Some teams will have improved and some maybe have been damaged and are not so good. Gracious professionalism is about competeing like crazy on the field and supporting each other all the time.

My 2 cents.

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While I can't guarantee anything, if Sat/Sun events came closer to NH late in the season I know of several teams in this area (ours included) who would jump on additional events!

Considering all CT events were Sat/Sun and it was only $1000 to register for the third, it was a no brainer for CT teams to register for all three! Spending $6000 for 36 guaranteed qualification matches ($100 a match) is a STEAL! I'm actually very jealous of the schedule you guys had as a third event would require travel expenses since all close events filled up fast and were very close at the beginning of the season. Plus you aren't having to take any days out of school!

I know there were surveys that went out asking what days teams wanted to compete and Sat/Sun was not a preferred time by teams in our area but NEFIRST should reconsider this now that we have been through a season!

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I am more or less saying that there is still room for improvement, with how the district points structure works. I am stating what I disagree with within the points, and I agree with you in the fact that you shouldn't throw matches or not give 100% at Hartford because you are already in good hands. If I was in your position I would go for another blue banner without a doubt. I would suggest a change to the points rankings for the future where you can still compete at three events without taking the points from others, perhaps if the number one seed has already played twice, and the number two seed hasn't. Then the number two seed gets the number one seed point and it goes on with something like this, im aware that there are a lot of things still are needed to be considered but its possible.

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:) Right on Jessica. We've been in FIRST long enough to see all the changes and growth that has occurred over the years. No team should ever consider doing anything less than their best. Helping means sharing information, repairing a competitors robot, sharing parts and pit equipment, help smaller teams with scouting, and even just being friendly. Raising the bar every year is what this competition is all about. My suggestion is that FIRST might allow teams to count their best points for any two events, if they choose to go to one more. Then everyone will be pressed to do better each time out, bringing the best to the Regional, and eventually the Championship. Buzz will be competing hard to help our Alliance partners, with our backup drive team. This was decided back when the District model was announced for New England. This model is an opportunity for us to train next year's drive team under competition conditions in addition to the post season events we normally attend. FIRST has come a long way since 2 losses and you went home after all this work during the build. Just my opinion. :) :)

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Actual I like the idea of if a team competes at multiple events then use the two top scores. To me that would be better than points from the first two events.
Its not going to change I know. Its just my opinions is all. Bottom line Hartford is going to be awesome and if the live feed bugs out the world is going to miss a great show. So to avoid the live stream upset be there in person live.

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

Time to get down.

What a beautiful venue the "Pub" is.

A terrific tribute to Connecticut FIRST Robotics to be holding this "district" in Hartford the final week.
With many familiar faces and a few new ones, this will feel like a Regional of years past, but with more matches.

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Our Dean's List candidates were interviewed at Groton. Do they get another interview at Hartford?

Re: (NE First) Hartford District Event
 

I don't think they do, you only get one interview for deans list it can just be at any event you wish or by phone.

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Looks like these should be some really intense elimination matches! Best of luck to all the teams! I'll be watching on the nice NEFIRST webcast... :-)

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So ends the inaugural Hartford District Competition, and it was a big one! The way all the teams competed, it's like the CT Regional spirit has not left at all. Congrats to 177, 558, and 5129 for becoming the first champions of this event. Another round to 2067 for Chairman's as well. The District Championship is almost upon us my fellow NE nuts and bolts (of fury and otherwise), keep cool and I hope to see you there.

On a more personal note, thanks to teams 3464 and 95. Our QF was the only one that needed 3 matches. Finally, I raise my metaphorical glass to my fellow Enforcers on winning their (lucky) 7th :eek: Engineering Inspiration Award.

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Great Inaugural District Competition in Hartford.

Congratulations to 558 RoboSquad (again!), 177 Bobcats (again, again!), and especially the rookies 5129, Digital Devils, from Plainville. (whatta story their season be!)

A terrific showing by 230 Gaelhawks, 1124 Uberbots, and 4055 NRG, who has really stepped up their game this year.

Tremendous gratitude to Team 181, and the Hartford Public High School Family for a great CT FIRST reunion and a capstone to our rookie season as a district.

Can't wait to see how these teams perform at the District Championship in Boston in two weeks.

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I can't say thank you enough to all of the volunteers who helped to make the inaugural Hartford District Event happen. We had a great mix of veteran and rookie volunteers who learned quickly and worked well together, and most importantly it seemed like volunteers and teams alike were having lots of fun.

The matches I did catch were so exciting to watch - lots of close matches with clean gameplay and good strategies. Congratulations and thank you to everyone!

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Just when I thought this season couldn't get any better . . .

What an amazing weekend in Hartford. Lousy weather, great venue, great volunteers, great competitors. We've never ended qualification matches seeded first before, so it was a real milestone for our team.

Thanks to our alliance partners, 177 and rookies 5129. It's always a treat to play with the Bobcats. You guys are a well-oiled machine. And 5129, what an awesome rookie season for you! You did everything that was asked of you, and more. A real asset to our alliance.

4055, 230 and 1124, those finals matches were incredible. Hope to see you in Boston, maybe on the same side of the glass for a change.

And a HUGE shout out to our friends on Apple Pi, 2067, for their Chairman's win!!!

Thanks to everyone who gave their time and effort to make this event successful.

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The Hartford event was awesome. Our team had so much fun helping other teams be their best. Thank you to 181 BOP for a great event and for making arrangement to get our arm re-welded before we bagged it up last night.

Thank you to all the teams for playing their best and making us work for our second place finish. Our goal was to help as many teams collect points for Boston. Unfortunately we fell short for 1124, but they were grateful that we picked them. It was their idea to cross brand our alliance with the capes, we figured we should cross brand the helmets as well. Thank you 1124 for showing us another meaning of Alliance partners. Our team came up with a new team name: The "UberGearHawks"

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Thank you to our friends at 4055 for picking us again in Hartford. It is a pleasure to work with you guys, what a great alliance. We loved being part of the UberGearHawks. Sorry we didn't manage to pull of a win in the finals but we played hard together and that it what this game is about. Congrats to 558, 177, and 5129 for their win.

I also want to offer a huge congratulations to Apple Pi for their Chairman's win.

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Congratulations to all teams that attended the first #omghartford district event!

Some photos from the event can be found on Flickr

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I'd like to note that the Bobcats won Hartford this year, and I believe the victory is a direct result of this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/supato...57643219020225

Bring that to CMP, and we'll see them on Einstein again.

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Not a fan of generic products, but I like the humor.

Einstein? I brought the 2011 volunteer "Curse T-shirt" to Hartford to edumacate the Bobcat Newbies on the hurdle they must cross.

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I attribute it to their mascot. Too bad there's no pic of him.

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Team 3525 had a great time at Hartford. Thanks to all the volunteers who made it a success.

For us, it was our 2nd district event and we are traveling to Maine for a 3rd event. Like everyone else, we had no way of knowing what out point situation would be when we registered. We just wanted to get some extra playing time. But now we might be on the bubble with 63 points, so we could actually help ourselves by taking as many points as possible away from other possible bubble teams playing in their 2nd event. I think any team in our situation would do the same.

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I giggled every time this flag was waved. Love it!

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So we need some help locating our spirit flag. We had it after awards, but it did not make it on to our bus. If anyone knows where it is, we would love to know. Even though the flag was a joke, it took some time to make and we wanted to continue using it.