Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

Don't wait too long. Yes it is hard work, but it has to be done, and soon. Is your committee talking with the other one down in Ft. Lauderdale?

I have seen the District system from both perspectives now. Seven seasons in St. Louis as a team mentor, event volunteer, and planning committee member. Five seasons now in Michigan.

The FRC has evolved since 1996, my rookie season. The vision and mission have not changed: we are still a volunteer community aspiring to "transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." However, the means to that end has changed over the years. Our first step away from the modest beginning was Championships in Orlando. The second step was decentralized planning by regional committees and directors, enabling growth through geographic spread. The third step, begun by the FiM organization and spreading across the community, enables further growth by lowering cost barriers and improving competitiveness -- a natural consquence when teams play more matches.

The District competition that I help to plan and host now requires about 5% of the budget that the St. Louis Regional required when I was part of that planning committee. Most of the difference (>$200k) went to professional event services and to venue rental. My opinion, apparently shared by many in the FRC community, is that those costs inhibit growth.

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

Yup! Thanks! I sure did miss Team 1345! They have now been added to the inactive list.

There may be a few missing, but here is the list of Florida Teams that have become inactive (72) and the last year they competed:

147 St. Petersburg Deep Thunder 2004
168 North Miami Beach Mechanical Investigation Bureau 2013
186 Lake Buena Vista The Alliance 2004
212 Miami Robotics And Creative Engineering 2003
267 Parkland Demolition Squad 2004
312 St. Petersburg Heat Wave 2008
408 Pompano Beach The RoboTicks 2010
425 Melbourne Spartans 2009
459 Gainesville Rampage Robotics 2006
582 Jacksonville The Viking Electros 2005
588 Jacksonville Jag-tron'x 2005
654 Tallahassee Mechateuthis Dux 2003
665 Orlando PHAT/Motor Monkeys 2013 FTC
685 Coconut Creek 2003
710 Fort Lauderdale PAW 2006
762 Altamonte Springs Patriots 2004
1029 Miami Lakes WolfCats 2009
1062 Celebration Celebration Robotics 2007
1068 Orlando The Ninjaneers 2005
1083 Orlando Team Emoticons 2005
1242 Plantation Team S.M.I.L.E.Y 2008
1341 Sarasota The Knights Who Say "Nee" 2009
1345 Ft. Lauderdale Platinum Dragons 2010
1368 Clearwater Perpetual Motion 2007
1390 St. Cloud WELETHEDAWGSOUT 2010
1402 Orlando Freedom Patriots 2006
1461 Miami Springs Golden Hawks 2004
1497 Jacksonville Ram Robotics 2005
1543 Kissimmee Cyclone Psychos 2012
1612 Brooksville Robo-Sharks 2013
1694 Orlando Walt Disney Robo Warriors 2007
1744 Naples Deep Tinkers 2008
1841 plantation robo knights 2008
1842 Fort Pierce Twisted E.G.O. 2007
1875 Cocoa Cat VI 2012
1889 Wellington Xbot 360 2009
1999 Fort Walton Beach O.U.T.E.R L.I.M.I.T. 2012
2023 Melbourne PiraTech 2011
2100 Port St. Lucie M Squared 2008
2278 Orlando AVENGING PLUTO 2007
2422 Davenport Bucket O' Bolts 2009
2757 Longwood B.A.D. (Built And Dangerous!) 2013 FTC
3149 Lakeland PANDAMONIUM! 2011
3332 Melbourne HustlerTech 2011
3364 Tallahassee Panhandle Pirates 2010
3518 3810 W Educational Path LHS Panthers 2011
3520 Coral Springs RoboColts 2012
3580 Cape Coral Marinerds 2012
3592 Port Orange Sharks 2011
3611 Lynn Haven Dukes Of Mosley 2013
3622 Boca Raton Robocats 2011
3732 Miami The Raging Tornadoes 2013
3782 Panama City Rams 2013
3790 Bradenton Lakewood Ranch Mustangs 2013
3803 Miami Lightning Robotics 2011
3938 Miami Radix Robotics 2013
4052 Fort Myers Wolfpack 2013
4066 Groveland MechMate 2013
4088 Port Charlotte Flash4ward 2013
4133 6406 E Chelsea St S2-Boltz 2012
4157 Fort Myers Imaginarium 2012
4179 Cantonment Tahisco Techs 2013
4184 Naples Wreck-techs 2013
4190 Port Richey Hephaestus 2012
4197 Dade City Lacoochee Cowboys 2013
4214 Riverview Robo-Flames 2012
4222 Sanford Frolicking Nerds 2012
4223 Lakeland Robo-Flight-Transformer 2013
4321 Jacksonville Vikings 2013
4333 Tampa Team MOSI 2012
4341 Mulberry Panther Robotics 2013
4706 Miami Bulls 2013

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

Holy Cows, We've lost 27 teams in the past 3 years! I know JC Penney pulling out & NASA downsizing has a lot to do with it, but that definitely sounds like panic time!

Yes we talk with S. Florida, we even have members on both planning committees.

Like I said, there are many considerations that have to be made, and avoiding the mistakes that FiM made when setting up their system is important. Yes the costs & quantity are appealing aspects of the districts, but maintaining the integrity of what we're trying to do here, inspiration & gracious professionalism, are equally important. We are lucky enough here to have our venue at Central Florida, who have been very gracious hosts and have supported our efforts to bring more value-added to the Regional with minimal additional cost. There needs to be a careful strategy to avoid the volunteer issues that have plagued other events - this season's competition has been taxing enough without additional complexities.

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

I am not sure where some of these names came from 665 was known as MAYHEM before motor monkeys, 1543 was The Riddler Revolution for as long as I could remember, 1875 was Automatanomatonamatons (or something to that effect) then became Purple Haze, and 1889 was just Haze for there entire existence

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

Also, 1875, to my knowledge, merged into 233.

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

The info was pulled directly out of FIRST's online Database using the Florida Teams and who registered for the Florida/Peachtree/Bayou Regionals search options. Please feel free to quote it and correct it as you see fit.

Re: Florida Rankings 2014
 

Things you learn about teams when you decide to follow that path, at the 2005 Florida regional, 79 (KRUNCH) was known as The Navigators, 168 (MIB) was The Flashbacks, 233 (The Pink Team) was Space Coast FIRST Robotics Team, 1251 (TechTigers) was The Revolution, 1557 (12 Volt Bolt) was Lake County Alliance, and 1649 (EMS) was The Lakers. The more you know