Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

One thing to add here: it has always been the intention that the District Championship in New England would rotate.

When we started discussions, many joked that it was bringing the "five families" together. Each of the original regionals had very distinctive pros and cons. Add on top of that, many of the states (MA excluded) are experiencing "brain drains" as the youth leave for more lucrative regions. To help fulfill the overarching mission to promote STEM with FIRST through all of New England, we want the teams to see all that New England has to offer and encourage them to stick around.

Any New Englander knows all the states are slightly different, and there's really a place for everyone. By rotating there will be years where teams have an easier trip, and other times they may need to travel. The goal is by the end of a 4 year term, a student will have visited many places in New England (including numerous colleges) which might be a good fit. We hope to make the logistics as easy as possible for the DCMP by announcing the venue early and fitting the schedule to include buffers.

What that rotation will look like in the future remains to be seen. Will we do two-year contracts? Will we settle into a pattern to give committees more time to prepare? I can say that we will do what the teams do best: run with an idea, and iterate along the way to best fulfill the challenge.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

Ugh, FIRST, you're killing me. I'll see what I can do tonight then.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

Two additional events were posted yesterday, as well (bring to 77 the total number of events posted):

Greater Toronto East Regional - Week 3

IN District Event #3 - Week 4

Still missing IN Championship.


Update: Two more events were posted this morning (bring to 79 the total number of events posted, so far):

Waterloo Regional - Week 4

North Bay Regional - Week 5


Just three weeks remain until registration begins.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

UMass Dartmouth was chosen (among other reasons) for its proximity to a growth area. There are several "pre rookies" I (and others) are working with to bring them into the fold. "Build it and they will come."

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

Sounds good Dana, I suspected it might be an area for growth.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

Emphasis mine

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

254 is looking for a week 4 regional :P

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

The Virginia Regional is week 4. ;) :cool:

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

I hear they have the best FTA and field crew. :cool:

Wetzel

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

New York Tech Valley has been posted to week four (which personally is a big deal for me because that means I'm now going back to Orlando in week 3)and we have our first week six event Windsor Essex Great Lakes.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

My apologies for not stating any specific problems in my original post. I realize how it appears to be a blanket statement without anything in particular being pointed out, but I was posting from my phone during a team meeting that was being held in an 85+ degree room, so I wrote it and posted fairly quickly. I probably should have waited to get home to post something with valid points in it backing up my original claim.

From my perspective, I don't believe there'll be enough seating at WPI to comfortably accommodate as many teams as Boston University was able to (or maybe I'm just upset that scouters won't get VIP box seats again...).

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

I was at that event, and it was crowded and uncomfortable in the "robot pits" aka corner of the campus athletics center. Not exactly a place I'd like to take a team sponsor or a middle school group for tours (as frequently happened at Boston).

IMO, the DCMP should be the biggest, flashiest, most public-friendly event in the area, and cramped pits just aren't very welcoming.

Full disclosure: I was on the Boston regional committee when it was a regional, I am a student at WPI and appreciate their efforts in the FIRST community, and I just really don't like small crowded pits & think they are an unfortunate side effect of districts. My views are entirely my own and I do not intend to imply anyone else's. That's about all the relevant side notes I think I need to include.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

I'm sure the NY teams are thrilled by the fact that if they trend to the southern side of the state, the regional dates fall on Week 3 (NYC) and Week 4 (Long Island). If they're in upstate New York, they get to go to Tech Valley on Week 4 or FLR Week 5.

If you're an NY team and want to go to 2 regionals, you have to either

a) do back to back weeks
b) cover the entire length of the state (and that's if you want to only do an NYC/FLR jaunt)
c) drive down to College Park, MD, California, PA, or Cleveland, OH or any points further away that.

I mean, for what it's worth, I'm used to the thrill of having the three closest regionals to me sharing 2 weekends, but I'm not asked to search for flights to go to the next closest one after that.

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

For a lot of upstate teams, Canadian regionals are closer. Perhaps more paperwork for an international trip, but closer. For what it's worth, 2914 is planning to travel internationally this year for the first time. Out of state travel might be easier when you don't live in a state though.

Wetzel

Re: [FRC Blog] 2015 Events are Being Posted!
 

You bringing the team with you to Mexico City this time?