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

Seems like MAR finally decided to allow a Week 2 event and an Easter weekend event.

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

To clarify, MAR used to not schedule any week 2 events due to HSPA testing in NJ. In 2015 NJ will no longer be administering the HSPA. Instead students will take the PARCC test. High schools are free to determine their own schedule for PARCC testing so each school district will be different.

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

Less than five weeks remain until Registration begins for the 2015 season. By this time on the 25th of Sept, Mark McLeod will have posted numerous times giving us all a breakdown of how the first day has gone; which events are full and how many teams have registered. Just can't wait for the madness to begin one more time!

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

Are you calling me mad?

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

Nope, I think he was calling you Awesome.

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

I think he was referring to registration madness.

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

No

The work you do Mark is fantastic and is a great benefit to the FIRST & CD community. In quick snapshots, you capture the pulse of the action taking place during registration from start to finish.

Basically for 48 hours after Noon ET on Sep 25th and again for several hours after Noon on Oct 23rd; the number of teams all vying to secure their desired event is amazing. But at the same time it is a form of madness when compared to the pace registration takes place at during the remaining hours and days of the registration period.

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

Too bad, I was practicing my insane laugh...more of a cackle really.

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

Your CD monogrammed straight jacket is in the mail.

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

It's nice to see MAR has locked down their schedule, I can only hope the NE is close behind.

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

It's also nice that it looks like MAR took in a lot of... critical feedback from its member teams last year to make improvements for the upcoming season. It's a shame the Sun National Bank Center (or whatever it's called) apparently costs a king's ransom because that would be a great venue for the RCMP.

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

Spots may not go as quickly as years past thinking realistically with the new system. FIRST has been highly publicizing that the Coach and Alternate Contact have to both have passed the YPP screening before being able to register. I'm curious to see initial 1st event registrations right when it opens compared to previous years since I know there will be teams that just happened to overlook that change.

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

So the long-running Arizona Regional at Hamilton High in Chandler, now called Phoenix East it looks like, is still week 4, but nothing about the date for what I now presume will be called Phoenix West at Grand Canyon University. It is going to be interesting to see where that is slotted in with regards to other Regionals in the general area that many Arizona teams go to:

Inland Empire [normally week 1]
San Diego [normally week 2]
Long Beach [confirmed week 3, was week 4 this year]
Las Vegas [normally week 6])

I would hope the Phoenix West Regional is not week 3 or 5 since East is 4 and the volunteer pool is very likely to be similar.

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

There may be a slight reduction in the number of teams being able to register on 25 Sep due to hiccups caused by a team’s leadership not being validated within the Youth Protection Program (YPP). But the number of teams registering who realize that there are fewer slots (initial Open Capacity) for Regional events this upcoming season will significantly off-set any YPP-related reduction.

The initial Open Capacity numbers for Regional events this season seem to show a very distinct pattern, they are 5 teams less than those of the past several years for the same events. In previous seasons, the difference between the initial Open Capacity number and the number of teams finally allowed to attend an event was approximately 10 teams. This allowed the Regional event committees flexibility to add Rookie and local teams prior to Veteran wait-listed teams who were not quick at registering early. This upcoming season, the initial Open Capacity numbers for Regional events compared to the numbers for the same events in previous seasons, seem to be approximately 15 teams less than the historical attendance levels for those same events. So, basically there will be 5 teams less being able to lock-in their first event registration (25 Sep-23 Oct) per Regional event this season or 5 more teams on the wait-list for each event then in past seasons.

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

Agreed. Very glad to see that the MAR Board is listening to its constituents.

Unfortunately, that's true. It was a great venue for the old New Jersey Regional, but it is extremely expensive. However, MAR is actively searching out alternative venues for the 2016 DCMP.

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

Arkansas Rock City Regional- week 3

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

Ed you scared me. Arkansas is Week 2, Mar 4th-7th.

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

All the MAR and PNW district events are now listed!

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

So PNW Champ is now Week 6, which is also coincidentally Easter weekend.

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

And it's also no longer in Portland, but instead out at Eastern Washington University. Makes for a lot of travel for Oregon teams...

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

Not all MAR District events are posted on the official FIRST list. MAR Event #6 is missing, which should be Upper Darby / 27-29 Mar 15) if the previous MAR post from Steven Donow was correct. Also the MAR Championship not listed as well.

Edit:
Missing MAR Event #6 was just posted as a PNW District Event Subtype!! Hopefully it will be corrected soon.
Missing MAR Championship was also just posted.

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

Not just Oregon teams (although southern OR will have it particularly bad), PNW Championship in Eastern Washington will mean nearly all teams will have to travel for it. Check out the District Team Map from 2014.

Last year there were only 15 teams within a 50 mile radius of Eastern Washington University. Compare that to 31 for Portland, or 66 for Seattle (same 50 mi radius). I guess venue cost wins out over individual team travel/hotel costs ...

I do appreciate the extra week for travel planning before Championships - I know it was a push for a lot of PNW teams last year.

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

FiM just listed their districts.

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

You can do it NEFIRST.

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

You can tell that it's far when Google Maps starts giving you airline quotes for getting there.

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

For the lazy, looks like the same llineup as last year plus a new one "#7" in Woodhaven High School, Flat Rock, Michigan. That's between Monroe and Detroit.

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

I'm a fan that Traverse City and Escanaba are not consecutive weeks. A couple teams didn't do both even though they were significantly the two closest events, so that shouldn't be an issue this year.

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

I'm a little disappointed that St. Joe and West Michigan are the same week. It looks like we will have to increase our travel budget and be sure we get signed up for Gull Lake this year. Seems like we can't get much of a spread in competition dates within our travel range this year. On the upside, we get to go somewhere we've never been before!

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

I'm starting to get nervous about what is...and what is not... already published for the Southeast. With NC and VA the same weekend (week 4)...obviously only one of those is possible. DC and Peachtree are both the following week - so not optimal.

Any anecdotal evidence or even plausible rumors about the expected dates for Smoky Mountains, Chesapeake, or anything within reasonable travel distance from North Carolina?

Might have to do Palmetto...love the area and the teams...just hate the thought of a week one regional!

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

Don't fear week 1. We loved doing a week 1 last year. It forced us to stick to our schedule. Also, all the other teams at the regional will be in the same boat as you.

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

I've personally attended the last two Palmetto Regionals...2013 as a "scout" and 2014 as an inspector...I just really like watching some competition before we play our first.

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

From a reliable source but he said it's still not confirmed, Smoky Mountain will be April 1-4

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

Looks like New England events are starting to be posted - as of 3:45pm EDT Still waiting on Indiana...

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

I think we're still missing for 26 returning regionals (assuming all regionals outside of Indiana are returning), on top of NE/Indiana dates and any new regionals that are popping up.

Initial event registration is in 23 days.

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

Week 1 2/25-2/28, 4 Events
Week 2 3/4-3/7, 5 Events
Week 3 3/11-3/14, 6 Events
Week 4 3/18-3/21, 6 Events
Week 5 3/25-3/28, 5 Events
Week 6 4/1 - 4/4, 0 Events

Week 6 events?

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

I'm seeing, in week 6 right now, PNW district champs, 3 FiM district events, and 1 MAR district event. So, no regionals listed (aside from the mention of an unconfirmed Smoky Mountain a few posts up).



Edit: and to avoid double-posting:

I see two Indiana events, in Indianapolis week 1 and Kokomo week 3, but no champs yet.

PPS. http://www.indianafirst.org/blog/art...site-selection lists Indiana's 3 districts and champs.

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

I've always wondered how an FRC in Memorial Gym (in Kokomo) would work out. (It's at my middle school/high school gym). I really wonder where all the pits are going to be.

Indiana districts
Indianapolis week 1
Kokomo week 3
Purdue week 4
Champs at warren central high school in Indy week 6

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

NEFIRST Schedule is up. 10 Total districts plus district Championship which has moved to WPI. No competitions during week 6!


Week 1:
NE District Event #1 Nashua South High School Nashua, NH USA 26-Feb - 28-Feb-2015

NE District Event #2 Wilby High School Waterbury, CT USA 27-Feb - 01-Mar-2015

Week 2:
NE District Event #3 Mass Mutual Center Springfield, MA USA 05-Mar - 07-Mar-2015

NE District Event #4 Reading High School - Field House Reading, MA USA 06-Mar - 08-Mar-2015

Week 3:
NE District Event #6 UMass Dartmouth - Tripp Athletic Center North Dartmouth, MA USA 12-Mar - 14-Mar-2015

NE District Event #5 Androscoggin Bank Colisee Lewiston, ME USA 12-Mar - 14-Mar-2015

Week 4:
NE District Event #7 UNH Durham - Whittemore Center Arena Durham, NH USA 20-Mar - 22-Mar-2015

NE District Event #8 Bryant University - Chace Athletic Center Smithfield, RI USA 20-Mar - 22-Mar-2015

Week 5:
NE District Event #9 Northeastern University - Matthews Arena Boston, MA USA 26-Mar - 28-Mar-2015

NE District Event #10 Hartford Public High School Hartford, CT USA 27-Mar - 29-Mar-2015

Week 7:
NE District Championship Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Worcester, MA USA 08-Apr - 11-Apr-2015

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

This year will be different for my team...we've never done a week 1 event or even anything before week 5 before. We're definitely not going to miss a district event in our own city. We usually go to Pine Tree for week 6 (which this year is a week 3 event to my surprise.) We're going to have to much, much better with time this year.

I guess the lack of a week 6 event is better for planning for the NECMP (my team didn't know we made it to the NECMP until only days before it because of Pine Tree and as a result we had only days to prepare.)

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the NECMP in Boston; I hoped it would have stayed there.

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

Yes the new schedule will be interesting. Glad to see more Saturday/Sunday alternatives for teams to compete at to avoid days out of school. I am also really excited to see the UNH event moving to the Whittemore Arena instead of the field house that wasn't the most ideal location.

I'll agree with you on the DCMP. Of all the regionals in New England the Boston Regional was one of the best run events I have been to. Being in Boston really made it feel like the hub for the NEFIRST district and it had a lot of great food choices in the venue and surrounding. It wasn't the easiest commute and doesn't have a the biggest selection of local hotels but it wasn't impossible. We commuted each day without a problem. I personally have reservations about WPI being able to adequately host such a big event considering the size of their facilities. They have hosted Battlecry for years which has had a higher number of teams in attendence in an overly crowded and chaotic pit area however Battlecry doesn't draw the same volume of attendees from the public and teams. I foresee a very crowded pit area which I'm not looking forward too. There is also no cell service in the pits which is a massive downside.

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

Huh, this is interesting. Some of the Washington PNW events have become Saturday-Sunday events. This is an unexpected change, but welcomed change. I guess this means I can volunteer event more :)

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

Since I was curious about how sub-optimal the placement of the PNW District Championship was -- and because I'm an engineer that likes to overdo things -- I decided to do some calculations...

I threw the addresses of all of the teams in the PNW district into a geographic midpoint calculator (www.geomidpoint.com). This calculates the "center of gravity" of all of the teams in the PNW (assuming equal weighting of each team).

The results weren't entirely surprising -- the DCMP site is over 200 miles from the average PNW FRC team.

The center of gravity of FRC in the PNW is about 7 miles due south of Mt. Rainer or (46.746897, -121.732176) if you're wanting to be exact. I say we just have it on top of Mt. Rainer next year -- snow game, anyone?

Here are some (straight line) distances from that center for reference:

• 51mi - FIRSTWA Headquarters, Kent, WA
• 65mi - Downtown, Seattle, WA
• 95mi - Memorial Colosseum, Portland, OR (this year's site)
• 200mi - Eastern Washington University, Spokane, WA (next year's site)

That means that the "average" PNW team will be travelling an extra 105mi to DCMP this year.

Here's the team map with addresses (from FIRSTWA):
PNW Team Map

Here's a Google map pinpoint of the location:
PNW District Team Midpoint

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

Although I personally wasn't at BattleCry this year, I've heard that the pits are much darker and smaller compared to more open pits such as the ones at Pine Tree and the district championship last year. Hopefully they'll find a solution to alleviate the crowding and overall poor condition of the pit area.

Last year's district championship had a great atmosphere and venue and almost felt as big as the FIRST Championship. It'll be difficult to recreate that in Worcester.

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

I'm almost certain the FIRSTWA staff knows that the new DCMP site is sub-optimal, but you have to consider how sustainable the Portland site was for them. FIRSTWA has to fundraise all the money for the event site every year.

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

If I recall correctly the swimming pool in Memorial Gym was removed and had been replaced with another basketball court. I believe that alleviates some space issues.

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

Why don't the districts have names? Are we moving to a Hunger Games style naming convention?

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

I'm not from New England so don't shoot me, but I think it'll be fine. FiNE seemed to have a very smooth first year (because it's run by a lot of intelligent grizzled ancients) and WPI has never put on even a mediocre event, much less a bad one. I imagine the goal is to move some money to a more needed area of the budget to help the program grow.

I think they earned a shot at it.

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

6 years later and still no one can get the district naming conventions formatted (or even spelled) correctly, so maybe they're just trying to make it as painfully basic as possible.

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

I would guess it was because the districts moved around a lot. They'd move, they'd change names. They'd sometimes not bother moving before changing names. As a Fantasy FIRST player, it was always tough keeping districts straight between years. Not to mention the late-adding districts (Michigan, I'm lookin' at you).

So, now they don't have to worry about that--just number 'em, and apply the names later, after they've settled down a bit if they want to.

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

Yuck.

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

Consistent names make for easier hunting in a long list of alphabetical events.

Additionally, when I went through the exercise of giving the events custom names last year, I never could come up with enough good names. The best one was still North Dumpling, IMO.

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

The area where the swimming pool used to be is now a gymnasium owned by the IU Kokomo Cougars. I'm pretty sure 40 10'x10' pits can fit in there, but without much room left over for inspection and spare parts and pit administration. We'll find a place for everything.

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

YES!!! WPI puts on some of the best robotics event in the country very very very very happy to see the district championship get moved to there, Also ecstatic to see an event in Waterbury week one that is like our home town event now, and the team loves week one event, best calendar NEFIRST could have possibly come up with

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

I'm happy to see the Week 6 break and the continued Sat-Sun format for a large number of Districts, I am disappointed however to see that some of the Districts were lost from last year. Only having two Districts in CT seems unbalanced to me, even with the additional district overall.

2015 District Allocation
CT - 2
MA - 4 + Championships
RI - 1
NH - 2
VT - 0
ME - 1

2014 District Allocation
CT - 3
MA - 2 + Championships
RI - 1
NH - 2
VT - 0
ME - 1

Number of Team in 2014
CT - 52
MA - 86
RI - 8
NH - 39
VT - 3
ME - 19

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

jwfoss-If it makes you feel any better, the Springfield event is only about 4 miles from the CT border.

Just saying...

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

Agreed. Its nice to see us condensed down to five weeks. It would have been nice to see the DCMP moved to week six but I think having a week between the events will help as teams will have a better idea of where they stand going into WPI so they have time to plan or research travel options for St. Louis.

I think the reasoning behind putting more events in MA aside from it having more teams is that most of the MA events are still close enough to border states it is still easy for teams to commute into the state on a daily basis. The Reading event is 30-45 minutes for teams in the SNH area. Similarly the new Springfield event (which technically the place of WPI) will be about 30 minutes for teams on the northern side of Hartford. Not a perfect solution but hopefully CT teams don't have to travel too far.

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

I agree with Foss, CT SHOULD have 3 events based on 2014 distribution.

207 teams in NEFIRST in 2014

CT 25% 3 Events
MA 42% 4 Events
RI 4% 0 Events
NH 19% 2 Events
VT 1% 0 Events
ME 9% 1 Event

Would be the logical distribution. When I get home I'll see if I can compute average commute distances to the nearest two districts. It's possible that, like most things in NE, state lines are kinda silly distinctions.


Edit: Commute distances aren't happening tonight. Data is loaded, I'm pretty sure of the query I need to run but I'm still wrapping my head around postgis.

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

Does it really matter? We are all NE FIRST. The only thing that should matter is that there are 10 events evenly distributed. Or at least pretty close to equal mileage to the concentrations of teams. ..."state lines are kinda silly distinctions."

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

State lines are, for the most part, silly distinctions. Except when it comes to some school travel policies having extra rules for out of state travel.

As I said, I'm going to do some digging on whether this distribution is actually better later (I hope).

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

Make sure you bring that up at FIRST's next "What Events Are In My Area" website design meeting, where you have to re-click e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g to find out what's happening in my multi-state District event :confused:

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

I think this is the important point. While events may have been shifted from one state to another, geographically I feel like NEFIRST has done a better job of spreading events out evenly around the highly FRC populated areas. We should look at New England as a whole and not arbitrary state boundaries.

The state travel rule is a factor, however for New England schools and FRC teams this is not a new requirement. The states here are small, its difficult to drive an hour in any direction in certain parts of New England without crossing a border. I think many teams and schools understand this constraint and know how to deal with it.

-Brando

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

Yes, however I thought that Autodesk paid for (and therefore got the naming rights) most of the venue cost? Portland was actually one of the cheaper venues available outside of a academic location.

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

Oh Lord. Michigan has been doing districts for six years. Did not realize it's been that long.

Heck, it's tough keeping track of them as a Michigan resident. The only one I'm ever consistently sure about is Kettering because that's on campus for me... There's something nice to be said for events that are five minutes from your room...

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

Agreed. There is also a difference between an overnight trip and a day field trip of which many NEFIRST teams can realistically commute to their out of state competitions. We commuted to the DCMP this past year and are planning to commute to both of our district competitions whether they are in New Hampshire or Massachusetts.

Let's also not forget that last year CT teams were some of the only teams able to compete at two-three competitions in their own state. Both New Hampshire events were week 1 and week 2 meaning all but two teams traveled out of state to compete or be forced to compete back to back in the beginning of the season when robots/teams usually aren't ready. Massachusetts was doable in weeks 3 and 5 but demand filled both of those events fast.

For those of us who are competing in the southern half of the district (CT, MA, RI, and SNH) keep in mind that there are plenty of teams in Vermont, Nothern New Hampshire, and Maine who are forced to travel hours to just get to one event.

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

Absolutely true, we we're spoiled in 2014, and I was hoping to see Groton back again in 2015.
I am nervous about continued turnover in event locations year to year.

I don't think its a matter of complaining vs what other teams/areas have, its just about how things are adjusting in general.

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

While I understand the concern, and fully appreciate that event organizers should focus on equity as much as possible, I can't help but enjoy the irony of New England and MAR teams who complain about district allocaiton. Compared the vast majority of FRC, we have it made.

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

This is a good concern. I also hope we don't see districts change too much year to year because its nice to know your events. Additionally its good for communities/teams/sponsors to build up their events locally and see them branch out with new teams in neighboring towns along with potential for more community support from local businesses. Its sad to see 195 and 2168 lose their home events.

One change I was happy to see was UNH is being held in the Whittemore Center Arena! Last year's venue worked but one hallway for robots to get to the field with a ramp and having to walk outside to get from the pits to the fields wasn't the most ideal.

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

ctrl + click, does the search in a new tab and leaves the search page open with all of your selections.

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

Absolutely true. It was so easy for us to go to our first two events (Southington and Hartford) because both are less than an hour away. I met teams in Southington abd Hartford who travelled hours to get to Connecticut so they wouldn't have to compete in week 1 and 2 events. I also heard that Maine teams had to travel hours to go to the closest event when we were at Pine Tree.

Anyway, I'm happy that my team now has a home event (though it isn't at our school.)

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

Not entirely sure if this was already mentioned, but:

Festival de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional - Week 4

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

This is very true, but unavoidable. For my team, Pine Tree was a minimum of a 2 hour drive, and any other event is upwards of 3 and a half hours. Unfortunately, the numbers aren't there for another Maine event, but who knows what the future will bring.

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

Very disappointed to see where the NECMP is being held. WPI simply will not be able to comfortably accommodate the number of teams competing.

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

Honestly, WPI was fairly close to full in 2013 when it had 40-ish teams. Pits were pretty much at capacity; there was some room in the stands left over but that was probably in large part due to the snowstorm forcing 6 teams to head home. I guess we'll see how the District Championship works out, but it will certainly be a challenge.

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

I find your comment most perplexing. First, I would assume that the NEFIRST committee is not just blind-picking events, but is doing homework on where to put them. It is their job to find a suitable location, taking into account a number of factors, and I would hesitate to assume they failed in this capacity.

Additionally, the facility held a 60 team, two day event only 4 months ago. The venue seating is likely large enough, and there is ample hotel space within 15 minutes of WPI.

Can you elaborate on how you think the facility would not be able to hold the event? What specifically do you think would make the facility unable to accommodate a DCMP?

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

Speaking as somebody with absolutely no horse in the race, so to speak, the issues I've seen in this thread mostly aren't whether it is possible to hold the event at WPI (I think the majority trust that the planning committee on this point), but rather it will be of the same quality as last year's championships. I can't speak to that either, as I only watched them online-- and from a computer screen both WPI and the NE champs last year looked like quality events. But we all know that there's a lot more to making an event pleasant both to experience and compete in than what the field looks like or what how good the webcast is.

I also think that the previous posts concerning WPI hosting the NE championships have been pretty clear, and it would make sense to directly address those concerns (but like I said, I don't have much of an opinion other than hoping that everyone can have the best possible event, so take my opinion for what it is: that of a vaguely interested and hardly invested bystander).

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

It's not really that the facility is unable to accommodate a DCMP, it's that it may not be the best option due to some very valid concerns brought up in this thread (which includes potential overcrowding in the pits).

In MAR, many have expressed that Lehigh is not a great venue for our DCMP for a few reasons, mainly its distance from the majority of MAR teams, despite being much cheaper than the previous venue at Temple. MAR has been very transparent and have stated they are actively considering moving our DCMP to a more suitable venue, like Princeton.

No venue is perfect, and each venue has its own list of pros and cons, Lehigh and WPI included. This is not a negative reflection on NEFIRST's part, or a failure for that matter, but some see it as a step in the wrong direction. Of course, I don't claim to know the factors behind the move, but I'm sure NEFIRST is doing its best to accommodate teams, and some factors are beyond their control.

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

Have you ever been to battlecry? WPI is not a great venue. The pits are pretty bad when you have lots of teams. From what I've heard, Boston was a really nice place, and WPI seems like a step down.

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

The big kicker for me is that we're moving from a D1 hockey arena of one of the top hockey schools in the country to a D3 basketball court at a school not known for its sports. Now, I haven't been to WPI for a robotics event (but I have been in the gym) but I just can't imagine an event there feeling as large as BU (of course however, that brings up another debate about what makes a good event/"big" event).

In regards to pits, is there a pitmap for Battlecry this year? I was only able to find the pit map for the district, and even that looked tight(of course, I'll gladly be proven wrong with a different layout).

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

Thank you guys for specifics! To be honest, what irritates me most is blanket statements made without specifics, or even general reasoning behind them. Brendan, Steven and others made great contributions to the discussion, airing their concerns for the new venue, which I think everyone can benefit from.

CD is a discussion forum, not a place to air dirty laundry. Let's discuss some stuff! Even if you don't have an answer, at least say what the problem is.

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

Considering his team is 190 (Gompei and the Herd, based at WPI), and his location is Worcester, MA, I would say there's a pretty good chance. There are nice things about people having filled out their information (if you want to be essentially anonymous, go ahead, but I'm at least more likely to trust someone that I can tell something about as opposed to someone that has almost no public info).

Blanket statements from someone who may or may not have any first hand knowledge and words it in a rather belligerent way basically sums up everything I try to avoid on Chief; place water on the fire, not more fuel.

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

I believe that what many of us are concerned about at WPI primarily is centered around the pit area of WPI. I've been to Battlecry since 2008 and have been a spectator at the WPI regional.

The renovation in 2012 really helped open up the spectator seating in 2013 making it a much more comfortable venue although the seating is a little shallow making the walking aisle a blockade for spectators but that's not a huge issue.

Food wise there isn't as much within immediate walking distance. There were several concession stands around the concourse of the arena in Boston plus many restaurants within two blocks. There are food choices around but less immediately inside the venue and again within several blocks of the Harrington arena. Even once you exit the campus you have to go a few blocks for a few restaurants and sub shops. In the past BC has done a BBQ on the first night with box lunches on day two coupled with a small snack area. I'd be interested to hear if there are plans to bring in extra food. Food trucks?! :)

The pits are a pretty awkward shape being a right triangle giving you a good amount of square footage just in a very odd formation for 10'x10" pits plus aisles. Over the past few events many teams had a hard time exiting their pits (sometimes through other pits so I've heard) and navigating through traffic since a majority of the teams are using a common aisle whereas a standard hockey arena can have three long aisles running front to back and one on each end connecting them to spread the traffic out.

To fit in the extra teams there is the small loading dock area which is where our pit was setup in 2013 (this year we were in the main room) which hasn't had the best of setups over the past two years to again fit a 10'x10' pit plus walking area. Last year we had to keep our pit stuff shallow so carts could maneuver around us and this year they had a new layout that looked tighter.

There is no cell service in the pits which is a huge downside unless you are one of the lucky higher numbered teams in the loading dock area which gets cell service.

The low ceilings in both rooms add to the feeling of claustrophobia and make it feel smaller/louder. The only other event I've competed at with ceilings so low was Bash at the Beach when the pits were in hallways.

I have big concerns for the pits being able to handle a large event like the District Championship. I know team wise WPI has hosted a 60 team event however very few teams had all of their team members plus families in attendance. There were no school tours/public audience like we saw this past year. We had a group of 30 school kids outside our pit for 15 minutes one day. With one common aisle at the DCMP any crowd will shutdown a majority of the pits and the main walkway to the field.

Travel wise WPI is a much better venue to host teams. Hotels in and around Boston were very expensive and far away from the venue. We ended up canceling our hotel reservation because we were staying 30 minutes away (where reasonable prices were) and we decided that leaving an hour and a half earlier to beat the traffic into Boston (another plus about WPI) was worth saving some money.

Load in will be easier at WPI!

I do not mean to come off sounding negative towards NEFIRST, WPI, or the volunteers who have put on Battlecry/WPI Regionals/District. They have all been fantastic events like no other I've attended. I'm just mostly concerned about what happens when the robots aren't on the field and the traffic jam in the tiny pits since the DCMP attracts more bodies in the door compared to what WPI has seen. There are many positives to moving the venue to WPI.

Just some thoughts and I know the event committee will do their best to tackles these problems however I know many of them cannot be fixed due to the venue itself.

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

Just to add this to the existing discussion, there was some discussion about the pros/cons of WPI as a venue in this thread a little while ago.

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

I wouldn't worry about the "feel" of the event at all. WPI knows how to put on a show, and have been doing so for years and years. They have the support of WPI Lens and Light for A/V, and the atmosphere in the arena is every bit as good as, if not better than, at a hockey arena. And WPI may not be known for their traditional sports, but they are certainty known for their robotics programs and activities. Ever since the expansion to both sides of the bleachers, there haven't been any problems with seating. Even before then, WPI put on 40+ team battlecry events, and always seemed to squeeze a little more out of their bleachers. I'm sure it'll be fine.

In regards to the pits, for battlecry, the loading dock area is also used for pit space. Even so, things were rather cramped this past battlecry, with few walkways and some very convoluted paths through the pits for some teams. WPI has tried a lot of things out in regards to pit arraignement in the past few years, and I am sure they have further innovations up their sleeves. Perhaps moving some pits underneath the bleachers, or even upstairs into the (absolutely phenominal) practice area would help alleviate some of the space concerns.

Some upsides to WPI as a venue that no one here is talking about:

• Like boston, a location very central to most NE teams
• Donated venue, which saves NE FIRST money and allows them to put it directly towards the teams, improving other events, and other things we'd all love to see
• The best practice setup in FIRST outside of the Championship. The spare NE field, elements and all, is fully set up in the upstairs basketball court (accessable through a rather large elevator), along with several traditional wooden quarter-field setups.
• Excellent onsite machine shop
• No restrictions on food brought into the venue

For reference, I've been to every WPI FRC event since Battlecry 8 as either a competitor or a spectator.

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

I do have my concerns about DCMP being held at WPI this year and the venue' capability, mainly concerning pit space. With that said, I want to re-stress what Francis mentioned here. I know the NE FIRST leadership took choosing where to have DCMP very seriously, and weighed several options and venues. They looked at all aspects of choosing a venue, both in the venue itself, the local volunteer support, and the surrounding area resources (hotels, attractions, etc.) They certainly did their homework.

If things end up not working out to satisfactory conditions, I'm sure district leadership will look to make changes. Until then though, give NE FIRST the benefit of a doubt, and give WPI a chance to prove themselves.

At the end of the day, (for NE or elsewhere), whether your happy with this years schedule or not, it is set in stone. Focus on making upcoming season as great as you can. To those behind the scenes who aren't as happy with where things fell, just focus on giving the teams the best experience possible. After all, in the end thats what matters. :)

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

Francis is the Director of Fun for Battlecry@WPI. It's one of the things in FRC that has earned all of its positive reputation, imo.

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

For reference the pit map for the 2014 WPI District event with 40 teams in attendance is located here thanks to a post by David Givens in a linked thread. With 40 teams with 9x9 pits the pit is fine although no one prefers a 9x9 pit.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/52xf9sc3ud...2014_Final.pdf

To fit the additional teams from Battlecry that was planned to be a 60 team event (ended up being 59) the empty space along the top wall is filled to add more pits and the space in the loading dock was used (roughly 10 teams give or take IIRC). The loading dock is located down a short hallway off the to the top left where it says, "Pit Admin". The pit size was also slightly smaller than 9x9.

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

Ignoring those silly distinctions the distribution actually looks really nice. The really remote teams (Northern Maine, Vermont) have a hike but, otherwise, it's not too bad looking.

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

The UMASS (Dartmouth, MA) District is seems out of the main densities but otherwise the placements look excellent based on actual team distribution.

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

It does look a little out of the way but it is within 1-1.5 hours for teams in the Worcester/Boston/Rhode Island area which is close to how far we traveled to get to events at UNH, NEU, WPI, and BU. Maybe 2015 rookie registration will add more teams in that corner of the region?

Either way nice work NEFIRST getting events close to teams! Hopefully we can see a northern NH/VT event soon.

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

I figured this would end up being the case. Unsurprising, this makes the district placement more logical than basing it off of team population. Can you do a map for the districts last year?

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

With 2014 teams or 2013 teams? I can do it tonight in either case.


On a related note, does anyone actually know how the MAR region is defined? I know NJ,DE and some parts of PA but I have no idea where that boundary is. Halp?

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

I believe that up to about Harrisburg is where the MAR region ends.

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

If someone can confirm this I'm fairly certain I can do similar maps for each district. Or, if someone has a list of the various teams I can filter by that too...

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

Here's a PA map delineating the counties participating in MAR when they first drew the line.

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.