Let's talk about venues...
 

So, with event info slowly coming out, I figure it's appropriate to discuss/gather opinions about venues.

What's the best venue you've been to?
What matters in a venue (ie. size, 'glam', accessibility, etc...)?


Also, the main question I'm wondering about, with the further shift to districts, should a lesser 'production quality' of an even be expected at the region/district/state championship?

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

Best venue I have been to is the Memorial Coliseum here in Portland. Its a basketball court with a conference hall about 100 feet away from the floor. So we have the pits in that separate room, and the field sits right in the middle of the court with tons of visibility and seating around the entire thing. During Eliminations, all 24 teams bring the pits out to the field and sit around the outside because there is enough room.

What matters too me is that there is good spectator room and visibility, and pedestrian access from the pits to the stands is not super long. That's the biggest problem with worlds is that the pedestrian walk is really long compared to the robot walk.

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My favorite is Goerge R. Brown here in Houston where Lone Star is held. The pit area is big enough for 64+ teams to all have a corner pit. The pits are setup in blocks of 4 which makes it really easy to navigate and limits congestion. The stands are pretty big and no one sits behind the scoring table so the VIPs/Speakers have a pretty easy task of looking at the two sections of the bleachers and don't have to turn around at all. Discovery Green is right outside and a great place to eat lunch with your team.

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Air conditioning...

Usually it's not a choice though

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We had a couple of years of MSHSL where there was no air conditioning in Williams arena-- it was brutal.

During the regular season in MN we tend to hope for heating though...

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At the Oklahoma Regional they hold the regional on the floor where ice hockey is played. Because of the expense of melting/relaying the ice, they keep it there and instead roll a big tarp out to cover it. The refrigerator is still running of course, to keep the ice solid beneath our feet. Needless to say it is a bit chilly on the field

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Orlando is my favorite. Really feels like a big school event when you're on a real college sports floor!

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I haven't been to a lot of venues (7 by my count, 10 if you count offseasons) but my favorite is the UIC Pavilion in Chicago (Midwest Regional) followed by the DECC in Duluth.

What makes the UIC Pavilion awesome? Let me count the ways:

Bathroom and bubbler (yes, bubbler) are a straight shot up the stairs from the pits
Stadium seating goes down to ground level giving you a nice sitting area and alternate entrance/exit if you happen to have a pit on the edge
Large screen at the back of the Pavilion shows the house stream so you can watch alliance selections and other stuff from the pit
One of the house vendors actually sells good food! (the one of to the right when you enter the main doors)

I'm gonna miss it :(

Duluth is awesome because of the skywalk system between all the hotels and the DECC. They also had a drink/snack vendor in our hall of pits in 2013. The super high seating in the arena leaves a little to be desired but as I'm normally in the pit it doesn't bother me much. You also get to watch curling!

The venues I've been to include:
U.S. Cellular Arena (Milwaukee, being renamed I believe. The circus seems to come to the venue every single eyar 1-2 weeks before the regional leaving a lingering animal smell in the side halls :) )
UIC Pavilion (Chicago)
One of the Twin Cities venues (wherever North Star was in 2010)
The venue at Pitt (3 flights of stairs between the pits and where we sat in the stands. Not one of my favorites! :) )
The DECC (Duluth)
Champs in Atlanta (GWCC/GeorgiaDome)
Champs in St. Louis (Edward Jones Dome/America's Center)

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Best venue, easily, was the Naval Academy, back when the Chesapeake regional was there. It's a shame that they moved it. Annapolis is such a nice town.

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To echo this Orlando has so much that is great about it. Parking is awesome, food is plentiful and cheap, so much open space just outside the arena, plus it is in Orlando just think of the team bonding options.

To get into more details it is held in the CFE(formerly UCF) Arena which has a capacity of just under 10,000. The pits are in the old UCF Arena (Which used to host the event) which is connected to the new arena for very easy access. Because the pits are in the old arena there is plenty of space and congestion is not to big of an issue. The field utilizes both the jumbo screen that most regionals have as well as utilizing the jumbo displays used at the basketball games meaning during eliminations (when we are all stuck behind the curtain) you can still clearly see the matches going on. The seating is also interesting as the seats that have the best view of the field are standard seats so if your team arrives late and is stuck behind an alliance station wall you have the luxury of sitting in the comfy padded premium seats. :D

Orlando/Florida was my first FIRST competition so it holds a special place in my heart and I do love the constant stream of fresh new teams attending every year.

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I gotta plug Long Beach Sports Arena. 66 teams, and if event organizers wanted to could probably hold another 6 without too much venue stress. (Volunteer stress, on the other hand... not gonna go there. Ditto for schedule stress.) The first year L.A. was held in Long Beach, the pits were 15x10, for 60 teams. (It was a definite improvement over the 8x8 pits the year before, thanks to being double-booked with a large water tank in the venue...) Access is relatively easy; stadium food is, well, stadium food, but if you make it over to the other side of the conference center next door there's lots of decent food, if a touch on the slow side. Oh, and if you've got lots of extra time there's a few "major" places within a 15-minute drive or so, and a bunch more within an hour.

Now, "best" isn't necessarily "coolest", which is a tie between running a demo at JPL and SVR '99 in the blimp hangar. ;)


What I'd be looking for in a venue: enough space for all teams and spectators, with access and power as appropriate, and enough food for everybody within "easy" access.

As far as the "production quality" question, I think yes... and no. The quality should stay high, especially the higher up the competition you get. But it's a good idea to look around for different providers from time to time, both to help the bottom line and to bring something different in, or to increase the quality if needed. But I'm not sure that keeping the same level just to keep the same level is a good idea.

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I do agree but my opinion is biased since I have only been to 4 venues. And I've been the UIC Pavilion the most.
:)

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Agreed. The Coliseum seems like it was pretty much designed for FRC. The pit-field trip is all of 2 minutes, there's plenty of seating, and the Chairman's interview room (specific, I know, but it's the little things) is not even 10 yards from the pits, yet in a soundproof room. I wouldn't want it anywhere else in Portland, or the NW for that matter.

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I feel sad because I don't think we are going back there for District Champs in 2015. I loved the place, they let me rollerblade on the field side which made my footage look killer compared to previous events where you could see the bobbing of my stride. The price however is probably way too high for WFR with all the growth they are experiencing right now.

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I heard that too, and it was really disappointing when I heard. I loved the coliseum, and it is EASILY the best venue in the PNW and within the top 5 of FRC I'd guess, I hope we do get to come back, because it really is a great venue.

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I hear the 2012 venue for the Dallas regional was pretty awesome but I wasn't around so if someone wants to pitch their opinion on that feel free.

I loved the OKC since there is just so much room! We were able to pull in our trucks inside the venue to unload. It was great! Plus the field was a little chilly since we were playing on the ice. The pits were so spacious! 10X15!!!! OKC we love you!

Also the Austin Convention Center for the TRR this year was phenominal! It was just so large and spacious plus the meeting rooms were great for just about everything! If their ever is a vote to move the Alamo regional I will definitely vote for the Austin Convention Center.

I also hear ST.Louis is quite nice, maybe we will figure out next year?

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Where have you heard that it's moving to? This is the first time that I've heard about this, and while I hope it's not true, I have a feeling that it might be.

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My favorite venue is the Gordon Filedhouse on the RIT campus. If hosts FLR.
It has the seating capacity of an arena with the floorspace of a convention center.I have not seen anything else like it in FIRST.

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Only downside is that 1/3rd of those seats are unusable with the giant mob of people standing in front of the field on Saturday. Otherwise easily one of the best venues I've competed at.

WPI's layout in 2013 (and on?) was also pretty good; a lot of bleacher space going way up, big pit area, etc.

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Its probably going to be at Eastern Washington University, the former home of the Spokane regional.

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Orlando is my personal favorite in season venue mostly for the reasons stated. Overall though IRI has the best venue as it takes nearly everything Orlando has and improves on it. It has better lighting than orlando, SFL or champs, supports 70 teams with a full practice field and the pits are not very far from the field.

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Two of my favorite venues are Lawrence North High School, and the old Armory at Purdue. Both of them have filled close to capacity with great people every time I have been there.

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WPI, especially since the renovation.

Comfortable bleachers on both sides, natural light filtering in, great outdoor spaces to relax and play in right outside, terrific food choices.

Production by the WPI Sound & Light crew is outstanding. BattleCry is one of the oldest and best Off Season competitions. You can see how creative they are at 4:30 in this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yWq...tH3hUljz8wc_Vw

Agannis Arena at Bostin University is pretty cool (Hockey rink underneath) with its steep seats and close pits, but parking is not as much fun.

The inaugural district event at Hartford Public High School was also nice. A great open space with tons of natural light filtering in (though it washed out the projection screens), and the pits were right next to the field

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Old School, The field house at The Naval Academy.

Modern era, RIT and Hartford Public.

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My other favorite venues.
Harrington Auditorium (Battlecry @ WPI). Best Pits in FIRST. Period.
Much better use of space. Need to figure out what to do with the floor covering. It's very dangerous.

Hershey Centre (GTR West up to 2013) the only arena setup that got it right far as I'm concerned. They put it in the middle of the arena instead of slamming tight up one side. The seperate pits work fine though waterever the heck is under that bridge badly needed to be cleaned up. It smelled like something died under there!

Georgia Dome (Championships 2004 til 2010) Best venue the championships ever had. The pit space was ideal. The courtyard was a nice place to stay. The walk was a little far but not awful like it was in Houston. And there was stuff to do nearby.

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I'm saddened that the Crossroads Regional at Rose-Hulman isn't continuing. The pit area was huge, and even with a full-size practice field there was still plenty of room for random recreation. The arena access was convenient. The seating capacity was perhaps a little low, though, and some teams told me getting food was a bit of a hassle (as a volunteer, I didn't have that problem).


I notice that both of those locations have an auditorium with a stage and comfortable seating.


Without the amazing people, the Purdue armory would drop closer to the bottom of the list. As a venue, it was pretty poor.

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I've been to the majority of Regionals in Canada and the venue I like the most is the University of Waterloo.

They have the pits in the same large gymnasium as the field, separated by the giant projection screen, making the walk between the stands and the pits very short. They have loading doors right into the pit area. The food court is maybe a minute walk away from the gym.

The loading area is in a small parking lot, which can be problematic, but is the only issue I have with the venue.

All around, a great venue with a very helpful and supportive group of volunteers who do a great job every year!

If I'm putting in my two cents for favourite Champs venue, having only been to two (Atlanta & St. Louis), I'd have to choose St. Louis. Better loading, shorter walking distances, shorter robot commutes to the field, and better selection of food around downtown.

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One of my favorite venues is the GVSU field house for the West Michigan District. It has plenty of seating, enough area in the pits, plus they pit rookie teams around more experienced teams. Another plus is that there are nice bathrooms.

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I'd have to disagree with the Armory, and I'm a Purdue Alum. While I love going back to my alma mater, I the bathroom situation is a dealbreaker. I do like the concept of smaller venues though. Events in them tend to be more exciting and have more energy than the events in large arenas.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I'd definitely have to say the DECC in Duluth. Where else can you find 120 teams under one roof? Two regionals, happening at once, with pits a short 10 second walk down the hall from each other and fields positioned back to back. The seats are a little high... but I've only ever been up in them once so it doesn't bother me much. Plus the hotel I usually stay at has free smores for us when we get back after a long day at the event!

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

Orlando was also my first regional, and what a place to be for a first regional! Seeing teams from the top 5% of FRC, playing with over 60 teams in a place like orlando, AND good food! Also the venue's walk isn't too bad, and the AC worked wonderfully. *Florida can get VERY hot :p * The best thing about Orlando is, no doubt, the fact that the venue is large enough for so many teams. Ample parking and no clogged up entrance to the game field? Perfect!

The place is also really refreshing, because the pits are very brightly lit, and very well laid out. At times, SFL felt not only cramped, but extremely stressful. With Orlando, this was not an issue!

*Jimmy Jones for food means no huge lines or waiting time if getting lunch :D *

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I'd have to say my favorite venue is the one in my hometown and/or is the site of the first ever regional I attended and/or a venue I regularly attend for a regional.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

Why you make it seem like it is wrong to regularly attend your favorite regional venue :rolleyes:

While I do admit my favorite does fall into the categories listed in the full quote, my first regional (though in a new space so technically a different venue), it is not my hometown regional (that being South Florida), and If I am being honest I would not rank either of the South Florida Venues in my top 5 (The First was way to small and the second is beyond expensive). My 2&3 are venues I have only been to once* for a competition (Peachtree at the GWCC, and IRI at Lawrence North Highschool).

Sorry I understand the point you are trying to make but I have enjoyed hearing everybody describe quirks and good things that I never knew about their regionals and feel that you may dissuade people from posting about them because they fall into your 3 categories

*I competed at champs in Atlanta which housed pits and other things in the building but not the competition

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

It's probably worth noting that I omitted that my second favorite venue is one that hasn't hosted an FRC event at least 3 years and my third is one that is universally popular for reasons outside of the actual venue.

I never said it was wrong to like what you like. In fact, my two favorite venues are among the 4 closest to where I live.

What I am asking is, how else would you expect this thread to go?

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I came here to say this as well. I always try to make it out to the West Michigan District even if my team isn't there. I just absolutely love the venue, the teams, and the people.

As for smaller district venues, I was a huge fan of Parker Middle School (where the Howell District was this year). I was volunteering on the field, but there seemed to be plenty of seating and the pits seemed good as well.

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My favorite venue would have to be the Rose-Hulman Sports and Recreation Center that hosts the Crossroads Regional.

I love the fact that there is seating on both sides of the field and easily accessible standing room at the top of the bleachers. The pits and practice area were extremely large and the walk is short and nice from the parking lots.

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I have to say, the best venue is the George R Brown in downtown Houston. It's one of the largest convention centers in the US and has several halls capable of hosting a large regional. Even though I have never been with my team, i visited for the 2012 Lone Star Regional. I must say, the venue did a fine job. Another HUGE selling point is the fact that there are several hotels and numerous restaurants in walking distance around the Discovery Green Park. Downtown Houston is an excellent spot to host a regional. For more info, just search for a nice map of downtown. It's high on our list.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I agree that this is the obvious way for this thread to go, but it does actually carry some information. You can figure out which other venues people are likely to have been to by looking at their team number and thebluealliance.com.

For reference, here's the list of venues that I've been to:
Portland's Memorial Colesium
Las Vegas's Thomas & Mack Center
Georgia Dome
Seattle's Century Link Events Center
St. Louis's Edward Jones Dome
Central Washington University's Nicolson Pavilion
Old Oregon City High School gym
Wilsonville High School gym
Oregon State University's Gill Coliseum

I really enjoyed the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, the home of UNLV basketball. It was a really nice venue; the only downside was that there wasn't a whole lot of extra room to put more teams. And while it doesn't really have anything to do with the venue itself I thought the events held there were always well run and you got to see an interesting selection of teams from across the country.

Other northwest teams have mentioned the Memorial Coliseum. That was the first venue I went to. It has a lot of upsides: it's a good size; it's comfortable for spectators; it has easy parking; good accoustics; pit setup is ideal for 60+ teams; it's easy to get to being right off I-5; it's centrally located not only within the Portland area but within the PNW district. If you were looking for a place to house a regional it definately checks all the boxes. But for some reason it's my team's cryptonite.

In 2007 we ranked first on Galileo after qualifying, but in Portland we were 5-3 in at the same point. In 2013 we were ranked 4 in Galileo after qualifiers but in 2-7 in Portland. This year we won two district events and were finalists in a third and then proceded to the district championship in Portland where we went 3-9. The joke around the team is that we should invite our sponsors to see us compete at any event held elsewhere.

Anyway, I'm still a little surprised to hear that the PNW championship would be in Spokane. Of all the decent-sized cities in the northwest this might be the most out of the way for teams. I know the travel to Portland was getting on 4057's nerves last year; I wonder how they'll like their new nine hour drive.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

To be quite honest, I don't really like any of the three NorCal regional venues. I haven't been to any of the SoCal ones to judge for myself, but I heard the Lomg Beach venue is pretty good.

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The Hershey Centre is good: thousands of comfortable seats, and room for up to two full fields on the arena floor with plenty of space for queues and good (but long) sightlines. It's a hockey arena, which accounts for its capacity, and the smell in certain corners. When the event takes place on ice, the floor can be too cold for comfort; when the floor is drained, the concrete is fine. Ever since the renovations several years ago, having pits in one of the practice arenas has been very convenient, without disrupting the local hockey schedule too much. There's sufficient room for over 70 teams in this configuration. Ample parking is right outside the venue, and is free.

Waterloo is nice, because the pits are right beside the field, and the steep angle of the seating makes for a good view all over the arena. It would make a very good district venue...but it's at the lower limit of capacity for a regional, mainly because of the very limited space for pits. You can cram 30 teams in there, but with compromises on pit and practice space. The seating is composed of old-fashioned folding bleachers, which aren't the most comfortable things all day long, and external power is needed for the pits.

The SJSU Event Center isn't fantastic. The proximity of the main pits and field is nice, but the auxiliary pit is poorly ventilated and quite confined by comparison. It needs about 150 more seats, but they can't be unfolded (because the field wouldn't fit—it's already quite tight), or can't be usefully occupied (because they overlook the pits).

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I'm sorry, but I so disagree with WPI. I love the A/V setup they have, and how BattleCry always ends up being a big sprawling-across-campus event, but it just seems like such an awkwardly-shaped venue to me.

Disclaimer: I'm a grad student there, so I see campus life a lot and use that gym area (where one floor is marked as 'robot pits' all year round) but I've also only been to BattleCry and not the actual WPI district.

When I went to BattleCry this May, the pits were cramped and tiny. I was immensely uncomfortable just walking through them. Is there a difference between the pit layout for BC vs. for the district? I sincerely hope someone can prove me wrong on this.

My favorite venue, of course, will always be Epcot. Sorry, I had to.

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I would have to say that the Purdue Armory is the worst venue I have been to. That being said, the wonderful volunteers make it an amazing event.

I love the Knoxville Convention Center home of the Smoky Mountain Regional.

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I'm glad you said it first. I was at BC as well and it was a miserable experience. The pits are humid and have worse cell signal than some faraday cages I've been in. They are also DARK and feel oppressive.

The stands are sprawling and I feel like I was a mile away while watching the matches.

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Calgary. The Olympic Oval could hold several regionals and is a beautiful facility. Food services are great. If anything, the individual pits aisles are too wide - too much walking to get from one side to the other. Each pit was also 10' x 15'. Machine shop was very well placed. Parking is a challenge.

Ruckus. The retired armoury is super. Lots of room

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Pit map is from the 2014 WPI District Event here. https://www.dropbox.com/s/52xf9sc3ud...2014_Final.pdf

While it wasn't quite as bad, a 40 team district is still really at the max comfort level for the venue in my opinion. BattleCry last year was beyond the limits of what it could handle. The pits were sprawling, overcrowded, and there were some pits that had no easy way of accessing from the pits entrance. Plus there is no way teams will ever have a 10X10 pit at that venue.

Don't get me wrong, WPI people know how to run an event, and put on a show. However at the end of the day, thats representative of WPI's stellar planning committee, and LnL, not the venue itself. I agree with Libby in that I don't see why people think it is such a great venue. The fact that rumors have been flying around that some larger events will be moving to WPI does have me slightly concerned...

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Already mentioned in this thread, but I agree -

Lone Star/George R Brown Convention Center - I'm a big proponent of convention centers hosting regionals - lots of hotels, usually places to walk to, lots of space for pits and practice.

Crossroads/RHIT Fieldhouse - This might rival the convention center concept - the fieldhouse has a huge area for pits, with the track making a natural warning track, so that people walking through the area don't need to be hassled about safety glasses. Also, the field is totally enclosed, with a wall between it and the pits, and just one notch too small for the number of teams there, which means that it gets loud.

Not mentioned yet -
Bayou regional ca 2007 / New Orleans Convention Center - Huge area for practice, walkable to hotels and restaurants. Walkablity is nice, because it leads to more interactions between teams outside of the venue, and just simplifies logistics. I think they may have moved this to get the HS students away from Bourbon Street, though.

San Antonio Regional / Henry B Gonzales Convention Center - Same convention center benefits, big pits, lots of seating, downtown in an amazing city, etc, etc. This place could be a future contender for Championships.

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Bayou is now at the Lake Pontchartrain Center (http://www.pontchartraincenter.com) in Kenner closer to the airport. It is still a fantastic venue and has a great hotel attached next door.

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Speaking in generalizations, the logistics of convention centers is great (lots of space, nearby hotels & entertainment, etc), the atmosphere and crowd experience is traditionally lacking compared to basketball/hockey arenas. Arenas tend to have more seating, more comfortable seating, better sightlines, and have a more amped atmosphere. There are exceptions either way (I'd take the DC convention center over the Patriot Center in a heartbeat), but after attending quite a few events, I'd say it's a pretty good rule of thumb.

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^this.

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I didn't mention the Pits, which are not great by any stretch of the imagination.
But the production is top notch.
When I was referring to the renovation, I meant that they could use both sets of bleachers.
I remember when they revealed the plans for the new Sports and Recreation Center with its "Robot pits" and I was quite pleased. In reality, not so good.

I find the stands to be very amenable. There is room to dance in the space between the upper and lower bleachers. There not a mile away (Sig Figs) but there is more space between the field and the stands, which is nice compared to some venues where the audience traffic can be difficult.

Miserable seems a strong descriptor here, but I would love to hear about the other Faraday cages you have been in. :)

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I liked the Connecticut Convention Center before New England went to districts. Though, my favorite venue would have to be the Agganis Arena in Boston (team was there for the NECMP back in April.)

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I feel we have very different goals when it comes to bleachers. I like to watch robots not dance. I feel that the shallow angle of the bleachers, while helpful for dancing, is detrimental to all seats being good for watching robots.

Other faraday cages I've been in were the room 79 used to do kickoff in at Honeywell. While not TECHNICALLY a faraday cage it was fairly effective at removing all cell signal by virtue of its construction. My old lab in Tampa had the same issue. That lab used rebar reinforcement with 18" on a side squares for REASONS I'm fairly certain Honeywell used similar construction for similar reasons. We kept the door open in hope of having some cell signal in there. However, closing the door removed all signal.

Miserable is, in my opinion, the appropriate description. I found the pits to be humid (I lived in FL for 3 years, still found them humid), cramped, dark, echoey, and reeking of chlorine. I've been in a LOT of venues, I can't think of another venue that has worse pits than WPI.

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Ramp Riot at the home school for Miss Daisy. It has two levels, pits and field at the lower level, upper level has great seating and close up views of the activity. The pits are well spaced so you can move around. Bonus is lots of bathrooms close by and the concession stand is 50 feet from the arena door.

Second favorite is the Naval Academy at Annapolis. It's huge, lots of seating, great pit space. Plus it's on the Academy Grounds. Plus it's in Annapolis, with all the great places to eat. Hotel space was good also, with lots of inexpensive rooms since it was "off season" for Annapolis.

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I liked the Virginia Regional's layout at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond. There are three sections of pits that hug three of the sides of the playing field yet the venue is large enough to have plenty of good seating on the remaining side. The size of the arena makes it feel a lot less cramped than other venues. SBPLI at Hofstra has a similar layout but is a tad smaller.

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Thank you for the thoughtful response.

My favorite Faraday Cage is the one next to the Van de Graaff generators at the Boston Museum of Science. I would pay to sit in there during a discharge.

While "dancing" isn't the goal of FIRST, I have been to some events at WPI where the energy was quite high.

I guess for comparison, we could look at Agannis Arena, where the steep angle of the seating makes for great viewing, but half of the teams are relegated to the end zones, where the field configuration blocks the view.
WPI doesn't have this issue.

I'll still pick WPI, though some of that is due to nostalgia.

Pits = miserable, yeah, but I prefer below average. (Sig Figs)

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SFL was the smallest regional that I have been to and I liked that the seating was really close to the action - arenas don't have the luxury of positioning the seating.
One of the coolest parts about the venue was that it was hosted in a convention center at the same time as other events - which meant that there were passersby who could just walk in and see what was happening. I have unconfirmed reports that people were skipping out on their seminars to watch robots instead. It was one of the few venues that naturally brought in new people.

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I'm doing this in math.

Convention Centers:
Knoxville Convention Center > DECC (Duluth, MN) > Javits Center

Arenas/Colleges:
Gordon Fieldhouse (RIT) = Wolstein Center (Cleveland) > Agganis (Boston) > Cal U (pittsburgh, ex location) > Sun National Bank Center (Trenton, used to be Sovereign Bank) > Temple U > Kettering U> Petersen Events Center (Pittsburgh) > Drexel U ≈ Rutgers

High Schools:
Monty Madness, I'm biased > Mt Olive > Ramp Riot = Horsham > Clifton

But lets be honest, the real winner is Epcot.
Champ Venues:
Epcot on a Launch Day > Epcot > Edward Jones (although I heard the Rams are lobbying for a new venue) > Georgia Dome > Astrodome ≈ Older Champ Venues

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I think we all miss leaky creaky Halsey Field House back in the day. However they renovated Halsey making it no longer an option with the space needed. But such great memories and so many stories.

We do continue to have FIRST events on the Yard. We will be having at least 2 days of FTC competitions this year and had a lot of mids helping last year. And just like I did for 5 years of helping with the Chesapeake Regional, I still get a room above Chick and Ruth's deli on Main St.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

That's right. You found the only thing to beat Epcot.

I have the best memories of that. Opening ceremonies just STOPPED, and we all turned away from the stage to watch. Absolute silence until we couldn't see it anymore. (Or at least, that's how I remember it.)

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I guess I'm the only one who didn't really like the Halsey Field House/Annapolis reigonal as a venue.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

To get back to some of the oringal questions:

Depends on what you are really looking for out of an event. At the district level, accessibility is key. As you get up in level, the 'glam' becomes more imporant. Personally I think the 'glam' factor is always something that needs to be looked at in a venue, however I know that is something not everyone would agree with me on.

As we make the shift, in my opinion we should be expecting, and holding district leadership to keep the same production quality at the district championship events that we have seen at regional events.

With that said, I don't think we will see that based on trends. District Championship events year 1 are basically run and executed as a regional event. However year 2, HQ stops supporting those events in the way they did the first year, loosing things such as ShowReadyEvents, Sargent Productions, and other things that keep the production value high.

If you look at both Michigan and MAR, production value of their championship events dropped drastically after year 1, with MAR taking a bigger drop. We'll see where things go with PNW and NE this year. I don't know much about PNW, but as for NE, I see things heading in a similar, but sad direction.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

No, FiM for the DCMP actually increased production quality from the 2009 one.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

OOOH, the one thing I love talking about on these fourms.

PNW has only had one District Championship so far, but since we have kept our knowledge fresh in our minds by going out of state to IRI, I can safely say that our production quality won't take a big hit at all. I've been working on finding ways to make the show a bit more interactive as we hit delays such as the dual screen dancing and the thought bubbles that they pulled off at Einstein this year.

Personally, I believe that all district champs should have high production quality in all aspects. A/V is quite possibly the hardest to pull off, but is required to make FIRST more accessible to outsiders. Hopefully FIRST adopts some standards to help make the A/V better at all events, districts and regionals alike.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

I agree with you completely, but the problem is, some districts (MAR is my experience) just straight-out won't place a priority on A/V and media because it's expensive.

We can't even get our DCMP in a convenient-to-teams venue because it's 'too expensive' for the district committee, and I don't expect them to jump on any sort of 'frivoulous' extras like that. I hear they purchased a new camera system, but that doesn't help much if there's no broadcasting standard for them to follow.

To your point about FIRST adopting standards - since the PNW crew seems to be really spearheading the A/V and webcast revolution, why not try contacting FIRST about helping to create those standards?

There isn't anyone at HQ (that I know of) who's specifically got a background or experience in broadcast media, so maybe some outside suggestions/guidelines would be a nice thing for them to have on hand.

I spent some time with the new VP of Digital Engagement at the Supplier's Summit this year, talking about quite a few things in this realm. There's definitely the desire for changes but, as we all know, FIRST HQ is a really small group of people and they just couldn't possibly get everything that they want accomplished with just their staff. Reaching out to offer wouldn't hurt.

Re: Let's talk about venues...
 

"Creating standards for A/V" is on my list of things to do while helping out at FIRSTWA, but it isn't the highest right now. Reaching out to FIRST was something I hadn't thought of. I'll see what I can do about that.

We started a document to give a deeper understanding of our system to outsiders since we were going to need to train more people on how to help with the A/V setup at events, some of us can't be everywhere at once. We were hoping to have this document in a presentable form at IRI, but it was far from what you would expect out of a white paper. It required an experienced member to give a verbal explanation for each section.

Taking from that document, I intend on working with our team on defining some standards that should be possible at every event that we host, which includes all programs of FIRST, and also possible for events across the country. I will not say when this will be finished because my backlog of things to do is too large.

Thank goodness we have Kevin Ross. Without him we would have ended up like the other districts and I wouldn't have become so involved in A/V and FIRSTWA.