Re: Registration 2015
 

18 events? With Kentwood that makes only 17 as of now.

Escananba has 28 teams right now, and Traverse City has 31. If I counted correctly, there are about 12 teams who have Esky as home event that are probably waitlisted for Traverse (31 + 12 = 43 > 40). I wouldn't mind an 18th event somewhere up north.

Edit: With some newer additions at Esky, that's more like 15 UP teams that are likely waitlisted at Traverse (the 16th is going to West Michigan).

Re: Registration 2015
 

344 Teams x 2 Events each = 688 total spots needed (barring any more teams)

688 spots needed. 17 Events x 40 Spots = 680 spots available.

18th Event needed.

Re: Registration 2015
 

It is not out of the question to have 41 or 42 teams at a District competition, is it?

Re: Registration 2015
 

Its possible but they need an 18th event to facilitate third plays.

Re: Registration 2015
 

There is no requirement for 3rd plays.

Re: Registration 2015
 

Michigan is now at 350 teams, so the theoretical 18th event is half full. Also the previously stated demand for 3rd events. (Edited to add: Not that the 3rd play is required or anything, but FiM seems to have a unstated goal of getting as many teams as much play time as possible. This is based upon previous statements from multiple board members, and multiple years of many 3rd play spots).

If they ever ended up really in a jam, or team counts were only over capacity by one or two teams, I could see that being a last resort sort of option.

Re: Registration 2015
 

There isn't but considering registration fees for third plays do not go to FIRST but instead stay in the district it is in the district's best interest to have those slots available.

Re: Registration 2015
 

Third plays do not need to be in the state of Michigan. With the new inter-district play option, there are many opportunities for MI teams to play more than twice without the $4k registration fee.

Re: Registration 2015
 

Yeah but from my understanding the 3rd play fee goes to the district where the play occurs. 3rd play fees are counted on in a district's annual budget. While small overall every bit helps and is needed to make this work.

From the team standpoint the cost of a 3rd play in another district ramps up travel costs significantly in many cases, so most would probably rather play in their home district from that stand point.

Re: Registration 2015
 

I'm having difficulty making the math work out in favor of adding a district event. 40 district teams paying third-event fees, set against the cost of putting on a competition, seems unlikely to be a money-positive proposition to me. But if the organizers can make it happen, the benefits to the teams in the region are good.

Re: Registration 2015
 

The money a team pays towards its first two district events do not go to the district to fund that event. Those go to FIRST which does not give a district event money to run your event (in our case the Reading and UNH district events). The money to run those events the district has to raise.

This is what I have been told if this is not the case someone can set me straight. :)

Also in the wake of adding a new event some teams may drop their first or second events to they can attend the new event if it is closer so it would become a "primary" event for a good number of teams.

Re: Registration 2015
 

Alan is saying

40 X Registration Fee < Cost of District

You are correct that the money goes to the District System. But Alan is saying that's not economically viable as the sole reason to do another district.

Re: Registration 2015
 

Howzit!

Team 3880 – The Tiki Techs - Have received their final conformations and will be competing at the Australia, Hawaii and Silicon Valley regionals!

Looking forward to an exciting season.

Aloha!

Re: Registration 2015
 

This is super fuzzy information, nobody quote me on this, but I recall districts being in the 7K-14K range. This post here from 2009 used to link to a presentation that showed the breakdown of how much was spent on each event. Does anybody have that document, or a more recent equivalent?

That said, there's a lot more to running an event that just the dollar cost, there's also drain on volunteers and limits on time and field availability to consider. The actual "cost" of an event is much higher than the dollar amount spent, and thus even if there is a slight financial gain from 3rd plays the biggest value is probably in team experience/satisfaction gained from more time on the field.

Edited to add: Okay I was wrong, average cost for a district (in 2009 anyway) was 24K. That's what I get for trying to remember things from 5 years ago. In my defense, the event I was involved in came in at around 10K :) Thanks Christopher149 for finding that. I wonder if there is more recent data in a similar vein?

Re: Registration 2015
 

Here ya go. It says "Total expenses for the 7 events: $170,000".

I'm amused to see our robot in the Traverse picture.