Re: Registration 2016
 

I'm not a moderator, so I can't split the posts into separate threads.
Not sure that I'd want the extra workload.

CD threads usually turn into more of a chat room.
People asking unrelated questions because this is where they found people talking. Some posts have been way off topic, and conversations, while others are debating issues that bear on the numbers.

Re: Registration 2016
 

What's going on with PNW?

Re: Registration 2016
 

It may have something to do with this shift.

-Mike

Re: Registration 2016
 

From what I understand, they have gone to a "Home Event" system, similar to Michigan (on top of other changes to their district workings). However, there are teams that do not wish to participate in their home event for various reasons (timing being a big one). Teams can choose to opt-out of the home event system, and instead register for both districts during second event registration.

Because of this, we see a lot of teams not registered. We should see a massive spike in PNW teams come second event registration.

EDIT: See post above by Mike for more info!

Re: Registration 2016
 

Any reason why the teams don't want to attend their home event?

Re: Registration 2016
 

Totally get it. Right now, MI is sitting somewhere around the 190's, however our total number when all said and done should be closer to 400.

My team is not attending our home event. For us, it is because of a couple of factors:
1) the pits were really dim (we needed to use work lights to see well inside the robot).
2) the event tends to be one of the most difficult districts in the state. As a younger team, that makes it harder to qualify for MSC.
3) the bleachers are open underneath, so it's easy to drop items down into the void.
4) there's many other events within comfortable driving distance that we like better.

Re: Registration 2016
 

Perhaps they want to see something other than the same 20 teams they see every year.

Re: Registration 2016
 

Like he said, timing is a big factor. I know we made our selections based primarily on how they will slot into the season calendar. As we move into future seasons in TCD we probably would add weights like event quality and roster depth.

Re: Registration 2016
 

New Iowa regional will take some pressure off of the Duluth regionals.

Re: Registration 2016
 

Maybe, maybe not. I expect a lot of teams, particularly from southern MN, to go for Iowa as their second regional. But I suspect that there are enough teams in MN who want to do a second regional who haven't in the past that all 4 Minnesota regionals and Iowa will reach capacity.

Re: Registration 2016
 

I am not sure about the other teams in PNW but we opted out because we really didn't want to do week 5 event with the District CMP in week 6.

FIRST requires the home events to be designated by nearest zip code and even though the event we wanted was closer (by actual mileage) our home event was designated as a different one.

You should see a big jump when we all get a chance to use our first choice.

It is really a matter of timing... we try to set up our season so that the events are spaced out so students aren't out of class for 2 weeks in a row.

There also might be a little kickback because of the new payment schedule/ payment amounts but I am not sure about that.... I will reserve comments regarding that to other threads.

Re: Registration 2016
 

Our 'home event' is late in the season and more inconvenient for many on the team to attend, so I'm keeping an eye on registration numbers each day. If our preferred events are at risk of filling before 2nd event registration opens, I'll accept our registration for the home event -- otherwise, I'll pick two events at once in a few weeks.

Re: Registration 2016
 

With the 2nd Portland event also being week 5, I suspect that many Portland area teams are waiting to see if they can get into Wilsonville week 2, and then maybe traveling to Philomath week 4. Having weeks 2, 4, and 5 is not a great distribution for Oregon, because if a team misses out on Wilsonville week 2, they end up having to do Weeks 4, 5 and 6 unless they want to travel the 3+ hours to the next closest event. Hopefully it goes back to 1, 3, 5 next year, because 2, 4, 5 would not be sustainable, and is going to cause a lot of teams trouble.

Re: Registration 2016
 

Will be interesting to see how this pans out. What were there -- 20? MN teams that were at 2 regionals last year?

For S. MN teams, Cedar Falls looks like it could be a cheaper destination than Duluth. Looking at rack rates, the Radisson is 50% higher than the Clarion. Also lower transportation costs.

Re: Registration 2016
 

37 MN teams attended 2 regionals last year, and one attended 3 - roughly 20% of MN teams attended multiple regional events. This number has been growing over the years, slowly though.