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-   -   [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149075)

Hallry 20-06-2016 15:44
[FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Posted on the FRC Blog, 6/20/16: http://www.firstinspires.org/robotic...nd-AMAA-on-FUN

Quote:
FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
Written by Frank Merrick

FRC Events Being Posted
We just posted our first official events for the 2017 season! More will follow shortly, as we get contracts signed or otherwise have solid confirmation on dates and locations. Check out the ‘Events and Teams’ page here, click ‘Event’ under ‘Filter’ in the upper left, then uncheck all but the ‘FIRST Robotics Competition’ boxes, and you’ll be able to see them.

AMAA on FUN
I’ve been invited to participate in an AMAA* on the community webcast First Updates Now (FUN), Tuesday 6/21, at 8:30PM EST. You can watch the show on Twitch here. Hope you can join us for some fun and conversation about the season and who knows what else.

Frank

*One of our 20-something FRC staffers told me, when I asked, that AMAA stands for American Medical Athletic Association. That’s not right, is it?
Ask Me Almost Anything, Frank

EDIT: I've made a Google Doc for my own purposes of keeping track of Regionals and MAR District Events, but here's the link if anyone else is interested in having a copy: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing. I plan on updating it over the next few weeks/months as more events are announced. I don't plan on adding in any other district events other than MAR.

bdaroz 20-06-2016 17:24
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
This is interesting...

The Finger Lakes Regional look like it's moved to a Week 3 event for 2017 (from week 4 in 2016). I wonder if the Tech Valley Regional will also shift up a week as well?

Brian Maher 20-06-2016 17:27
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1593564)
This is interesting...

The Finger Lakes Regional look like it's moved to a Week 3 event for 2017 (from week 4 in 2016). I wonder if the Tech Valley Regional will also shift up a week as well?
It will most likely be Week 2. RPI and RIT have the same spring break, the week between Weeks 2-3.

In other news, yay, I have a four day spring break this year that covers both of my high school team's probable events (Mount Olive and Bridgewater).

Jay O'Donnell 20-06-2016 17:27
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1593564)
This is interesting...

The Finger Lakes Regional look like it's moved to a Week 3 event for 2017 (from week 4 in 2016). I wonder if the Tech Valley Regional will also shift up a week as well?
I'm afraid it won't be. RPI's Spring break is the same week that FLR is currently scheduled. If TVR and FLR end up both being week 3, then they both become very different events. It would also cause more NY teams to want/need to travel, which is getting very difficult given all of the districts around us. The only events a decent distance away for 229 are the NY regionals, Montreal and Pittsburgh.

Sperkowsky 20-06-2016 18:09
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell (Post 1593567)
I'm afraid it won't be. RPI's Spring break is the same week that FLR is currently scheduled. If TVR and FLR end up both being week 3, then they both become very different events. It would also cause more NY teams to want/need to travel, which is getting very difficult given all of the districts around us. The only events a decent distance away for 229 are the NY regionals, Montreal and Pittsburgh.
The move may have something to do with the regional planned for the Westchester area. This doesn't help you much though.

Jay O'Donnell 20-06-2016 18:13
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1593572)
The move may have something to do with the regional planned for the Westchester area. This doesn't help you much though.
To be fair I don't expect there to ever be an event within an hour drive of 229. I just want more options. Having New England, MAR and now Ontario cut off from us is very annoying. Districts are great for those not cut off by them.

Brian Maher 20-06-2016 18:23
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1593572)
The move may have something to do with the regional planned for the Westchester area. This doesn't help you much though.
Is there any information about when the regional will be?

KosmicKhaos 20-06-2016 18:35
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell (Post 1593567)
I'm afraid it won't be. RPI's Spring break is the same week that FLR is currently scheduled. If TVR and FLR end up both being week 3, then they both become very different events. It would also cause more NY teams to want/need to travel, which is getting very difficult given all of the districts around us. The only events a decent distance away for 229 are the NY regionals, Montreal and Pittsburgh.
The moving up a week also limits the regionals for the teams who can't/don't want to compete back to back. Assuming Pittsburgh stays week 2 that eliminates Pittsburgh for those teams.

Edit: just checked out California university of PA academic calendar and their spring break is the same week as FLR. Wouldn't surprise me if FLR TVR And Pitt are all the same week.

Sperkowsky 20-06-2016 18:35
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1593574)
Is there any information about when the regional will be?
Not that I know of.

Aren Siekmeier 20-06-2016 19:19
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index....=FRC&year=2017
still around if you're feeling old fashioned...

Also, this will be updating daily until things get more lively.

Hitchhiker 42 20-06-2016 19:59
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell (Post 1593573)
To be fair I don't expect there to ever be an event within an hour drive of 229. I just want more options. Having New England, MAR and now Ontario cut off from us is very annoying. Districts are great for those not cut off by them.
NY should move to districts. Then they can be competing with NE again :)

(Not meant to start a debate here).

Brian Maher 20-06-2016 20:11
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitchhiker 42 (Post 1593587)
NY should move to districts. Then they can be competing with NE again :)

(Not meant to start a debate here).
We are all well aware, especially us district-to-NY transplants. Unfortunately, it's much more easily said than done.

plnyyanks 20-06-2016 20:12
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1593574)
Is there any information about when the regional will be?
I haven't heard anything either. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how all the cards fall

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitchhiker 42 (Post 1593587)
NY should move to districts. Then they can be competing with NE again :)

(Not meant to start a debate here).
:deadhorse:

mwmac 20-06-2016 20:18
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1593582)
https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index....=FRC&year=2017
still around if you're feeling old fashioned...
Hope this does not mean eight sub-divisions of 50 teams each at each 1/2CMP.

waialua359 20-06-2016 21:27
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwmac (Post 1593590)
Hope this does not mean eight sub-divisions of 50 teams each at each 1/2CMP.
I saw that too.:)
Looks like we wont do Iowa or Bayou this season, or Arizona West. Hawaii is week 5 this year.
FLR is a possibility.

Chris is me 21-06-2016 09:46
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
RPI and RIT have had the same spring break for years. When this happens, RPI typically schedules their event for the start of spring break and RIT for the end of spring break. The events have almost always been back to back, and will almost certainly not be on the same weekend.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1593566)
It will most likely be Week 2. RPI and RIT have the same spring break, the week between Weeks 2-3.

In other news, yay, I have a four day spring break this year that covers both of my high school team's probable events (Mount Olive and Bridgewater).
Welcome to being a Shaker Robotics mentor in college! My advice is to not go home at all, because you'll probably spend all four of those days off machining and implementing upgrades anyway. This mandatory back-to-back regional schedule is brought to you by the ever growing march toward districts in every state that isn't New York, and FIRST's stubborn refusal to allow anyone to join a district that isn't within the arbitrarily drawn borders they came up with. FIRST - valuing the team experience above all else since... uh... never, I guess.

rsisk 21-06-2016 10:28
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by waialua359 (Post 1593594)
I saw that too.:)
Looks like we wont do Iowa or Bayou this season, or Arizona West. Hawaii is week 5 this year.
FLR is a possibility.
Aw dang, it would be fun to alliance with you at AZW. We love going there.

PayneTrain 21-06-2016 11:48
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1593643)
This mandatory back-to-back regional schedule is brought to you by the ever growing march toward districts in every state that isn't New York, and FIRST's stubborn refusal to allow anyone to join a district that isn't within the arbitrarily drawn borders they came up with. FIRST - valuing the team experience above all else since... uh... never, I guess.
Tell us how you really feel, Chris.

mdituri 21-06-2016 22:54
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1593643)
This mandatory back-to-back regional schedule is brought to you by the ever growing march toward districts in every state that isn't New York, and FIRST's stubborn refusal to allow anyone to join a district that isn't within the arbitrarily drawn borders they came up with. FIRST - valuing the team experience above all else since... uh... never, I guess.
So I have a proposal, your team and my team switch addresses and you compete in FIRST Mid-Atlantic all season and I will go to NYC (since it is the closest event to me) and two other regionals so we can play with/against different teams this year. Although we would be sad not to go interdistrict to Waterbury this year.

avanboekel 23-06-2016 14:43
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwmac (Post 1593590)
Hope this does not mean eight sub-divisions of 50 teams each at each 1/2CMP.
It's most likely just a leftover from this past year's CMP.

bdaroz 24-06-2016 18:10
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quick related question for those teams who've been through this a few more times than us...

At about what point in time does the FRC event list tend to be "complete"?

ATannahill 24-06-2016 18:57
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1594226)
Quick related question for those teams who've been through this a few more times than us...

At about what point in time does the FRC event list tend to be "complete"?
Septemberish. There have been changes made even later than that.

EricH 24-06-2016 20:37
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtfgnow (Post 1594229)
Septemberish. There have been changes made even later than that.
MI for years was notorious for disrupting Fantasy FIRST draft schedules with a mid-draft-season event addition. SLFF drafts in late November and all of December.

Almost all events will at least be on a competition week by the day event registration opens. Even if they don't quite have a signed venue contract (which is the usual trigger for being on the list).

bdaroz 24-06-2016 20:42
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Thanks. Just trying to get a handle on when most of the big picture will be laid out.

bdaroz 20-07-2016 18:20
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
(Bumping or starting a new thread... coin toss but...)

Just an FYI - The official event list jumped from 7 to 18 in the last few days:

https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index....=FRC&year=2017

I didn't make note of what the original 7 were, but it looks like a bunch of week 4 events were added, week 1 events, and PNW are now posted.

Brian Maher 20-07-2016 18:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
It is worth noting that Mid-Atlantic district event schedule is confirmed, but not posted on the website for some reason.

Kevin Leonard 20-07-2016 19:05
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1593643)
RPI and RIT have had the same spring break for years. When this happens, RPI typically schedules their event for the start of spring break and RIT for the end of spring break. The events have almost always been back to back, and will almost certainly not be on the same weekend.
Every source I've talked to said that TVR and FLR will be the same weekend, because it's both more convenient for RIT/RPI, and because they want all hands on deck Volunteer-wise for the new Hudson Valley Regional, which should be a different weekend. I'm hoping HVR is either week 1 or week 6 so we can actually have a break between competitions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by waialua359 (Post 1593594)
I saw that too.:)
Looks like we wont do Iowa or Bayou this season, or Arizona West. Hawaii is week 5 this year.
FLR is a possibility.
Yessssss! I'd love to compete with 359 again, and with TVR/FLR being the same week, and Ontario going to districts, there might actually be room at FLR this year for 359. (Also TVR is almost guaranteed to have openings if it's the same week as FLR, so if you wanted to come back there again, that would be cool too! Maybe they won't throw you in the corner pit this time :D )

Hallry 20-07-2016 22:56
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1597795)
I didn't make note of what the original 7 were, but it looks like a bunch of week 4 events were added, week 1 events, and PNW are now posted.
Original 7 were Houston and STL Champs, Finger Lakes, Iowa, Bayou, Arizona West, and Las Vegas. Lake Superior, Palmetto, Colorado, Hawaii, and the PNW Districts have now been added.

bdaroz 20-07-2016 23:36
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallry (Post 1597843)
Original 7 were Houston and STL Champs, Finger Lakes, Iowa, Bayou, Arizona West, and Las Vegas. Lake Superior, Palmetto, Colorado, Hawaii, and the PNW Districts have now been added.
Thanks - I made a note to save the current 18 for the next update.

bdaroz 27-07-2016 23:38
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Looks like some new additions taking us from 18 to 31:

https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index....=FRC&year=2017

Regionals: Northern Lights Regional, Orlando Regional

Districts: MAR (7 + Champ), PNW (added Mt. Vernon, Clackamas Acad., Lake Oswego)

waialua359 28-07-2016 03:15
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard (Post 1597797)
Yessssss! I'd love to compete with 359 again, and with TVR/FLR being the same week, and Ontario going to districts, there might actually be room at FLR this year for 359. (Also TVR is almost guaranteed to have openings if it's the same week as FLR, so if you wanted to come back there again, that would be cool too! Maybe they won't throw you in the corner pit this time :D )
Based on the 31 events posted so far, we would do Palmetto, FLR, and Hawaii.
FLR is definitely competitive and would look forward to coming back to NY.
NY Tech Valley regional is still the #1 regional event I have ever been to. Everyone from the teams to the volunteers/venue are 1st class. Every other event including our own Hawaii one could learn a lot from that event. Kudos to the RD for setting the tone on how a good regional should be run.

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 11:07
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
It's official Tech Valley and FLR are on the same week.
What a disaster.

Chris is me 28-07-2016 11:13
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1598850)
It's official Tech Valley and FLR are on the same week.
What a disaster.
This is a really disappointing. It's a completely invented conflict, done without consideration for what's best for the vast majority of teams in NY state. Is every team in New York that does two events supposed to go to the brand new Hudson Valley event?

Jon Stratis 28-07-2016 11:23
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1598853)
This is a really disappointing. It's a completely invented conflict, done without consideration for what's best for the vast majority of teams in NY state. Is every team in New York that does two events supposed to go to the brand new Hudson Valley event?
"Completely invented"? By whom? Is it at all possible that venue availability played a large role in when these events happen? You talk as though you know the planners on the FRC side (RD's and RPC's) did this intentionally for some reason.

I know from scheduling out here, that despite the strongest desires of the RD's and RPC members, sometimes two events you want on separate weekends end up on the same one and thus limit options for teams.

Kevin Leonard 28-07-2016 12:00
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis (Post 1598855)
"Completely invented"? By whom? Is it at all possible that venue availability played a large role in when these events happen? You talk as though you know the planners on the FRC side (RD's and RPC's) did this intentionally for some reason.

I know from scheduling out here, that despite the strongest desires of the RD's and RPC members, sometimes two events you want on separate weekends end up on the same one and thus limit options for teams.
The venues are available when they are due to college breaks for RIT and RPI. The last time they had the same break, RPI held theirs the first weekend of break, and RIT did the second weekend.
The hope was that they would do the same thing this year.

Chris is me 28-07-2016 12:25
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis (Post 1598855)
"Completely invented"? By whom? Is it at all possible that venue availability played a large role in when these events happen? You talk as though you know the planners on the FRC side (RD's and RPC's) did this intentionally for some reason.
I wouldn't assert that I don't have any knowledge of the situation at hand here, just because I am complaining about something. That's awfully condescending.

RPI's ECAV facility is not in use either the beginning or the end of spring break, and the regional has been held on both weekends in different years without problems in either case. I am less familiar with RIT's arena, though I believe the same is true there. But it doesn't matter - RPI's is free both weekends, so if the powers that be wanted to, they could have had RPI on deck for the "other" weekend of spring break that RIT didn't want.

The only way the conflict is completely unavoidable, is if the Hudson Valley regional absolutely had to be a single weekend, and that weekend didn't work for either RPI or RIT to share with. But I don't' even think that regional's date is decided yet.


Completely invented was probably too strong of a phrase for this, though. Sorry about that, it's just frustrating.

1493kd 28-07-2016 13:01
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
I expect the Hudson Valley one to fill up super fast, probably will have to sign up for that first before TVR.

Basically anyone in NY who wants a 2nd regional will have to go, close enough that many NYC teams will consider it. Oh ya and anyone in district looking for another event.

Jon Stratis 28-07-2016 13:08
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1598869)
RPI's ECAV facility is not in use either the beginning or the end of spring break, and the regional has been held on both weekends in different years without problems in either case.
Where did you find their schedule posted for this facility? I've done some searching, and the closest I can find is their general event calendar, which has no athletic events listed on it for the upcoming school year (and doesn't even have the regional listed, either).

Likewise, I've looked for RIT's events, and the best I can find is their general event list, which only has 1 event listed for the entire month of March, and it's not even the regional.

I don't mean to be condescending, but you're railing against the local planners of the event without providing any actual data to show that this conflict could have been avoided by them. Are we supposed to just take your word for it? I'd rather give the planners the benefit of the doubt until I can see evidence that they actually had other options.

Brian Maher 28-07-2016 13:16
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1493kd (Post 1598878)
I expect the Hudson Valley one to fill up super fast, probably will have to sign up for that first before TVR.

Basically anyone in NY who wants a 2nd regional will have to go, close enough that many NYC teams will consider it. Oh ya and anyone in district looking for another event.
I don't imagine it will fill up that fast. NYC and NYLI both fill up rather quickly with TVR not far behind, so I imagine most of their local teams will register for those first out of fear of missing a spot at their home event.

Don't worry, you're safe from district teams, unless you're looking to sign up for the Hudson Valley Regional as a third regional. They are not allowed to register for regionals until Unrestricted Regional Registration, after all regional teams have had a chance to register for two.

bdaroz 28-07-2016 13:23
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
In a word - ugh.

An interesting thought crossed my mind though.... With Ontario going to districts, FLR/TVR on the same days, what will FLR/TVR attendance look like?

A quick look at last year showed 49 teams for FLR, 36 for TVR, 1 from Ontario attending FLR, and 11 teams that attended both TVR and FLR.

I agree, it does look like the to-be-announced-we-hope Hudson Valley regional will be the tougher one to get into this year.

Aren Siekmeier 28-07-2016 13:34
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Btw, PNW is still at nine events as they have been since they first released their dates. MAR at seven, both the same as last year.

Northern Lights was added about a day before Orlando and MAR.

Spoiler for last three days:

$ diff 1469577601.csv 1469664001.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 25, 2016"
---
> updated,"20:00:03 EDT-0400, Jul 26, 2016"
5c5,6
< mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,53,53
---
> mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
> mndu2,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Northern Lights Regional,0,30,30

$ diff 1469664001.csv last.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:03 EDT-0400, Jul 26, 2016"
---
> updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 27, 2016"
5d4
< mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
6a6
> mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
7a8
> flor,08-Mar - 11-Mar-2017,Orlando Regional,0,54,54
14a16
> mrcmp,05-Apr-2017,Mid-Atlantic Robotics District Championship sponsored by Johnson & Johnson,0,0,0
15a18,24
> pahat,03-Mar - 05-Mar-2017,MAR District - Hatboro-Horsham Event,0,33,33
> njfla,10-Mar - 12-Mar-2017,MAR District - Mt. Olive Event,0,33,33
> pawch,10-Mar - 12-Mar-2017,MAR District - Westtown Event,0,33,33
> njbri,17-Mar - 19-Mar-2017,MAR District - Bridgewater-Raritan Event,0,33,33
> paphi,17-Mar - 19-Mar-2017,MAR District - Springside Chestnut Hill Event,0,29,29
> njtab,24-Mar - 26-Mar-2017,MAR District - Seneca Event,0,33,33
> njski,31-Mar - 02-Apr-2017,MAR District - Montgomery Event,0,31,31

$ diff last.csv ../../data.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 27, 2016"
---
> updated,"13:29:03 EDT-0400, Jul 28, 2016"
9a10
> nytr,15-Mar - 18-Mar-2017,New York Tech Valley Regional,0,26,26

(Note, Lake Superior and Northern Lights like to randomly switch places in the list, did this last year too)


And is anyone else wondering how they're gonna fit MAR champs into a single Wednesday? :rolleyes:

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 13:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1598882)
In a word - ugh.

An interesting thought crossed my mind though.... With Ontario going to districts, FLR/TVR on the same days, what will FLR/TVR attendance look like?

A quick look at last year showed 49 teams for FLR, 36 for TVR, 1 from Ontario attending FLR, and 11 teams that attended both TVR and FLR.

I agree, it does look like the to-be-announced-we-hope Hudson Valley regional will be the tougher one to get into this year.
I would not be surprised to see some Canadian teams come back to RIT to play, especially if they aren't doing as well in the district rankings and see winning FLR as a way to get to St. Louis.

Brian Maher 28-07-2016 13:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598884)
And is anyone else wondering how they're gonna fit MAR champs into a single Wednesday? :rolleyes:
That's how we do it in MAR ;) We totally don't need three days for quals or anything...

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 13:55
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598884)
Btw, PNW is still at nine events as they have been since they first released their dates. MAR at seven, both the same as last year.

Northern Lights was added about a day before Orlando and MAR.

Spoiler for last three days:

$ diff 1469577601.csv 1469664001.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 25, 2016"
---
> updated,"20:00:03 EDT-0400, Jul 26, 2016"
5c5,6
< mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,53,53
---
> mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
> mndu2,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Northern Lights Regional,0,30,30

$ diff 1469664001.csv last.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:03 EDT-0400, Jul 26, 2016"
---
> updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 27, 2016"
5d4
< mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
6a6
> mndu,01-Mar - 04-Mar-2017,Lake Superior Regional,0,33,33
7a8
> flor,08-Mar - 11-Mar-2017,Orlando Regional,0,54,54
14a16
> mrcmp,05-Apr-2017,Mid-Atlantic Robotics District Championship sponsored by Johnson & Johnson,0,0,0
15a18,24
> pahat,03-Mar - 05-Mar-2017,MAR District - Hatboro-Horsham Event,0,33,33
> njfla,10-Mar - 12-Mar-2017,MAR District - Mt. Olive Event,0,33,33
> pawch,10-Mar - 12-Mar-2017,MAR District - Westtown Event,0,33,33
> njbri,17-Mar - 19-Mar-2017,MAR District - Bridgewater-Raritan Event,0,33,33
> paphi,17-Mar - 19-Mar-2017,MAR District - Springside Chestnut Hill Event,0,29,29
> njtab,24-Mar - 26-Mar-2017,MAR District - Seneca Event,0,33,33
> njski,31-Mar - 02-Apr-2017,MAR District - Montgomery Event,0,31,31

$ diff last.csv ../../data.csv
1c1
< updated,"20:00:04 EDT-0400, Jul 27, 2016"
---
> updated,"13:29:03 EDT-0400, Jul 28, 2016"
9a10
> nytr,15-Mar - 18-Mar-2017,New York Tech Valley Regional,0,26,26

(Note, Lake Superior and Northern Lights like to randomly switch places in the list, did this last year too)


And is anyone else wondering how they're gonna fit MAR champs into a single Wednesday? :rolleyes:
Ambitious scheduling.

Aren Siekmeier 28-07-2016 14:23
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1598890)
I would not be surprised to see some Canadian teams come back to RIT to play, especially if they aren't doing as well in the district rankings and see winning FLR as a way to get to St. Louis.
Wouldn't you need to register for FLR long before your district ranking becomes possible to predict?

Brian Maher 28-07-2016 14:32
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598899)
Wouldn't you need to register for FLR long before your district ranking becomes possible to predict?
Yes.

I can, however, see some of the Ontario teams who traditionally play three regionals or do a travel regional coming to FLR for another play.

AdamStockton 28-07-2016 14:52
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598899)
Wouldn't you need to register for FLR long before your district ranking becomes possible to predict?
I believe there have been exceptions in the past where teams were able to register for an event (provided they had open capacity) well into the season. I remember that there was a team at the Buckeye regional in 2013 that had registered the Monday or Tuesday leading up to the event.

EDIT - On a side note, it looks like CALU is on spring break the same week as RIT and RPI. Last year, the Greater Pittsburgh Regional was held at the end of CALU's spring break, which makes it a possibility that Greater Pittsburgh Regional will end up on the same week as FLR and Tech Valley.

Kevin Leonard 28-07-2016 15:09
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamStockton (Post 1598915)
I believe there have been exceptions in the past where teams were able to register for an event (provided they had open capacity) well into the season. I remember that there was a team at the Buckeye regional in 2013 that had registered the Monday or Tuesday leading up to the event.

EDIT - On a side note, it looks like CALU is on spring break the same week as RIT and RPI. Last year, the Greater Pittsburgh Regional was held at the end of CALU's spring break, which makes it a possibility that Greater Pittsburgh Regional will end up on the same week as FLR and Tech Valley.
GG Rochester teams.

I also think HVR will be the harder to get into event, because who is going to TVR now? No Rochester teams will be there, no NYC teams will go. I think TVR is going to be light on teams this year (meaning maybe we'll get a bunch of districts teams!), and FLR will lack the capital region teams, including at least 3 of their best 4 high goal shooters from 2016 (20, 2791, 3044).

5254 is undecided as to which events we'd attend, so I can't say yet.

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 15:51
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598899)
Wouldn't you need to register for FLR long before your district ranking becomes possible to predict?
It worked for 910 when they qualified for the championships by winning Great Lakes Windsor-Essex with 2056 which was a good thing because they didn't qualify for MSC.

SoftwareBug2.0 28-07-2016 16:30
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aren Siekmeier (Post 1598884)
Btw, PNW is still at nine events as they have been since they first released their dates.
I wonder whether we have the whole set of PNW events now or if there will be one more coming. I don't have any inside information on whether the list as it is now is final, but if it is the only differences from last year are that the Philomath event has disappeared and the Lake Oswego event has appeared.

Presumably the Lake Monsters (2635) will be putting on the new event. They're from the right school district even though they meet at their district's other high school. Congratulations to them and I'm sure they'll do a good job of it.

I wonder if we'll see some major reshuffling of home event assignments. Most of teams previously assigned to Philomath would now be closest to Wilsonville. And most of the teams that were assigned to either Clackamas Academy of Industrial Science ("Oregon City") or Wilsonville will now be closest to Lake Oswego.

Karthik 28-07-2016 17:27
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1598908)
I can, however, see some of the Ontario teams who traditionally play three regionals or do a travel regional coming to FLR for another play.
Perhaps. FIRST Canada has made sure there will be ample space in Ontario for teams to get 3rd plays, so many teams may forgo playing at a regional in order to save on registration fees ($1200 CAD for a 3rd district vs ~$5200 CAD for a regional) and travel costs. However as stated by Ed and others, there still might be some Ontario teams looking to attend a regional for the direct qualification option. Also, don't be surprised to see an uptick in registration from Quebec teams who can no longer go to Ontario for their second play.

Sperkowsky 28-07-2016 17:38
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
The 5 new york regionals
Long Island - almost impossible to get into if your not a long Island team.
NYC - not nearly as difficult to get into but could see a lower slot count with the new venue
FLR - the same week as tvr going to be hard to fill
TVR - the same week as flr going to probably fill up but not nearly as fast as usual
Hvr - not even officially confirmed regional that looks like it will give long Island a run for it's money in terms of how fast can a regional fill.

Hmm.... This looks like kind of a mess.

Jay O'Donnell 28-07-2016 18:17
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1598942)
The 5 new york regionals
Long Island - almost impossible to get into if your not a long Island team.
NYC - not nearly as difficult to get into but could see a lower slot count with the new venue
FLR - the same week as tvr going to be hard to fill
TVR - the same week as flr going to probably fill up but not nearly as fast as usual
Hvr - not even officially confirmed regional that looks like it will give long Island a run for it's money in terms of how fast can a regional fill.

Hmm.... This looks like kind of a mess.
Not to mention many of the closest areas around NY are districts, meaning many teams probably won't be happy with what they get. 229 probably has 4 events we can go to, and two are already on the same week. If NE or MAR or Ontario were still open, that number would be insanely larger. The growing borders between regionals and districts is becoming a serious issue.

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 18:25
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell (Post 1598949)
Not to mention many of the closest areas around NY are districts, meaning many teams probably won't be happy with what they get. 229 probably has 4 events we can go to, and two are already on the same week. If NE or MAR or Ontario were still open, that number would be insanely larger. The growing borders between regionals and districts is becoming a serious issue.
New York badly needs to go district!

Sperkowsky 28-07-2016 18:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1598950)
New York badly needs to go district!
At an SBPLI meeting the other night (I did not even know it was going on but my mentor attended) SBPLI (The organization that runs FIRST on long island) said that they are "going to hold on to the regional model for as long as they can to maximize the number of teams they can send to World's, with the two regionals." What they are talking about with the two regionals is the possibility of a second Long Island regional is 2018.

The part that really alarms me is the maximize the numbers of teams to worlds... Is that a joke? It seems to me like they are not even aware of the benefit that the district system provides. I reached out to the RD of long island to verify stuff but I would not be surprised if its accurate. It should also be mentioned SBPLI has spoken about not having enough money before yet wants to host a second regional after presumably losing a large sponsor (Cablevision) as the company was absorbed into a larger French telecom.

So now I hear in 2018 NY is going to try to have 6 regionals...

ugh...

Hey MAR or NE want some long island friends? We bring good bagels.

IKE 28-07-2016 19:16
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1598951)
At an SBPLI meeting the other night (I did not even know it was going on but my mentor attended) SBPLI (The organization that runs FIRST on long island) said that they are "going to hold on to the regional model for as long as they can to maximize the number of teams they can send to World's, with the two regionals." What they are talking about with the two regionals is the possibility of a second Long Island regional is 2018.

The part that really alarms me is the maximize the numbers of teams to worlds... Is that a joke? ...snip...
For many years, Michigan got 18 spots because there were 3 regionals replaced thus 18 spots. This stood for many years and lead to a belief that the number of regionals replaced is how many slots you will get. That changed a few years ago when the championship got larger and now it is %of teas representation which is why there are so many teams from Michigan an Worlds.

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 19:17
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1598951)
At an SBPLI meeting the other night (I did not even know it was going on but my mentor attended) SBPLI (The organization that runs FIRST on long island) said that they are "going to hold on to the regional model for as long as they can to maximize the number of teams they can send to World's, with the two regionals." What they are talking about with the two regionals is the possibility of a second Long Island regional is 2018.

The part that really alarms me is the maximize the numbers of teams to worlds... Is that a joke? It seems to me like they are not even aware of the benefit that the district system provides. I reached out to the RD of long island to verify stuff but I would not be surprised if its accurate. It should also be mentioned SBPLI has spoken about not having enough money before yet wants to host a second regional after presumably losing a large sponsor (Cablevision) as the company was absorbed into a larger French telecom.

So now I hear in 2018 NY is going to try to have 6 regionals...

ugh...

Hey MAR or NE want some long island friends? We bring good bagels.
New York clings desperately to it's old habits when everyone else around them is progressing towards the future. I don't understand it. It's like they want to get left behind.

Michael Corsetto 28-07-2016 19:31
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1598951)
At an SBPLI meeting the other night (I did not even know it was going on but my mentor attended) SBPLI (The organization that runs FIRST on long island) said that they are "going to hold on to the regional model for as long as they can to maximize the number of teams they can send to World's, with the two regionals." What they are talking about with the two regionals is the possibility of a second Long Island regional is 2018.

The part that really alarms me is the maximize the numbers of teams to worlds... Is that a joke? It seems to me like they are not even aware of the benefit that the district system provides. I reached out to the RD of long island to verify stuff but I would not be surprised if its accurate. It should also be mentioned SBPLI has spoken about not having enough money before yet wants to host a second regional after presumably losing a large sponsor (Cablevision) as the company was absorbed into a larger French telecom.

So now I hear in 2018 NY is going to try to have 6 regionals...

ugh...

Hey MAR or NE want some long island friends? We bring good bagels.
According to the 3rd chart on this page, NY was actually under-represented at CMP in 2016. MN was severely under-represented at CMP in 2016.

-Mike

Sperkowsky 28-07-2016 19:39
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto (Post 1598964)
According to the 3rd chart on this page, NY was actually under-represented at CMP in 2016. MN was severely under-represented at CMP in 2016.

-Mike
Does not surprise me.

And this begs the question... What can we do?

Well. Without the regional directors even wanting districts not much. We can make a document like yours which is definitely a step in the right direction but convincing RD's is likely not too easy especially when they are already panning regionals for 2018.

Debbie 28-07-2016 19:40
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Any Michigan events locked in yet?

Koko Ed 28-07-2016 19:42
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Debbie (Post 1598966)
Any Michigan events locked in yet?
Haven't seen any signs of life yet.

Caleb Sykes 28-07-2016 20:45
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto (Post 1598964)
According to the 3rd chart on this page, NY was actually under-represented at CMP in 2016. MN was severely under-represented at CMP in 2016.

-Mike
Sometimes I think that things really aren't that bad in MN, that we may be a bit behind some other regions in some respects, but that by and large we are doing just fine.

Then I look at this map again, and the huge red splotch that is our state sears itself into my mind...

ASD20 28-07-2016 21:25
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto (Post 1598964)
According to the 3rd chart on this page, NY was actually under-represented at CMP in 2016. MN was severely under-represented at CMP in 2016.

-Mike
Darn Connecticut. Share some of your slots with the rest of New England.

Aren Siekmeier 29-07-2016 12:26
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caleb Sykes (Post 1598974)
Sometimes I think that things really aren't that bad in MN, that we may be a bit behind some other regions in some respects, but that by and large we are doing just fine.

Then I look at this map again, and the huge red splotch that is our state sears itself into my mind...
I think it's important to look at the proportions rather than the raw numbers. The map shows MN in a far brighter red than any other state, while it actually has a comparable proportion of its teams qualifying compared to other red states. It is however the only state with a sizable team population and number of events that still has such low CMP representation and plays/team numbers.

I've been collecting data here that I've found useful in understanding the situation.

https://goo.gl/Puqdx3

Mark Holschuh 29-07-2016 22:28
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
The Wisconsin Regional dates will be March 22-25 according to the UW Milwaukee Panther Arena website.

Aren Siekmeier 04-08-2016 16:00
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
San Diego added this afternoon, Week 2.

Brian Maher 08-08-2016 13:45
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Central Valley was added on Week 2.
Greater Pittsburgh was added on Week 3. Interesting choice, considering a decent handful of teams attend both Pittsburgh and FLR, which will also be Week 3.

bdaroz 08-08-2016 16:16
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1600154)
Greater Pittsburgh was added on Week 3. Interesting choice, considering a decent handful of teams attend both Pittsburgh and FLR, which will also be Week 3.
/facepalm

I'm really hoping to hear some news on the often-alluded to Hudson regional soon.

Brian Maher 08-08-2016 17:15
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdaroz (Post 1600178)
/facepalm

I'm really hoping to hear some news on the often-alluded to Hudson regional soon.
I've heard from multiple sources that it's very likely to be Week 4.

bdaroz 08-08-2016 19:11
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMSOTM (Post 1600195)
I've heard from multiple sources that it's very likely to be Week 4.
Is it bad the first reaction from the programmer in me is, "OMG if they're off-by-one it could be week 3!"

.. I think I need to back off on the caffeine. :)

Thanks!

TDav540 09-08-2016 09:38
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Rocket City Regional posted for Week 4

bdaroz 09-08-2016 12:29
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Central Valley Regional now on Week 2.... And that brings us to 37, and counting.

Starke 09-08-2016 23:39
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1598850)
It's official Tech Valley and FLR are on the same week.
What a disaster.
Pittsburgh, which has been a travel regional for quite a few Central New York teams in the past, is also on the same weekend.

This is unreal.

Kevin Leonard 10-08-2016 06:57
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starke (Post 1600404)
Pittsburgh, which has been a travel regional for quite a few Central New York teams in the past, is also on the same weekend.

This is unreal.
I guess New York having it's best year ever as a state was too much, so they decided to nerf us. ;)

Chris is me 10-08-2016 10:33
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starke (Post 1600404)
Pittsburgh, which has been a travel regional for quite a few Central New York teams in the past, is also on the same weekend.

This is unreal.
If any NY state teams don't get into Hudson Valley, where can they go for a second event?

Montreal? Hopefully Buckeye? One of those requires a border crossing, and the other is >6 hours away for any teams east of Syracuse. If those don't work for whatever reason (or heaven forbid they are also week 3), I think there's a regional in Cincinnati, which is ~10 hours away. Beyond that, there is the Midwest Regional in Chicago, which is obviously getting ridiculous in terms of travel (but it's a great event!)

If FRC is going to continue to put these brick walls where non-District teams are never, ever, ever allowed to compete in a District event (even without the possibility of qualifying), and FRC is going to continue to let scattered pockets of the country stick to the outdated regional model, they need to do a better job coordinating event dates to allow teams a realistic possibility of competing at two events. This is unacceptable.

Koko Ed 10-08-2016 10:42
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1600452)
If any NY state teams don't get into Hudson Valley, where can they go for a second event?

Montreal? Hopefully Buckeye? One of those requires a border crossing, and the other is >6 hours away for any teams east of Syracuse. If those don't work for whatever reason (or heaven forbid they are also week 3), I think there's a regional in Cincinnati, which is ~10 hours away. Beyond that, there is the Midwest Regional in Chicago, which is obviously getting ridiculous in terms of travel (but it's a great event!)

If FRC is going to continue to put these brick walls where non-District teams are never, ever, ever allowed to compete in a District event (even without the possibility of qualifying), and FRC is going to continue to let scattered pockets of the country stick to the outdated regional model, they need to do a better job coordinating event dates to allow teams a realistic possibility of competing at two events. This is unacceptable.
If you got money I guess you can go out of state but most teams are tethered to the very slim pickings around here.

mwmac 10-08-2016 11:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1600452)
If FRC is going to continue to put these brick walls where non-District teams are never, ever, ever allowed to compete in a District event (even without the possibility of qualifying), and FRC is going to continue to let scattered pockets of the country stick to the outdated regional model, they need to do a better job coordinating event dates to allow teams a realistic possibility of competing at two events. This is unacceptable.
2 things:
1. Absolutely agree that better event date coordination is required between RD's and First HQ. Last year was bad for teams doing two events (given the travel distances involved) for the intermountain west, (with Utah, Sacramento, Colorado, Idaho, Las Vegas and Western Canada events all scheduled within three weeks) but the 2017 schedule for Pittsburgh, FLR and Tech Valley is now the poster child for poor event scheduling.

2. Some scattered pockets of the country will not have the team/mentor/volunteer density required by the district model for the foreseeable future. This factor is often overlooked by FRC participants in densely populated parts of the country.

Koko Ed 10-08-2016 11:55
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwmac (Post 1600459)
2 things:
1. Absolutely agree that better event date coordination is required between RD's and First HQ. Last year was bad for teams doing two events (given the travel distances involved) for the intermountain west, (with Utah, Sacramento, Colorado, Idaho, Las Vegas and Western Canada events all scheduled within three weeks) but the 2017 schedule for Pittsburgh, FLR and Tech Valley is now the poster child for poor event scheduling.

2. Some scattered pockets of the country will not have the team/mentor/volunteer density required by the district model for the foreseeable future. This factor is often overlooked by FRC participants in densely populated parts of the country.
When I talked to Frank a couple of years ago at Tech Valley he admitted that there are places that just cannot go district because of the lack of teams/mentors/volunteers. There are also places that have a high number of team/mentor/volunteers that are struggling to convert to districts for varying reason. Right now FIRST is split into two worlds and it looks like it'll be that way forever due to geographical barriers that cannot be solved.

Chris is me 10-08-2016 12:50
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1600461)
When I talked to Frank a couple of years ago at Tech Valley he admitted that there are places that just cannot go district because of the lack of teams/mentors/volunteers. There are also places that have a high number of team/mentor/volunteers that are struggling to convert to districts for varying reason. Right now FIRST is split into two worlds and it looks like it'll be that way forever due to geographical barriers that cannot be solved.
Ultimately, the direction I feel FIRST as a whole eventually has to go in is to have multi-tiered competition for all styles of play. Qualifying Events, Region Championships, and World Championship(s) everywhere, no borders, some method to allow teams that can only do 1 Qualifying event to still participate, etc. What are we going to do when we have less than a dozen regionals left, scattered in tiny pockets in random places around the country? At some point (not soon) the change has to sweep through every region, ready or not.

Koko Ed 10-08-2016 12:54
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1600467)
Ultimately, the direction I feel FIRST as a whole eventually has to go in is to have multi-tiered competition for all styles of play. Qualifying Events, Region Championships, and World Championship(s) everywhere, no borders, some method to allow teams that can only do 1 Qualifying event to still participate, etc. What are we going to do when we have less than a dozen regionals left, scattered in tiny pockets in random places around the country? At some point (not soon) the change has to sweep through every region, ready or not.
Isolated teams are going to have to either do local only events or spend big bucks to travel far and wide to go to other events. I don't even know what foreign teams are going to do.

TheBoulderite 10-08-2016 12:57
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwmac (Post 1600459)
2 things:
1. Absolutely agree that better event date coordination is required between RD's and First HQ. Last year was bad for teams doing two events (given the travel distances involved) for the intermountain west, (with Utah, Sacramento, Colorado, Idaho, Las Vegas and Western Canada events all scheduled within three weeks) but the 2017 schedule for Pittsburgh, FLR and Tech Valley is now the poster child for poor event scheduling.
Agreed with mwmac. Travelwise, our team, among others, had to go farther. Last year, the Utah Regional was scheduled for Week 3, and the Colorado Regional was for Week 4. Traditionally, a lot of Colorado teams go to Utah and then Colorado a few weeks later. However, due to the week change, most Colorado teams that would have gone to Utah opted to go to the Arizona North Regional, and Utah ended up being a lot smaller this year than in previous years. Few Colorado teams went to Utah, and there were some that opted to go to Las Vegas, a Week 5 event, instead of Utah.

That being said, I've never seen a scheduling mishap like this before. The teams that are close to all of them now have to decide between one, when they would otherwise go to more. Sorry to hear you all have this decision to make. Hope this doesn't happen again in the future. :(

Chris is me 10-08-2016 12:58
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1600468)
Isolated teams are going to have to either do local only events or spend big bucks to travel far and wide to go to other events. I don't even know what foreign teams are going to do.
This is basically the same problem as it exists now, albeit made worse if they do well enough at their 1 event to qualify for the next tier. Perhaps certain isolated regions / foreign teams will do Points style advancement directly to the World Championship without a Region Championship, similar to how states in regional areas determine their off season State Championship qualifying teams.

Jon Stratis 10-08-2016 14:00
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Perhaps the biggest thing that's missing in the scheduling discussion is that FIRST often doesn't have many options when it comes to scheduling. They sign contracts with venues each year, for the days that are available on the venue's calendar. I have insight into a few regionals, and I can tell you that many times there may only be 1 weekend available for an event, or if there is a second weekend available it may conflict with another nearby event. This sometimes causes nearby regionals to stack up back to back, or for the planners to choose one regional conflict over another.

The only way this can be solved is to contract with the venues earlier (like they do with Champs). But that can't be done until FIRST knows they are going to hold that event in that year and in that location - and I strongly doubt that FIRST knows much more in advance which events will be held again, and which ones won't. Contracting a venue now for the next 3 years locks you into it, which means wasted money if that area switches to districts or wants to change venues. And we've seen events switch venues before, and areas switch to districts (or not), sometimes with very little warning to the community, especially the peripheral community that may have attended regionals in that area but are not part of the new district.

Michael Corsetto 10-08-2016 14:11
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis (Post 1600480)
Perhaps the biggest thing that's missing in the scheduling discussion is that FIRST often doesn't have many options when it comes to scheduling. (snip)

The only way this can be solved is to contract with the venues earlier (like they do with Champs). (snip)
Not to :deadhorse: , but I think there could be another way. Open up the options for venues in order to find venues that are more flexible/available.

To open up options, the following trade-offs probably have to happen:
  • Shrink event size to ~40 teams
  • Relax requirements surrounding A/V infrastructure requirements
  • Probably host one or two more Regionals in the area (also at smaller venues) to make up for the smaller events
It isn't districts by any means (not as many events required), but it does sound like a little more work. Just an idea for alternatives.

-Mike

wesbass23 10-08-2016 14:26
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
With you guys discussing different regions options I decided to look into the Midwest options (at least from a Wisconsin perspective) for last year.

With Michigan out of the picture and Indiana moving to districts (taking the Boilermaker regional with it) we are left with the following...

The 4 Minnesota regionals are weeks 1 and 6 but those are nearly filled by local MN teams with a couple of Wisconsin and Iowa teams filling in the open spots. The best options week 2 are Arkansas, Kansas City, and St. Louis (How did both of the MO regionals end up on the same week?). The closest of those is St. Louis, 6 hours away from Milwaukee, but a much better option for some of the Illinois team. Week 3 is Central Illinois and Buckeye (why go to Buckeye when you can go to CIR?). Week 4 is Iowa and Wisconsin, week 5 is Midwest.

If you don't want to travel the 6 hours to MO, you are pretty much stuck with weeks 3-5, with a high chance of ending up with back to back regionals. This may be helped a bit this year with the addition of a new regional in Wisconsin.

While this is no where near the difficulty that is appearing in NY, I know both WI and IL want to go to districts, some people in MN would like to as well. But there is no way they all go at the same time which means some states are going to be left in the dust with few options.

bdaroz 10-08-2016 17:35
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quick Update, current count is now 47. New additions are for the Ontario district events.

Koko Ed 10-08-2016 20:09
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Bummer. The Ontario Championship is week 7. MSC will be the same week no doubt....

plnyyanks 11-08-2016 12:35
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1600461)
When I talked to Frank a couple of years ago at Tech Valley he admitted that there are places that just cannot go district because of the lack of teams/mentors/volunteers. There are also places that have a high number of team/mentor/volunteers that are struggling to convert to districts for varying reason. Right now FIRST is split into two worlds and it looks like it'll be that way forever due to geographical barriers that cannot be solved.
Well, there is a silver lining of the scheduling issues in upstate NY this year: we can grow our volunteer base since we have to staff two events (plus Pittsburgh) the same week. That's a plus for the march towards districts, I guess :rolleyes:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto (Post 1600483)
Not to :deadhorse: , but I think there could be another way. Open up the options for venues in order to find venues that are more flexible/available.

To open up options, the following trade-offs probably have to happen:
  • Shrink event size to ~40 teams
  • Relax requirements surrounding A/V infrastructure requirements
  • Probably host one or two more Regionals in the area (also at smaller venues) to make up for the smaller events
Typically, both Tech Valley and FLR are pretty small events. Tech Valley only had 36 teams last year, and I believe FLR was at about 40. Can't go much smaller than that.

The A/V requirements are set by FIRST, and there is less leeway with regionals than with district events. The official regional quality standards are here, I wonder how much those can be bent...

Multiple regionals is an interesting idea, although I'm not sure FIRST would agree to the additional logistics + SRE costs + field trucking + etc. Here's a thought, though: this is all basically like running a district, but still calling them regionals. What if there was an arrangement a region could make with FIRST to allow their local organization to run the state's regionals for a few years (buy a field, do transport, staff events, etc) during the transition period to districts. That would let the region get its logistics up and running before they "officially" move to the district system.

Koko Ed 11-08-2016 13:06
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by plnyyanks (Post 1600581)
Well, there is a silver lining of the scheduling issues in upstate NY this year: we can grow our volunteer base since we have to staff two events (plus Pittsburgh) the same week. That's a plus for the march towards districts, I guess :rolleyes:



Typically, both Tech Valley and FLR are pretty small events. Tech Valley only had 36 teams last year, and I believe FLR was at about 40. Can't go much smaller than that.

The A/V requirements are set by FIRST, and there is less leeway with regionals than with district events. The official regional quality standards are here, I wonder how much those can be bent...

Multiple regionals is an interesting idea, although I'm not sure FIRST would agree to the additional logistics + SRE costs + field trucking + etc. Here's a thought, though: this is all basically like running a district, but still calling them regionals. What if there was an arrangement a region could make with FIRST to allow their local organization to run the state's regionals for a few years (buy a field, do transport, staff events, etc) during the transition period to districts. That would let the region get its logistics up and running before they "officially" move to the district system.
FLR had 50 teams last year.

Aren Siekmeier 11-08-2016 22:38
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1600582)
FLR had 49 teams last year.
??

sanddrag 11-08-2016 23:20
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Still waiting to hear when (and where) Los Angeles will be, and when Ventura will be, and some of the others out this way (Arizona and whatnot). California schools (at least ours) had their full year calendar set two months ago, and started school 4 days ago. It would kind of be nice to plan these things right around now.

Jay O'Donnell 12-08-2016 10:56
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Some of us 229 mentors were curious about how different the event availability would look if districts were open, so we decided to look it up and sort all events by driving distance from Potsdam. Here are the results http://m.imgur.com/lX2A9bN (couldn't figure out pictures on CD so I just put it on imgur). As you can see while the top few that are closest to us are regionals, if we can't get two out of those four, we have to travel a considerable distance. The three nearby district take away many potential areas (NE and Ontario are basically the same if you include the border crossing). Since we are somewhat limited to what weeks we would prefer to compete due to school, finding two events that work well for us is going to be very tough to do.

Sperkowsky 12-08-2016 12:11
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell (Post 1600727)
Some of us 229 mentors were curious about how different the event availability would look if districts were open, so we decided to look it up and sort all events by driving distance from Potsdam. Here are the results http://m.imgur.com/lX2A9bN (couldn't figure out pictures on CD so I just put it on imgur). As you can see while the top few that are closest to us are regionals, if we can't get two out of those four, we have to travel a considerable distance. The three nearby district take away many potential areas (NE and Ontario are basically the same if you include the border crossing). Since we are somewhat limited to what weeks we would prefer to compete due to school, finding two events that work well for us is going to be very tough to do.
I'm not sure where you put hvr but it's probably going to be much closer to the nyc regional then an hour and a half difference. (somewhere around the Yonkers, new Rochelle area). I'm assuming that makes hvr farther from you.

Although, this is all speculation I have not heard of a specific venue being locked down for sure for either event. Now let's all hold our breathe in finding out the weeks for nyc, sbpli, and hvr.

Jay O'Donnell 12-08-2016 12:25
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1600742)
I'm not sure where you put hvr but it's probably going to be much closer to the nyc regional then an hour and a half difference. (somewhere around the Yonkers, new Rochelle area). I'm assuming that makes hvr farther from you.

Although, this is all speculation I have not heard of a specific venue being locked down for sure for either event. Now let's all hold our breathe in finding out the weeks for nyc, sbpli, and hvr.
We guessed on the location for HVR.

Dominick Ferone 12-08-2016 16:10
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed (Post 1600582)
FLR had 50 teams last year.
Last year was a bigger FLR event
They booked up quick, I know with recycle rush we didn't apply until about a week before Tech Valley. I had gotten an email saying there were still spots left and I believe there was about 44 teams that year.

The biggest problem in the upstate region is either teams have to end up playing back to back, or all fight for the same events.

We would have loved to do Pittsburgh and FLR, but PITT filled up too quick. We were lucky enough to get NYC and FLR this year. Who knows if it could hold up again.
And in the past many upstate teams also flocked to Canada for events which made it easier to get 2 close events.

ollien 12-08-2016 16:31
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky (Post 1600742)
I'm not sure where you put hvr but it's probably going to be much closer to the nyc regional then an hour and a half difference. (somewhere around the Yonkers, new Rochelle area). I'm assuming that makes hvr farther from you.

Although, this is all speculation I have not heard of a specific venue being locked down for sure for either event. Now let's all hold our breathe in finding out the weeks for nyc, sbpli, and hvr.
Last I heard, it was in Rockland County on the 24th-26th, but take this with a grain of salt.

TheBoulderite 14-08-2016 10:38
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
According to the folks who just competed in China, a Chinese Regional has been confirmed for Week 2 in Shenzhen.

TheBoulderite 16-08-2016 14:12
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
The Smoky Mountains Regional has been confirmed for Week 4, according to the website.

Tim Sharp 16-08-2016 15:34
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBoulderite (Post 1601286)
The Smoky Mountains Regional has been confirmed for Week 4, according to the website.
Just noticed that Smokey Mountains in Knoxville, Rocket City in Huntsville and Bayou in New Orleans are all scheduled on the same weekend. That puts us SE teams in a bind when we are trying to find places to compete. We'll have to travel a long way for a second regional.

I believe it will also hurt attendance at all three regionals.

TDav540 16-08-2016 15:39
Re: [FRC Blog] FRC Events Being Posted and AMAA on FUN
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Sharp (Post 1601295)
Just noticed that Smokey Mountains in Knoxville, Rocket City in Huntsville and Bayou in New Orleans are all scheduled on the same weekend. That puts us SE teams in a bind when we are trying to find places to compete. We'll have to travel a long way for a second regional.

I believe it will also hurt attendance at all three regionals.
GA teams also might not be able to make it our there either. Week 4 has been rumored to be a district event this year and it's likely at least half the teams in the region will be competing. That further limits potential entrants.


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