Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

There is much more to the event than only space for FRC teams. Consider FTC, FLL, Conferences, Supplier's Showcase, College Fair tables, VIP and Volunteer areas. All have gotten considerably larger since 2002.

Along with the number of FRC teams, these things must be considered.

Andy B.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Absolutely, Andy. I mentioned the growth of those other programs in my original post, so I didn't want to repeat it all again. It seems that, these days, most of the space required to host the Championship is contingent upon the success of programs like FTC and FLL and not, at all, upon FRC. It's an interesting perspective to consider given that many folks around here talk about the other programs as if they exist only to support and supplement "the big leagues."

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Even if we never go back to Disney, it is our true home and we will always be away from it.
It makes me sad to think that the last 9th grade students to visit Disney will be Juniors in college. Even a good percentage of the current FIRST staff must have been hired post-Disney.

As less people remember Disney, I fear our chances of returning are almost zero. :(

Other towns are fun, including Atlanta, but they don't match being at Disney with over 300 teams. It was worth being sunburned in the stands! :D

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

For some, it seems a sadness - a nostalgia/homesickness.

(When our teacher talks about it, he talks about the food. Something like miles and miles of food. :))

Edit: more thought - but with growth, comes change - and talk of more growth/expansion. The homework assignment last season met with some successes and the homework assignment this coming season will meet with more - and that will impact all of the areas that M. and Andy have discussed and possibly introduce more areas that will require attention and consideration.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I know for fact that CNN covered it well the last two years. There is CNN headline and CNN. I know a couple of years a go it seemed FIRST was on all day.

I don't know how much time was spent this year but I did see several things and I had a couple of people tell me that they watched competition on Saturday morning on CNN and even saw our team competing.

Ed

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Actually, I did a brief study on this when Indy bid for the championships and almost got it. I'd have to find the old file, but it did not increase the number of teams that would need to fly - in fact it reduced the number. I think I set the driving distance to be reasonable at 10hrs, and the number of teams within that radius to Indy was more than that to Atlanta. Even at 8-9hrs driving distance it still won out. I believe I initially used the team attendance from the '05 championships, I forget. But when you look at the population distribution of all FRC teams - you have many, many teams in the midwest and east coast, and even south, within a very reasonable driving distance to Indy.

Indiana has a strong FIRST community and state educational support, and I don't think getting news attention is too difficult. We can also draw from many of the surrounding states media pretty easily since IL, MI, OH, WI, MN are all strong in FIRST. Obviously I would like to see it come to Indiana sometime but mostly because I see a lot of pros/advantages to doing so.

This thread has gotten so long now that many of the comments and debates are repeated. And who knows - perhaps the whole structure of FIRST will change, and championships will no longer be what it has been. With the expected growth, we should definitely expect some changes.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

If anything, it's more expensive to fly to any of those cities from the west coast than Atlanta.

Atlanta is one of, if not the cheapest major airport to fly to from the west coast. As I recall it, Orlando was a little cheaper in 2002, but ticket prices have been steadily rising since 9/11.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Cory is correct. What many people fail to realize, is that distance is not the largest determinant of price when dealing with flights within the continental United States. The demand for flights into a given city is. In 2006, Atlanta's Hartsfield airport ranked first in number of passengers and second in number of flights (Chicago's O'Hare was number one). Orlando is typically one of the cheaper cities to fly to, because of the large amount of tourist traffic they do, and the amount of charter services that result from the tourism.

The advantage to having the Championship in Indianapolis in terms of flights, as Amy pointed out, is that considerably fewer teams would have the need to fly. Although, I'm sure this is little consolation to the teams on the West Coast.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

As an Israeli team, we dont really care.
I suggest Israel for the championship though, who's with me? :D

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Atlanta is dominated by Delta, which can keep prices higher. Indy not dominated by any airline so the competition keeps prices low. Indy also gets Southwest which helps keep prices down.

Indy will also have a totally brand new terminal.

A few west coast examples.

LAX to Indy $244 LAX to ATL $234
San Diego to Indy $283 SD to ATL $317
Portland to Indy $244 to ATL $409

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Your last two examples are both pretty small airports, by my standards.

I've never seen flights to Indy from SFO, SEA, LAX, etc that were consistently cheaper than to Atlanta. Maybe super low bargain bin specials, but that's it.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

SFO to Indy $314 SFO to ATL $304
SEA to Indy $315 SEA to ATL $343


Regular flight were about the same with only $20 or $30 difference either way.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

you also got to think of the international teams that would be traveling to the championships. I would imagine that teams from South America, Europe, and Isreal would find cheaper flights going into atlanta as oposed to just about anyother city. Even though they number far less than west coast American teams we cannot forget that they too are apart of FIRST.

Personally, I think FIRST should work more with airlines to help teams get cheaper rates so more teams are able to experience the Championships.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Europe. OR the Caribbean. OR New York. Some where totally AWESOME!!!

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Somehow I think airfare would be a tad bit more for US teams, what with the ocean and all... and I don't think most of our team would want to try to drive...