Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

If you don't mind me asking...

How do you know about it if it's a classified project? And would anyone have known what the numbers meant if you hadn't made your post?

If Dave's getting in trouble for this one, it seems like you might be too... :ahh:

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

SAn Antonio has the astrodome I think it is called. For the money, the only other city i could see myself going to would be Toronto. A lot of people absolutely love that regional so I wonder if championships there would be amazing.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Fairbanks, Alaska?

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Do you work for the government? Is this an interrogation? Do I need to call a lawyer (not that I have one, mind you).

PS - I am program director for small gas turbine engines, and the turbines for these encoders are really, really, really small. Have you seen how tiny an encoder is?

PSS - Should it become necessary, I will deny ever knowing Dave, and immediately change my screen name.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

The folks in Toronto (Karthik are you listening?) really know how to put on a good regional in Mississauga at the Hershey Centre (they do spell things a little differently). But they would have to move to the Skydome (50,000+ seating) downtown for the championship. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is right next door and could be used for pits. Tons of stuff to see and do. Literally hundreds of restaurants within walking distance of the Dome. Nice subway system to get around. How about the wrap party at the Ontario Centennial Science Centre?

The only negative I could even think of would be the cost of getting robots and equipment shipped across the border.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I'll drink to that. We too were very close to the dome, although our hotel had quite a number of FRC and FLL teams staying there.

I like Atlanta for The Championship -- the Georgia Dome/GWCC combination seems to work well and the team social in Olympic Park works out well too. The pits were in an improved area this year; I think they should keep them where they were -- last year was such a pain to walk that far from pits to Dome.

I also liked when The Championships were at EPCOT. I can't speak for Houston since I wasn't there, but the general consensus I get from fellow FIRSTies is that it wasn't a great place for The Championship.

I would like to see a Championship Event on the West Coast or in Canada, actually. It's not fair to the West Coast teams that they have to travel so far every year. I think it should be cycled throughout the country or the world so that a different city plays host every year. Also, don't put it in the same part of the country every year. For example, don't have a Championship in Los Angeles followed by a Championship in San Diego.

As far as where the host city ought to be after FIRST's contract with the City of Atlanta expires in 2007, I haven't really travelled a great deal. I like Boston as a city but I don't think they have a venue big enough (unless they rented out the Fleet Center, but where would they put the pits?). Rumor has it that my company is trying to sponsor a Boston Regional at the Fleet Center next year, anyway.

The same goes for Providence -- I like the city but I don't think there's a big enough venue. I think the Rhode Island Convention Center is big enough for pits, but there isn't really a good place to put the actual competition.

If what Tuba4 said about Toronto is true, then Toronto gets my vote... there 's lots to see and do there, plus there's that park with the big windmills by the water (Ontario Place?) where the team social could be held.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

What are you talking about? I've never been with any team who has had problems like that. And what of the Canadian teams who have to travel here to the US, which to them is a foreign country?

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

And people...What are customs like for flying across the border? I know that driving across the border is a fairly simple process..atleast at The Ambassader Bridge in Detroit, MI

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Yeah, that's one bad thing about Atlanta -- the area immediately around the Georgia Dome is okay, but once you get a few blocks out, things starts getting sketchy. You'd have that problem anywhere *but* Disney, though. True, that's something I'd be willing to pay a bit more for, but I've been happy with Atlanta the past two years.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I grew up on Long Island, and while I think Nassau Coliseum would be a great place to have the competition (it's a hockey rink, and plenty of convention center space for the pits), there's not all that much to do in that area, unless you like malls and shopping. It's not practical for teams to walk to hotels around there, and so on. Perhaps hosting the Long Island Regional there would work.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I would like the Championships to remain in one location at least three years. This allows teams to plan ahead and make a proper budget to travel to them. With the current system of tiers to go, most teams will have the ability to go within three years. It also allows some institutional memory about a location so only every couple of years will things be very new, for teams and for FIRST.

Wetzel

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I agree that the D-Backs stadium is nice, but the city is in the process of building a new facility for the Cardinals, it would definitely have enough room for 5 fields, it is supposed to have a sliding roof also. I don't know what would happen with the pits, but that stadium is still few years away. Phoenix would be cool, though.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

So Tytus knew all along!

Anyway, yes, I'm still voting for Phoenix in the Diamondbacks stadium. The pits can be in the large corridors under the seats, np. Or in tents outside. I wonder what they would do for the floor though, being dirt and grass. You'd have to seriously protect it somehow. To cover in wood panels would cost a fortune.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Having been to Atlanta my first time this year I'd say it as an OK venue for nationals. Prior to Atlanta I had only ever been to Disney. Each venue had its pros and cons like everything. One of the cons about Atlanta I think is that the hotels were actually a good distance from the Georgian Dome, certainly within walking distance but around the actual Georgia Dome there isn't much except a park and parking lots. I was initially thinking that Indianapolis sounded good because it is an area with a descent amount of teams. However you could also make the argument isn't it better to have it in Atlanta, a city where there aren't that many teams. In addition a lot of those Atlanta teams might fade away if nationals left, as tends to happen. So I'd say it is a toss up. I do think the West Coast kinda gets a bum situation having to fly all the way across the country. Another pro for Atlanta I thought was the pits they were very nicely laid out and there was plenty of room to walk without bumping into someone/a robot...unlike Epcot. In addition Atlanta provides plenty of room to grow there is no seating problem at the Georgia Dome and there is more than enough room for the pits in the Convention center if they open up more sections for the foreseeable future. Although not a lot to do in Atlanta. So toss up. ;-)

Justin

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Yeah, Atlanta has tons of space for growth. The area down by where the carshow was held. Still was GWCC and it was maybe 1.5 times bigger. maybe even more.

I do agree about the hotel situation. But all of the FIRST guys who never get off of their computers would have a chance to get some exercise walking back to the hotel after a day of competition.

And on the comment about Atlanta FIRST teams participating/fading away if champs left wouldnt be so much of an issue as you think.
The people would still go to regionals but I don't think there are any Georgia teams that could actually afford taking their teams more than 2 or 3 states away for Championships.