Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

The new "Pending Teams" payment system FIRST has implemented makes it very difficult to know where teams have signed up for their additional regionals if those teams have yet to make their payment. I know some teams aren't planning on paying immediately and therefore won't be listed on the confirmed list for days, if not weeks. We are all left to play detective and post new threads on ChiefDelphi trying to find out this information ourselves. It seems inefficient. I understand the need for the new payment methods, but it's no fun being kept in the dark regarding the identities of the "pending teams".

Who here would like FIRST to add a feature to their website that would identify the team numbers of the "pending teams" for each regional? Is it even worth the bother? Is the community better off knowing who the pending teams are sooner rather than later? What do you all think?

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

I believe that it reduces "Regional Shopping" and as far as I am concerned, that is a good thing. It will lead to an interesting game of cat and mouse by teams deciding or not deciding to announce where they are going. Should be fun.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

I really wish they listed who the pending teams are.

A lot of teams look to see who else is going to a regional before they decide to go.

It really sucks to have no clue who's tentatively signed up.

I wonder if this was just an administrative oversight, or intentionally done.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

I'd imagine that the pending list changes so often that updating it would be a pain and a waste of time. I know what you mean, I wish I could see who else was thinking about going to Boston and NJ!!!

GO 1403!!!

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

My assumption was that the pending teams list would be some kind of query on FIRST's registration database. If people were required to manually generate and maintain the lists, then it's definitely not worth their trouble. But if you could click a link and have the information served up to you by a computer, then hey, I'm all for that.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

Last year we could see every team who had signed up, before they paid, so I don't see why it would be an issue this year, if they chose to display it.

I don't think it would take much programming effort to have their database automatically list team xxx when they sign up. Then again, I don't know anything about programming :)

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

From what I understood when I talked to FIRST finance, they were doing everything manually. I do not know why they would do that, perhaps to ensure accuracy but I am not sure.

GO 1403!!!

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

do you want this to be a "pending teams?" revelation thread?

if so --25 is pending for Las Vegas. We figure it is time to go west and play with some new friends we rarely see.

WC :cool:

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

Until 2 min ago, 225 was pending at NJ.

I just paid.

Only 2.5 hours away & we've never been to that regional. Looking forward to it!

Lisa T :D

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

If you take a look at the team list now it shows the pending teams in a list at the bottom of the page. http://www.usfirst.org/frc/public/

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

RE: pending teams. Remember that Form of Payment can include a 1) check, 2) credit card, 3) official PO from a school or company or 4) a letter of commitment from a sponsor.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

That's what I have been waiting for.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

Jeremy - thanks for pointing this out.

FIRST - y'all rock! A big thank you from all of us who requested this information.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

It seems as if as soon as a Regional is confirmed full, all the remaining pending teams are being shifted to the Waitlist and that nice list of pending teams disappears.

Re: Who are the "Pending Teams"?
 

I don't believe FIRST has ever made public the waitlists for events that have filled up, so I imagine they're just following standard procedures.

The new pending team list is much more useful in looking at events like Buckeye and Greater Toronto, where there are 10+ teams on each pending list, and all of them have excellent shots at receiving a confirmed spot. It's a safe bet that those teams will be at those competitions, whereas the chances of the waiting list teams attending their chosen events are much lower.