Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

At FLR the food is infinitely better than at actual arenas where the food is almost always terrible and overpriced. I can put up with the inconvenience because I would rather be able to attend FIRST competition at top notch venues instead of having to pay an entrance fee or have to have competitions in school gyms instead.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

From what I remember I don't think there is any food actually sold at Arizona, so everyone just orders stuff and eats it in the parking lot outside the arena. Of course that could just be my team and me not looking enough to see the hidden concession stands, but I'm pretty certain on this one.

Take all the orders in the morning, have a few parents/mentors drive to get it and tell everyone to meet in the parking lot during the lunch break. Send a few people in to watch the pit/robot while the drive team inhales their food, then switch again.

This is not breaking the rules since you are not bringing food in (it could be argued that maybe you're breaking the "spirit" of the rule, but at least at our Regional you do this or don't eat), and you still get cheaper food than you might find at the venue.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

We have addressed food and hydration for several years as a team. One reason we formed a Parents Association was to help with this. The past 3 years we had a mom and 2 aunts who donated their vacation time to travel with the team to our different competitions taking care of our food needs and making sure we had tons of bottled water. In Atlanta, they were there at the eating/meeting area for the team. That was their focus, their 'job' during travel.

We discuss and plan the logistics of food/water at the competitions at parent meetings before travel and we notify the parents and the students that the team will need extra money, that it can get expensive. The Association sends extra money with our teacher in case anyone needs it. The Association is only 4 years old and has only been able to help with expenses for the past 2 years but it is one reason the Association formed. To help the team with travel. We have team meetings every night during competition and 'health, food, hydration' is on that check list. 'How's everyone doing, how's it going?' We know from those mtgs. how the team is doing. At competition, the safety captain lets us know if they need anything in the pit area by way of cell phone. Also, adults traveling with the team go check on the drive team/pit crew periodically to see if they have any needs. We know that they have a 'window' of time to eat and we make sure we have the food/water available and ready for them. The rest of the team helps get them fed and watered during that window. A lot of thought goes into this. We know travel is expensive and we work with that.

There are opportunities provided to all of us after competition season to makes suggestions for how to improve FIRST for next year, we take advantage of those opportunities.
Jane

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

Since the topic is about food at venues; what's the price for some various foods at the Regional you attended (just something close, I don't expect anyone to know the exact prices right now)?

When my team went to Atlanta in 2004 I don't remember the food in the Gerogia Dome being extremely overpriced like it is at some sports competitions (it was more than normal, but no worse than you'd see if you went to a DCI competition or an unofficial robotics competition and a school organisation was selling the food to try to fundraise).

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

Indeed, staying hydrated is an essential task at a regional, particularly for a drive team that spends more time under the lights that make the field about fifteen degrees warmer than anywhere else. (And you thought that sweat was anticipation.)

One thing that BellSouth did at the 2004 and 2005 Palmetto Regionals was to buy two cases of bottled water for each of the teams. Sure, it wasn't on ice or anything, but it was great for what it was. (The water wasn't distributed this past year, but the feedback at the team forums makes me hopeful for a return in 2007.)

There may be an alternative to buying bottled water, though. For your consideration: The water bottle. Every venue I've been to has a water fountain somewhere on the premises; I can't imagine them protesting if you fill up your own bottle of water from the fountain. Then again, IANAAO (I am not an arena owner).

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

Ken et al,
The arenas that are in use often have contracts with vendors in the arena. Those contracts must be followed regardless of the event. The vendors establish their profit margins and ability to make a living based on an expectation that they will be able to sell a specific amount of food and drink over the year. They take the chance that the venue will be able to sell the space for the number of days they need to reach their goal. We should not interfere with the ability of someone to make a living. Bringing food to the venue and eating outside is a great way to reduce costs. But it reguires a volunteer group other than the team to take care of the logistics. At the Championship, we have a group of parents who purchase the food. Students then take turns transporting to and from a common area for the group each day. For a small fee we provide a breakfast, a bottle of water and some snacks for the day. Lunch and dinner on then on the students.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

Hmm.. the value of NEMs is definitely noteworthy when it comes to food! :) As one who has been on both sides of the coin, I can relate to both the frustration of the team members who find the venue food lacking in quality/choice and expensive, as well as the committee members who may also wish to provide better food options but whose hands are tied.

If you would like to have pre-ordered box lunches made available, contact your regional planning committee now. They might be able to arrange it. If you want alternate ideas for how to feed the troops at competitions, NEMO could put together a white paper with ideas that have worked in the past.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

I disagree. The basis of capitalism is the people who provide the best value (quality at low cost) are the ones who succeed. In this situation we have just the opposite. The vendors have a captive market, a monopoly by decree.

If the best they can do is serve slop at exorbitant prices then they should find a job doing something else. They should not be sitting in a mansion in Florida somewhere while their food service business rakes in millions of dollars at our expense.

I acknowledge our situation is unique - these venues are normally used for sporting events that last 2 or 3 hours at the most. For those types of events grabbing a hot dog for a snack (for $4) is OK. Being in the building for 10 hours a day, 3 days in a row, and your only choices are to eat the same junk, or to wander off for an hour to find a good meal, just doesn't make any sense.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

If no one knows, no one cares.

I've never seen anyone have food or drink confiscated and then be kicked out of an event. Ever, not just in FIRST. Regardless, some people will forget food or drink, or be pressed for time and buy from vendors. If for some reason this doesn't happen, arenas will have to enforce their rules. It's a private enterprise, and sometimes it really sucks to think that their rules can be enforced simply by personal guilt. Your guilt fuels their company's pfofit to an extent. My opinion, like any other business, let them work for what they want.

If an arena tells me that I can only skip while inside, no walking, they had better have somebody breathing down my neck to keep me from walking.

It's just like advertising. They have to work to attract me- I don't attend everything someone tells me to go to out of guilt for the event. Capitalism means working or manipulating people to give you their money. Make them work.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

This is all good and fine in Arizona, but in wonderful Rochester where it was 38 degrees and raining, and a 10-15min walk+drive to get to your car and get to a food place, the option wasnt present.

FLR did do an awesome job with the preorder boxed lunches. And we took a huge advantage of that. And for my team (I think the reason this thread was started), my issue with the rule is that NO food was available dinnertime on thursday. It wasnt overpriced, it wasnt slop, it WASNT THERE. The concession stands were closed at 4pm. Our only option was to give up on our robot, our alliance partners in the morning, and go eat... or bring food in.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

I have been at events where the boxes are checked when you enter. I myself has had to send people back to their cars with food and drink. Most people when asked have not put up much of a fight and obey the rules.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

At FLR from what I remember it is like $0.75 for and apple, $2.00 for a bagel and cheese, $2.00 for a bottle of some kind of drink, $3.50 for nachos.

We also had boxed lunches there for $7.50 I believe, but you had to preorder them.

I don't see what the big fuss is about this whole thing. If you want to bring food in the bring it in! grab a back pack and put 3 bags of chips and have someone else bring pop or whatever. Hide a cooler in a pit box. It isn't that hard, one of the moms on our team brought in 2 ENORMOUS boxes of cupcakes(like 50 per box) and nobody said andthing.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

This is the same situation in NYC.
Our venue has a list of "approved" food vendors but they don't all show up because it is early spring during the regional. They don't see the profits or not available for 2-3 days only.
In the past years one or two (when we're lucky) street cart vendors may show up to sell hot dogs and drinks for a high price.
The line become very long.

The teams do what they can to feed themselves. I have seem students go without eating or drinking because they did not have the time to run outside and find food. One year I remember one girl passed out because she was volunteering and support the team on practice day.

Even the FIRST vendor that sells T-shirts and caps are not allow to sell to the teams because they are not "approved" vendors.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

This example is a little off-topic because it concerns an off-season event; however, IMO the way that food concessions and pre-planned meals were handled at the 2006 Indiana Robotics Invitational was exemplary. If every FIRST event could handle food that way, there would be no need to debate this topic on CD.

From what I saw, two of the secret ingredients that made it so easy to get everyone fed at IRI were

1) an excellent HS venue (Lawrence North) and

2) a large, dedicated crew of local volunteers to staff the food lines, tables, concession counters, etc.

I've recommended to my own regional planning committee that we seek a local HS venue as an alternative to the professional arena that we've used for the past four years. The idea was well received and we've started studying options. Maybe we're starting too late to implement this idea for the 2007 season, but I'm still hopeful.

I should have gone to IRI years ago.

Re: Bringing Food into Competition Venues
 

I have to add, at some venues the food is excellent. Im trying to remember off the top of my head here, but I think the Pittsburgh regional venue had franchise food vendors (Subway, Pizza hut....) right in their food court. No problem there.

Its the places that have two choices: a $4 microwaved hotdog, or a $4 slice of microwaved frozen pizza... those are the ones that everyone is rebelling against.