Montreal Regional!
 

the title says it all...

who's in?



[this being purely hypothetical]

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I think by starting one you wouldn't necessarily see GTR-based teams switch to the montreal regional (since most only go to GTR, and there are other regionals closer to Toronto than Montreal), but you'd probably see a large uptick in the number of new teams forming from that area of the country. Quebec City, Montreal itself, Ottawa, and Kingston are all fairly large cities that have very little representation, and I'd guess that part of that is that it is either a long trip to Toronto or a trip across the border in order to compete.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Make it a first or second week regional and I think we are in.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I would so love to help out with getting this organized. I live in montreal, and a place like centre Bell or even a smaller venue like possibly at a University in the area (McGill, Concordia, UQAM) would be perfect for the event.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Montreal's not too bad a drive for us, and since at least a few of the students and the team founder are Canadian, I could probably get Team 95 to come up.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Not far for us either,
Especially since the New England Regionals book so fast.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

hmmmmm en francais?:p

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

i suppose the language may cause a few small problems, however many people don't realize how cosmopolitan montreal is... most people speak english and french, with different degrees of clarity to be sure but its enough to get by.

it would probably take place in the Bell center or some similar stadium... we dont lack hockey rinks here [lol]. where most events would be held in english [concerts, shows, ect]

i think the biggest problem would be remembering not to turn right on red in the city:D

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

1155 would sign up in a heartbeat. Imagine playing in the Bell Centre or at Stade Olympique...it would be godly.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I'd love to see a regional in Montreal.

Just need to avoid the weeks that the New England regionals are.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I don't know if that is possible, the other two Canadian regionals are in the 4th and 5th week. To make the most sense a new Canadian regional would most likely need to be in one of the first two weeks. I must say that it would be awesome to have another Canadian regional if we can get teams to support it.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

It would also get a crowd from new england that can't get into BAE since it is full

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

The French spoken in Quebec is much different from French spoken in France. Also, there are plenty of signs in both English and French (in Quebecois dialect) so you shouldn't worry about a language barrier except if you are trying to get the Average Jean to direct you to the nearest convenience store.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I'd love to come! (although convincing my team to come- that's a different story- :D)

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Does anyone know any big, FIRST friendly Canadian companies that would be willing to sponsor an event such as this one?



p.s. if you are trying to get the Average Jean to direct you to the nearest convenience store, you would need to ask where the local Dep or dépanneur is, :-)

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Bombardier is very big in that area of the country. Don't know if they are FIRST-friendly though.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

isn't Bombardier one of 296's sponsers?
I would go to a Montreal Regional

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

There are plenty of Canadian companies sponsoring FIRST already (look at the sponsor lists for the Toronto and Waterloo regionals).

A Montreal regional is probably do-able, but would need a lot of local support to really make a go of it. Having seen what's involved in just a scrimmage, this isn't a modest undertaking.

Anyone know any robotics people at McGill?

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I am here at McGill and we have a big mechanical and electrical engineering department that would probably be willing to take part in robotics.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

I'm afraid that one local team is definitely not a large enough base to create a regional. Help create a dozen teams in Quebec, find a person brave enough to organize the entire event, and it's all yours (don't forget the money).

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

Bombardier would probably sponsor the regional, they love innovation and FIRST is a breeding ground for new ideas.

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

for sure! at the moment Bombardier sponsors our team. as for getting other teams into robotics... well, its not as difficult as usual, since the local schools [the english ones anyway] are part of a similar [but not as cool] robotics competition. i have no idea what goes into starting a regional but im sure FIRST would be quite willing to help.

this was sort of a hypothetical idea but im amazed to see how many people expressed interest in it! i'll have a look into what's needed to start a new regional

Re: Montreal Regional!
 

heres an idea, concordia's hockey rink is right next to my school, its indoors, has stands on one side, standard hockey rink, and adjoining the rink is a gym usualy used for basketball [perfect for a pit area]. i know the folks at concordia would at least consider it because we have acess to their facilities for our sports teams.
its a small arena, and would probably only work for a small number of teams.
a first year regional would be smallish so it works... for the time being