2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Who plans on going? I think it will have the potential to grow into one of the coolest regionals in FIRST. I'm hoping we go either next year or my senior year.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Team 612 will be there more than likely. When and where will information be available about this regional event?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Meh. I think this regional was strategically placed with the busy congressman in mind so they couldn't use the excuse "we were in Washington" or "we were busy". This is another way of turning in LATE homework that Dean collected a few years back (2007).

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I think we'd go! That would be a great opportunity for a second regional, and it's so close! :D

I'm sort of excited about it too! We're going to have all new drivers next year, and most of the people to carry on the team will come next year, and as a Mentor-to-be I'm concerned about their experience... I really want them to get as much experience as possible, so If I ever have to leave, indefinitely, I'll be more sure of the team's new student leadership.

It'll definitely attract interest of the nation's legislative body. I think it was an amazing idea! :]

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

More likely it was strategically placed in one of the densest regions of FIRST teams in the country. There are 58 teams in Virginia, 27 in Maryland, and 6 in DC (going to grow). Both the Chesapeake and VCU events are in at least the upper 50s (usually 60s) every year. They don't have much room for new teams, so logically another venue had to be opened to attempt to take some of the capacity.
I'm willing to bet a majority of the Fairfax county teams (116, 611, 612, 614, 617, 623, 2186) will be there next year.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Hopefully we go to Chesapeake as defending champions next year and can also attend this regional. It would be cool.

hehe 694th post- Stuypulse post ^_^

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Did they announce the venue yet? I was wondering where they are going to hold it...Right downtown? I think gong to a regional in DC would be great. No better way to promote first to our nation than starting where everything happens.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Depending on which week it falls, it will definitely be on our short list. Close to home, great teams, lots of local attractions, opportunities to attract politicians. Sounds like a winner all around.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I'll be volunteering seeing as how I'll be attending GWU next year. Haha I got lucky!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Depending on when and where it is, I might volunteer.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I know that my team would definetly go next year. Since we are so close, we would practically be charging nothing for members to go, opening up the opportunity to go to nationals.Usually our team doesnt go because no one wants to spend the money.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

hopefully it'll be within walking distance of a hotel, then we might consider going -- having to charter a bus to get us on and off of the annapolis base every day was just too much money.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

If it is at the Verizon Center or the Armory, then it will be walking distance from the metro

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I don't know about my team... but I'll be attending the University of Maryland so you can expect to see myself and other volunteers around enjoying the event!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

There's a chance 587 might be there, since it would be closest after VCU adn Palmetto. It would depend on the schedule.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

count 614 in =) this and annapolis will make for a great 2009 robotics competition season.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

There is absolutely no excuse for a Terp (yours truly) to not volunteer! I'm sure there will be lots of competition here to volunteer, especially if it somehow ends up on campus.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Team 1111 should attend seeing how we're just down the road in Annapolis. It will probably depend on how fundraising goes. We always have a blast at Chesapeake, but I'd like to see us compete in a second Regional.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I heard 4th or 5th hand that it will be at the convention center. I still think that the Armory makes more sense...

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

DC Convention Center, week 1 (Feb 26-28, 2009). There were several reasons why the other sites under consideration (including the Armory) could not work. For example, the venue schedule was such that if the event was to be held at the Armory, it would have had to have been on Week 4. That would have put the VCU/Richmond Regional, the DC Regional, and the Chesapeake Regional all on the same weekend. That was a non-starter for all of us. Conversely, the DC Convention Center had a workable schedule, is centrally located, has easy access (via street traffic and Metro), local to lots of hotels, is cost-compatible, and it is a beautiful facility.

-dave



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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Dave: Do you know what the maximum team capacity for this regional will be?

Thanks.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Still TBD.


-dave

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Sweet deal with the location! I know that if 1885 can't make it, I'll definitely volunteer. We're trying to wrangle the FTC platform and a prototype drive train that's ready for the new FRC controller, so we haven't made a concrete decision on competitions. I'll see ya there either way!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Team 1249 and 337 are looking at it as a possible third regional. Pittsburgh and Palmetto are already in the schedule. Depends on getting the NASA grant for this region.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I've slept since then (and don't claim to be an expert on DC), so maybe someone can tell me: Was this the venue of the Capital Clash back in 2005, or am I thinking of another spot?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

yes.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

hey we were thinking of going this year, but it is the same week as the nj regional, which is our home regional... so i believe the dc regional is not week one next yr... so we might go there... should be fun anyways!!!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I just was looking at FIRST website and Washington DC is not listed as a regional.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

FIRST still has the 2008 regionals posted (even though it now says 2009).
I imagine they're in the process of updating it, but the Regionals and dates are all from last season.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Dave -- do you know if there will be a DC kickoff event as well?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

That is still being investigated. There are several efforts underway to get plans completed in time to have a central DC-area kickoff, but there has not yet been a final commitment.

-dave


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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

2106 is looking into DC to make our 2nd regional. This would be the first time we've ever tried more than one. If we can get some room in our budget we will definitely be there.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Our teams(623's) lead mentor wants to continue the VCU regional's tradition of having workshops at the kickoff (that didn't happen last year, why?) in DC and would be glad to teach one of them.
Also team 623 is definitely going to make it to the regional seeing that we can just have our members ride their bus to school and then walk to the metro (which is only a half mile away).

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Hi all,

Does anyone know if we are allowed to apply for and find out the results of the NASA grant before registering for the DC regional? My team is a bit reluctant to apply for a first week regional right before our own home event (week two).

Thanks for any help!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

The applications for NASA grants are due by October 20, 2008. As indicated in the application instructions, NASA intends to announce the selections by around November 12.


-dave


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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Thanks for your quick response! So we don't need to confirm that we are going to be there/register beforehand to be considered?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Yes, you do. Please read the instructions carefully. If you are going to apply for a Regional Challenge Grant to attend the Capitol Regional, you need to commit to attending that event.

-dave

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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I think this is a great choice. With a LOT of the east coast regionals hitting max capacity, this is a great spot to add a new event. Between PA, NJ, and the DE/MD area there are hundreds of teams.

Hope to go another year! (When it doesn't fall the same week as NJ!)

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

And I will repeat what I said before - the issue of a DC-area remote kick-off is still TBD. The discussion is not finished. So local DC-area teams might be well advised to keep their options open.

-dave



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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index....event_type=FRC

Looking at the list of potential teams makes me want to believe that this will look a lot different than your typical "rookie" regional. Lots of potential support for those DC area rookies here - wow!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Definitely: 365, 234, 176, 1279....and so many more already. This looks to be good. Too bad we'll be missing out:(

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

45 will be there!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

While the regional its self might be a rookie, i would disagree to call all dc teams "rookies". there are some well established teams there. i think though that a local regional will make the competition more feasible for schools that were thinking of joining FIRST and create more rookie teams in that way.

623 is going to be there so watch out, we've nearly tripled our membership since last season.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

It's official -- 1885 will be at the DC regional for our 'home' regional. Now for a jump start on Dean's inevitable homework...

See you guys there!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

As Will Ferrell once said, "We have a real barnburner on our hands." Looks like DC's going to be really tough! Looks like it will be a fun one to call and/or volunteer! Considering it already looks like a warmup for Championship with all the calls or lack of calls that go on with first week!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

At our team meeting on Friday, it was almost unanimous that we wanted to go to the Washington D.C. Regional and we are now registered.

Now to fund raise...

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Looks like DC is turning into a MUST SEE regional up there with Florida and Midwest!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

WOW, I can't wait for DC! Just look at all the "powerhouse" or "dynasty" teams that are attending. Daaaaaang. 587 will be there. (Score!) Unfortunately, we're ditching VCU; it's our first time ever not going.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I totally agree. There are several teams attending that will keep the crowd on its toes...I know who my first FF pick will be...

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

With out-of-town teams like the Teknokats (45 from Kokomo, IN), Beach Bots(330 - Los Angeles, CA), MOE (365 - Wilmington, DE), Cyber Blue (234 - Indianapolis, IN), Arab (538 - Arab, AL), Foshay (597, Los Angeles, CA) and even Yellow Fever (1872, San Juan, Puerto Rico) coming to join in with the local talent, it looks like it is shaping up to be quite an event. Add in the teams from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, New Jersey, and it gets even better. And then there are the ones that we know will be added to the list when the second-event registration opens. This should be a lot of fun!

-dave


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Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Any bets DC will beat Connecticut to 2 fields? It's already full after initial registration, and with the number of teams coming as a result of 2nd regional registration and rookies (projected), it's almost certain to happen (~80-90 teams?)

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

From Bill's blog:
I'm excited to see this announcement (partly since my mom and my sister first proposed this idea), and I have heard that the DC Regional planning committee already has received one VIP RSVP from a certain VA congressman.

Here are more details about the VIP breakfast:

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Wow, the VIP Breakfast sounds like a great way to expose first to the new administration! Do you know who we should contact if we are interested in being a tour guide? I'm afraid I'm not on the DC email list (if there is one, I'd love to be one it...:P) but I know a few members on our team who would probably be interested in "tour guiding".

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

No, a better first exposure would be to ziptie the president to an underdog team and let him experience it first hand for the weekend.


Like that will happen.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

If you are willing to post.

What teams are submitting Chairman's at the D.C. Regional?


Any teams already finished with their Chairman's submission? (That would be really cool)



Just Curious!


Excited about this regional. I am a senior this year and I feel that this year is going to be one of the best.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

We tried that back in November. We wrote him and his staff in two separate attempts, and both came back with the reply that out of all of the things he gets invited to, this is one where he'd love to come make an appearance. Unfortunately, no one was able to make a commitment since it's so close to the start of the term and there is so much for him and his staff to do.

It's OK though; we are already working on other possibilities :cool:

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Dawgma team 1712 will be submitting Chairman's at DC. if you want a sneak peak you can find our award submition essay here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2199

see you all in a few weeks!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

You can contact any of the following:

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

1727 is going! We are torn between submitting our Chairman's to DC or Chesapeake. We don't know if a lot of the powerful teams there will be submitting chairman's to DC, or submitting at their home regionals.

And the Dawgma essay looks quite nice! Were I a judge, I would be duly impressed!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

thank you so much, we all worked really hard on it. we are using DC as our home regional this year so we don't really have a choice. either way its going to be quite an experience competing (in chairman's and on the field) with some of the most respected teams in the FIRST community. Which ever place you decide to submit your entry I'm sure you will do your best and thats whats important.

can't wait to see you in DC!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

More Legislative Day information can be found in this video, also posted here in the CD white papers.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Team 1111 will be there in DC. We're one of the more local teams, just down the road outside of Annapolis, MD. Can't wait for the Regional ... especially now that we have a working 'bot.

We'll also be at the Chesapeake. This is the first time we've gone to 2 Regionals.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Plane ticket is booked. I will be at the DC regional this year. :D
I'll be on the lookout for awesome, and just might have some special awards to hand out.

As a reminder, the website submission deadline is in two days, 12 Feb.

Wetzel

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I'm going to be staying in Alexandria, Va. Does the metro run over there? And which metro train runs to the Convention Center?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

There are several metro stops in Alexandria, though depending on where your hotel is you may or may not be within walking distance. The Convention Center is on the Green and Yellow lines, of which the yellow runs through Alexandria.

The metro trip finder has worked well for me in the past, better than the London TfL version.
http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/tri..._form_solo.cfm

Wetzel

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

lets let a northern virginian metro expert on this. yes there is metro there i believe. if you are near the pentagon in crystal city there is a stop there as well as in ballston. the blue line runs through the reagan airport - arlington corridor and connects up with the orange line at foggy bottom and from there you take it to metro center and connect to the red line then to the green.

also http://www.dc-first.org awesome kickoff pic. it didnt get broadcasted on the kickoff video

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

If you are getting on the Blue line, most in Arlington/Alex is shared track with the yellow, which goes direct to the convention center. Making as many transfers as you are suggesting will take forever, so I don't recommend it.

Wetzel

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

sorry my mistake. i live at the end of the orange line, so i never really take the blue or yellow.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

team 1370 will be at washington dc and i think this regional will be great.....

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Hey Guys and Gals,

If you have a little time on your hands, grab a couple of friends, take the escalator up to the ground floor lobby and try the 6-player, Xbox controller, 3D graphics, physics-based Lunacy simulation Lockheed Martin is sponsoring.

An informal tournament is in the works! Be one of the top N high-scoring 3-player alliances on Friday - Get invited back Saturday morning to compete against the other high-scorers in a set of elimination rounds to see who is king of the DC Regional's virtual hill.

Or ... Just stop by anytime, solo or with friends, to play a match or two just for fun. The tournament idea is very informal - We won't let it get in the way of everyone having a good time ;)

Blake (and Dave and Jason and Stephanie and Johnson and Emily)

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Congrats Rich!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

awards for day one coming soon?

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

AVA = 116
Imagery = 2068
Innovation in Control = 234
Creativity = 1731
Driving Tomorrow's Technology = 339
Website = 620
WFA = Rich Kressley of 1712.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Congratulations, Rich!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Congratulations to all the award winners today.
Also, I have been unable to make it to the regional though I have watched most of it on tv. In general how is the regional playing out? The camera isn't very good at showing an overview of matches,it just focuses from robot to robot a lot.

Go 2199!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

The regional is going great. They are sticking pretty close to scheduale, teams are helping teams, lots of VIP's are just a few things that don't have to do with bots.

As far as teams go, the games are pretty tight. There are a few X2 matches, but for the most part, most are with in 10 points of each other. It really makes for a good atmosphere.

Good luck to all the teams today and I look forward to see how the whole thing turns out.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Here's two of the top scorers on Friday: Team 836, the Robobees vs Team 1699, the Robocats. Final score 60 Robocats, 52 Robobees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fv-_EhEuiA

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Big Congrats to the head honcho of Dawgma, Rich Kressly. You deserve it Kres.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I'm in class and can't watch the regional. Whats going on????

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

On behalf of team 836, the Robobees,

I would like to thank all teams for making the DC Regional exciting to watch! Another thanks goes to all of the sponsors and volunteers that made this event happen.

Finally, Congratulations Teams 45, 234, and 620 on their victory

-Tim

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

gratz to the winning alliance, it was a great regional to watch. Now time to finish watching the MidWest Regional

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Another congratulations to 234 on the Chairman's Award. What a weekend for you guys.

And, congratulations to all the other teams receiving awards. Hopefully we will see majority of you at Chesapeake.

-Tim and the Robobees (836)

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

When people talk about strong regionals they like to point out the level of the on field performance of the robots. In terms of that measurement the DC regional will pale in comparison no doubt (though 45's robot will go down as one of the strongest robots this season in my opinion). But when you talk about the quality of teams at this event there was no regional I have seen that has ever been better. There were teams moving up and down and all around the pits helping every other team to get their robot ready and out onto the field. Especially the rookie teams.
It was something to see and inspiring to witness. You guys made FIRST proud this weekend.
Way to show them how it's done!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

I cannot agree much more with this comment. The work that many teams, in particular 234 and 365, with other teams to help them prepare for matches and pass inspection was truly outstanding. Very rarely have I witnessed such cooperation between the teams as I did at this regional.
As for the on-the-field competition, while this regional won't be the most competitive (even this weekend), it is certainly up there. 45 was far from the only team who tore it up. 234 also did a spectacular job, and many considered them much more "explosive" than 45 (although easier to mitigate). The fact that a team the quality of 365 lost in the quarter-finals (yeah, I know it's not 1114 and 71) should be a good indication of how strong this event was.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

339 had a great time. We are very happy with our Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology award. Congrats to the winners.

Also, thanks to MOE and Epsilon Delta for helping us put up a good fight in the quarter-finals. Two points; that's a single moonrock. That game could have gone either way, easily.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Now that 2068 is back home (Yay for living 30 miles from a regional) we would like to thank our alliance partners 1712 (Dawgma) and 176 (Aces High) you guys were awesome to work with in our run.

To MOE, Killroy, and Epsilon Delta that quarter final match was a total nail biter and you are right it totally could have gone either way.

To all the award winners congratulations again!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

To EVERYONE,
I just wanted to say that I had a great time for the past of couple of days, and I would not trade the experience for anything. Thank you all for truly inspiring me and the world and I hope to see you all again soon!

David Aponte
Team 1885
ILITE Robotics

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Thanks to all the teams and volunteers that came to the Inaugural DC regional!!! We had an excellent regional that ran extremely smooth, especially for it's first year. I think we may have a FIRST record for regional completion time. The final match ended at 3:00 pm, the awards ceremony went until 4:30 pm, and I left at 6:00 pm (while the field was being loaded onto the truck).

Thanks again and I look forward to seeing everyone next year!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

What a great regional! It was an honor to be in the alliance with MOE and Killroy, and to play against the Metal Jackets, Dawgma, and Aces High.

It was a well deserved win for 45, 234, and 620. And an equally deserving Chairman's win for 234!

Of course, when I walked into the pits today and saw Andy Baker in a nun's outfit, I knew this regional would go down as one of my all-time favorites!

Heidi

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

That was just Andy up to a bad habit.

Wetzel

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Hey.. we'll have nun of that now...

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

My DC Random Walk:

1. The inaugural DC event was an awesome time to bump into VIPs and all around cool people associated with FIRST. Senator John Kerry took time to address us during Friday’s opening ceremony. And while I never did manage to catch up to Dean Kamen to thank him personally for creating an awesome opportunity to share my love of engineering with the students, our team did get him to sign our OI!! I’m sure we’ll treasure it long after we’ve reduced this years’ robot to scrap.

2. We worked with lots of great teams through qualifications and got two really great alliance partners for the elimination rounds: 1712 and 176! We had some nail-biter matches with three other great teams in the elimination quarterfinals (339, 365, 116) and were fortunate to squeak by. It is never much fun to lose, but if we had to pick an alliance to lose to 45/234/620 is a good one. These teams are class acts. I really enjoyed chatting with Andy Baker over the last couple days. As I’m sure so many across FIRST have realized he is truly a gem!

3. I believe in miracles! At one point on Thursday, I think I noted a MOE representative in nearly every rookie pit. Loads of other teams also chipped in and teams were literally racing each other to fill part requests from other teams. Several members of our team adopted 2961 and we were so proud of our adopted team when they finally we able to get out there and show their stuff. Unfortunately we added one to their loss column. Hopefully we can continue a lasting relationship with 2961 and many of the other teams we met at DC!

4. Little things can potentially make a big difference… Match 58 – our head to head with 45 in the qualifications (both were 5-0 at the time). We figured we had to win this one since we suspected 45/234 would pair up if possible (both are excellent independently but together… ouch!). Unfortunately this turned out to be the one match where a silly little mistake caused us major headaches. Root cause? Our software has (very soon to be “had”) two different ways to toggle between arcade and tank mode (a residual from our driver selection qualifications); this leads to an odd exclusive-OR logic. For some reason, karma maybe, one of the toggles was accidentally enabled without the driver being aware and so when he thought he was toggling on tank mode he was actually toggling it off. Not realizing the problem, he was unable to turn effectively (ie. not at all or unpredictably) and so we had the double whammy of not being able to score and being a sitting duck. Attention to the smallest detail is so fundamental to winning reliably in FIRST…

I could go on and on with observations I’ve seen over the last few days but I think it is time to catch up on a little sleep. Thanks for the awesome memories at DC and best wishes to all the teams at their upcoming regionals/championship!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Rich - Congratulations!

I always look for your words of wisdom in these forums when the CD community wants to tackle a controversial topic (you folks know what I'm talking about). You inspire us to seek a higher ground on these tough issues. I see how your team reacts to your leadership - well deserved.

Hope to see you in Atlanta.

Raul

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Thank you to all the teams, including but not limited to 45 and 620, for playing with us. Having a good robot means nothing if you don't have parteners to play with. All the teams should be proud of their level of preformance. I know it sounds a little cliche, but no one walked out of that building a loser.

To all you rookie teams, keep at it. Every year gets easier. Hopefully you had a lot of fun and learned a few things.

Thank you everyone in the pits and on CD for your support. It means the world to hear from you.

Good luck to all the teams who have more regionals and see everyone else in the future.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

It was a great first regional. Unfortunatly our team 122 was on the 8th alliance, which meant we had to play the 1st alliance :(. that first game was insane, 100 to 128. I thought i had you with those two supercells, but it was well won.

BTW, i missed most of the finals, if someone could put up video that'd be amazing.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Mr. Kressly congrats! Can't wait to meet you and Dawgma in Philly. :D

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Congratulations Rich! You truly earned this WFA through many years of service to area teams. See you in Philly!

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Congrats to the TechnoKats and Cyber Blue, two of three Indiana teams to capture regional victories on Saturday. Way to do it in thrilling fashion.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

The inaugural DC regional was a very memorable experience.

THE TEAMS
While 65 teams meant only having seven qualifying rounds, it was great to be at an event with teams like 45, 234, 176, and 118. It was also terrific to see some old friends and make many new ones.

THE ROOKIES
MOE has not been to a regional over the past few years, where there were this many rookie teams (12?). It was a pleasure to experience your first FIRST regional with you all. I applaud all your mentors and teachers for committing to make this experience happen for you. I look forward to seeing you all evolve over time.

THE VOLUNTEERS
Thursday was a tough day, with a new control system, playing field, venue, etc. However, by Friday and Saturday, things were humming. Thanks to all organizers and volunteers for making such a large event like this go so well.

THE PEOPLE
Where else can you walk around a regional and see Andy Baker dressed as a nun, newly-minted Woodie Flowers regional award winner Rich Kressly (way to go Rich - well deserved and long overdue!), Dean Kamen, head of the patent office, Dave Lavery, many congress people and staffers, and Paul Gudonis and John Abele. Wow.

THE MATCHES
We all learned how to play Lunacy better this weeked. The game play is more interesting than I thought it would be. Stategy is important to have but difficult to execute. The little things make a big difference. There is more scoring from more locations this season than from any FIRST game in the past 10 years, which makes this game difficult to play and follow. The playing field is constantly changing.

THE GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM
Thanks to everyone who helped other teams this weekend. It was awesome to see a rainbow of colored team shirts at pits of other teams helping them this past weekend. Teams were rushing to help each other. I also heard more "Thank You's" go out to teams over the Pit Admin announcements at this regional than any other I have attended.

Well, done to all participants! Best of luck during the rest of your season.

Re: 2009 Washington D.C. Regional
 

Heh, I thought we were in for another tormenting weekend when we got stuck on the floor again first thing Thursday -- but it turns out that the way we packed our crated caused some fiberglass to warp. Good thing we had some weight to put in a bar to fix it.

Friday was somewhat frustrating as far as matches go -- luck of who you're allied with/against plays a large part in it. Then there's alot of times where the Outpost player simply does not cooperate with you and tosses the Empty Cell over the wall or defys your pleading by dumping it onto the floor instead of on the ramp...

As a general warning, the second qual. match had a team not show up, which meant we were on the wrong end of 2 vs 3 against team 45. It was MOE and us vs 3 other bots and we had a great strategy for an upset. We could have pulled it off with better execution, but every strategy changes when there's a sitting trailer on the field, heh. When we learned there were rookies who'd barely built a bot Thursday afternoon, we went to help. Then Friday morning, we could put more people out to help because we had more mentors to help. Still kinda stings that we were helping the rookie who would've filled the empty trailer finish inspection as Match #2 started, but that's just how it goes.

End of qualifications, THE very last match of Saturday, we learned how to play defense, and play it well. We finally perfected our side-hybrid modes for the linkage drive train, so you guys in Florida better watch out :cool: We all but shut down the second undefeated team, and though we got pinned once we also made sure they had nearly a full trailer by the end. Let the record 2-5 fool you, if you dare :p

The venue for the most part was great! 12x12' pits with gigantically wide aisles that prevented traffic jams and loud "ROBOT COMING THROUGH"'s. It was alot more safer for all of the VIP's, CTO's, VP's, CEO's, etc, that happened to pass by. If only we didn't have that silly trailer, we'd impress the other teams on the field as much as we impressed all of VIPs as the robot danced around in our pit... The burgers left something to be desired, but the smoothies were fantastic. By Saturday we needed more seating for the audience, haha. Loading stuff into the event from a trailer was pretty easy too -- a large bay door led from the loading docks straight into the pits, with no bumps or door dams to get over.

Finally, there are many thank you's -- MOE (365) definitely did us some favors, and I know they did all of the rookies a ton of favors. Then there was Dawgma (1712), who helped build a rookie's bot completely from scratch on Thursday. Then there's Epsilon Delta (116), who seemed to have mentors and team members volunteer in many aspects of the event.

Thanks to the many who helped pull DC off; we look forward to coming again next year!