Press Passes at Regionals?
 

Hi. I have heard that FIRST gives out one press pass to every team at the regional. I was wondering whether or not this is true because it would make it significantly easier to be on the field for videotaping and picture-taking purposes.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

I believe it is. I remember seeing booths setup to get media passes and such but I don't know the procedure as to obtaining a pass. I want to get a media pass for the Boston regional.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

My team has never received a press pass at any regional. I don't think they are automatically given to teams.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

At FLR it seemed like they just gave one to everybody with a camera

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

There's usually a difference between a team media pass & a press pass.

A team media pass is for a designated team member to get access close to the field to videotape, or photograph during those teams' matches. At the NJ regional for example, teams had to hand them back in after their team was done playing on the field. (I also don't think every regional has the luxury of offering a team media pass given space considerations around the field.)

A press pass is usually given to members of the media (newspapers, television crews, etc...) for easy identification & access to areas usually off limits to regular team members - vip rooms, lunch areas, etc...

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

At the Waterloo and GTR regional I have never seen a team photographer/videographer given a hard time for coming down to field level while their team is playing a match (pass or no pass) and if anything I noticed how careful they all were not to get in the way, it was VERY noticeable as I am used to just having people walk right in front of my camera, and yes us media people get press passes right when we enter the venue but overall everything at the events is very media/camera friendly compared to a lot of other events I cover.

The key thing though is to always be watching who is going where with a robot and not have a tripod in the way or anything like that and things move quickly on the sidelines there with teams and equipment coming on and off the field and the music is loud so you have to be always looking in all directions to make sure and usually there is no problem at all.

Learning to shoot video with safety glasses on took me about 20 min back at aim high but I got used to it.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

I don't know where you would go to get it, but each team does receive one 'Team Photographer' badge. Whoever has the badge can stand directly next to the field and talk with the drive team until the match starts. Once it starts, you're not allowed to stand on the carpet surrounding the field, obstruct the view of the judges, refs, and announcer, or communicate with the drivers in any way.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

This isn't the case at every event. Nothing like that at WPI, though the stands were 4 feet from the field anyway so they weren't needed at all. (more regionals should be that close...)

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

If I recall correctly this badge was in the packet of information that teams received at check-in at the MN Northstar Regional last year.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

There's a lot of misinformation in this thread. There is no standardized FIRST press pass for regional events. There is for The Championship.

If your event has one, consider yourselves lucky. I've never seen it at any event I've been to.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

Bottom line... Team photography access is discussed and defined by the FTA for each event. We started this last year at Chesapeake and it seemed to go pretty well. People were polite and generally didn't get in the way. This year at the Baltimore Convention Center there was considerably more room near the field and with rare exception was not a problem at all.
What's worse is all the people who get up near the field boundry to take pics or video and get mad if you walk in front of them. As a member of the field team I tried to be polite at first, but if it got in the way of me doing my job to keep the event running I had no problem walking in front of them.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

WPI did have a limited number of team media passes that were cycled among teams.
You could only use them for a short period of time (match) then they had to be returned for another team to have an opportunity to use them.

NJ had the same thing as Elgin said.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

I've never experienced an issue with team media badges in any events my teams have competed in, but the policy does vary from event to event.

Best advice? Contact someone on the regional planning committee in advance (someone from the committee has probably been emailing your team's main contact with advance information), or inquire at Pit Admin once you get there.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

Yes, there are press passes; each team received one at the Florida Regional.

Here's how it works:

The badge is just like the safety captain or driver badge and it allows a media representative from each team to be next to the field during matches. Media reps cannot help their team with their robot, must have a camera, and must stay off the carpeted area.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

Press passes vary from regional to regional. At GKC all teams are provided one press pass and the team's media person was allowed in the curtained area only while their team is on the field. They were required to stay at least 3 feet from the field, and out of the way of judges and refs.They had to follow the rules on the back of the pass or risk losing the pass. One rule stated that they could not cheer for their team while in the curtained area. Hard to do! Most teams did a great job of following the rules. One or two used the pass in order to have an extra person with their drive team, and that will be looked at before next year.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

Policies vary, I would recommend contacting your regional's planning committee for more info. I know for San Diego a list of people requesting press passes was generated before the event, though there were no team media badges.

Re: Press Passes at Regionals?
 

We got press passes at the Florida Regional. It depends on the regional.

Cass