Registration 2011
 

Might as well start talking about this...

562 teams have registered as of 1:18

BAE is filled to initial capacity.

Michigan filters teams through the wait list, but FIRST lists Traverse and Ann Arbor as at initial capacity.


Fewer open slots are available at Championship because of the blossoming number of Regionals and they are going pretty quickly too.

Re: Registration 2011
 

It looks like the lowest-numbered 2011 rookie team is 3450. As of 1:35pm, the highest team number registered is 3466.

Re: Registration 2011
 

SBPLI reached initial capacity @ 4:10pm

Half the teams registered today did it within the first half hour. After the initial rush gave us 500 teams in the first hour it tapered off to a steady slope of adding roughly 50 teams/hour.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Our team is signing up another team next Wed. not sure where they will place # wise but every year I always find it interesting were the numbers are at.

Re: Registration 2011
 

FIM (First in Michigan) is running our registration a bit differently. While teams are signed up, they are ALL going on the waitlist. FIM is going through and assigning each team's district based on their "closest" one. So if you picked your closest regional, it's very very likely you will get it.

This is a cost savings measure to make sure that teams that are traveling do not lock out a local team from their local competition. It's a smart move too in this economy and I was happy to hear they were doing it this way.

I don't have all the exact details of how it's working, but the idea that all the closest teams get to go to their closest district is important for teams that do Traverse City and the West Michigan events.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Let me be one of the first to say that I love the stats that Mark publishes. It's like listening to a baseball game and the announcer has all the figures and tosses out the little nuggets.

I liked last years "trivia" that came out like the number of continuous regionals that teams attended. Maybe we'll hear what rookie teams are traveling the farthest :rolleyes:

Thanks Mark!

Re: Registration 2011
 

I'll try to keep up the chatter, but I'm making a mid-Atlantic tour of the Regional venues this weekend (I'll be driving past and waving-7 venues in 7 hours), so I'll be offline most of the time.

As for rookie travel, right now Mexico has 4 rookie teams, so they probably have the furthest to travel. Other countries might have farther to go, but they have no rookies yet.

After the first day of registration our most popular new Regional is Smoky Mountain trailed closely by Alamo. Way back in the field is Lake Superior-not as popular a destination as the veteran double-header in Minneapolis.

Hard to tell much about the double Regional sites (Dallas, Toronto, Seattle, Minneapolis).
Minneapolis is way ahead, but I imagine Seattle is right up there. It's just that the Seattle numbers aren't made public. Toronto trails the pack as half of Canadian teams registered State-side first- there were only 12 loyalists so far.

830 teams showing as registered is about 2% fewer than last season at this time.

Re: Registration 2011
 

From the @FRCTeams Twitter feed

This morning we have 822 teams registered which exceeds the 2003 season Stack Attack which had 787 teams

Re: Registration 2011
 

I'm not surprised by this at all. Many of the Minnesota teams are much closer to the metro than to Duluth and many of the teams further out where the teams that took a bit longer to register last year. I would expect the Lake Superior event to fill rather slowly until second event registration rolls around.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Re: Registration 2011
 

The count is now ahead of the 2004 numbers (927) too, and getting close to the 2005 teams (988).


Today's registration is slightly ahead of this same period last year, and can reasonably be expected to begin to pull away.

In addition to BAE & SBPLI (as well as a couple of Districts), three other Regionals are nearing initial capacity: Boilermaker (3 places left), Boston (4 slots remain), and Midwest (5 openings).

It doesn't look like there will be any Championship openings by the time the rest of the teams become eligible on October 28.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Broke 1,000 teams at noon today. Only 3 hours ahead of last year.

Still room most places, nobody else has quite filled yet.
Pittsburgh(1), and Silicon Valley(4) are also close now.

P.S.
Around 2:00pm Pittsburgh became the third Regional to reach waitlist status.

The most eager rookies, those registering as soon as possible, come from California (14).
Mexico (5) has the most (only) non-US rookies so far.

8 countries are represented so far: US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, Great Britain, Chile, Australia

Re: Registration 2011
 

I guess that's one positive about being knocked out in the semis last year :o

I thought normally there were enough of those to go around. Probably like last year, 50+ slots will free open as other teams drop their spots.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Each year there are fewer and fewer Championship open registration slots, because FRC gains more and more Regional events that need additional reserved qualifying spots.
Not to mention the double events, although I imagine the new double-events held in the same facility could easily become single events again if they don't get the expected signups.

Last year had 175 openings, this year 149.
Expect it to decrease steadily over the coming years...

Re: Registration 2011
 

Registration is unusually slow this year.
At this point growth is 2% (for 2011) vs 11%(for 2010)

This point being: 10:30am, 5th day of registration, 1047 teams.

In both cases Michigan and Washington state were hidden, so that shouldn't be affecting the comparison of results much.

People just may not be in a rush to register.

P.S.
Added a graph to illustrate what's worrisome about the flat growth rate. Prior years growth was much more distinct as you can see. Also, last year itself had one of the lowest growth rates in the past 20 years, so it makes the contrast even more stark.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Hey Mark can you find out the ratio of veteran teams to young/rookie teams per regional?

Re: Registration 2011
 

I have that info. as of yesterday.
At this point for most Regional's it's zero.
6.6% of the registered teams are rookies (69 of them).

The leaders are:
9 @ San Diego (vs. 23 vets)
5 @ Oklahoma (vs. 41 vets)

3 @
Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Long Island, Palmetto, Silicon Valley, Boston, North Carolina.

2 @
Midwest, Connecticut, Buckeye, Dallas

1 @
BAE, Alamo, Florida, WPI, Kansas City, Wisconsin, NYC, Arizona, Boilermaker, Bayou, Los Angeles, DC, Oregon, 10K Lakes, Utah

0 @ 20 other Regionals

Re: Registration 2011
 

Historically, do rookies tend to register later than veterans, or is the current dearth of rookies a new phenomenon?

Re: Registration 2011
 

The majority of rookies usually register later than the veterans.
By now probably more than 60% of the teams have registered (including an estimate of the hidden Michigan/Washington teams), but probably only 40% of the rookies we'll end up with have signed up.

We're pretty much right where we were last season at this time. A tiny bit ahead.
Last year 6.5% of the registered teams were rookies by the fifth day of registration.

Re: Registration 2011
 

there are 50 more Israeli teams that haven't registered yet

Re: Registration 2011
 

The majority of Israeli teams seem to traditionally wait and register the last week.

They know where their first Regional is no matter what.

Re: Registration 2011
 

What regional areas of the US regionals usually fill up fastest? Southeast, Northeast, Southwest, Northwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes area?

Re: Registration 2011
 

Here's last year's graph of when everything initially filled up.
It doesn't show the fluctuations as waitlists were later cleared.

Although, scheduling changes year-to-year can cause different regionals to fill up faster/slower. This is mostly driven by the venue size and the density of local teams, so it's fairly constant.

Re: Registration 2011
 

More from the @FRCTeams Twitter feed.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Thanks for following the tweets John.
2200 would be almost triple last season's team growth.
Maybe some big block of teams is expected later...

Boilermaker is now booked as well.

Re: Registration 2011
 

The Israeli teams traditionally register late.

Are the "every team goes on the wait list to start with" events keeping the numbers down, or do the wait-listed teams count as registered?

Re: Registration 2011
 

Purely waitlisted teams don't show up, but the same teams were invisible last season...

FIRST's estimate of 2200 total teams is on the order of 580 new teams over and above vets (assuming the standard 10% dropout rate). That's about double the number of rookies last year, which would be great!

• Texas is supposed to explode because of state support and they've provided roughly 230 event slots for everyone (104 teams last year).
• Washington has possibly doubled their event capacity. But they don't show up on the registered list, so Washington's growth is unknown (59 teams last year). One traitor is registered for Oregon :)
• Israel is a known quantity and the event capacity hasn't risen from last season, so I don't see them providing a flood of rookies.
• Michigan can be estimated by the number of District events, so they'd need to add District events to increase over last year. They have room now for ~20 rookies.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I'm a little concerned that the goal is for 25% of all teams in FIRST to be rookies. Is that a normal percentage of first year rookies to veterans?

Insert the usual "we should do more to help veterans stick around" piece of thought here.

Re: Registration 2011
 

It's happened before, after all the first year 100% of the teams were rookies :)
The last time it was as high as 25% was in 2003, but you can see in the table below that 25% isn't extreme.
However, they are usually spread out, and Texas has already experienced what it's like to have a flood of rookies overwhelming the vets. I guess Texas is experienced with the inexperienced...

Year --- # Teams -- Vets --- New ---- % new teams
1992 ---------- 28 ---------- 0 ----------- 28 ---------- 100.0%
1993 ---------- 25 ---------- 14 ---------- 11 ---------- 44.0%
1994 ---------- 44 ---------- 22 ---------- 22 ---------- 50.0%
1995 ---------- 59 ---------- 30 ---------- 29 ---------- 49.2%
1996 ---------- 94 ---------- 48 ---------- 46 ---------- 48.9%
1997 ---------- 155 --------- 83 ---------- 72 ---------- 46.5%
1998 ---------- 199 --------- 137 --------- 62 ---------- 31.2%
1999 ---------- 269 --------- 166 --------- 103 --------- 38.3%
2000 ---------- 372 --------- 241 --------- 131 --------- 35.2%
2001 ---------- 515 --------- 333 --------- 182 --------- 35.3%
2002 ---------- 641 --------- 456 --------- 185 --------- 28.9%
2003 ---------- 787 --------- 590 --------- 197 --------- 25.0%
2004 ---------- 927 --------- 711 --------- 216 --------- 23.3%
2005 ---------- 988 --------- 805 --------- 184 --------- 18.6%
2006 ---------- 1133 -------- 901 --------- 233 --------- 20.6%
2007 ---------- 1301 -------- 1037 -------- 264 --------- 20.3%
2008 ---------- 1501 -------- 1187 -------- 317 --------- 21.1%
2009 ---------- 1677 -------- 1359 -------- 320 --------- 19.1%
2010 ---------- 1808 -------- 1531 -------- 277 --------- 15.3%

Re: Registration 2011
 

A slew of Michigan teams just got sorted off the waitlist and they have 10 rookies showing.

4 Canadian rookies have also finally showed up.
Mexico has 8 rookies now.

It's up to 90 rookie teams now.

We passed the number of 2006 teams around 3:30 this afternoon.

Championship is Full now. No open slots remain.:(
This'll be the first year in our team history that we haven't attended.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I was wondering how Kansas City was looking on registration, if you dont mind.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Kansas City is more than half full.
36 teams have signed up so far. Two of them are rookies.

Teams are signing up at about the same as last year and they were pretty full then with only two slots left over.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Except when you win Long Island :)

Re: Registration 2011
 

If the seniors want it badly enough maybe I'll still get to go.:)
We might see you at WPI too if things work out.

Re: Registration 2011
 

How many teams go to the Championship from the waitlist each year? My team just registered today, so I'm wondering if we will get to go.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I'd be pretty sure you're 1st or 2nd on the list if you registered today and will probably get in. Last year they let in quite a few teams from the waitlist, because teams that signed up already didn't raise the cash, or dropped out for other reasons.
FIRST may not tell you yes or no until competition starts though.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Washington has 25 Rookie FRC teams pushing our total now to well over 80 teams...(hence the need for the double regional..) We also got great State of Washington support in FRC, FTC and FLL. FLL is over 200 teams....well up from last year...
We are looking forward to a great double regional..

Re: Registration 2011
 

It's sounding less and less like FRC and more like customized Michigan FRC - whatever that is evolving into. Are there going to be any guidelines and expectations in place for this? As you can see, it's the first I've heard of it and naturally, I began to wonder how any 1 team could mentor 2 rookies teams and have all 3 teams healthy & hardy by the end of the competition season.

But then, I'm not one to see common sense practicality implemented in the FIRST ways of doing things much.

Jane

Re: Registration 2011
 

So you're financially rewarded for starting a new team, but not saving a team on the brink... that's nice.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I was concerned about the teams who are in trouble as well. However the teams that I personally know that closed down, closed due to lack of student participation, not money. That doesn't mean that there aren't teams that closed due to lack of money, just that I don't know any personally.

In MI we were given this challenge months ago. Our team was successful in getting teams into schools surrounding us. As far as mentoring goes, yes we have to mentor and show up for some meetings and such. The teams we were able to get started however already have at least 1-4 engineers. Both schools are within 20 mins from us.

We are lucky in MI to have the system in place that we have. I know several other states are adopting portions of our system such as the bagging system.

My team had a budget of $1,500 last year so this will double it. I am grateful for this great opportunity not just for our team but the new teams as well.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Welcome to FIRST...

Re: Registration 2011
 

Jane,
I hear you and many of us that have been around FIRST for awhile hear you...
I won't comment on the idea that Michigan has its own little thing going.... I have posted about that before and I have been trying very hard to be positive and not negative on CD.

We have 25 new rookie teams here in Washington... last year we had a similar amount... and the year before we had 15-20.... The veteran teams here have been trying very hard to help the rookie teams out... Our team has done a special Rookie Workshop for the last three years....(with the help of other teams ....) Washington is also doing 4 separate workshops for all teams...

The teams and FirstWA leadership is trying very hard...

On the other hand... we got a huge pot of money from the State this year... but it is intended to start teams.... not to support the program in general... so few veteran teams received much money this year... in fact a number of them didn't get anything...those that did got less than $1000.

I see a huge push for numbers... and if this is the intent of FIRST they are succeeding...
I am much more conservative by nature... I see that veteran teams working with rookie teams are the best way to grow FIRST and make it self-sustaining. Without support these veteran teams simply don't have the resources to do that..

On our team this year we will spend $2000 - $3000 in helping other teams... in one way or another...
We do have a strong parent group and we work very hard on fundraising for the whole year.
This is part of our committment to FIRST and to growing FIRST.

We learned how to fundraise our very first year when we did not receive a NASA grant...
(You may remember that.... you helped us...:0).)

The fact remains that we were the 16th team in the State of Washington..
We are going into our 5th year...
This means that the state has added over 60 teams in the past 3 years...

This is tough to sustain... and when dollars are spent by the State... they MUST include real $$ support for the teams that they have created...

I actually like the model that Michigan is providing in this regard... Give money to teams to help Rookie teams... at least in this regard they are supporting these other created teams.

I do think that we need to see more support from FIRST in the arena of Fundraising.
i remember that last year it was a big deal at Kickoff... to date... Where are these programs?
I haven't seen anything of substance yet... I had thought we would have some kind of
"Green" fundraising activities fleshed out by FIRST and presented by now...

FIRST needs to find ways to help veteran teams raise money... Rookie teams seem to find a way of coming up with the necessary funds and so many of the grant programs are earmarked for these new teams...

I hope to see some real ideas from FIRST on how to SUSTAIN teams and not just how to
CREATE teams...

It is fine to create teams but what is the audience for what FIRST does?
It IS a numbers game.... the NUMBER of students involved.... but not just for a year or two..
A mature FIRST student (3 or more years in the program) has a much greater experience and will want to go into STEM related fields...

If FIRST is talking about fielding 2200 teams this year it doesn't take genius to look at the team numbers and know that we have 1500- 2000 teams that are not active any more... One could look at that and say that this is not a very successful program... or one that schools are not willing to support.
Now I know there are as many reasons for a team to stop participating as there are teams... but I think that this is an issue that we tend to bury ..
Oh... its ok to lose 10% of the teams each year... is it really OK for those teams.. for those kids too?

We need to train teams from the very beginning to become self-sustaining...
so we can offer a full experience to FIRST students...

Re: Registration 2011
 

I'm probably sounding negative, Bob. I realize this. One reason is because I live in Texas and I know a few veteran teams who are going to be working very very hard to help the many rookie teams and 1st year/2nd year teams that will be struggling this season. There is not enough built-in support for this. There is also not any financial incentive or support (like what has been mentioned) for the veteran teams, the teams struggling to survive, or the young teams that still need a lot of help. There are also many teams in Texas that don't have the benefit, rookie or veteran, of having several engineers on their team.

So I'm looking at the future of the region where I mentor - not just my team - but other teams - as best I can - and it's one tough job. And that's for a NEM, not a technical mentor. If teams are paid to mentor - in my opinion, they should be covering all of the areas it takes to run a team. That helps build/grow stability and stability is what helps determines sustainability.

Show me on paper where FIRST is being proactive in areas of sustainability, balancing that with the keen interest in starting new teams. Show me on paper where FIRST has worked with their wonderful sponsors and supporters and shown them how critical sustainability is to FRC teams. Then I'll stop questioning how we're going to be successful in Texas and find that all the teams worldwide will want to come help support us and compete in our competitions because we have developed into such a strong and powerful region due to short term and long term planning and goal-setting in areas of sustainability and development by FIRST in working with our region.

Jane

P.S. Bob, I loved your last statement in your post. It is awesome.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I agree. 1276 did not disappear from a lack of funding. No infusion of cash would've kept the team running. We just ran out of people. I'm sure there are some teams that drop out due to a lack of funding, but I'm willing to bet the majority run out of people to run the team. I'd be curious to see when a team is most likely to disappear, I'd be willing to bet that it is after the 1st, 4th, and 5th seasons.

Re: Registration 2011
 

10% of teams drop out? That's kind of depressing. I can see money as an issue but I wonder how many drop out due to lack of interest. Maybe we are just lucky but in my first year I only saw one or two kids that were not fully involved and enjoying the experience each time they were there. I hear we have a number of new recruits which will replace the 5 seniors we lost.

I just hate the thought of students getting a taste of FIRST then losing the opportunity.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I removed my post because it looked like it was starting to cause some negativity and that wasn't my intent at all. Yes I know that in part it is still there due to quotes. MI is unique and I wish other states were able to join us. My team went from being able to play 7 rounds to 25. I see nothing but positive in that for the kids. I wish other kids could have that. I think that MI is trying to make FIRST better.

As for signing up rookies, isn't that what FIRST wants? A team in every school.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I also share everyone's concern for sustainability, but that discussion is not what this thread is about. I will be more than happy to discuss it in a different thread. Can we stay on topic?

Re: Registration 2011
 

Just popping back in on this thread and I hadn't been on it since before it took a turn down the sustainability road.

I came to post that in Texas, as of 9:45 AM CST on 10/8/10, we have 51 teams registered for events in the State and if a plan had not been put in place to add the Dallas event two years ago and now the San Antonio (Alamo) event this year, teams would not have a place to play. Of those 51 teams, five are from our neighbors from south of the border as GM in Mexico and other partners are building on the success of FLL in Mexico which has over 200 teams. Now Mexico has at least 5 new FRC teams. It also appears that besides a team or two from the OK state, we even have a visitor from Washington State. I wonder how apples go with Salsa:D I know we have salsa recipes with mango, anybody have an Apple Salsa recipe:p

Still working on the 150 plus rookie FTC teams in Texas and that boot to hit the floor:yikes:

Re: Registration 2011
 

I did this analysis last year but I don't think I ever published it. It's a little early to do now, it's only been a week after all, but sometime in December I'll run the numbers.

Things really took a turn after I went to bed...
Unfortunately, I've been fighting fires at work this week and I have an intermediate LabVIEW workshop tomorrow I should probably prepare for. Otherwise, I'd enjoy joining Jane's sustainability discussion thread.

SBPLI-LI FIRST has always been a separate organization from FIRST that uses the FIRST programs in its' mission. We do our own Regional fundraising, team development, sustainability, but other than having a bit more freedom we're probably very similar to most FIRST Regional organizations.
Many years back, for a short period SBPLI offered a financial incentive to vets for bringing in and sponsoring one rookie team. That was at a time we were trying to rebuild a critical mass after a die-off of teams due to the loss of a major island-wide team sponsor. I wouldn't say it was a game changer at the time.
After that SBPLI took a step back and recruits a managable influx, averaging 3 rookies each year for the past 9 years or so.

Our vet retention rate is pretty high since the die-off. Our average dropout rate has been at most one team a year, and they usually come right back after a year off.
Our team losses have been due to the loss of district interest/political support, retirement of sole team leaders, and a few really due to school budget cuts rather than sponsor losses. Schools pay at least one team advisor for legal purposes and when that's cut (or that advisor retires) the team is defacto defunct. The solution to an advisor leaving is a succession plan.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Back to our regularly scheduled updates.

1200 teams this morning.
96 rookies (8%)

Re: Registration 2011
 

Thank you Mark. Your threads are the best part of preseason.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Not much happened over the weekend. Pretty much after the first week registration goes flat on the weekends, especially the long holidays like Thanksgiving. People must be raking leaves or somethin'.

Registration is 5% above this same time last year.
That's half the growth rate, by this date, for the previous couple of seasons, but it is growth.

Re: Registration 2011
 

TIMS was down over the weekend. Perhaps we'll see a spike today.

Re: Registration 2011
 

We did get 30 add-ins today, so maybe that was due to the TIMS outage.

So far I see 8 past vets that had dropped out, returning:

• 496 Port Jefferson, NY in my own Long Island backyard
• 549 Leominster, MA
• 1006 Port Perry Ontario
• 1076 Ann Arbor, MI
• 1237 New York, NY
• 1604 Harmony, FL
• 2332 Fairview, OK
• 3474 Hampton Bays, NY - also on Long Island

There are also these rookie teams with "vet" status:

• Team 244, Grandville, MI looks like another sibling of teams 216 & 288
• Teams 2055 & 2059, Cary, NC look like spinoffs of team 2108

Unknowns with rookie "vet" status are:

• Team 156, Fairview, PA
• Team 2087, Canby, OR
• Team 2451, Memphis, TN

I'm sure there are probably other returning vets hidden amongst the rookie team numbers.

Re: Registration 2011
 

It looks like 1318 from Washington got pulled out of the Alamo Regional to be put back in one of the Seattle Regionals instead as a first pick.

3 more teams and we'll match the 2007 number of teams.
P.S. We're now past the 2007 numbers.
Silicon Valley Regional is now at initial capacity along with BAE, LI, Pittsburgh, & Boilermaker.

1298 teams showing as registered
8 teams are back from the dead...
126 new team numbers have been assigned.
5% growth over last year, still very low compared to past years. It's the lowest since 1993.

The top places with the most registered teams so far:

CA ---- 130
MI ---- 110
NY ----- 86
TX ----- 57
MN ---- 56
OK ---- 52
VA ---- 50

The bottom places missing the most teams (disregarding Washington since all but one are not visible to us):

TX ---- 54
MN --- 51
MI ---- 44 (may not be visible to us)
Israel -- 43 (perpetually late registers)
CA ---- 39
NY ---- 37
Canada -- 26

Re: Registration 2011
 

Now Mark, is that teams from those states that have registered or teams registered for regionals within those states?

Re: Registration 2011
 

Teams from that state or country who have registered, regardless of where they will be playing.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Mark, are teams able to be registered to 2 regionals at this time? WPI is to capacity and Boston has 1 opening left, but, 3280 shows up on both regional team list??

Re: Registration 2011
 

2nd Regional event registration doesn't open until Oct. 28, but I know of a couple of instances where teams were able to registered for more than one event.
One team leader I know is registered for one event and told me they are also already on a wait list for a second. They can't be seen on the wait list so it's harder to confirm, but 3280's case is pretty obvious to all.

I don't have that option in TIMS for my own team, and it seems unlikely that there's an error in the system that some were perhaps unwittingly able to take advantage of. Probably there are extenuating circumstances and FIRST HQ registered them by hand for the second Regional.

Don't know what's up with that...

Re: Registration 2011
 

Washington State is finally heard from.
They popped 47 teams off their wait list.

Re: Registration 2011
 

1400 teams on the registered list
135 rookie teams
8 resurrected vets

70% of the teams from last year have re-registered already.
Nine sub-100 teams are still missing, but some, like team 1, are probably on waitlists still.

9 countries are represented: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, United Kingdom, United States (48 states + PR & DC).


P.S.
A team I knew that was registered for two Regionals got removed from one Regional list and is now only on the waitlist for their home Regional. So that got straightened out.

Five other teams have been removed from the registered list and I assume left on waitlists for other events.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Beware of Team 2576 (Chile): With that fantastic rescue they pulled off, it's clear they know what they're doing...

Re: Registration 2011
 

Got another mini-release of 15 or so Michigan teams at mid-day. They still seem to be adding as I post, but they're up to 135 teams now leaving them District slots to accommodate 25 more teams.
It's nice to see team 51 of course :)

I'm not seeing the flood of team growth we were promised yet. Right now it's still looking like a pretty dismal growth year.

160+ new teams
Boston Regional is finally at initial capacity. 2 1/2 weeks later than last year.

Last year 19 Regionals were at initial capacity by this time.
This year 8 Regionals are at initial capacity by this time.
To be a fair comparison, the capacity at 15 events is the same or close & 3 events had large increases.

Re: Registration 2011
 

The FIRSTinTexas.org grants have been slow to develop as the funding was finally put in place on Monday of this week. Texas is majorly involved with the BEST robotics program and schools are just now wrapping up that season with competitions this weekend and next. Hopefully with both of those confounding issues soon behind us, we will see a flurry of new team growth in both FTC and FRC here in Texas as well as the remaining 40 odd veterans finally update their TIMS accounts and register for events and local kick-offs.:ahh:

NASA and Boeing grants are going to be late this year as well so over-all this year funding for new and veteran teams will be much later than normal. One could only assume that this is going to impact the team registration process. I don't want to be working in FIRST finance this year as they are going to be working over-time come December as payment deadlines come due. There is going to be hundreds of letters and emails from teams with a story about a sponsors check being in the mail.

Re: Registration 2011
 

We just hit 1501 FRC teams, the number that played in 2008.
And the vets that have already returned match the # of vets that returned in 2009.

2.4% over last year at this time.
By way of comparison at this same point in registration the past couple of years:

2010 - 8.4% over the previous year (final growth was an unusually low 7.8%)
2009 - 17.8% over the previous year (final growth was 11.7%)

FRC growth has generally been slowing each year over the past decade, but last year and this it's been more extreme and recession-like.
These low growth numbers reflect on lower than normal registrations by both rookies and veteran teams.
The ratio of rookies to veterans is still pretty close to normal.

I forgot Texas registration is usually slowed by the BEST season competitions, and that'll result in a later surge in rookies.
The vets will sign-in at the same rate they always do.

P.S.
Still 2 teams that were able to register for two events before everyone else.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Arkansas now has a second team. It's located in Little Rock.
P.S.
Assuming an average 25 students per team, there are now 38,000 students registered for this season.

Here's where the rookies are from so far:

MI ---------- 23
CA ---------- 18
FL ---------- 10
TX ---------- 10
Mexico ------ 8
OK ---------- 7
NC ---------- 6
ON Canada - 6
QC Canada - 6
WA ---------- 6
OH ---------- 5
PA ---------- 5
CT ---------- 4
GA ---------- 4
IN ---------- 4
MA ---------- 4
SC ---------- 4
LA ---------- 3
MN ---------- 3
NH ---------- 3
NY ---------- 3
AL ---------- 2
AZ ---------- 2
ID ---------- 2
IL ---------- 2
ME ---------- 2
MO ---------- 2
NJ ---------- 2
TN ---------- 2
VA ---------- 2
WI ---------- 2
WV ---------- 2
AR ---------- 1
DC ---------- 1
KS ---------- 1
MT ---------- 1
OR ---------- 1

Re: Registration 2011
 

Arkansas is going gangbusters, it's tripled quadrupled its' number of teams. Another one joined from Springdale, and another from Hot Springs.
The new teams are far from the nearest veteran, so they'll need some teleop help.

Turkey is back with a couple of teams.

Some more old veterans have been resurrected.
Team 144 even got their original number back although they haven't played since 2003.


P.S.
Got a bit of a registration surge today and # of teams crossed the 1600 line about 4pm.
That's a week ahead of last year's pace.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I hop that TIMS is ready for tomorrows assault.

(Foley, bring the hamster back)

Re: Registration 2011
 

Just wondering, where are you getting all this info?

Re: Registration 2011
 

The registration data just comes from the FIRST website at: http://www.usfirst.org/whatsgoingon.aspx
I have various filters I run it through to look at what's changing.

We also have kept records from earlier FIRST team databases that have now vanished. The raw form of this data is at: http://www.team358.org/files/team_lookup/
That database hasn't been updated in a year, because our webmaster has been in the middle of a database upgrade and got distracted by having to look for a real job after graduating college...

There are some errors in it from the original sources that we've been able to isolate and remove in the derived records published here: http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/index.php

To compare against past year's I just keep records when I do this every year. You can do this yourself just by looking back through older Registration threads.

Re: Registration 2011
 

In 10 minutes we can all register for a 2nd Regional event.

1612 teams are showing as registered.
A few teams on 8 event waitlists are not showing, but they are there.
2 teams got to register for two Regionals ahead of time- both 3000+ teams.
Michigan hasn't sorted everyone into their two District events yet.
Texas events will waitlist everyone for 2nd events.
Everyone registering for Championship will be waitlisted.

A little less than 12% of the teams are rookies or new "veteran" teams (189).
10 resurrected vets have been identified.
We're missing 21% (~400) of the vets from last year-about normal for this time.

Israel vets (43) will show up later, and Texas registration has been slowed by the fall BEST competition.

Re: Registration 2011
 

In and out of TIMS. Very smooth. The hamster must be happy.:D

Re: Registration 2011
 

You know what's really weird is that one team dropped off the Championship team list at noon.

The most popular Regionals (that we can see) at noon were:

• (18) Chesapeake
• (16) Connecticut
• (10) Wisconsin
• (10) Tennessee
• (9) NYC - then the waitlist began

An hour later they were joined by:

• (10) Buckeye
• (12) NJ

And by the next morning the biggest gains, as the most popular 2nd event, were posted by:

• CT (+28 teams) - hit capacity & went to waitlisting
• MD (+27 teams)
• NJ (+22 teams)

4 more Regionals reached their initial capacity:

1. San Diego
2. NYC
3. Sacramento
4. Oklahoma

2 more Regionals filled initial capacity by 4:30pm

1. Los Angeles
2. Virginia

1 more Regional filled by the next morning

1. Connecticut

A few Regionals sent everyone to the waitlist immediately by cutting their remaining open slots to zero: Texas of course, DC, and FL. Seattle Cascade cut theirs to zero too, I assume to let Olympic catch-up.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Just like last time. I can get in TIMS easily, but there is no box to register. I had to wait about 90 minutes for the 1st registration before it appeared. Hopefully it won't be as long. :(

Re: Registration 2011
 

It's on the Edit/View page not the main TIMS page.
At the bottom.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Mark:

I look forward to your registration analysis. Great work! Keep it coming! :D

Re: Registration 2011
 

Dope....


Thanks Mark!

Re: Registration 2011
 

Tennessee just got even more interesting (71, 79, 234, 1024...)

Re: Registration 2011
 

FLR just got more intense with 217 and 2056 signing up.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Ya, SMR is gonna be really fun, on top of the fact that it is a new regional. Big name teams from all over FIRST: Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, and the rest of the Southeast/Appalachian states.

Re: Registration 2011
 

The TechnoKats (45) decided on Midwest (IL) over Smoky Mountain (TN) partly because we wanted to play with Team Hammond (71) for a change. It looks like we needn't have worried.

WildStang (111) is a lot of fun to hang out with too, so it was still a good choice.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Is there anyway to view the event wait list? We are on a wait list, but might want to change to an open event if the wait list is large. any thoughts?

Re: Registration 2011
 

I guess I'll have to wear a clean flannel shirt to the competition now.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Funny you should ask, but no we can't see the waitlist.
This email from FIRST just arrived: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...791#post978791

It's not a sequential list anyway. For instance, in Texas 1st event Texas teams get priority, in Washington state teams get preference. In Michigan they sort you into Districts based on a complex criteria.

P.S.

Re: Registration 2011
 

[voice="Leslie Phillips"]Not Detroit, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your cRIO, and Detroit will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that-no? Well, if you're sure-better be KETTERING![/voice]

(implied comparisons between Michigan District events and Houses are purely arbitrary and are intended neither as endorsement nor disparagement)

Re: Registration 2011
 

2056 breaks from their Waterloo/GTR tradition for the first time - to Rochester's benefit. :)

The GTR East/West updated team lists also indicate something new will likely happen this year. Now more than ever, I hope they find a way to hold that Uber Champion matchup. :)

Re: Registration 2011
 

It kills me that a team can cross two borders to go to GTR but no American teams will come.
2006 seems so long ago.

Re: Registration 2011
 

One American team now, Team 467 from Massachusetts.

Re: Registration 2011
 

I stand corrected.
I would like to see more.
Why is one side filling up more than the other?
That's weird.

Re: Registration 2011
 

When we signed up 6am HI time for CMP, we automatically were placed on a waitlist.
Were there a few open slots this morning for teams that signed up today?

Re: Registration 2011
 

No slots today. The Championship open reg slots were all gone by October 7 a week after registration opened.

Re: Registration 2011
 

Server Error
500 - Internal server error.
There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.


Is it just me? usfirst.org
(I'm not registering anything, but I am trying to finish a ppt for a FIRST workshop!)

Re: Registration 2011
 

Nah, it's general.

Re: Registration 2011
 

As Mark said it appears to be a problem with the site itself.

Here's a tool that may help with similar queries in the future:
http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com

Re: Registration 2011
 

<off-topic-sort-of>
<banging head on keyboard in frustration>
As my signature says below:
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again"

Re: Registration 2011
 

I think some guy was running regional events through a filter to see what changed and he brought the site down.:ahh:

Re: Registration 2011
 

I have a very light touch. You'd hardly even notice me. Oh, by the way Gary, I noticed your Mastercard is coming up on it's expiration date, and your disk needs to be defragmented...

On the bright side my data is exactly up-to-date and I know nothing has changed :-)

Re: Registration 2011
 

Back to our irregularly scheduled program chatter...

Bosnia has joined again along with another Turkish team.

1. Australia
2. Bosnia
3. Brazil
4. Canada
5. Chile
6. Germany
7. Israel
8. Mexico
9. Turkey
10. United Kingdom
11. United States

HI Regional is hosting the Australian team
Mexico teams are going all over-all three Texas events, AZ, CO, San Diego, Oregon, Toronto East
San Diego also gets a Brazilian team
Israel Regional will get not only Bosnia, but also Brazil reps
LA hosts Chile
Las Vegas gets to see Germany as always-I wonder what draws them to LV every time?
WPI sees a UK team as does NYC
Midwest gets a team from Turkey
Seattle sees the Turkish team again but also gets a second one
NYC has always seen the UK's 759. I was there when they first crossed the pond and have a signed Union Jack to show for it.

Did you know the UK teams are only two-year schools?
Think of running a team with only freshmen and sophomores year-after-year...


We're approaching the 2009 # of teams (25 teams shy), but are only ~150 teams away from last year's numbers too.

• 20% of veteran teams remain missing (or tardy like most of the Israelis)
• >200 rookies now
• ~41,000 students now registered
• 2,147 event slots spoken for, plus pending wait list wannabe's

Here are the places supplying the largest team blocks:

• CA ---- 159
• MI ---- 149
• NY ---- 104
• TX ---- 83
• MN ---- 81

Re: Registration 2011
 

How many of the Michiganders are rookies (or veterans, if that's easier)?

Re: Registration 2011
 

Or...does anyone know what the lowest rookie series number is for this year so we can quickly judge who the rookies are this year (excluding the occasional reassigned much lower numbers)?