M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Thank each and every one of you for registering your team for the 2011 MARC event. Due to the amount of teams applying to compete in the M.A.R.C., I have decided to raise the maximum amount of teams to 48. This way I will only have a couple teams on the wait list. Therefore, if you are unable to come to M.A.R.C. please notify me ASAP so I can invite a wait listed team. Also, because of scheduling issues involved with cancellations, your entry fee is non-refundable.

Because of the increased number of teams participating, I am going to open the pits on Friday (6-24-11) at 11:30am and have the first qualification round start at 2:30pm instead of 3pm. The last match of Friday night will be at 6:30pm instead of 6pm. Starting 30 minutes early and ending 30 minutes late should give us the amount of time needed to allow ever team 10 rounds of qualification matches. My goal for this event is to provide every team a minimum of 10 qualifications and these start/stop times will allow this to happen with adding the 6 extra teams.

Any off-season rule changes to the game will come from Gary Voshol and his refereeing crew. Gary has sent suggestion cards out at several events and will talk it over with his crew for what changes (if any) they feel will make M.A.R.C. a fun event. Like last year, I have confidence in Gary in making the right changes.

MENTOR MATCHES:
There are only 24 spots for the mentor matches. If you want to be a part of those matches please submit payment asap to confirm you have a spot. Plankowners (original 12 teams) and last year winners have priority of those spots but payment must be received by May 30th to receive this status. The others are open to first pay is in. The mentor match team must consist of at least 1 student coach, 1 mentor driver, and 1 mentor human player. This years matches is going to be a double elimination match with losers of each round going to the LOSERS BRACKET. Once you lose from the losers bracket, your alliance is eliminated from the matches. The fee this years mentor match is $25.

The following is a list of teams invited to participate in M.A.R.C. 2011:)

1.) 51 Pontiac, MI Wings of Fire
2.) 70 Goodrich, MI More Martins
3.) 240 Monroe,MI TEMPEST
4.) 279 Toledo, OH Tech Fusion
5.) 503 Novi, MI Frog Force
6.) 910 Madison Heights, MI Foley Freeze
7.) 1023 Temperance, MI Bedford Express
8.) 1243 Swartz Creek, MI Dragons
9.) 1504 Okemos, MI Desperate Penguins
10.) 1528 Monroe, MI Monroe Trojan Robotics
11.) 1732 Milwaukee, WI Hilltoppers
12.) 33 Auburn Hills, MI Killer Bees
13.) 67 Milford, MI Heros of Tomorrow (H.O.T.)
14.) 107 Holland, MI Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S.
15.) 135 Mishawaka, IN The Black Knights
16.) 201 Rochester, MI F.E.D.S.
17.) 245 Rochester Hills, MI Adambots
18.) 280 Taylor, MI TnT
19.) 302 Lake Orion, MI Dragons
20.) 308 West Bloomfield , MI MONSTERS
21.) 326 Romulus, MI Extreme Eagles
22.) 451 Holland, OH The Cat Attack
23.) 461 West Lafayette, IN Westside Boiler Invasion
24.) 469 West Bloomfield , MI Las Guerrillas
25.) 494 Goodrich, MI Martians
26.) 548 Northville, MI Robostangs
27.) 815 Allen Park, MI Advanced Power
28.) 830 Ann Arbor, MI RatPack
29.) 903 Detroit, MI Robotroopers
30.) 1250 Detroit, MI Gator-Bots
31.) 1684 Lapeer, MI Chimeras
32.) 1718 Armada, MI The Fighting Pi
33.) 1741 Greenwood, IN Red Alert Robotics
34.) 1918 Fremont, MI NC GEARS
35.) 2337 GrandBlanc, MI EngiNERDs
36.) 2612 Waterford,MI WMD
37.) 2832 livonia, MI Livonia Warriors
38.) 2834 Bloomfield Hills, MI Bionic Barons
39.) 2851 Sterling Heights, MI Crevolution
40.) 3096 Detroit, MI Finney Highlanders
41.) 3098 Waterford,MI The Captains
42.) 3115 Detroit, MI Robo-Panthers
43.) 3147 Munster Indiana Mustang Horsepower
44.) 3175 Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Knight Vision
45.) 3357 Grand Rapids, MI COMETS
46.) 3538 Auburn Hills, MI Full Metal Yellowjackets
47.) 3547 Monroe, MI VIRUS
48.) 3773 Tecumseh, Michigan Tecumseh TechTrons

Any questions or concerns please feel free to email me. Once again thank you for coming to MARC 2011.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

548 is ready for MARC! I'm excited to see quite a few of our 2011 alliance members from past events. I believe 2337 and 548 will match up for the 5th time this year (all our events). Looking forward to a great event!

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Looks awesome, about to be very competitive. Hopefully they make it easy on the refs. I don't want to call any stupid lane or zone incursions... :)

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I like the change to the Mentor Matches... It will make them go much faster... Thanks for the invite, we will be there...

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

It's only a question of whether it will be with or against ;). Oh, and regarding your signature: how about all of them? :D

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

We're into tardec, but hopefully we can meet up at IRI and Kettering Kickoff to. Maybe get the Galileo team together again at some point?

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Any updates on rule changes?


Also, I think next year you should keep registration open until after IRI announces their invititions. I think there would be several teams that would apply to MARC if they knew they wouldn't be going to IRI.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Gary Voshol (I hope I spelled that right), the head ref, has some rule changes worked out, he's just waiting to post them. And they're good, trust me.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I already had to turn teams down without waiting for IRI to make their cut. Why should I wait for them? MARC is before IRI so if they want to come then they should register. If they make our cut and don't want to come then they can turn down the invite and I can pick a team from our waitlist.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Because many teams want to go to one and only one summer off season.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Again, register for both and if you get into both remove yourself from the one you chose not to attend. Both IRI and MARC have waitlist that I am sure teams on won't mind moving up.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

IRI has no waitlist.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I just think that if you want to have the biggest, more diverse pool of teams to pick from, I would keep registration open for a couple of days after IRI announces their teams. I know one team that thought they would get into IRI, didn't and then wished they applied to MARC. Of course they could have/should have applied to MARC beforehand, but they didn't. I think you could get a couple more out of state teams apply if they get their hopes up about competeting again, don't get into IRI and thus apply to MARC.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I would agree... I can't see where holding off to the week after IRI invites teams would hurt... Yes MARC is early, but there is still a month until the event and I would say that isn't a bad time to anncounce a team list either..

espiecally since IRI doesn't have a waitlist...

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

None of your arguments really hold water, I agree with the apply to both policy. IRI may not have a waitlist, but MARC does. So if you make it into IRI, you can turn down MARC and another team will take your place. However if you don't make it to IRI, then you have MARC to fall back on. I really don't see a problem with this system

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I don't see why MARC is obligated to serve the rejected teams of IRI when it's a whole month earlier. They have an event to run and they need to make sure everything is set by the time IRI has made their decisions. You snooze you lose plain and simple.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I agree with you. My only obligation is to put on a very well planned out event and make the event as fun as possible for those who attend. I believe the crew that we put together does a very good job of accomplishing this. Besides if you all need to know, I scheduled it this way to give teams as much time as possible to prepare for MARC. This time is used for teams to schedule payment (if you go through the school system, then you need lead time) and prepare changes or repairs to their robot.

IRI is an awesome event, but I think MARC is also an awesome event in its own right. As the event planner, I would not be doing MARC or its participants any justice if I wait each year to see want IRI is doing or teams invited before I make considerations for MARC. I understand that IRI has teams from all over the land that are specially invited to compete. This invite is based on this years performance and their past commitment to IRI and cost's a whopping $650 to compete. I started MARC, because there were very few events that teams in our area could afford (cost/travel expenses). I wanted a low-cost event that gave teams that are financially struggling an opportunity to get more time for next year. That was my goal and I am sticking to it. It just so happens that MARC is very fortunate to have some extremely well organized teams that come and help run the event and help other teams out. This is another reason why Michigan FIRST is becoming really strong.

We at MARC yearly put on a very competitive event and if your team wants to have fun and compete in an excellent field of teams then apply. I believe we all know that your team had to be very special to get into IRI. If you apply to IRI on a "hopefully we make it" mentality, then you should probably apply to something else also (Just in case you don't get in). Something I always tell my team, with high risk comes high rewards but also a higher failure rate. It is a high risk to get into IRI if you are not one of those special teams, therfore it is highly likely that a good team during the season is likely not going to be invited.

I hear a lot of people talking how MARC is becoming a mini-IRI. I think this is a huge compliment for all the teams that consistantly come to MARC. If you look at that list, a lot of them (my team included) would not be invited to IRI. I believe MARC is a very competitive event without the excessive cost or hoopla of all teams that won trophies during the season.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I guess I don't view it as helping the teams that didn't plan ahead or taking IRI's rejects, but having more out of state and teams that typically wouldn't apply to MARC so more teams can experience MARC and take advantage of another chance to compete at a low cost. If you want more out of state teams to apply, I would consider doing this.

One thing I like about MARC is the ability to play with Michigan teams that we can't play with anymore due to the district system. So I don't mind having 41/48 of the teams being from Michigan. But, I can certainly see how a Michigan team would like more non-Michigan teams after a potential 3 events already with some teams. I was just offering a possible solution to help fulfill this want for more out of state teams.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Is there a detailed agenda with starting and ending times for Friday and Saturday?
Will there be a pig roast again this year, and if so, what are the details for that event?

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

The agenda can be found on the FIRST in Michigan website here.
http://www.firstinmichigan.us/FRC_20.../marc_frc.html
I don't think there is a pig roast this year. I think they are planning a movie or something.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

I already posted it in the thread where I started talking about the team social, but I will post it here to, since MARC stuff is spread out over several threads. The move we will be watching is Summer Wars due to general public interest and feedback from our team. I also didn't want to pick a movie that a large amount of people have seen.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Because of some scheduling conflicts, team 3147 (Mustang Horsepower) from Munster, Indiana has removed themself from M.A.R.C.. Hopefully next year you all will be able to compete.

I am glad to announce team 66 (Willow Run Flyers) from Ypsilanti, Michigan has accepted an invite to compete at this years M.A.R.C.. Welcome Flyers and I hope you enjoy the competition.

Re: M.A.R.C. 2011 INVITE LIST
 

Team 548 has removed itself from the participating teams at MARC. I have contacted all my wait-listed teams and none of them can come now. I have contacted Gail Alpert to see if she has any pre-rookie teams that would be able to come. If she can't find one, is there any team out there still interested in coming to MARC?