2012 FRC Season dates
 

The forum has been relatively quiet recently. I am surprised nobody bring this up this year. Let's work together like last year (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=86232) to give people an advance glimpse of which regional is in which week. I know it is not official and schedule may change but it helps some people start their planning.

From what I can tell, the schedule is

Kickoff 1/7/12 (based on Bill's blog countdown)

Ship date 2/21/12

Week one events 3/1/12-3/3/12 (based on Bill's blog 5/11/11)

Week six events 4/5/12-4/7/12 (based on Bill's blog 5/11/11)

Two weeks gap between Week 6 and Championship (based on Bill's blog 5/11/11)

Championship 4/25/12-4/28/12 (usfirst website)

Week 6 competition which is when Michigan State Championship probably would be is Easter Weekend. Our school has spring break that week. Hmmm. We won't be able to get into our shop in school. Students on family vacation. Good to know ahead of time.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

The Autodesk Oregon Regional will be March 8-10, 2012 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Based on tradition of College Spring Breaks:

Both FLR & WPI Regionals look to be Week 2 Events 3/8/11 - 3/10/11

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also Boilermaker

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This would make me VERY happy.

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Here's some confirmation of official schedule/dates.
http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011...-say-pool.html

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And, just keep in mind that nothing is official yet.
http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011...to-family.html

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Hawaii is unofficially during week 4. :)

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I hope the Capital Region can play nice with North Carolina Regional. It was unfortunate to have VAR and NCR on the same weekend last year.

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The Detroit District should be a Week 3 event, based on Wayne State's Spring Break, which it has normally fallen on.

This holds true for the District schedule from last year, which was:

Week 1: Kettering, Traverse City
Week 2: Waterford
Week 3: Detroit, West Michigan
Week 4: Niles, Ann Arbor
Week 5: Troy, Livonia
Week 6: State Championship

And I'm not saying any of this is official or even hinted at yet, I just wanted to put the list out for anyone who didn't remember the districts from last year.

And an additional point, are there any new planned districts for MI in 2012? I haven't heard anything but I was just wondering.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

North Carolina is week 6 again according to the venue calendar.
South Carolina is week 4 again according to the facebook page.
Still waiting to hear about Peachtree and Smoky Mountains if anyone knows.
Thanks,

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Looks like Bayou is week 3 and at a new venue again this year:

http://www.pontchartraincenter.com/s...h=03&year=2012

I wonder why it is only listed as Friday and Saturday though? :confused:

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Smoky Mountains is week 1 according to the sales manager for the venue.:D

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According to the Prudue University's calendar, the BMR is going to be March 15th-17th which would make it week 3 again.

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DC Regional is 3/30-3/31 -- a TWO DAY EVENT (woohoo!). This foreshadows the potential areas they're planning to use the FiM model.
http://www.dcconvention.com/Events.aspx

Errm... Virginia Regional ... is 3/15-3/17
http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/fastbook/...012&x=14& y=6

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This seems to be inline with a "Private Event" that's happening at the Center from 3/1 to 3/3. That might be the regional.

Man, Smoky Mtn at Week 1 sounds like a real bummer.

- Sunny G.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Peachtree is week 3 according to the director of sales at the Gwinnett Center. That should complete our teams list of possible destinations. I wish we could travel far, but money is always tight.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Aggregating (Italicized events are unconfirmed via concrete evidence -- see if you can get info from the venues)

Week 1 3/1 -3/3
Smoky Mtn

Week 2 3/8 - 3/10
Autodesk Oregon Regional
Finger Lakes Regional
WPI Regional

Week 3 3/15 - 3/17
Virginia Regional
Peachtree Regional
Boilermaker

Week 4 3/22 - 3/24
Hawaii
South Carolina

Week 5 3/29 - 3/31
DC Regional

Week 6 4/5 - 4/7
North Carolina

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

My understanding is that Seattle's double-event regional will be week 4 and a new event in Spokane, WA will be during week 6.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Hi Mr. Drake,
The dates for the Smoky Mountain Regional in 2012 are March 1-3 (with move-in on 2/29/12). Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Thank you,
Monica Flatford
Sales Manager
Knoxville Convention Center

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Wisconsin is Week 4: http://uscellulararena.org/events/66...cs-competition

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Wow, I might actually get to go this year...

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Hopefully Midwest won't be on that same weekend.

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RIT holds the Finger Lake Regional during the second weekend of Spring break. According to http://www.rit.edu/calendar/ , it would be held Week 2 of the FIRST season.

While it isn't confirmed until it's confirmed by the higher-ups, it can be considered highly probable FLR will be Week 2. (*squeel like a fangirl*)

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The israeli Regional - 5-7 March, that's a bit early because in the past few years it was held two week after that date...

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Like how VAR isn't in that weird week six time it was last year. The Week 1 years were lame, and week six was very anxiety-inducing.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Aggregating (Italicized events are unconfirmed via concrete evidence -- see if you can get info from the venues)

Week 1 3/1 -3/3
Smoky Mtn
Kettering District

Week 2 3/8 - 3/10
Autodesk Oregon Regional
Finger Lakes Regional
WPI Regional
Israel (3/5-3/7)
Waterford District
Traverse City District

Week 3 3/15 - 3/17
Virginia Regional
Peachtree Regional
Boilermaker
West Michigan District
Detroit District

Week 4 3/22 - 3/24
Hawaii
South Carolina
Seattle Cascade
Seattle Olympic
Wisconsin
Niles District

Week 5 3/29 - 3/31
DC Regional
Livonia District
Troy District

Week 6 4/5 - 4/7
Spokane

Week 7 4/12 - 4/14
Michigan State Championship

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I hope FIRST hurries up and releases the regional schedule soon.
I have a vacation schedule to plan.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

You can add the South Florida Regional to weeks 4-6 with an * next to each because we know that they will atleast be 2 weeks or more apart from the Orlando Regional and Orlando isnt gonna be moved from week 2.

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MSC is being done as a week 7 event? Interesting. I assume this is because of the Week 6/Good Friday conflict, right?

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Only 8 Michigan districts so far. Going to need at least one more, probably a couple. Likely one week 4, the other 1 or 6. I don't think the volunteer density is enough for 3 in one week. Is Ann Arbor coming back?

To note, those 8 districts and the State Championship are confirmed on the FIRSTinMichigan website.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I waited until the FiM website data is published before I post on CD.

From my understanding, Ann Arbor will not have an event this year. There should be a 9th district event in Week 1, 4 or 6 like you said unless there are not enough teams. 8 events will cover 160 teams.

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I know Florida Regional (Central Florida, that is since we now have two!) is almost always 2nd week, but I haven't heard anything yet. Good to know about Virginia Regional though! I can FINALLY make it this year!!!! (It's during my college Spring Break.)
However, I am now concerned that the Florida Regional will be at the same time, and I won't be able to chose! Gah!:yikes:

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Based on when the UNLV spring break is (which I believe has always coincided with Vegas), the Las Vegas Regional will be week 6.

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Rumors that the new Cincinnati regional will be week one.

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We had learned that Salt Lake City regional is during week 6. We plan to attend that event if it holds true.

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Not sure if this is exactly correct. FIRST should have something soon for all of us to feast on! Koko Ed - you'll have your vacation planned soon - maybe a stop in Cincy for some Skyline Chili? Not quite a Garbage Plate, nor is it Chili though...

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

What about Gold Star Chili? We make the cincy chili for dinner some nights. REALLY great stuff!! I love Cincinnati!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Gold Star is really close to the real thing - Skyline!:rolleyes: Some actually say that they can tell the difference, I'm not one. Nice that we have two options though.
Throw in a trip to LaRosa's Pizza, some Montgomery Inn Ribs and Graeters Ice Cream and you have the complete Cincy food experience.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I looked at when UC Davis and San Jose State have spring break, and they are both during week 5, which could mean that the Sacramento Regional and the Silicon Valley Regional would be the same week. Bad news for Norther California Teams. I'm really hoping this isn't true!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Oh yes!!! My parents went to UC! We definitely need to get the whole experience...maybe go see the Reds play or the Bengals.

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Am I the only one sad about the DC regional being only 2 days?

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Hold your horses until the committee or FIRST confirm that. I know that the Palmetto Regional (which has always been three days) would only advertise Friday and Saturday to the public.

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Any date for Boston or the WPI regionals?

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What about Frisch's?

Also we are calling it the Queen City Regional.

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I suppose since Dave is watching this thread I can't slip out the date. :)

We have an approved venue, but no contract yet. Hopefully we get that soon so we can release the schedule!

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Here is the disclaimer. Any comments on this thread are just pure speculation. Any dates that actually match the real dates are pure coincidence. Plan your vacation schedule around these dates at your own risk. Blah Blah Blah. Is that better?

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Dave and I are both on the planning committee for the event, I don't want to let the bunny out too soon.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

North Carolina Regional will be week six.
Confirmed both by Regional Director and Venue.

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Yum!! Then we should all go to Coney Island!!

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I don't think they are open then.

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I heard UC Davis is most likely Week 5 but the UCD calendar doesn't show any thing booked yet... So????

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Well this is just looking at their spring breaks. I don't think that the regional committees would put them on the same week, especially since they are so close!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Same with Virginia last year. It was a minor pain to find out when load-in started because it wasn't listed anywhere...

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Hopefully that doesn't happen this year! Yikes!
Can't wait to see the Pi-oneers there! I haven't seen you guys at a regional since Las Vegas in '07 when I was still in high school!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

From some documentation I've seen:

New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware will be going to the District system in 2012.

There will be 5 'Regional Qualifying' events, Spread out among 4 weeks of competition with the possibility of a by week in week 3. Two of the events will be in north eastern PA, One in South Jersey, One in Central Jersey and another in North Jersey.

These Qualifiers will be followed up with a Regional Championship in Week 7.

All of this information is still subject to change.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Interesting to see how both district systems are (reportedly) going with a Week 7 championship. It'll be interesting to see if the Easter weekend will significantly affect attendance at week 6 events.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Week 7 Championship makes a ton of sense considering the logistical nightmare of competing on Easter weekend.

The big issue with competing in week 7 is now you've got two weeks to plan your trip to the CMP should you qualify, and buying plane tickets and booking hotels that late isn't really a fun or cheap experience.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

AZ Regional is March 24-26

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Just got an e-mail from Peachtree VC that Peachtree, GA Regional is indeed a Week 3 event! March 15th-17th!
Sad that I can't physically attend but that's because I'll be in Virginia!!!!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Glenn, I am still hoping to see the Hawaiian Kids in Utah, but unfortunately have been hearing updates putting the Utah Regional on week 3.

Mark

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Any news on the Silicon Valley regional, or the Fresno regional? I've been looking through various websites, but can't find anything. Is nothing posted yet, or am I just searching wrong?

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

do you mean fresno regional?

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Oops! Yeah, I meant Fresno. I was just in Fremont, so I probably got confused. Thanks for the correction!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Regional Dates are starting to get official postings by FIRST
http://usfirst.org/whatsgoingon
(It's gone now, so I just happened to see these five listings. Oops)

• Regional Festivale de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional, Uniprix Stadium, Montreal, QC Canada, 15-Mar - 17-Mar-2012
• Regional South Florida Regional ,Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL USA, 29-Mar - 31-Mar-2012
• Regional Central Valley Regional, Madera High School, Madera, CA USA, 05-Apr - 17-Apr-2012
• Regional Queen City Regional, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH USA, 05-Apr - 07-Apr-2012
• Regional Spokane Regional, Eastern Washington University, Spokane, WA USA, 05-Apr - 07-Apr-2012

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Seems like FIRST took it down.

So why is it that FIRST won't tell us about the events that are confirmed? Some of us have planning to do...

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

They may be trying to negotiate with non-confirmed event venues. It is possible that releasing the dates may hurt negotiating position.

At least, that's what FIRST has told us in the past.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Mark,
thanks for the news........Its too bad for us, as shipping the robot last year from back to back weekends with Hawaii was more than the entrance fee itself...(approx. $4,600 to ship via Shepard HI to LV last season).:ahh:

Glenn

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I'm really hoping that the Montreal Regional won't conflict with Connecticut and Boston - I'd love to go to that!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Oy - I called FIRST and asked them about this posting when I saw these earlier. I thought they might have been posted in error. Shortly afterward, they were removed. Guess that answers my question.

I like the 13-day long Central Valley Regional myself. ;) Kinda speaks to the readiness of the information.

Might want to delete the info!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I know for a fact our contract has not been signed yet and can vouch that the info is premature.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

You're not the only one. Some of (Though it may only be the State Championship now) the Mid-Atlantic District events were still being ironed out.

I also heard that FIRST is trying to have a finalized schedule ready for release on or around the 30th of September.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

That would be unfortunate because I have to have field trip paperwork submitted to my school by the 26th or we will not be permitted to attend. I may have to contact FIRST to see if they can give me a list of some of the approved dates.

I am sure I am not the only person that has to have paperwork submitted to my school before the end of the month.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Our school doesn't require paperwork until we get closer to the actual trip. Why so early?

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Some schools require anywhere from 3 to 6 months notice of a trip. Also, availability of busses and drivers comes into play.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I would definitely contact them and see if there are any finalized dates.

Thankfully our school only requires 30 days notice for any trip so we'll be fine.

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Wow! Wouldn't have thought that.

We always use a charter bus, so bus availability hasn't been an issue.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

The dates for the MAR qualifiers and championship are almost set and should be announced soon. They were discussed at the board meeting held last Saturday, which was open to the public. If you need to make arrangements now and can't wait for the official announcement, you can contact your local board member who can fill you in.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

For any trips we need to submit paperwork by the end of September so our Board of Education can look into the impact on classes. They want to make sure that trips don't overlap or occur during testing periods. We also are not allowed to have trips during the last week of any quarter or after May 1st, too close to AP tests.

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We don't have any restrictions like that. We conciously avoid big trips, such as marching band contests (if we can) and we avoid the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) testing week.

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Especially for those of us who want to travel to Canadian events. International travel takes time.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

We toyed with the idea of going to Waterloo last year, but our principal said he would not approve any international travel. Even though we found out that the foreign language classes travel out of country during the school year.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Event at a high school? Can anyone hypothesize if the density of CA teams is high enough for district?

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

The density in northern and southern California is very high, not so much here in the central area.

It's a brand new and unopened high school, so it's going to be fairly roomy.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I was at the MAR meeting last Saturday and posted the tentative dates earlier in this thread.

5 Qualifiers over the first 5 Weeks of Competition with the Championship being in Week 7. I left out exact locations because last I heard, two were subject to change.

We still need to see how well these dates will play with the rest of the schedule before we (and many others) can start making concrete plans.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I wonder what happened to the Fresno State's venue originally planned for?

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

This is a list of regionals and their dates according to the venue’s website for the 2012 season of what I have found:
Alamo (San Antonio) Regional: March 1-3
Dallas Regionals: March 29-31
Lone Star (Houston) Regional: April 5-7
Washington DC Regional: March 30-31
North Carolina Regional: April 5-7
Virgina Regional: March 15-17

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

We'd attend that!

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Last year, the Arizona Regional was held at Hamilton High School.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

If your gonna go too a Canadian event, go to GTR not Waterloo. GTR is wayyy better, there are more teams and you have a better chance (1114 and 2056 were on different fields last year (GTR West 2056, GTR East 1114). And the Waterloo seating is absolutely terrible. My team traveling to the states doesn't cause any issue with our school board or principle though. We just have to have normal passports and I.D, and a list of all tools in our trailer (may not be necessary but it prevents secondary inspection).

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

It was a mute point as we couldn't get approval to travel. We chose Waterloo because we have a limit of about 6-8 hours that we will travel to a regional and that fit within the window. GTR was just outside of that it fell on a week wouldn't couldn't travel. Either a testing week or our other regional. I don't recall which.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

A list of competition dates has been released: http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011...ew-region.html

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I'm impressed that all the things that I want to go to don't conflict with each other! Looks like I might be going to four regionals this spring:

Week Two: WPI
Week Three: Montreal
Week Four: Boston
Week Five: Connecticut

I'm in love with whoever did the scheduling for Regional events right now. :)

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

We hope to throw a great Queen City Regional this year!

Almost everyone on the planning committee has double digit years of experience in FIRST and combined have attended over 100 competitions. Our goal is to bring the best of what we have all seen to this event.

Hope to see you all there!

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Now if we only knew which events were bag/tag....

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Queen City...

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Any further discussion of MAR, I think should be held on the other thread. You can also read my response to MAR's level of transparency.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...99&postcount=6

We are having a hard time with this schedule. Why did they put 6 out of 8 Northern midwest regionals in weeks 3-5.

With our (home) regionals the same week. Midwest and Wisc. both 1 1/2 hours away. We can't do back to back. So after deciding which home regional to do a second regional is 6 1/2 hrs away (Duluth or Queen City).

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

I actually was kinda sorta given the hint that would be the case. ;) Pittsburgh will likely be bag/tag again. I'm also assuming the Ontario events will be bag/tag - they'd have to confirm.

Re: 2012 FRC Season dates
 

Schedules are based on a variety of reasons, of which securing the venue and when, is critical to even hosting a tournament.
Honestly, the issues of doing back-back tournaments are relative to each team and the resources they have.

We've done many back-back regionals in recent years.....a lot farther than what you're describing.

We make the best out of the schedule that comes out annually and participate as much as we can and afford.