[Jon Stratis]

Some more details on Duluth (and yes, I'm shamelessly copying Robomom's format, since you praised it so highly... maybe this will help you compare them side by side?):

Pros:

• 1-stop flights, with a layover in Chicago (personally, I love the Chicago airport! I fly east a few times every year and always stop there for an hour or two.)
• Decent transportation from the airport to the competition area - and a TON of teams (80 team limit in Duluth this year!) who can help you out if you need it.
• Tons of super friendly teams (the saying "Minnesota Nice!" is here for a reason!)
• Venue is a massive convention center right on the lake
  • There are TONS of hotels a couple of blocks away, all decently priced (as you would expect with a convention center this big!)
  • Last year, Lake Superior regional took up a convention hall and an arena, with a hockey tournament going on at the same time. Unless you wanted to go over to watch a game, you never even saw the hockey players. It's just that big.
  • There are plenty of great restaurants in the area - so many, that with 64 teams there last year, we didn't see any other teams in the restaurants we went to, except for the big all-you-can-eat team social!
• This event has already attracted teams from as far away as Hawaii! If they can brave the cold, can't you?
• TWO all-girls teams will be in Duluth this year.
• By week 2, the likelihood of snow is pretty high (have you ever walked down a street with 6+ feet of snow on either side?). In fact, I had a friend up in that area a couple of weeks ago, and he said they had some snow flurries every morning while he was there!
• A committee and experienced volunteers who work very hard to make it a fun, fair and friendly regional (as you've already heard about on here). Trust me, you want as much experience as possible in your volunteers - last year, we had 4 LRI's in Duluth!
• It's a double regional this year. The pits are in separate convention halls, while the fields are co-located. Easily watch matches from either regional, or visit pits from either side!
• More room than you could possibly want in the pits. Seriously. The convention hall last year held 64 teams, a practice field, and a semi trailer with a machine shop in it, with room for some tables and chairs, wide alleys, and concessions right in the pits. I've never seen pits laid out with so much space! And this year, the number of teams in each convention hall drops to 40!

Cons:

• 24 hour drive from Boston (although much of that drive is beautiful, I've done it before!)
• Ok, I'll add Snow and temperature on here for completeness sake. But only if it bothers you!

The Northern Lights Regional