[Swan217]

Originally Posted by Moon2020

Yup! Thanks! I sure did miss Team 1345! They have now been added to the inactive list.

There may be a few missing, but here is the list of Florida Teams that have become inactive (72) and the last year they competed:

168 North Miami Beach Mechanical Investigation Bureau 2013
665 Orlando PHAT/Motor Monkeys 2013 FTC
1543 Kissimmee Cyclone Psychos 2012
1612 Brooksville Robo-Sharks 2013
1875 Cocoa Cat VI 2012
1999 Fort Walton Beach O.U.T.E.R L.I.M.I.T. 2012
2023 Melbourne PiraTech 2011
2757 Longwood B.A.D. (Built And Dangerous!) 2013 FTC
3149 Lakeland PANDAMONIUM! 2011
3332 Melbourne HustlerTech 2011
3518 3810 W Educational Path LHS Panthers 2011
3520 Coral Springs RoboColts 2012
3580 Cape Coral Marinerds 2012
3592 Port Orange Sharks 2011
3611 Lynn Haven Dukes Of Mosley 2013
3622 Boca Raton Robocats 2011
3732 Miami The Raging Tornadoes 2013
3782 Panama City Rams 2013
3790 Bradenton Lakewood Ranch Mustangs 2013
3803 Miami Lightning Robotics 2011
3938 Miami Radix Robotics 2013
4052 Fort Myers Wolfpack 2013
4066 Groveland MechMate 2013
4088 Port Charlotte Flash4ward 2013
4133 6406 E Chelsea St S2-Boltz 2012
4157 Fort Myers Imaginarium 2012
4179 Cantonment Tahisco Techs 2013
4184 Naples Wreck-techs 2013
4190 Port Richey Hephaestus 2012
4197 Dade City Lacoochee Cowboys 2013
4214 Riverview Robo-Flames 2012
4222 Sanford Frolicking Nerds 2012
4223 Lakeland Robo-Flight-Transformer 2013
4321 Jacksonville Vikings 2013
4333 Tampa Team MOSI 2012
4341 Mulberry Panther Robotics 2013
4706 Miami Bulls 2013

Holy Cows, We've lost 27 teams in the past 3 years! I know JC Penney pulling out & NASA downsizing has a lot to do with it, but that definitely sounds like panic time!

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Don't wait too long. Yes it is hard work, but it has to be done, and soon. Is your committee talking with the other one down in Ft. Lauderdale?

The FRC has evolved since 1996, my rookie season. The vision and mission have not changed: we are still a volunteer community aspiring to "transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." However, the means to that end has changed over the years.

The District competition that I help to plan and host now requires about 5% of the budget that the St. Louis Regional required when I was part of that planning committee. Most of the difference (>$200k) went to professional event services and to venue rental. My opinion, apparently shared by many in the FRC community, is that those costs inhibit growth.

Yes we talk with S. Florida, we even have members on both planning committees.

Like I said, there are many considerations that have to be made, and avoiding the mistakes that FiM made when setting up their system is important. Yes the costs & quantity are appealing aspects of the districts, but maintaining the integrity of what we're trying to do here, inspiration & gracious professionalism, are equally important. We are lucky enough here to have our venue at Central Florida, who have been very gracious hosts and have supported our efforts to bring more value-added to the Regional with minimal additional cost. There needs to be a careful strategy to avoid the volunteer issues that have plagued other events - this season's competition has been taxing enough without additional complexities.