Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog
The conversation in this thread concerns me. I know that Las Vegas is a completely different nut to crack - but how is FIRST looking to hedge their bets against something like this happening in other areas?
Obviously the District format is preferential in areas that have many established FRC teams. But those are not spread evenly across the country. My concern (selfishly) is - what happens in Minnesota? If this can happen in LV, this could happen in a place like Duluth, MN.
The reason I state this is because LV is dependent upon tourism, conventions, etc. Now that it is 'safe' to have conventions in LV again, a lot more money pours in from entities that can out-spend FIRST. I don't know if this is the case, but I do know my wife's company is holding a convention back in LV after a 5 year hiatus. And there is no way that FIRST can outbid my wife's company.
Take that to a smaller scale - like Duluth, MN - if tourism takes an upswing as the economy stabilizes, what happens to FRC events that took advantage of low cost arenas that can now claim a premium? Now companies and conventions have the capital to take advantage of low cost arenas and outbid FRC events.
I do not wish to see MN lose regionals - and we are not ready to go to the district formula (even though we now have 186 teams). We don't have the volunteer levels to support districts. Maybe a move to St Cloud or Rochester is in order?
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FIRST needs to keep a long range "strategic" plan and let the Regional Planning groups worry about the short range "tactical" issues. FIRST is aware of the fact that there are a limited number of venues and dates available to support the regional model. Their "hedge" is the district model. Smaller venues that are more plentiful.
MN FIRST Regional is well aware of the venue issues. They work very hard to secure them well in advance. Institutions like the University of MN have a vested interest in STEM, so are less likely to pull a venue out from under FIRST.
The DECC on the other hand exists to bring money into the Duluth economy. That's not just facility rental. That includes area hotels, restaurants, tourism, gas station sales, airline sales,... At some point could MN FIRST get bumped? Absolutely. Could it get bumped to a different week? That may already be happening.
MN is already looking ahead towards a future 5th regional. Could be Rochester, St. Cloud, or wherever they can find a suitable venue with enough infrastructure to support a regional. As more areas around MN close off with districts, this will be a bigger concern. Just like CA, the options for 2nd tournaments get crunched.