Hi,
I acted as an event coordinator(I was only a sophomore) last year for our teams first offseason event. I would like to applaud this idea as I think that offseason events are a great way to get people involved in FIRST.
I can't answer all your questions as my team is located in Texas but I will try my best.
As per where it should be held I would recommend the school gym just make sure you have adequate room for the pits. Parking was not an issue for us as most teams came in one or two cars.
It cost our team roughly 10 grand to host the event last year. Our shipping for from AndyMark cost about 4,000 your shopping should be cheaper than ours. Reserving a field from AndyMark cost $500 this is just a down payment and is non refundable Game peices are expensive also and you will need to purchase that. Just getting everything you need for the field will cost about 7,500 the remaining funds will go towards food t shirts supplies and other General things. Our team ended up making a profit but that was only beacuse we got a grant
from Texas workforce commission. Your first year will be rough and I would expect to loose some money but if you were to host it for two years you would turn a profit in my opinion.
Offseason have worked wonders for our team. It allows people intrested in engineering a way to get involved it shows them what first is all. Although getting the first few people in the door is hard after that more and more people will come.
If you have any more questions feel free to get in touch with me via phone call/text 817-996-0084 or email
16kgriffith@student.nchstx.org