Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
As well, there is the perspective of the "isolated" teams. HI fits in here (there aren't enough teams on any one island to have a full regional, I believe, and so they have to fly to compete, WITH their robot). So do the Dakotas, Alaska*, Chile, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.
Very simply, an "isolated" team has to travel overnight to get to ANY event. Two events won't save them any money, if they were previously a 1-event team, because the $4000 saved in registration will simply go towards travel to the second event (along with whatever else they can fundraise).
*Alaska's one team will be an interesting test case in PNW this year--putting it mildly.
Back to the original topic...
This is an interesting option as far as it goes. In team-dense regions, I can see it working. In team-sparse regions, or long-travel regions, it's going to go over about like concrete blocks in a swimming pool.
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The Alaska test case will definitely be very interesting. I hope that at some point at the end of the year, the Nerds of the North will post something on this forum about their experiences in the PNW this year.
About the Everywhere Else District: The point made in the quote above about many teams in isolated areas having to travel overnight is important. By adding a required DCMP, it saves them no money (probably makes them spend more) and does little to guarantee of making it to Champs.
What might instead be a better alternate solution is for teams to "Opt into" a district region with sufficient notice (something a reasonably large amount of time, so that the planning committee for the district can accommodate them) or to simply allocate extra CMP spots to isolated regionals.
Overall, I think the travel problems for isolated teams make this idea a tough sell.