Being in charge of Queueing I can explain how it works at champs because it is VERY different from how it works at the regionals.
- First thing first YOU will be responsible for getting yourself to the field. Pit admin will not be calling out individual match numbers. There will be no runners coming to look for you. It's is all going to be in your hands. You have a schedule. You have too learn to read it. Find when your matches are and make an appropriate plan for heading to the field.
SUGGESTION:
Leave 30 minutes early!. Earlier than that if can. It's a LONG WALK! Plus the dreaded
Can O Worms will be making a comeback and anyone who had to go through it last year can tell you what a nightmare it was and what a nightmare it caused.FIRST insist on doing it. They made their choice. It's etched in stone. We're stuck with it.There's no point in complaining about it. Just head towards your field early.
-Make sure you know which one is your field. There are eight of them. Asking random volunteers if they know where your field is most likely will not be useful. They are assigned to a field that may not be yours and thus they don't know who you are because honestly, they really don't need to know you. Just the 75 teams on their field. Me or Dave could be anywhere putting out fires so make a point to know your field and where it's located so you can get there fast a s possible.
- Do not bring the whole team down with you. Security will cut them off and send them away. All your doing is causing a delay by having them deal with them and holding up the other teams. Just bring the media person and arrange to meet with the team afterwards.
- Do not go to other fields to play. Believe it or not a team actually tried this back in 2011. They wanted to fill and didn't want to wait on Curie so wandered over to Gallieo which had a shorter line and got in and them caused everything to stop cold. If you are not in the FMS it will not work with your number and they have to take the time to find out why. Taking away play time from everyone else. Don't be that team.
- When you get to the field be ready to do business. The Championship is under pressure to keep to the schedule. Making major repairs, revisions (plus you'd have to get reinspected for any major changes to your robot) or downloading a whole lot of code is probably not a good idea. And God forbid your late (aka show up at the match time). I have seen several teams get locked out. This year stood out for how patient the FTAs were with teams at event that bordered on sainthood. Don't test those boundaries here. Be on time and keep the event on time.
-When your match ends it'll be easy to want to just hang around and take in the amazing atmosphere of the event floor. That's understandable but remember if 600 teams choose hang out on the floor then the floor becomes a parking lot. Plus your pits are a good walk away and you may have work to be done so it's best to plan to head back to the pits and get ready to get ready for the next round.
Good luck!