The people with criticism for FIRST about the extensions and inconsistency at different regionals all have solid points. FIRST has already stated they are aware of the issues regarding the entanglement rules and inconsistency - they are expecting teams to voice their suggestions after the season and I hope all teams do - as listening to team input is how MANY positive changes were made by FIRST after last year.
But some of the complaints in this thread just aren't valid.
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I'm interested in this because we raised funds to attend more than 3 events this year but were asked by FIRST to drop two in the name of Gracious Professionalism to allow other teams a chance to compete. We had no problem with that, since the rule applied to all, so we thought. The problem is that along with other major rule reversals, FIRST never (to my knowledge) made it clear to all teams that you had the option to backfill those events that were under utilized.
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Ed, it was very gracious of your team to withdraw from events when they all had waiting lists so that others could register - it was a classy thing to do. The 2nd part is answered below.
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So I think that FIRST is and has been quite prepared to weather any *economic storm* that is currently *raging*. In my opinion, something doesn't quite add up here, and I won't be satisfied until I am presented with a clear, logical and public explanation of FIRST's actions by a member of the FIRST organization in this forum.
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This is a team forum, not a FIRST sponsored forum. The clear, logical, and public explanation of FIRST actions in letting teams add regionals HAS been available ALL ALONG on the FIRST web page. In the future, when so upset with FIRST, maybe you should call or e-mail them directly - it might help satisfy your concerns quicker and you might get correct information/answers if you go to the source. It is also somewhat risky to assume one has a complete understanding of the economy, the finances of an organization (non-profit), and the cost of running a program such as FIRST - things tend to not quite add up when lacking all that information.
The information I have pasted below from the FIRST web page has been there for quite some time. All teams had access to this, FIRST clearly stated the open capacity at all regionals, and that any interested teams should contact FIRST. Team 47 and others just monitored the web page, the status of the capacity at regional events, and contacted FIRST - all things EVERY team could have done and had equal access to. Hopefully this information (on the link below and also pasted below) clears up the issue raised in this thread.
On one other note, I have a great deal of respect for the people who post concerns or make comments about other teams AND do it under their name and team number. A post has much more foundation and respectability to it when it isn't made annonomously.
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/rgevents.htm
Events Overview and Openings
A summary listing of all event attendance information and openings.
Event Openings
Here is a summary view of the registration status of each event. If you would like to attend an additional regional event, please contact Team Support at FIRST by calling us or emailing.