Let me start off with the fact that the Championships are not what they used to be. Gone are the days of just robot matches dominating at the Championships. We now have conferences, presentations, the FIRST LEGO League, and FIRST Vex Challenge, etc. and the list goes on and on. The only problem is when trying to cram
everything into three days, some events overlap and you have to decide on which to attend.
I wish I could have over to the Vex more often, but I was almost always involved with my FRC team. I was asked by several prominate FIRSTers to help host a conference about Vex in Atlanta. Again, I had to decline the offer because I would have been to busy with being the operator for my FRC team.
I understand that you only have four years in your FIRST career that you can be one of the drivers, so right now that is where the majority of my time is being spent. But I felt almost jipped that there were so much awesome things to do at the Championships and people to hang out with, but I was always forced to choose among the better of the many exciting activities.
So, here's where I'd love to see the Championships
extended at least one additional day to become a four-day event starting on Wednesday morning. Start the FLL, FVC, and conferences on Wednesday, and have them continue into Thursday. That way, people can sit back and enjoy the other FIRST competitions without having to sacrifice them for their FRC team.
FIRST is growing - and so should the Championship Event.
