[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

I'm sad to hear this. I thought IRI was started as an off-season competition for Indiana teams to attend. The event ran so well that it began attracting other teams and has grown in popularity to what it is today. But to deny those local teams entry to this competition for an out of state team to me seems like IRI is moving more towards an elite-only competition. Maybe some clarification is needed as this was the first I heard of this.

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

treading through a minefield here, but ....

what makes the IRI the IRI is the broad mix of teams. it has grown well beyond just an indiana event.

we want to be able to select teams based on several factors to create that mix. home address is a factor (ie, cityname, IN) but just one of the many factors, not a guarantee. we do not feel it would be right to deny a team that has worked hard all season, built a good robot, done outreach, etc. and let in a team that just sort of 'showed up', just because the one was an indiana team. we are trying to be fair to all.

i don't like the word 'elite' when refering to the iri, i prefer 'most deserving'.

note also - we stated last year that 2007 was the last year for automatic bids.

and, i predict by 2009 there will be more than 72 indiana teams, so then what would we do ...

Also... Indiana teams have been encouraged to start another off-season event. There is plenty of demand for more play time.

Andy