Quote:
Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak
2. Instead of charging Michigan teams the normal $4000 to attend a regional outside of their state (2nd regional cost...) make the cost $3000 considering $1000 is usually for the shipping, Because Michigan teams have to bag their robots, the can transport it themselves to other regionals. This would allow some MI teams to travel again to regionals held outside their state (Milwaukee, Midwest, BMR, Buckeye etc.)
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Teams did travel outside the state. They had to ship the bagged robot to the event, and then ship it back home, again bagged. They could use the donated FedEx shipping for at least one leg of this. They also had to crate up to ship to Atlanta.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto
Who knows, if FIRST saves enough money on the district model, maybe we can all get a cRio in the KoP next year  |
FIRST doesn't save that money. It's the regional committees that save it. Except in cases where a region can't attract enough sponsorship to support the event, and
FIRST steps in. So districts won't have any effect on whether or not you get a new cRIO.
When thinking of new areas to expand the district model, remember the 3 key things needed:
- Density of teams
- Density of volunteers (including key positions like FTA, field supervisor, lead que, head ref)
- An organizing committee
That last item is the most crucial. Just because you have enough teams to support district/champ structure, doesn't mean you have enough expertise to organize and run the structure, all year long.
In MI, 3 existing regionals were replaced with 7 district events and 1 championship. The model has identified 16 geographical areas which might or might not eventually get their own district event.
The Michigan pilot was announced on July 30, 2008. I'd expect any new district/champ models, or any changes to the MI version, to be announced sometime this summer.