[bellpride]

Originally Posted by jbbjjbt

Could you tell us more about the VEX World Championship experience?

I was at Atlanta in 2008 and Dallas in 2009, and I think that the VRC championship in Dallas was a much better experience, mostly because:

1. We felt like a sideshow at Atlanta (somebody already mentioned this). Obviously, there were teams with large cheering sections in FTC (Overdrive, Driven), but for the most part the crowd watching the FTC fields was pretty insignificant compared to the ones on Newton and Archimedes on either side and Einstein behind us.
2. Dallas had more than twice the teams that Atlanta had, partly because the registration was a quarter the cost. IFI also chose to mix different divisions in the pits, which provided much better opportunities to meet other teams than the separated pits in FTC 2008.
3. Because the registration fees were so low in VRC, schools could afford to field multiple teams (involving more people). There were 3 people in 254's FTC pit, but 15 in our VRC pit, divided among 5 teams.
4. The team party was significantly better than Atlanta. It doesn't really matter to FRC teams, but the Atlanta party is also the day after FTC ends.

VRC also has large regional tournaments like Championship of the Americas and the Pan-Pacific Championship, which provide the same atmosphere as Dallas for a slightly lower cost.