New Regionals in 2008

[Madison]

I just thought it might be nice to have somewhere to talk about the announced, new events for the 2008 season and the potential for other, as yet unannounced events in other cities. At the Championship Event, four new events were officially announced for the 2008 season.

• Seattle, WA
• Minneapolis, MN
• Honolulu, HI
• Oklahoma City, OK

There's been some discussion about how the Seattle event will affect the existing regional in Portland, OR and, specifically, whether teams from this region would be likely or willing to attend both. Seattle was home to Pacific Northwest Regional before it moved to Portland, so there's some precedent for shifting the location of a regional, but what little I've seen, heard or read about this new event suggests that it's meant as an additional opportunity to demonstrate FIRST to the community, not as a supplicant to what already exists.

I'm interested in what others teams from the northwest think about attending events in both Seattle and Portland. It seems these events will make it possible for a lot of teams to compete more frequently and further improve the level of competition in the region, as previously, the closest competition outside of Portland we could compete in was Davis, CA -- a significant distance away. On the other hand, however, our team would very probably not be interested in competing in both Portland and Seattle, as we've found this season that exposure to other parts of the country can be vital to making a trip to the Championship a justifiable, worthwhile expense.

What's the story behind Minneapolis? FIRST has been pretty weak up in Minnesota in the past, so who's leading the charge to bring more teams to the area?

Hawaii is the new event everybody's abuzz about already, no doubt because it represents a fantastic climate to escape to during dreary, boring March. I'm expecting this event will take place in the final week of events such that it'll be possible to punctually ship robots to and from the mainland. Who're the folks that are seriously considering going to the inaugural event? My team is excited for it and we're already devising the fundraising activities we'll need to have to be able to finance the trip -- and weighing the value since it'll almost assuredly come at the expense of another trip to Atlanta, GA. I'm less excited since I don't like water very much and would be happier being nearer to Disneyland (by attending the Los Angeles regional) than I would be near a beach.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

I just thought it might be nice to have somewhere to talk about the announced, new events for the 2008 season and the potential for other, as yet unannounced events in other cities. At the Championship Event, three new events were officially announced for the 2008 season.

• Seattle, WA
• Minneapolis, MN
• Honolulu, HI

There's been some discussion about how the Seattle event will affect the existing regional in Portland, OR and, specifically, whether teams from this region would be likely or willing to attend both. Seattle was home to Pacific Northwest Regional before it moved to Portland, so there's some precedent for shifting the location of a regional, but what little I've seen, heard or read about this new event suggests that it's meant as an additional opportunity to demonstrate FIRST to the community, not as a supplicant to what already exists.

I'm interested in what others teams from the northwest think about attending events in both Seattle and Portland. It seems these events will make it possible for a lot of teams to compete more frequently and further improve the level of competition in the region, as previously, the closest competition outside of Portland we could compete in was Davis, CA -- a significant distance away. On the other hand, however, our team would very probably not be interested in competing in both Portland and Seattle, as we've found this season that exposure to other parts of the country can be vital to making a trip to the Championship a justifiable, worthwhile expense.

What's the story behind Minneapolis? FIRST has been pretty weak up in Minnesota in the past, so who's leading the charge to bring more teams to the area?

Hawaii is the new event everybody's abuzz about already, no doubt because it represents a fantastic climate to escape to during dreary, boring March. I'm expecting this event will take place in the final week of events such that it'll be possible to punctually ship robots to and from the mainland. Who're the folks that are seriously considering going to the inaugural event? My team is excited for it and we're already devising the fundraising activities we'll need to have to be able to finance the trip -- and weighing the value since it'll almost assuredly come at the expense of another trip to Atlanta, GA. I'm less excited since I don't like water very much and would be happier being nearer to Disneyland (by attending the Los Angeles regional) than I would be near a beach.

Wasn't there a 4th location revealed at the championship?

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Wasn't there a 4th location revealed at the championship?

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A - Oklahoooommmmmmma!


Edit: Oklahoma City is awesome.
They will put on a great regional. Wish I could stop singing now...Okla-homa, Okla-homa, you're doin' grand Oklahoma, Oklahoma, O-K

now I'll stop...maybe

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A - Oklahoooommmmmmma!

(I think)

Yup! That's the one!
Interesting.
All the new regionals are out west.

[JaneYoung]

'bout time Ed, 'bout time...come on out!

Edit: ok, just this one - YEE HAWWW!

[waiakea2024]

Yay! Hawaii is finally in the FIRST regional family! Everyone better sign up quick because this one is definalty going to sell out fast!

[lynca]

The new regionals are creating interesting press articles,

Seattle - Microsoft Regional

Hawaii Regional

[TKM.368]

Originally Posted by lynca

The new regionals are creating interesting press articles,

Seattle - Microsoft Regional

Hawaii Regional

Our team is excited to hear more regarding the Seattle Regional. In the meantime, Dean Kamen is here in Hawaii pushing FIRST to everyone possible. Here is a more detailed article regarding the FIRST in Hawaii Kickoff, as well as some glitchy video.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Yup! That's the one!
Interesting.
All the new regionals are out west.

It's about time too. Not enough events near Texas. This year Bayou was an exception, but now with Oklahoma I think it will accomplish two things. It will make more teams in Oklahoma and also add to the Robotics Education Program of Oklahoma because Botball is HUGE there. The only thing is that Botball is during the FIRST season which may pose some problems, but for huge teams, it is a great way to split the team and/or to keep the rookies busy with the programming and let them do the mechie or control stuff in their later years.

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by Pavan

It will make more teams in Oklahoma and also add to the Robotics Education Program of Oklahoma because Botball is HUGE there. The only thing is that Botball is during the FIRST season which may pose some problems, but for huge teams, it is a great way to split the team and/or to keep the rookies busy with the programming and let them do the mechie or control stuff in their later years.

Or consider Botball as potential feeder program for FIRST by having middle schools compete. There is already FLL and Jr. FLL but then there are options such as EARLY and Botball.

Here in San Antonio, TX we have an initiative growing to get middle schools competing in Botball. (The architech for the Botball controller is Rich LeGrand whose lab/Co. is in Austin, Texas Charmed Labs)
Additionally, since SA is a big BEST area we are getting elementary schools to compete in GEAR city-wide while some school districts are also adding in EARLY neighborhood tournaments.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schuetze

Or consider Botball as potential feeder program for FIRST by having middle schools compete. There is already FLL and Jr. FLL but then there are options such as EARLY and Botball.

Here in San Antonio, TX we have an initiative growing to get middle schools competing in Botball. (The architech for the Botball controller is Rich LeGrand whose lab/Co. is in Austin, Texas Charmed Labs)
Additionally, since SA is a big BEST area we are getting elementary schools to compete in GEAR city-wide while some school districts are also adding in EARLY neighborhood tournaments.

In our are we use a variety of programs to spread robotics that can be seen on the Houston Robotics website. We do EARLY, FLL, BEST, Botball, and FRC as well. And the greatest thing about all of these programs is that they all feed into each other... EARLY teaches the students a little bit about building robots, FLL teaches them programming and makes them think a little more about design, BEST makes them think about design but on a new level as well as some more programming, Botball teaches them about programming in depth and gets them ready for FRC which makes them look more in depth into the different types of engineering and lets them work with professionals.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Wasn't there a 4th location revealed at the championship?

Yep -- I added it to the original post. I couldn't find video of the announcement, so I guessed at what I remembered.

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

What's the story behind Minneapolis? FIRST has been pretty weak up in Minnesota in the past, so who's leading the charge to bring more teams to the area?

To say FIRST has been pretty weak in MN probably isn't quite right. FLL has been going strong here since the pilot. FRC however, has never been strong here in MN.

This year MN ballooned from 2 to 16 teams. Boston Scientific and Medtronic were a huge part of this growth with 11 of the 16 teams receiving sponsorship from one of the two companies.

FRC got quite a bit of exposure when 1816 "The Green Machine" demoed their robot at the MN STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Conference at the Science Museum of Minnesota. 1816 also helped start/mentored 3 or 4 of the rookie teams this season.

They also worked with Boston Scientific and the University of Minnesota to host the first MN FRC Kickoff.

Our team hopes to aid the effort to continue the program growth here in MN so our state can make a good showing in our hometown regional in 2008.

[Lavapicker]

Aloha 488......

We plan on doing our own regional in Hawaii of course but hope to get enough money to come to your neck of the woods in Seattle too. Do you know when they are planning on holding it? We went their our first year in 2003 before it moved to Portland and loved all the things we could do around there. I hope to get our old number back...1056 although 2024 has been a good one for us this year.
BTW, if you folks are coming over here lets get together. We're on the Big Island and would love to do a tour for your gang in some lava tubes or the lava flow (assuming its still going then??)

Aloha,

[Ryan Dognaux]

A lot of Minnesota teams went to the Wisconsin Regional this year, only adding to the greatness of the regional. However, I think with a new regional starting in Minnesota, teams will be split between Minnesota and Wisconsin and will have to make a choice. I'm very excited to see even more teams spring up next year, hopefully as a result of Boston Scientific and Medtronic sponsoring even more teams. They did a great job this year.