Thinking of moving to Oregon...

[Bethie42]

There is a nice little group of 4-5 teams in the Corvallis/Albany area in the Willamette Valley. Oregon State U and surrounding tech industry has had a lot to do with that. FIRST Force is a coalition of those local teams: mentors work together on fundraising, planning off-season events and so on.

Recently we've had quite a few teams starting in the southern and eastern parts of the state, but the highest concentration is still in Portland and the rest of Western Oregon.

The Autodesk Oregon Regional, so I've heard from people who've attended other regionals, is very well run. It's usually a pretty level playing field in my opinion, in that while there are very consistently strong teams, there is a lot of room for teams to advance quickly and everyone has a shot at success.

Team 1540, the Flaming Chickens, is a Chairman's-winning team that does a lot of outreach to new teams: every year they host FIRSTFare, a day-long workshop geared to rookie teams but with lots of helpful workshops for veteran teams as well [fundraising, public relations, mechanical and software]. That happens every October and should be well publicized on the oregonfirst website.

Oregon recently passed legislation to fund FRC teams located at public high schools, to the tune of several $k I believe. I'm not sure of the details [if it was a one-time event or not] but it would be worth looking into.

Oregon's Regional Director Deb Mumm-Hill is a great contact if you are looking for more info.

[SenorZ]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

I can't let you do that, Dave.

Don't leave California! It's the best state in the world! Plus, if you left, Rsisk would be sad.

Leaving CA is not something to do on a whim, that is for sure.

Originally Posted by princessnatalie

Well...
but if you happen to want to move to Camas WA my school would love to have you...

Thank your for the invitation. Do they let students do the hiring?

Originally Posted by rsisk

You can also check out www.oregonfirst.org for contacts in Oregon. The first image I saw when I went there was "Mentors Needed"

I saw that, but wasn't sure... seems they are looking for industry professionals, but I will look into the site in more detail.

Originally Posted by Bethie42

Oregon's Regional Director Deb Mumm-Hill is a great contact if you are looking for more info.

I will email her and see if she has any hot tips, and possible ask her to keep her ears open for any in the coming months.

I really want to thank those of you that responded for taking the time to consider my situation. My reasons for wanting to leaving CA are personal and philosophical. I still want to teach, and I still want to get involved in robotics. Having just started a team here I feel especially guilty for even considering leaving. Its nice to know that wherever I end up (or even if I stay) that there is a strong community of FIRSTers out there.

[Bob Steele]

If you can't find what you want in Oregon... come a little further north!!
Washington awaits... 94 FRC teams this year...and still growing..

Glad to help in your job search if you need it..

I am also a physics teacher and run an FRC team.
Aviation High School
Skunkworks Robotics..1983
Seattle

[DonRotolo]

...or move to Montana. Grow dental floss. With your zircon-encrusted, pearl-handled tweezers...

(Does this reference show my age?)

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

(Does this reference show my age?)

Zappa is timeless.

[rsisk]

Old man fist bump - Love Zappa!