What is the most amazing venue that you've competed.

[Foster]

I'm in the process of writing up the 6 October Delaware State VEX Championship that we held at the Dover Air Force Base, Dover Delaware.

We were inside one of the three hangars on base that can hold an entire C-5 airplane. It was a perfect blue (Air Force blue?) sky day, so the hangar doors were open and we could see a row of C-5s parked across from us. We had the DAFB Bomb squad robot, remote controlled front loader, a mini fighter jet, one of the snow blowers they use to clean the runways and the EMT rescue van.

We had a portable clam shell stage and bleachers, with 6 VEX fields and the 40 pits around the outside walls.

It is one of the most impressive venues that I've been to a robotic event. As far as I know this is the only robotic event to be held on a military base. (And I don't want to appear to be splitting hairs with the Chesapeake Regional when it was held at the Naval Academy. That has my vote for second best venue).

Other than Worlds, what is your choice for most amazing venue that you've competed?

I'll post the event writeup and pictures in another thread...

[Koko Ed]

My favorite venue is the Gordon Field House on the RIT campus. The floor space of a convention center and the comfortable seating of a arena. I have yet to find another venue like it in FIRST.

[ebarker]

I'd say Dover AFB beats this but since you asked, here in Georgia we have the following at the Robins AFB museum, SR-71, U-2, and others in the picture....

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

My favorite venue is the Gordon Field House on the RIT campus. The floor space of a convention center and the comfortable seating of a arena. I have yet to find another venue like it in FIRST.

Oh man, that sounds absolutely perfect.

I've been to some stadium events and I can say that while the seating and stuff was nice, the hurdles to get from the stadium to the pits were ones that required some stamina if you were going to be going back and forth all day.

At the Peachtree Regional, we have a similar layout, but seating as been an issue as long as I can remember.

- Sunny G.

[IndySam]

The Knoxville Convention Center is the best laid out venue there is.

Typical convention center setup with nice large pit area right next to the field and portable seating. But the portable seating is large risers with nice padded movable seats instead of the typical bleachers. Real comfy.

[Ekcrbe]

I'll take this from a different perspective, since my experiences after the World Championships aren't all that awe-inspiring (two districts and some offseasons). This venue was amazing in the fact that I was amazed an FRC event could even take place there. It was at the IGVC offseason event, and the whole thing took place under a tent, and the ground was covered in anything from thick tufts of weeds to rocks the size of the average fist. Because of this we completely gave up on the robot cart and carried the robot to and from the field. It wasn't that far, because the pits were just a ring around the field, and were ordered on a take-your-pick basis. The field itself was about 18" off the ground, and getting on required going up a series of steps made of pallets. It was quite a sight, and an even better time for my first competition on the drive team.

[Mr. Lim]

1) Epcot Center <- Championships used to be held here

2) Canada's Wonderland <- Home of Canada's only off-season events

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lim

1) Epcot Center <- Championships used to be held here

2) Canada's Wonderland <- Home of Canada's only off-season events

Canada's Wonderland is the only FIRST event I had to actually pay admission to.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by IndySam

The Knoxville Convention Center is the best laid out venue there is.

Typical convention center setup with nice large pit area right next to the field and portable seating. But the portable seating is large risers with nice padded movable seats instead of the typical bleachers. Real comfy.

Seconded.

[Mr. Lim]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Canada's Wonderland is the only FIRST event I had to actually pay admission to.

...and it was worth every penny =).

Teams and volunteers got a special $12 two-day ticket that was good for both competition day, and any other day after the event, I think. A regular one-day ticket went for $33 I believe.

Roller coasters and Robots:
http://www.canadaswonderland.com/thi...o/thrill-rides

All under a giant tent on the grounds of the amusement park:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/18730

I don't know if you could come up with a better concept for an event!

[Billfred]

Hard to say--the old Naval Academy field house at Chesapeake was rather fantastic. Lots of room inside, take a stroll by the water just beside.

For off-seasons though, Ed Barker is right--GRITS has us all licked.

[JohnBoucher]

The field house at the Naval Academy back in the old days. Sweet place, lots of seating, power outlets in the stands, great food, lots of tradition and history at the venue.

[stundt1]

My favorite venue is the washington dc regional. The only thing i disliked about the venue was the high food prices. But we got to see great teams and the venue had plenty of space to move around in.

[sanddrag]

The Hawaii regional was in a nice smaller size arena, but everyone was so friendly and you could hardly ask for a better surrounding area (the island of Oahu). We made a two-week trip out of it in 2008 and it was fantastic.

[dtengineering]

CenturyLink field in Seattle. Holds two complete regionals with plenty of pit space for 100+ teams AND has level drive-in, drive-out access for loading and unloading. Perhaps the only downside is that many of the nearby restaraunts aren't open for lunch, making the $6 hot dog an unfortunately common option.

Although technically, the "most amazing" would be my first visit to an FRC event, a double-field GTR super regional at Hershey Centre. In hindsight, there are better FRC venues for practical reasons, but that would have to count as the "most amazing".

Jason