Revival of Pascack Panda-monium?

[Hallry]

Hi all,

We (Team 1676, The Pascack Pi-oneers) have recently been thinking of possibly reviving our old offseason event, Pascack Panda-monium, for after this upcoming season. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, you can find the thread about it here, and a picture of the trophies given out can be found here. Of course, we'll be sure to bring back the Pie-Eating Contest and Video Game Tournament as well, if enough interest is shown. It would again be held at Pascack Hills High School, 225 West Grand Avenue, Montvale, NJ.

Unlike last time, however, we were planning on doing it in the spring instead of in the fall, most likely either May 25th, 2013, or June 1st, 2013. The 25th of May is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, and SATs are on June 1st. Of course, if BR^2 is held by Team 303 again, we will avoid conflicting with that date. Don't worry, both of these options avoid the date of Monty Madness, if that is held on the same relative weekend in May (May 18th).

Before we put in all the time, effort, dedication, work, and sleep deprivation needed to host an offseason event, we wanted to know what the nearby FIRST community thought of it. Would your team be interested in coming? Would you like to volunteer for the event (if so, for what position)? Which of the two suggested dates would work best for you, and why?

If possible, please fill out the survey above, to aid in our planning process.

We look forward to reading your responses, and are greatly hoping that this will all work out.

Sincerely,
Ryan Hall
2011-2013 Co-C.E.O.
FRC Team 1676, The Pascack Pi-oneers

[Akash Rastogi]

Last time, do you recall how many teams attended and where they were mostly from?

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Last time, do you recall how many teams attended and where they were mostly from?

Based on the archive of the event webpage, 19 teams attended (or had planned to attend):

Team 11, MORT, Mount Olive High School, Flanders, NJ

Team 25, Raider Robotix, North Brunswick Twp. High School, North Brunswick, NJ

Team 102, Gearheads, Somerville High School, Somerville, NJ

Team 271, Mechanical Marauders, Bay Shore High School, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY

Team 303, Panther Robotics, Bridgewater Raritan Regional High School, Bridgewater, NJ

Team 369, Nuts 'n' Volts, Grady Technical High School, Brooklyn, NY

Team 423, SEC Robotics, Springfield, Eastern, Cheltenham, Wyndmoor, PA

Team 522, Robo Wizards, McKee Vocational High School, Staten Island, NY

Team 555, Montclair Robotics, Montclair High School, Montclair, NJ

Team 694, Stuypulse, Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY

Team 806, Brooklyn Blacksmiths, Xaverian High School & Fontbonne Hall Academy & Bishop Kearney High School, Brooklyn, NY

Team 1302, Team Revolution, Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Sparta, NJ

Team 1676, Pascack Pi-oneers, Pascack Valley Regional H.S. District, Montvale, NJ

Team 1989, Vernon Vikings, Vernon Township High School, Vernon, NJ

Team 2070, Ridgefield Robotics, Ridgefield Memorial High School, Ridgefield, NJ

Team 2458, Team Chaos, Gill St. Bernards School, Gladstone, NJ

Team 2539, Krypton Cougars, Palmyra Area High School, Palmyra, PA

Pre-Rookie, Ben Franklin High School, Philadelphia, PA

Pre-Rookie, Shaker High Robotics, Shaker High School, Latham, NY

Team 1923, The MidKnight Inventors, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North, West Windsor, NJ were originally signed up, but had to drop out last minute.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Hallry

Unlike last time, however, we were planning on doing it in the spring instead of in the fall, most likely either May 25th, 2013, or June 1st, 2013. The 25th of May is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, and SATs are on June 1st. Of course, if BR^2 is held by Team 303 again, we will avoid conflicting with that date.

I know my NJ geography isn't splendid, but I'd avoid Monty Madness's date too, if I were you. There should be a reasonable weekend open in there with PARC gone.

It's probably too far for 1640, but you have yourself a ref if I'm in the country.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Siri

I know my NJ geography isn't splendid, but I'd avoid Monty Madness's date too, if I were you. There should be a reasonable weekend open in there with PARC gone.

Assuming Monty Madness will be the same relative weekend next year, that would take place on May 18th. So don't worry, we're avoiding that weekend =).

Originally Posted by Siri

It's probably too far for 1640, but you have yourself a ref if I'm in the country.

That would be great, thanks so much.
Northern New Jersey is closer than Indianapolis

[delsaner]

I was not able to go the first time because of Black Belt testing, but I would love to assist.

My volunteering position preferences would be queuing, announcing, pit or field administration, all that jazz.

I am not entirely sure about May 25th, but I should be able to do June 1st.

[rdlevy1215]

I would love to Volunteer; I am experienced in Field Power Control (scorekeeper); Field Reset; Team Quening; Production, etc. ... well you know

[waitwhat?]

While it's still a bit early to make a firm commitment, I can say that team 869 is definitely interested in competing at Pascack Panda-monium. Off season events are always a blast!

[jbrizzol]

I'd gladly assist with field reset, and anything else you would need help with.

[afowl]

I'd definitely come up to help out. I usually do queuing at events, but I could do whatever you guys need.

[Steven Donow]

223 will definitely be there!

[Lkr220]

Out of curiosity, why in the Spring instead of the Fall? It has been a while since I've gone to off-season events, but back in my day there were way more in the Spring than the Fall (which is why we decided for Fall). Are there more in the Fall now?

Off-season events in the Fall are a great way to get new members excited about the upcoming season and are great for getting old members pumped up for Kickoff!

[Lil' Lavery]

Not that I'd discourage you from helping spread FIRST to you community and add another possibility to compete, but I'm glad you're attempting to assess the market for this off-season before you dive in head first. There's already quite a plethora of off-season in New Jersey (Brunswick Eruption, Monty Madness, Duel on the Delaware, BR^2) as well as Ramp Riot and girlPOWER just over the border in Pennsylvania. Perhaps rather than trying to cram another event into the already busy spring and fall seasons, you could consider a mid-summer event? While it would raise issues with many teams for school not being in session (including possibly yours as host), it's basically the only prolonged blank space in the MAR-area calendar.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Lkr220

Out of curiosity, why in the Spring instead of the Fall? It has been a while since I've gone to off-season events, but back in my day there were way more in the Spring than the Fall (which is why we decided for Fall). Are there more in the Fall now?

That is correct Lizzie, there are more in the area now in the Fall. As Sean stated, girlPOWER, Duel on the Delaware, Brunswick Eruption, and Ramp Riot are all in October and November now.

As stated above, Sean,, we were thinking of doing it in the spring because of the lesser number of other offseason events around us: Monty Madness and BR^2 are the only two. Monty Madness, if held on the same weekend, will take place on May 18th, 2013. However, since Team 303 is holding an official MAR district just two months prior, we were wondering whether or not they will hold BR^2 again. We have emailed their head mentor Paul Kloberg, but have not received any reply yet. If they are unable to, that would make Monty Madness the only spring offseason event around.

The summer we were worried about getting into. While we probably could hold the event at our school during a Saturday then without a problem, we were concerned about whether we would get enough volunteers and teams to attend, with schools being off and many people going away on vacation.

[Kristian Calhoun]

We enjoyed the first Pascack Panda-monium and would likely attend again if the competition is revived.

Originally Posted by Hallry

The summer we were worried about getting into. While we probably could hold the event at our school during a Saturday then without a problem, we were concerned about whether we would get enough volunteers and teams to attend, with schools being off and many people going away on vacation.

This is very true. In 2008, 25 and 1089 began planning an off-season event, August Adventure, but had to cancel because not enough teams were available during the summer.