Where is gonna be located the 2014-2015 Championship?

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Everyone keeps bringing up Convention Centers are options.First of all they wouldn't be fields anymore. They'd be rooms (Gallieo Room. Archimedes Room. Curie Room. Newton Room) because basically convention centers are just big rooms. And during the qualifications it's perfectly fine. A little tight in the stands but doable. Then comes the elims where everyone is darting between fields between matches and now have to go down the hall or even up and down an escalator to do so. Now comes the real fun part: Einstein. Do you really think you're gonna fit 20 to 30 thousand people in a room. Do you think the Fire Marshal is gonna allow it? So sine we can't cram all those people into the room who gets to go? If you didn't get into the elims, you can't come in. If you got eliminated in the quarters you can't come in. If you got the boot in the semis half of your team can come in. Everybody else sure it's cool. The rest of you peasants can go watch on a screen in your division room.
Yeah, that'll go over really well.
So let's drop the idea of ever going to a convention center. It just can't happen.

Vex seems to handle it pretty well.

[Patrick Flynn]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Vex seems to handle it pretty well.

Vex plays their finals in a dome arena with enough seating. Not solving the problem of what to do with Einstein and ceremonies.

Originally Posted by IndySam

You could set up 8 different divisions in the Indianapolis Convention Center of 60 teams. Keeping them small would provide more adequate seating and the matches teams are looking for.

Let FTC and FLL have Lucas all to themselves until Saturday. Have two or three fields in the dome and run round robin matches among the division winners Saturday after lunch and have the top four go to Einstein.

This is a really interesting idea. It would reduce the need to ever need to more your robot long distances, and once elims start teams already currently bring their pits onto the dome floor. The only negative here would be that more fields would be required even if there were 4 divisional fields in the convention center, and 2-3 +Einstein in Lucas.

[RyanJK]

Hello everyone,

I've heard from a few FIRST staff members that 10 cities have given FIRST bids to host the next world championship and are currently considered to be in the running. Those cities are:

1) St. Louis
2) Orlando
3) Atlanta
4) Anaheim
5) Indianapolis (but they couldn't host the 2015 championship due to planned construction, or something like that)
6) New York City
7) Chicago
8) Philadelphia
9) Detroit
10) San Diego

I was told that, while other cities can still give FIRST a bid, at this point it is unlikely that this will happen, meaning the championship will be in one of these cities unless someone comes in out of nowhere with an amazing deal.

I think the most interesting thing about these cities is that it seems FIRST is willing to explore the idea of not having Worlds in a NFL stadium/convention center affair. That could lead to some very cool host cities in the future!

[Denise Bohnsack]

Originally Posted by TheMadCADer

The Reliant convention center is within feet of Reliant Stadium. I'm guessing you were going by George R. Brown, which is pretty far away.

I have been to Reliant Center for a football game. It is an enormous impressive facility. I have not attended the Houston FIRST Championship there but hear it is doable. I would like to see comments from folks who have personal experience who have attended the event in 2003. I understand the facilities are different now so an update on that would be appreciated too.

So informed, educated commentary on the logistics of Houston for World Championship and if it could be a real possibility.

I found a web site reliantpark.com that shows a pic of the stadium and the nearby convention center, and drawings and info about the venue.

Or course, as someone mentioned earlier, how willing the hosts are to accommodate and help fund the event, is very important and pivotal to the decision no matter where any of us would like it to be. If Houston is not willing to put a bid in for the event, perhaps it really does not matter whether it would be a good venue or not.

[Moon2020]

If this is truly the case where a stadium is not needed, the West Concourse in Orlando's OCCC is gigantic. It's 1.1 Million sq ft! No need to split Divisions into different rooms!

[Denise Bohnsack]

Originally Posted by Moon2020

If this is truly the case where a stadium is not needed, the West Concourse in Orlando's OCCC is gigantic. It's 1.1 Million sq ft! No need to split Divisions into different rooms!

I will concur that the Orlando Convention Center is ENORMOUS. The airport is great with lots of flights. Lots of hotels in Orlando in all price ranges. Tons of educational and fun opportunities. Orlando hosts an incredible well run regional which everyone enjoys and the community is well informed with dedicated volunteers from FIRST. Of course, the weather is fantastic that time of year. An educational trip to Kennedy Space Center (about 35 minutes away) for teams would be a huge plus.

However, I cannot understand how the opening and closing ceremonies and final matches would accommodate all the viewers but maybe this is doable? How would that work? Also,it is a long way to fly for our friends on the West Coast.

But sometimes where there is a will there is a way, and thinking outside the box can make for great solutions.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Denise Bohnsack

I have been to Reliant Center for a football game. It is an enormous impressive facility. I have not attended the Houston FIRST Championship there but hear it is doable. I would like to see comments from folks who have personal experience who have attended the event in 2003. I understand the facilities are different now so an update on that would be appreciated too.

So informed, educated commentary on the logistics of Houston for World Championship and if it could be a real possibility.

I found a web site reliantpark.com that shows a pic of the stadium and the nearby convention center, and drawings and info about the venue.

Or course, as someone mentioned earlier, how willing the hosts are to accommodate and help fund the event, is very important and pivotal to the decision no matter where any of us would like it to be. If Houston is not willing to put a bid in for the event, perhaps it really does not matter whether it would be a good venue or not.

The 2003 Championship had the field in Reliant and the pits in the Astro Dome. It was a MAJOR hike to move robots between pits and fields: especially going up and down multiple ramps to get to and from the ground-levels of the stadia. By time you returned to the pit, you had maybe 20 minutes to repair and prepare for the next match.

Still it was an exciting event!

[Mykey]

Shamu Stadium at Sea World.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Denise Bohnsack

I would like to see comments from folks who have personal experience who have attended the event in 2003. I understand the facilities are different now so an update on that would be appreciated too.

Using the Reliant Stadium (yes, where the Texans play) as the field building worked OK. Using the Astrodome as the pits went down in the books as a "We're NEVER doing this again!" From what I understand, the Finale (or equivalent) wasn't well attended, but I didn't go so I wouldn't know.

Originally Posted by Cory

LA would never build a dome. The weather is far too good for that.

We get rain in winter, on occasion. And, I happen to remember hearing something about "retractable roof" in the news last time I heard something about building an arena. (I also happen to remember reading something about needing an NFL team to commit before the arena happened--haven't heard anything about said team committing.)

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by EricH

Using the Reliant Stadium (yes, where the Texans play) as the field building worked OK. Using the Astrodome as the pits went down in the books as a "We're NEVER doing this again!" From what I understand, the Finale (or equivalent) wasn't well attended, but I didn't go so I wouldn't know.

All I remember about Astroworld was being trapped for 30 minutes in a metal cage 60 feet off the ground. I had enough of Astroworld by then.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

All I remember about Astroworld was being trapped for 30 minutes in a metal cage 60 feet off the ground. I had enough of Astroworld by then.

If it's any consolation they apparently heard your criticism and decided to flatten the place.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

If it's any consolation they apparently heard your criticism and decided to flatten the place.

Glad to see it gone.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Cory

LA would never build a dome. The weather is far too good for that.

To host the Super Bowl, the NFL wants to take the weather out of the equation (how else can such spectacular half-time shows occur? ).

Farmer's field will have a retractable dome. Check out image gallery here.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

To host the Super Bowl, the NFL wants to take the weather out of the equation (how else can such spectacular half-time shows occur? ).

Farmer's field will have a retractable dome. Check out image gallery here.

If that was the case they would have never sent next year's Superbowl to New Jersey.
and LA doesn't deserve an NFL team. I wish they'd quit trying to poach other more deserving market's teams.

[Brian C]

Originally Posted by Denise Bohnsack

So informed, educated commentary on the logistics of Houston for World Championship and if it could be a real possibility.

IMO Logistically the Championships at Houston were not very good. The pits were on the floor of the Astrodome and there was a 3 or 4 story ramp that teams had to go up on their way to the fields in Reliant stadium. It made the trip back and forth from the pits to the field in Atlanta look like a cakewalk.

The wrap party at Astroworld was, in a word....forgettable.

I still reminisce about Championships at EPCOT. Logistically it was excellent due to transportation, flights, lodging, food. Plus no matter what happened....you were at Disneyworld

No matter where the Championships are awarded there will always be pros and cons. We'll see what 2015 brings......