[NE FIRST] 2014 New England Championship!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Another similar question, but also modified:

We have no bus, but the 0.7 mile walk from my apartment to the arena can be a rough one. Can we use our bus allocation to be super lazy? :-P


Just kiddinggggg. Looking forward to the NECMP in our hometown!

-Brando

Can we use it for my car so I can be super lazy? Heck, I'll even pick you up so you can avoid your .7 mile walk. There, now I'm a bus.

[Ryan Burgett]

I am so excited to participate in the VIP Scouting Seats myself, and for all those who are aware of how we scout, we call all out. SO pumped for NE Champs

[Miss157]

I'm super excited for Agganis Arena Champs!

Although, I did have a question I'm not sure can be answered here :x

For Dean's List nominated students whose teams did not make it to District Champs, what should we do?

We definitely want to volunteer, but we don't think our school will let us miss days unless we need to or are suggested to be there.

Any ideas?

[Jay O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by Miss157

I'm super excited for Agganis Arena Champs!

Although, I did have a question I'm not sure can be answered here :x

For Dean's List nominated students whose teams did not make it to District Champs, what should we do?

We definitely want to volunteer, but we don't think our school will let us miss days unless we need to or are suggested to be there.

Any ideas?

I believe the award for deans list isn't given out until Saturday, so you wouldn't have to be there Thursday or Friday anyways since interviews were at district events.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell

I believe the award for deans list isn't given out until Saturday, so you wouldn't have to be there Thursday or Friday anyways since interviews were at district events.

This is correct, Deans List will be given out on Saturday afternoon. While we currently have enough volunteers for saturday, you can always check in with us that day to see if we need any more. Plus we have a whole ton of stuff you can do - check out the awesome robotics companies, our merchandise vendor, bring items for our charity drive, interact with our sponsors, talk to other teams, etc.

In fact, if the Deans List students wanted to do some sort of get together on Saturday, we could probably even help set up a location/announce it.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Banderoonies

Is there any overnight parking for team cargo trailers after unloading?

So BU looked into this for us and this is what they came up with. Unfortunately they could not find anything free (this lot is $24/night), but its something:

Based on several inquiries, we have made arrangements for this. If a team wishes to leave their vehicle overnight, we have made this available in the lot at 808 Commonwealth Ave. Lot F. Please see following link for reference. http://www.agganisarena.com/directions/parking.html

Originally Posted by Chi Meson

Similar question, but modified:
Our bus is just dropping us off. Could we use the bus parking allocation for our truck/trailer?

Unfortunately no. This lot will be for busses and large trucks only. You can use the onsite C2 Lot behind the parking garage if your vehicle/trailer will fit in two spaces, but you will be charged for two spaces ($30/day) or you can use the offiste lot mentioned above.

[Kims Robot]

This email was just sent to main & alternate team contacts:

New England Teams,
This is it! Today the New England Rankings are solidified and FIRST will be sending out official invitiations to the Main Team Contacts.

We have some big announcements for the New England Championship.

New Agenda!
FIRST has posted a new agenda for our event.
The two biggest changes were made to give teams more time and make the event safer and less hectic. The first is Load In Wednesday night has been extended in time (now from 5-9pm) and teams will be able to set up their pits, unbag and get their robot inspected if they wish. Teams are still restricted to 5 members per team, but we hope this additional time will make it easier for everyone to start qualifications on Thursday.
The second is that we have moved Opening Ceremonies on Friday and Saturday to 9:00am.

New Welcome Packet
Based on the agenda update, and some updates for some parking questions we have received, we have posted a new welcome packet. Make sure you have Version 2.0!

Don't forget to check out the NE FIRST Rankings Announcement and Live Commentary following the Pine Tree Awards!!

We look forward to seeing you next week!

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

This email was just sent to main & alternate team contacts:

Thanks for posting this I am really excited to see the change to Wednesday night! Glad to see the stress of Thursday morning will be spread out giving more time for the inspection process.

[engunneer]

The live webcast for DCMP selection has started - http://new.livestream.com/nefirst/events/2896457

The content starts in <30 minutes! (7:15PM EDT)

[Jay O'Donnell]

For my fellow scouts, here is a list of all 54 teams attending NE Champs and the 6 backup teams in numerical order. Time for scouting!
58
61
69
78
125
131
133
138
166
172
175
176
177
178
190
195
228
230
236
237
246
319
558
663
716
811
999
1058
1073
1100
1517
1519
1699
1735
1991
2064
2067
2084
2168
2648
2877
3323
3461
3467
3525
3930
4048
4055
4473
4555
4564
4761
4908
4909
4925
4958
5000
5112
5122
5129

[Abrakadabra]

The Welcome Packet has the following in a blue box on Page 13:

Caution:
Teams cannot register on April 10th without a completed form for
each team member attending the event, including adults traveling
with the team. Persons under 18 years of age must have a parent
or legal guardian’s signature. Please contact your regional director
if you need to acquire consent forms.

Is this something different than the standard roster that we usually just print from TIMS? What is meant by these "Consent Forms"? Why do we have to have a form for each person, and why would we need to contact our Regional Director to get them? Are they not available elsewhere? (like on-line?)

If this is the same thing as the TIMS roster, then why not just say so?

(Sorry, but I've been burned by trivialities at Registration far too many times at past events, so I like to make sure I'm prepared.)

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Abrakadabra

The Welcome Packet has the following in a blue box on Page 13:

If this is the same thing as the TIMS roster, then why not just say so?

(Sorry, but I've been burned by trivialities at Registration far too many times at past events, so I like to make sure I'm prepared.)

My apologies if it is slightly confusing, this wording is left over from the Boston Regional Welcome packet which is what I used to start this document. However, it is still accurate that consent and release forms must be submitted for all team members, it is just that most teams are now doing them electronically. C&R forms are still part of the FIRST manual, please see section 4.7.1 (below). If there are team members that do not submit electronically, they must submit at every event including the NE CMP.

4.7.1 Consent and Release Forms
We highly encourage all FRC team members to submit their Consent and Release forms electronically.

FRC Team Mentors registered in TIMS will submit in TIMS: https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/site.lasso. Student team members will submit via the FIRST Student Team Information Member System (STIMS) at: https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso. Having your team members and mentors submit their Consent and Release forms electronically will make things much easier for you—no excess paperwork to collect and keep track of!

Please note if a team member decides to submit their Consent and Release form electronically, it will cover the team member’s attendance for the entire season – from Kickoff through Championship. However, if a team member chooses to turn in a “hardcopy” of the form (i.e., printed out from the website and signed) he/she will have to provide it at the Kickoff event (if attending) and at every competition. Details on the Consent and Release form process are available here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...d-consent-form.

Bold Emphasis mine.

But we are more than happy to answer any questions so that teams can make it to & through the event smoothly

[Chi Meson]

Oh if things weren't only that not unconfusing!

I found out at Rhode Island that they want a printed roster at each event anyway, even if you turned in the C&R info at a previous District event.

And wouldn't you know, that printed roster is the same thing that you would turn in for supplying the "C&R" documentation at the initial event.

What I will be doing:
Print out the roster of the team from TIMS, include any hardcopy forms for whoever has not completed the online consent/waiver. In other words, the same thing. The worst that can happen is there will be no problem during sign in. I can live with that.

[Samwaldo]

So any word, on how many backup teams have been called on so far?

[brinoc]

Originally Posted by Chi Meson

What I will be doing:
Print out the roster of the team from TIMS, include any hardcopy forms for whoever has not completed the online consent/waiver. In other words, the same thing. The worst that can happen is there will be no problem during sign in. I can live with that.

As Pit Admin in Southington, that should be all you need if district Champs work like the District event registration.

You have to print out a TIMS Roster and bring it to each event you attend in order to register, or you wont get your drive pins until you can get a hold of a printed copy. The TIMS roster shows if any students have or haven't filled out their consent forms online. If they havent filled them out online, they need to have hard-copies attached.

Make sure any students not attending on your roster are pointed out as so or just let the Pit Admin know, therefore he/she knows that you don't have to be hunted down for any student's forms, and registration just goes quicker overall.