Let's talk about venues...

[Kris Verdeyen]

Already mentioned in this thread, but I agree -

Lone Star/George R Brown Convention Center - I'm a big proponent of convention centers hosting regionals - lots of hotels, usually places to walk to, lots of space for pits and practice.

Crossroads/RHIT Fieldhouse - This might rival the convention center concept - the fieldhouse has a huge area for pits, with the track making a natural warning track, so that people walking through the area don't need to be hassled about safety glasses. Also, the field is totally enclosed, with a wall between it and the pits, and just one notch too small for the number of teams there, which means that it gets loud.

Not mentioned yet -
Bayou regional ca 2007 / New Orleans Convention Center - Huge area for practice, walkable to hotels and restaurants. Walkablity is nice, because it leads to more interactions between teams outside of the venue, and just simplifies logistics. I think they may have moved this to get the HS students away from Bourbon Street, though.

San Antonio Regional / Henry B Gonzales Convention Center - Same convention center benefits, big pits, lots of seating, downtown in an amazing city, etc, etc. This place could be a future contender for Championships.

[ChuckDickerson]

Originally Posted by Kris Verdeyen

Bayou regional ca 2007 / New Orleans Convention Center - ... I think they may have moved this to get the HS students away from Bourbon Street, though.

Bayou is now at the Lake Pontchartrain Center (http://www.pontchartraincenter.com) in Kenner closer to the airport. It is still a fantastic venue and has a great hotel attached next door.

[Lil' Lavery]

Speaking in generalizations, the logistics of convention centers is great (lots of space, nearby hotels & entertainment, etc), the atmosphere and crowd experience is traditionally lacking compared to basketball/hockey arenas. Arenas tend to have more seating, more comfortable seating, better sightlines, and have a more amped atmosphere. There are exceptions either way (I'd take the DC convention center over the Patriot Center in a heartbeat), but after attending quite a few events, I'd say it's a pretty good rule of thumb.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Speaking in generalizations, the logistics of convention centers is great (lots of space, nearby hotels & entertainment, etc), the atmosphere and crowd experience is traditionally lacking compared to basketball/hockey arenas. Arenas tend to have more seating, more comfortable seating, better sightlines, and have a more amped atmosphere. There are exceptions either way (I'd take the DC convention center over the Patriot Center in a heartbeat), but after attending quite a few events, I'd say it's a pretty good rule of thumb.

^this.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by Libby K

I'm sorry, but I so disagree with WPI. I love the A/V setup they have, and how BattleCry always ends up being a big sprawling-across-campus event, but it just seems like such an awkwardly-shaped venue to me.

When I went to BattleCry this May, the pits were cramped and tiny. I was immensely uncomfortable just walking through them. Is there a difference between the pit layout for BC vs. for the district? I sincerely hope someone can prove me wrong on this.

My favorite venue, of course, will always be Epcot. Sorry, I had to.

I didn't mention the Pits, which are not great by any stretch of the imagination.
But the production is top notch.
When I was referring to the renovation, I meant that they could use both sets of bleachers.
I remember when they revealed the plans for the new Sports and Recreation Center with its "Robot pits" and I was quite pleased. In reality, not so good.

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I'm glad you said it first. I was at BC as well and it was a miserable experience. The pits are humid and have worse cell signal than some faraday cages I've been in. They are also DARK and feel oppressive.

The stands are sprawling and I feel like I was a mile away while watching the matches.

I find the stands to be very amenable. There is room to dance in the space between the upper and lower bleachers. There not a mile away (Sig Figs) but there is more space between the field and the stands, which is nice compared to some venues where the audience traffic can be difficult.

Miserable seems a strong descriptor here, but I would love to hear about the other Faraday cages you have been in.

[pastelpony]

I liked the Connecticut Convention Center before New England went to districts. Though, my favorite venue would have to be the Agganis Arena in Boston (team was there for the NECMP back in April.)

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

I didn't mention the Pits, which are not great by any stretch of the imagination.
But the production is top notch.
When I was referring to the renovation, I meant that they could use both sets of bleachers.
I remember when they revealed the plans for the new Sports and Recreation Center with its "Robot pits" and I was quite pleased. In reality, not so good.



I find the stands to be very amenable. There is room to dance in the space between the upper and lower bleachers. There not a mile away (Sig Figs) but there is more space between the field and the stands, which is nice compared to some venues where the audience traffic can be difficult.

Miserable seems a strong descriptor here, but I would love to hear about the other Faraday cages you have been in.

I feel we have very different goals when it comes to bleachers. I like to watch robots not dance. I feel that the shallow angle of the bleachers, while helpful for dancing, is detrimental to all seats being good for watching robots.

Other faraday cages I've been in were the room 79 used to do kickoff in at Honeywell. While not TECHNICALLY a faraday cage it was fairly effective at removing all cell signal by virtue of its construction. My old lab in Tampa had the same issue. That lab used rebar reinforcement with 18" on a side squares for REASONS I'm fairly certain Honeywell used similar construction for similar reasons. We kept the door open in hope of having some cell signal in there. However, closing the door removed all signal.

Miserable is, in my opinion, the appropriate description. I found the pits to be humid (I lived in FL for 3 years, still found them humid), cramped, dark, echoey, and reeking of chlorine. I've been in a LOT of venues, I can't think of another venue that has worse pits than WPI.

[Foster]

Ramp Riot at the home school for Miss Daisy. It has two levels, pits and field at the lower level, upper level has great seating and close up views of the activity. The pits are well spaced so you can move around. Bonus is lots of bathrooms close by and the concession stand is 50 feet from the arena door.

Second favorite is the Naval Academy at Annapolis. It's huge, lots of seating, great pit space. Plus it's on the Academy Grounds. Plus it's in Annapolis, with all the great places to eat. Hotel space was good also, with lots of inexpensive rooms since it was "off season" for Annapolis.

[brndn]

I liked the Virginia Regional's layout at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond. There are three sections of pits that hug three of the sides of the playing field yet the venue is large enough to have plenty of good seating on the remaining side. The size of the arena makes it feel a lot less cramped than other venues. SBPLI at Hofstra has a similar layout but is a tad smaller.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I feel we have very different goals when it comes to bleachers. I like to watch robots not dance. I feel that the shallow angle of the bleachers, while helpful for dancing, is detrimental to all seats being good for watching robots.

Other faraday cages I've been in were the room 79 used to do kickoff in at Honeywell. While not TECHNICALLY a faraday cage it was fairly effective at removing all cell signal by virtue of its construction. My old lab in Tampa had the same issue. That lab used rebar reinforcement with 18" on a side squares for REASONS I'm fairly certain Honeywell used similar construction for similar reasons. We kept the door open in hope of having some cell signal in there. However, closing the door removed all signal.

Miserable is, in my opinion, the appropriate description. I found the pits to be humid (I lived in FL for 3 years, still found them humid), cramped, dark, echoey, and reeking of chlorine. I've been in a LOT of venues, I can't think of another venue that has worse pits than WPI.

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

My favorite Faraday Cage is the one next to the Van de Graaff generators at the Boston Museum of Science. I would pay to sit in there during a discharge.

While "dancing" isn't the goal of FIRST, I have been to some events at WPI where the energy was quite high.

I guess for comparison, we could look at Agannis Arena, where the steep angle of the seating makes for great viewing, but half of the teams are relegated to the end zones, where the field configuration blocks the view.
WPI doesn't have this issue.

I'll still pick WPI, though some of that is due to nostalgia.

Pits = miserable, yeah, but I prefer below average. (Sig Figs)

[RunawayEngineer]

SFL was the smallest regional that I have been to and I liked that the seating was really close to the action - arenas don't have the luxury of positioning the seating.
One of the coolest parts about the venue was that it was hosted in a convention center at the same time as other events - which meant that there were passersby who could just walk in and see what was happening. I have unconfirmed reports that people were skipping out on their seminars to watch robots instead. It was one of the few venues that naturally brought in new people.

[Conor Ryan]

I'm doing this in math.

Convention Centers:
Knoxville Convention Center > DECC (Duluth, MN) > Javits Center

Arenas/Colleges:
Gordon Fieldhouse (RIT) = Wolstein Center (Cleveland) > Agganis (Boston) > Cal U (pittsburgh, ex location) > Sun National Bank Center (Trenton, used to be Sovereign Bank) > Temple U > Kettering U> Petersen Events Center (Pittsburgh) > Drexel U ≈ Rutgers

High Schools:
Monty Madness, I'm biased > Mt Olive > Ramp Riot = Horsham > Clifton

But lets be honest, the real winner is Epcot.
Champ Venues:
Epcot on a Launch Day > Epcot > Edward Jones (although I heard the Rams are lobbying for a new venue) > Georgia Dome > Astrodome ≈ Older Champ Venues

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Best venue, easily, was the Naval Academy, back when the Chesapeake regional was there. It's a shame that they moved it. Annapolis is such a nice town.

I think we all miss leaky creaky Halsey Field House back in the day. However they renovated Halsey making it no longer an option with the space needed. But such great memories and so many stories.

We do continue to have FIRST events on the Yard. We will be having at least 2 days of FTC competitions this year and had a lot of mids helping last year. And just like I did for 5 years of helping with the Chesapeake Regional, I still get a room above Chick and Ruth's deli on Main St.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

Champ Venues:
Epcot on a Launch Day > Epcot

That's right. You found the only thing to beat Epcot.

I have the best memories of that. Opening ceremonies just STOPPED, and we all turned away from the stage to watch. Absolute silence until we couldn't see it anymore. (Or at least, that's how I remember it.)

[Lil' Lavery]

I guess I'm the only one who didn't really like the Halsey Field House/Annapolis reigonal as a venue.