(Lack of) Value in the Regional Model

[Foster]

Originally Posted by Kevin Kolodziej

I'll preface this post by pointing out the majority of my 17 years in FIRST has been extremely positive and FIRST and the people in it have had a profound influence on me as person, as a professional, as a mentor, and as a maker. Anyone who knows me knows that I will go out of my way to promote FIRST and that it consumes my life (for better or worse). I am very thankful for what FIRST has done for me.

[SNIP]

Thanks for reading,

Disgruntled Kevin

I love FIRST, but this is what had me switch to VEX and run events. $25-50 per event, 10+ matches per event, most of them 30 teams, about $2-4 per match. Plus it's not a once and done, but at my peak we ran 12+ events per year in the Philadelphia area. So many teams came to 4-6 events per year. To me, the C in FRC/VRC/FTC is about competing.

The district model is a way to get more "C", smaller, less flashy events with more play time.

OTOH there is the off season. Lots and lots and lots of $250 events. And I see teams do 1 official event and 8+ off seasons. So your teams value change may be in doing more off season events.