Future First Championship News

[DCA Fan]

You want to burn out key volunteers? This is how you burn out key volunteers.

I don't get the whole "geographic convenience" thing - sounds more like an excuse than an actual fact - my costs, coming from California, certainly won't be going down any. Frankly, if they were shooting for geography, they should've gone east-west.

While I'm excited that more teams will be able to participate, I thought that was what the 8 divisions was for. Did we outgrow that model before it even had a chance to show itself?

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'm really surprised the FIRST apologists aren't out in force on this one.

Or are even they disillusioned by this?

I would argue that I'm fairly often a FIRST-apologist (I enjoyed Aerial Assist from the beginning and don't absolutely hate Recycle Rush...and yes, Schreiber constantly reminds me of the fact), and even I think this is absolutely idiotic.

Also St. Louis/Houston are both much warmer than Detroit =(

[BigJ]

Well, I can only hope that we qualify for the last real world championship (for now)...

[dodar]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

They may be at events since you know, they made this announcement on day 1 of three of the five biggest non-CMP events on the FRC Calendar.

Its odd how and when they announced it. Kind of seems to have been tried to slide under the radar of the FIRST community.

[mman1506]

By time we've booked a coach bus, hotel room and insurance the cost difference between going to St.Louis and Detroit isn't huge. Rather than spending resources on creating a 2nd champs FIRST should put those resources into lowering the cost of competing with programs like districts. Would teams really rather go to one event and "half champs" than 2 events, a intermediate champs and full champs?

[bigbeezy]

One of the best parts of Champs this year is that I get to see and compete with my old team. See friends, old mentors, teams I used to compete against. Beginning in 2017, that can't happen...

And why Detroit? Michigan already has a State Championship.

Those that were in Houston in 2003, everything I had heard was it was awful. I wasn't there. Has the area changed much in the past 12 years?

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Cory

Pretty simple... I'm sure FIRST profited from Champs last year, at 400 teams. Run a second version of Champs and you're profiting a second time.

Because a non-profit, profits? Any money that goes into FIRST only benefits FIRST teams and makes the program better. I don't see any issue with FIRST getting more money, they are very transparent in what it is used for.

[mlantry]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

So....

Inaugural Vex Pro Competition in 2017?!?

Take my money VEX

[Boltman]

Originally Posted by ehochstein

Because a non-profit, profits? Any money that goes into FIRST only benefits FIRST teams and makes the program better. I don't see any issue with FIRST getting more money, they are very transparent in what it is used for.

So you see no issue with providing two diluted events as long as FIRST makes more money??

Its ridiculous the amount of money the average first team needs to raise to go to more than one event including a new diluted championship. Regardless of what the non-profit does with it. There's common sense.

Lower costs if they go this route...yet we all know that will not happen. Someone gets that money sure isn't FRC teams.

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by ehochstein

they are very transparent in what it is used for.

They could be way better about disclosing expenses.

[AlecMataloni]

I hate this.

I hate this so much.

Never have I ever questioned my involvement in this program more than I have now. Taking the community and slicing it in half may have benefits, but they are absolutely outweighed by the negatives. I don't even know where to begin.

I hope this nonsense is short lived. Otherwise, I'll be finding a different program to invest my time in.

[zachrobo1]

Out of the things I have seen in this thread, most people are opposed to this change because of the competition aspect. People like competition, and they want to crown a champion.

That's great, but does that line up with FIRST's vision? I don't think so. If you need a reminder, FIRST's vision is:

"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."

If that means making it more accessible to more students by making two championships, so be it. From what I've seen, FIRST really isn't very concerned with the drawbacks that this system has in regards to competition. They feel like Champs is a totally unique experience, and the more kids that go experience it, the better they fulfil their mission.

[lynca]

Originally Posted by bigbeezy

Those that were in Houston in 2003, everything I had heard was it was awful. I wasn't there. Has the area changed much in the past 12 years?

2003 was Reliant Stadium & the astrodome.
2017 will be GRB , Minute Maid & Toyota Center

The hate and anger needs to slow down in this thread. Think constructive not destructive criticism.

[jlmcmchl]

Originally Posted by mman1506

By time we've booked a coach bus, hotel room and insurance the cost difference between going to St.Louis and Detroit isn't huge. Rather than spending resources on creating a 2nd champs FIRST should put those resources into lowering the cost of competing with programs like districts. Would teams really rather go to one event and "half champs" than 3 events and full champs?

There was a blog post before the beginning of the year that released their plan to introduce a wholesome district system by 2017; where every team would participate in the system.

[JohnSchneider]

Originally Posted by MrRoboSteve

Some things to think about.

1. An event can get too big for any one city to support, hotel-wise.

2. Recruiting enough volunteers for our style of event in one city can be an issue. I know I've been hit up several times to sign up to volunteer at champs.

3. Having >1 champs is consistent with FIRST's mission around reach

4. This could be a first step toward a multi-tier playoff model leading back to a single championship in the future.

5. There's nothing about this that can't be changed back to a single event in 2021. At that point, though, you'll have teams used to 1000ish slots for Champs and complaints that it reduces access.

6. Having 2 events does increase the number of teams within driving distance, particularly the DET event. The west coast would not be a logical second location, if you are using driving distance as your metric. If the model is successful, I'd expect a championship in California to follow. Houston is a curious choice for the second location if you use transportation costs as a metric; I'm wondering whether there were facility availability reasons for that, as 2017 not very far away in the world of venue scheduling.

7. I could see 1,000 spots for champs in 2017 (600 in STL and 400 in DET)

8. I'm glad that they're willing to try something new, even if in the end it turns out to be less successful than expected.

Then decrease the number of people going to "championship" by adding an intermediary competition. More teams get to experience "moving on against tougher competition" without causing the integrity of the sport to suffer.