Georgia Districts confirmed for 2016!

[ebarker]

Now I'm curious about when and where Palmetto is ?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by ebarker

Now I'm curious about when and where Palmetto is ?

I'm not on the committee, but here's what I know:

1) The Palmetto committee and Myrtle Beach Convention Center had the last weekend in February penciled in well in advance for the next few years.
2) FIRST jerked the rug from under everyone and said "Surpriiiiiise! Kickoff is January 9, not January 2." Which doesn't really matter if you're a later week, but if you're Week 1 you're hosed. Naturally, the venue was unavailable for New Week 1.
3) The lion's share of the financial backing for Palmetto is in the Myrtle Beach area, and the convention center is moving heaven and earth to accommodate us. I would be properly shocked if it moved from Myrtle Beach.
4) The last plan I heard--admittedly, about two months ago--is to stage Palmetto Wednesday/Thursday/Friday the first week of March (9-12) in Myrtle Beach.

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Georgia does have a certain special place in my heart, since Peachtree was home to one of my favorite memories in FRC. (The win was just the icing on that cake.) Congrats to our neighbors on reaching the transition point, and as a competitor I am beyond ready for South Carolina to join you there.

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I'm not on the committee, but here's what I know:

1) The Palmetto committee and Myrtle Beach Convention Center had the last weekend in February penciled in well in advance for the next few years.
2) FIRST jerked the rug from under everyone and said "Surpriiiiiise! Kickoff is January 9, not January 2." Which doesn't really matter if you're a later week, but if you're Week 1 you're hosed. Naturally, the venue was unavailable for New Week 1.
3) The lion's share of the financial backing for Palmetto is in the Myrtle Beach area, and the convention center is moving heaven and earth to accommodate us. I would be properly shocked if it moved from Myrtle Beach.
4) The last plan I heard--admittedly, about two months ago--is to stage Palmetto Wednesday/Thursday/Friday the first week of March (9-12) in Myrtle Beach.

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Georgia does have a certain special place in my heart, since Peachtree was home to one of my favorite memories in FRC. (The win was just the icing on that cake.) Congrats to our neighbors on reaching the transition point, and as a competitor I am beyond ready for South Carolina to join you there.

Yes, that is what I had heard as well. Right now the Myrtle Beach convention center calendar has FIRST robotics on the calendar for 2/26 - 2/27 (Fri - Sat) which obviously does not work.

But I can't see the next week working either since there is another event scheduled at the same time. Perhaps they could handle both? Or perhaps Palmetto will be a week 2 or 3 event?

I hope they can figure something out. A Wed-Thurs-Friday event is going to be trouble for a lot of teams, especially our long distance friends. This may be a much smaller Palmetto regional as a result.

[RufflesRidge]

Originally Posted by Billfred

2) FIRST jerked the rug from under everyone and said "Surpriiiiiise! Kickoff is January 9, not January 2." Which doesn't really matter if you're a later week, but if you're Week 1 you're hosed. Naturally, the venue was unavailable for New Week 1.

Hot take given that kickoff has never been held on January 2nd.

It was held January 9th in both 2010 and 1999 and the 1993 manual lists it as January 8th. This makes perfect sense given that the 2nd would put setup for kickoffs, as well as the Founder's Reception on New Year's day.

Shouldn't have been much of a surprise.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Billfred

2) FIRST jerked the rug from under everyone and said "Surpriiiiiise! Kickoff is January 9, not January 2."

I would have been surprised if Kickoff had been January 2. It was "delayed a week" before recently enough that I think the planning committee ought to have known it was a possibility.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

Perhaps they could handle both?

If I remember correctly MB has 3 or 4 halls, and the FRC event takes two halls. So yes, it could happen.

[MikeBrock]

Exciting! Hopefully this means Georgia will have an increase in team strength outside of the current few decent teams who make it to Champs.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by RufflesRidge

Hot take given that kickoff has never been held on January 2nd.

It was held January 9th in both 2010 and 1999 and the 1993 manual lists it as January 8th. This makes perfect sense given that the 2nd would put setup for kickoffs, as well as the Founder's Reception on New Year's day.

Shouldn't have been much of a surprise.

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I would have been surprised if Kickoff had been January 2. It was "delayed a week" before recently enough that I think the planning committee ought to have known it was a possibility.

I could give the committee a pass for not remembering the 1993 and 1999 dates (only one South Carolina team existed at all in 1999), but I had forgotten about 2010. Perhaps the better phrasing is that the committee was caught off-guard by it.

Originally Posted by robochick1319

But I can't see the next week working either since there is another event scheduled at the same time. Perhaps they could handle both? Or perhaps Palmetto will be a week 2 or 3 event?

I hope they can figure something out. A Wed-Thurs-Friday event is going to be trouble for a lot of teams, especially our long distance friends. This may be a much smaller Palmetto regional as a result.

Originally Posted by ebarker

If I remember correctly MB has 3 or 4 halls, and the FRC event takes two halls. So yes, it could happen.

Wednesday-Thursday-Friday is kinda murderous for our 4-H club. I know schools are on a tight leash for time out of the classroom (ridiculous, but another topic), but in our case it's not even a field trip for our kids. Add in the Georgia and North Carolina events coming off the board, and it's going to be tough planning a schedule that lets us compete twice. (Yes, 4901 has always done Orlando as the second event. But with the calendar shift, will that be back-to-back? That's a roughness all its own!)

As for the convention center, there are three halls (plus a grand ballroom) in the building. Palmetto has always used B for the pits, C for the arena (and just as important, the pull-out bleachers).

All that said, I would not shed a single solitary tear if Palmetto shrank by a dozen teams next year. Week 1 and 67 teams means a lot of good teams are getting lost in the shuffle at their home event. (Columbia is a combined 0-for-18 on awards and playoff appearances in the three years it's been in Myrtle Beach. The three years before that, a Columbia team was in the winning alliance. We haven't fallen off that much, have we?)

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

The down side of districts is that you have to be in a district to go an event. I am going to miss the out of state and country teams we have competed with over the years.

Same here about doing events in Georgia.
Last year we were signed up for the new regional but had to cancel, because our robot shipment to Australia at our subsequent event was jeopardized. We also wanted to do Peachtreee at some point.
Looks like we'll never have the chance.
Oh well, another State we are locked out of....

[mwmac]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Same here about doing events in Georgia.
Last year we were signed up for the new regional but had to cancel, because our robot shipment to Australia at our subsequent event was jeopardized. We also wanted to do Peachtreee at some point.
Looks like we'll never have the chance.
Oh well, another State we are locked out of....

Boise regional?

[thatprogrammer]

If anyone has access to accurate data on the locations of teams (the USFIRST site is horrible at this), would it be possible to find out possible locations for districts if Florida and Georgia shared a district? Really curious about how likely such a thing would be.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by thatprogrammer

If anyone has access to accurate data on the locations of teams (the USFIRST site is horrible at this), would it be possible to find out possible locations for districts if Florida and Georgia shared a district? Really curious about how likely such a thing would be.

Most of the Georgia Districts will likely take place in the Northern part of the state, with the exception of something around the Columbus or Albany, GA area. There aren't that many teams in the state that are south of Macon, GA.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by thatprogrammer

If anyone has access to accurate data on the locations of teams (the USFIRST site is horrible at this), would it be possible to find out possible locations for districts if Florida and Georgia shared a district? Really curious about how likely such a thing would be.

The distance from Miami to Atlanta is about 700 miles. (coincidentally the distance from Atlanta to Detroit is about 700 miles.) If the states combined to one district, the logical choice for district champs would be around Jacksonville. A long commute for a good many teams. While you get some teams traveling a long ways district events, it would be more a north district meeting the southern district at district champs. From a competition stand point, it would make a good pool of competitive teams if distance was not an issue.

While I am not part of the planning committee so obliviously do not speak for them, likely location for district events: Atlanta metro, Macon, Athens, Albany, Columbus.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

The distance from Miami to Atlanta is about 700 miles. (coincidentally the distance from Atlanta to Detroit is about 700 miles.)

The distance from Houston to El Paso is about 750 miles. The large districts are going to be interesting. I wonder if we are going to see more small districts with even some of the large ones splitting in the future or will the smaller districts combine as we move forward.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV

The distance from Houston to El Paso is about 750 miles. The large districts are going to be interesting. I wonder if we are going to see more small districts with even some of the large ones splitting in the future or will the smaller districts combine as we move forward.

I think we eventually go to: Districts, Regions, World. So we would have smaller districts part of a large region. Like we would eventually have 40-50 districts that are then a part of 7-10 regions that build into worlds.