Current Districts Map. Who is next?

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

Im still trying to figure out why IN went to districs. We are waaay to small IMO to be a district.

A handful of reasons (as far as I have been able to tell, this is in no means official):

1. FIRST HQ- They probably wanted a small region to try it out, to disprove the notion of "too small"...

2. ...and IndianaFIRST had been looking to go this direction for some time. I've heard it mentioned as far back as CAGE Match 2013; I've gotten the impression that this was in the works long before that too.

3. More events, based on where the teams are. Before, all IN had for official events were Boilermaker (local for quite a few, but growth stunted due to venue and possibly cost limitations) and crossroads (local for nobody in 2013, and only 5188 in 2014). You see, events were based on who had the means to host a full blown regional, not on where the teams actually are. Now, we have events in Indy (local for many teams), Purdue area (also quasi-local for many), and Kokomo (Not just local, but historic too!). Teams south of Indy are still no longer local to anything, but as their numbers grow, I'm sure an event down there will be a thing (Columbus?). Not to mention that Indiana teams get two events for the price of one out of the deal, in addition to less travel.

4. Volunteers- Indiana has a relatively large and more notably, devoted volunteer base that is the special sauce needed to make a district thrive. I'd say this is the main reason why IndianaFIRST made the jump. If it counts for anything, at all four events, many of the higher volunteer positions had the same people filling the roles at all four events. I was scorekeeper at all four, and the same was true for the other key field volunteers (FTAs, Field supervisor, etc.) and most of the AV crew. Where we somewhat lack in sheer numbers, we make up for in devotion to what we do to make the events awesome for all who attend.

Despite some early hiccups and other quirks, ultimately, it worked great, especially for the teams (as far as I know, anyway). Whatever reason you want to pick, the decision, at least IMHO, was the right one.