Split Champs in '17 and '18

[bdaroz]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

Champs webpage has better info:
2017 and Beyond

Highlights:
Champs will be on subsequent weekends, Houston then STL, Houston then Detroit. (First Champs, best Champs. (Also, poor Al, Jess, MCs, etc.))
This is the plan from 2017 - 2020.
No details on regional split or anything like that. One presumes FiM teams and others with DCMPs in Week 7 likely won't be heading to Houston Champs in Week 8. Maybe HQ is going to compress some of the regions schedules to get them into the Houston Champs.

I hadn't seen that page -- thanks.

(And side note - Why the Heck did they blur the FIRST logo on Don's shirt in the video!?)

I'm just hoping that a lot more information, especially location assignment/logistics gets released before fundraising for next season kicks into high gear. (I can see the conversation, "Well... Championship could be this week, or it could be the week after, in Detroit or Houston, and it could be bigger, or not, and we can't pre-reserve hotels because we don't know where we're going, so we'll probably have to spend more and....")

The more I think of it the hotel problem could be a real nightmare. If you get "assigned" a championship, do you try to hold a block of rooms in both cities until you find out? If the total # of teams in both championships is more than this year in St. Louis, doesn't this actually make hotels harder to find if many teams do this?

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by bdaroz

I hadn't seen that page -- thanks.

(And side note - Why the Heck did they blur the FIRST logo on Don's shirt in the video!?)

~BRANDING STANDARDS~

I'm anticipating an announcement sometime on Thursday, giving it timing similar to last year's well-received announcement.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I'm anticipating an announcement sometime on Thursday, giving it timing similar to last year's well-received announcement.

You want to bring a pitchfork so this year's announcement can be received just as well? Or should we just recreate the witch scene?

[Jessica Boucher]

Originally Posted by bdaroz

(And side note - Why the Heck did they blur the FIRST logo on Don's shirt in the video!?)

Old logo.

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by bdaroz

(And side note - Why the Heck did they blur the FIRST logo on Don's shirt in the video!?)

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

~BRANDING STANDARDS~

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

Old logo.

Still, there are SO many other ways you can adjust for that. They could just use the old logo on his shirt and barely anyone would notice or care. This just looks awkward and points it out even more...

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by bdaroz

(And side note - Why the Heck did they blur the FIRST logo on Don's shirt in the video!?)

Originally Posted by Libby K

Still, there are SO many other ways you can adjust for that. They could just use the old logo on his shirt and barely anyone would notice or care. This just looks awkward and points it out even more...

They even uploaded a new video just to blur the logo. The original was uploaded when the announcement first came out in April 2015. This new video was uploaded Feb. 16th, 2016.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Libby K

Still, there are SO many other ways you can adjust for that. They could just use the old logo on his shirt and barely anyone would notice or care. This just looks awkward and points it out even more...

Oh, I'm still rolling from when they announced the logo update with him wearing the old logo. That was pretty classic.

[Thad House]

I'm still trying to figure out how they'll split the US, but they should make sure to send all the international teams to Detroit. That way we can have our nationals back.

/s

[RonnyV]

Originally Posted by Thad House

I'm still trying to figure out how they'll split the US, but they should make sure to send all the international teams to Detroit. That way we can have our nationals back.

Are you scared of losing to the internationals?

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Thad House

I'm still trying to figure out how they'll split the US, but they should make sure to send all the international teams to Detroit. That way we can have our nationals back.

Pretty sure Wk7 District Championship teams will be sent to the later of the two World Championships (in Detroit). For that matter, they could put ALL District Championship teams for the time being in Detroit and still have room left over. Probably won't though.

However they do it, I hope it isn't an afterthought.

PS: Didn't Houston use to host Nationals back in the day for like 1 year?

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

PS: Didn't Houston use to host Nationals back in the day for like 1 year?

Yupp

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

Pretty sure Wk7 District Championship teams will be sent to the later of the two World Championships (in Detroit). For that matter, they could put ALL District Championship teams for the time being in Detroit and still have room left over. Probably won't though.

However they do it, I hope it isn't an afterthought.

PS: Didn't Houston use to host Nationals back in the day for like 1 year?

2003. It was a terrible idea that can only be excused because FRC had been kicked out of Disney/EPCOT and had to find a venue on short notice. Fields were in Reliant Stadium, and pits were on the floor of the Astrodome. This caused significant problems, because you had to walk up several ramps to get out of the astrodome, then down several ramps to get to the floor of Reliant Stadium. The whole trip was pretty long, and extremely difficult if you didn't have a robot cart. At EPCOT, most field were close enough that you could hand carry the robot without much difficulty, so I think a lot of teams were caught out by that. I know a few teams somehow ended up with shopping carts for transporting their robots.

Anyways, I promise 2017 is going to be loads better than 2003, since HQ's had a lot more experience with the convention center+dome Champs model, and they've accepted a lot more involvement from the local experts on running events here. I'm just sad that 2003 soured things in Houston so much that we didn't get a chance to do it right in 2004.

[TDav540]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

Pretty sure Wk7 District Championship teams will be sent to the later of the two World Championships (in Detroit). For that matter, they could put ALL District Championship teams for the time being in Detroit and still have room left over. Probably won't though.

However they do it, I hope it isn't an afterthought.

This. I imagine they specifically put the second weekend in Detroit so MSC could stay where it currently is. I imagine we'll see a reshuffling of when DCMPs will be held; those going to Houston will be held Week 6, those in Detroit Week 7. The rest will probably be based on team location or the location of the regional where the team qualified.

I'm not a huge fan of the idea of splitting the Championship. I wish there was some way that we could have 800 teams in a building. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that Champs changed my life. If other students get the same experience I had from it, then I think at the end of the day, it's worth it to make the change.

I hope they make some way to change who-goes-where on a yearly basis. That'll help alleviate the problem, somewhat.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by TDav540

This. I imagine they specifically put the second weekend in Detroit so MSC could stay where it currently is. I imagine we'll see a reshuffling of when DCMPs will be held; those going to Houston will be held Week 6, those in Detroit Week 7. The rest will probably be based on team location or the location of the regional where the team qualified.

While I agree they will likely do it this way, it really stinks for areas in districts that have to go to Houston. These areas have to pack districts into one less week, rush travel plans more often, etc. Overall, things gets more expensive for teams going to Houston, as well as the districts that support those teams.

Alternative strategy, CA waits to go to districts until there is a "West Champs" in 2021. Maybe we'll be waiting until then anyway...

-Mike

[TDav540]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

While I agree they will likely do it this way, it really stinks for areas in districts that have to go to Houston. These areas have to pack districts into one less week, rush travel plans more often, etc. Overall, things gets more expensive for teams going to Houston, as well as the districts that support those teams.

Alternative strategy, CA waits to go to districts until there is a "West Champs" in 2021. Maybe we'll be waiting until then anyway...

-Mike

I imagine the largest districts (MAR, NE, and FIM) will be Week 7, like they are this year. All of them would probably attend Detroit anyway, based on their location. Smaller districts who can pack the events into 6 weeks (CHS, PCH, NC, and maybe PNW/IN) would probably go to Houston. With the exception of Indiana and PNW, who could go either way, those districts are are also relatively equidistant or closer to Houston. However, I don't disagree: I've never been on a planning committee, but I'm sure a smaller timeline makes planning more difficult.