MAR 2017

[scottandme]

Originally Posted by Deetman

Well Worlds are Week 8 and 9, week 7 doesn't work too well with that... Not to mention Good Friday/Easter occurring week 7 as well.



Seneca isn't that far away!

MAR teams attend the week 9 super-regional by default, so there would have been a gap week. Would have preferred week 7 as well. Disappointed to not receive a survey about this change, or any mention of this in the board meeting schedule.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Deetman

Well Worlds are Week 8 and 9, week 7 doesn't work too well with that...

Originally Posted by scottandme

MAR teams attend the week 9 super-regional by default, so there would have been a gap week.

I noticed this as well.

Having MAR Champs Week 6 also limits feasible Regional options :/

[Brian Sherman]

FIRST requested us to move our district champs to week 6 starting in 2016, but due to a schedule conflict, we had to keep it at week 7 last year. Because of the double champs, FIRST wants all districts to move their champs to week 6 this coming year. It has been discussed in great detail and has been mentioned at board meetings for the past 2 years. It's not new.

One of the other benefits of having an earlier district champs is that it gives teams more time to prepare for travel to worlds. Those who have been in the positions to make travel arrangements & fund raise in less than a week and a half know this pain. And with more teams than ever qualifying for worlds this year, giving 2.5 weeks will help.

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by Brian Sherman

One of the other benefits of having an earlier district champs is that it gives teams more time to prepare for travel to worlds. Those who have been in the positions to make travel arrangements & fund raise in less than a week and a half know this pain. And with more teams than ever qualifying for worlds this year, giving 2.5 weeks will help.

This is why I am happy to see DCMP move to Week 6. Planning our first trip to CMP was enough of a headache, and was with us starting early after our Week 1 district win. I can't imagine putting the whole thing together in 1.5 weeks. It wasn't until this year that I understood why so many teams decline their CMP invites.

[scottandme]

Originally Posted by Brian Sherman

FIRST requested us to move our district champs to week 6 starting in 2016, but due to a schedule conflict, we had to keep it at week 7 last year. Because of the double champs, FIRST wants all districts to move their champs to week 6 this coming year. It has been discussed in great detail and has been mentioned at board meetings for the past 2 years. It's not new.

One of the other benefits of having an earlier district champs is that it gives teams more time to prepare for travel to worlds. Those who have been in the positions to make travel arrangements & fund raise in less than a week and a half know this pain. And with more teams than ever qualifying for worlds this year, giving 2.5 weeks will help.

I'm probably not alone in being unable to attend board meetings, and the MAR email blasts/blog posts are pretty sparse. I try to listen in when there's a working stream, but am not always able. More detailed meeting minutes used to be available, now they're pretty much just a few bullet points - so it's hard to have an idea of what is actually being discussed at meetings. I can't find anything on the MAR site anymore, but meeting minutes used to be posted there.

After the first MAR season in 2012 - I remember getting a nice survey asking about the MAR champs schedule, competition weekends, RFS vs FSS events, etc. It was good to be able to give feedback on proposed changes, and have some involvement in the process, even if it didn't end up matching our individual preferences.

There are obviously pros/cons to any arrangement, but I'm sure there are many teams in MAR who would have given feedback if asked. Worst case - it would have given the MAR board a better idea of team preferences, even if HQ is trying to force the move.

Are all other regions moving to a week 6 DCMP? Seems like it would be a difficult move for Michigan and New England.

[mdituri]

Originally Posted by scottandme

After the first MAR season in 2012 - I remember getting a nice survey asking about the MAR champs schedule, competition weekends, RFS vs FSS events, etc. It was good to be able to give feedback on proposed changes, and have some involvement in the process, even if it didn't end up matching our individual preferences.

I would personally write and compile all of the surveys/information because I valued everyone's opinion because it was not reasonable to make unilateral decisions based upon what I preferred over what the majority of the teams preferred. As it was, it wasn't the majority of the teams who gave their opinion, so the ones who don't fill the stuff out are just stuck with what is chosen. I resigned from the board after District Champs of Aerial Assist year. I believe my last survey was fall of 2013.

The truth is, if you want all of MAR represented, you need to change the bi-laws and make the MAR board like the House of Representatives where each group of teams (geographically likely) gets one representative. That representative is then responsible for his/her teams and knowing their opinions. Then you actually have someone who is responsible for you, your team, and your team's needs, rather than a single group responsible for everyone.

FYI, Congrats to Jim Hobin (3314) and Randy Coren (223) for being elected to the FIRST Mid-Atlantic Board of Directors and representing Northern NJ.

[Brian Sherman]

To be transparent, I wanted to explain the decision process and approach in generating the MAR schedule for 2017 as I've heard both positive and negative comments from a few people both on CD and in person.

Overall Goals & Approach:
-Spread out events based on geography and team density
-Minimize overlapping events in the same region
-Week 6 Champs per FIRST request
-MAR has event "regions" that are not based on state lines but rather are determined by our equipment transportation method. As many know, we use PODS. There are 2 franchise hubs within our region, Hatfield, PA & Edison, NJ. To limit costs, we try to avoid crossing the franchise territory boundaries. Southern NJ (Seneca) is part of the Hatfield hub. Central NJ is within Edison's. So, our south field has an event week 1-2-3-4 and north field has an event 2-3-5.

Venue Specific:
-Mount Olive was shifted to week 2 due to venue availability.
-Montgomery was shifted to week 5 due to venue availability and the shift of district champs to week 6.
-Bridgewater was shifted to week 3 to not overlap with Seneca and Montgomery so that there are not double events in central/south NJ weeks 4 or 5.
-Westtown was shifted to week 2 due to venue availability and to not overlap SCH and Seneca weeks 3 or 4. We also prefer district events to be earlier in the season to allow teams to qualify earlier for district champs. If we even could have had Westtown week 5 again, it would force teams into the position of fundraising or preparing travel in 2 days for district champs, week 6. We already have that condition with Montgomery, week 5, which is not desirable.

While we have very flexible and generous host venues, venue availability is the number 1 factor that creates our event schedule. If any teams would like to have more options to create a different schedule, please consider hosting an event yourself. It's a very rewarding experience for both the host team and local community.


And just to clarify. Congrats and welcome to all the new MAR board members, who represent MAR as a whole, single community: Randy Coren, Kevin Dieterle, Bill Garfield, Jim Hobin, Chris Lester, & Priscilla Zawislak. It's a strong addition.

[Ben Martin]

Originally Posted by Brian Sherman

And just to clarify. Congrats and welcome to all the new MAR board members, who represent MAR as a whole, single community: Randy Coren, Kevin Dieterle, Bill Garfield, Jim Hobin, Chris Lester, & Priscilla Zawislak. It's a strong addition.

I'll second this, very happy with the elected board members.

Thanks for all you guys do. MAR's events are better run than any other location I've visited.

Given the schedule, 225 would probably opt for weeks 3 & 5. I'm in the camp that loves DCMP in week 7, but I get why it needs to be pushed back.

[scottandme]

With registration starting today - I'm in the process of cleaning up the annual registration google doc. Will be updating intermittently over the next few days as teams register for their first event.

MAR 2017 Schedule

And in case people are interested - the all-time MAR standings are linked below, updated with 2016 data.

All-Time MAR Standings

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by scottandme

With registration starting today - I'm in the process of cleaning up the annual registration google doc. Will be updating intermittently over the next few days as teams register for their first event.

MAR 2017 Schedule

And in case people are interested - the all-time MAR standings are linked below, updated with 2016 data.

All-Time MAR Standings

Thank you for doing this, Scott! I always love these spreadsheets.

If you'd like some help keeping it updated, let me know.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Brian Maher

Thank you for doing this, Scott! I always love these spreadsheets.

If you'd like some help keeping it updated, let me know.

Ditto! Thanks so much for your hard work year after year, Scott! Much appreciated as always.

[scottandme]

Originally Posted by scottandme

MAR 2017 Schedule

Updated as of 2:40PM, will update every day or two. 80 of the 121 teams from last year have registered so far. Hatboro and Mount Olive continue to be the preferred choice for 1st registration slots.

One new rookie team so far, 6327/The Tin Men. Think that's the 4575/Tin Mint's spinoff team.

Welcome back to teams 265 (JV team for 223), last seen in 2014. Also returning is team 747, lists rookie year as 2002, but no competition history, so they must have been MIA for a while.

[musicgurl1329]

Originally Posted by scottandme

Updated as of 2:40PM, will update every day or two. 80 of the 121 teams from last year have registered so far. Hatboro and Mount Olive continue to be the preferred choice for 1st registration slots.

One new rookie team so far, 6327/The Tin Men. Think that's the 4575/Tin Mint's spinoff team.

Welcome back to teams 265 (JV team for 223), last seen in 2014. Also returning is team 747, lists rookie year as 2002, but no competition history, so they must have been MIA for a while.

Yea 6327 would be the Boy Scout team the Tin Mints started this year. I believe it was for some of the FLL kids that aged out/others had interest in a team.

Glad to see 265 and 747 back!

[scottandme]

Two days until second district registration - MAR is a tiny bit better off than it was at the same point last year.

2016: 106 teams total, 17 teams missing, 2 rookie/returning team
2017: 109 teams total, 15 teams missing, 3 rookie/returning teams

Of the 17 teams missing at this point last year, 8 didn't return, and 9 registered at some point after 2nd event registration opened.

Last year we ended up with 8 rookie/returning teams. So we need to add ~4-5 new teams, and retain ~50% of our missing teams in order to match our size from last year. 752 and 1791 register late every year, but the others were registered at this time last year (excluding rookies).

Missing Teams:
613
752
869
1370
1791
3167
3340
4281
4342
4373
4475
4637
6015
6016
6216

Historical District Size:
2012: 99
2013: 109
2014: 110
2015: 121
2016: 121

[scottandme]

70 teams registered in the first 90 minutes. Hatboro, Mount Olive, Seneca, and Montgomery all hit their initial capacity. Odd bug with Bridgewater where TIMS lists 0 available slots, but there are only 19/32 teams registered.

42 teams sitting at 1 event only, 12 teams from last year who haven't registered yet. Sitting at 112 teams in total, so only 9 off of last years total.

Montgomery looking like the deepest/strongest event overall, with Hatboro, Chestnut Hill, and Montgomery having the strongest top ends.