2004/2005/2006 Championships: Atlanta

[JVN]

Originally posted by DanLevin247
What if every kid on a first team was required to bring at least one Vouenteer! "Drag your'e parent to FIRST day"! What an idea!


Less sarcasticaly speaking, I think the people who DO voulenteer to help out at FIRST events are amazing, and very kind to donate their time, but we need more help! What if the city of Atlanta put out a "call" via local news for people to come out and help!

Dan,
I think you were closer to the mark the first time.
What if every team had at least one adult mentor volunteer?

[Don Knight]

Originally posted by JVN
Taking that one step further......
I'm curious what the regional schedule is going to look like next year. Does anyone know when it will be released? Does anyone have an "inside info" about it now?

Remember, don't share if your not comfortable, Like Joe mentioned above: I don't want to pressure anyone into revealing things they shouldn;t...

RUMOR has it that the Regional Schedules will be ready the end of July, or beginning of August. Hopefully to be announced shortly thereafter....

Bravo, to FIRST for getting the teams information earlier than in the past. Its great for all those teams who plan ahead and get all the travel logistics out of the way.

[DanLevin247]

Originally posted by JVN
Dan,
I think you were closer to the mark the first time.
What if every team had at least one adult mentor volunteer?

Although that would be amazing, I'm sure that the vast majority of teams lack the man(or woman)power to provide an "extra" mentor. It's just one more plane ticket that team would have to buy, one more hotel room and one more mouth to feed if you know what I mean.

[Rob Colatutto]

One other thing I was thinking about with the size of the Championship... Right now we have divisions of roughly 71-73 teams, so each team only gets 6 matches. I don;t think FIRST wants to limit that anymore more, so teams feel they get thier money worth and so you get some variety of scores for a better average. The only way to make the championship bigger is then to add more divisions and logically, that would mean making 8 instead of 4. That would give you a 600 team Championship (if the pits can hold it) ...But the issue is then volunteers like many people have said but also, the number of avalible frequencies on the IFI equipment. This is an issue i have never seen discussed, each field currently uses 8 channels, 8x5=40, the max channels on the oi/rc set up. 8x9=72, which means IFI would have to design a new field controller as well on top of any modifications to the robot controller. So no matter how big the venue is, the control system is another limiting factor to the size of the Championship.

[dez250]

what i want to say dan is many people from team 250 volunteered at nationals this past year in texas. i myself, volunteered on archimedes on friday and saturday, and also on einstein on saturday, i am only in highschool too. along with that i still worked with ym team and still had aton of fun seeing everyone and getting to participate with my team and also on the fields with first. so this doesnt mean someone all ready there with a team cant go and help out even if its just for an hour or for the whole time.
~Mike

[WernerNYK]

Originally posted by JVN
Taking that one step further......
I'm curious what the regional schedule is going to look like next year. Does anyone know when it will be released? Does anyone have an "inside info" about it now?

From what I know (ie, heard from someone in FIRST), is that they do not want a regional back to back with nationals as it was this year, it caused a lot of hassle. They said they would never do that again, and would probably be planning about 2 weeks between the last week of regionals, and championships.

[Joe Matt]

I'm happy about the location, it's sure better than Houston, but I though Disney would be better IMHO.

I give it a thumbs-up.

[T967]

Too any Nay Sayers out there I just have one thing to type: If Alanta handled the SUMMER OYMPICS, I think a small robotics competition will be cake.


That city knows how to entertain people.

[Jeremy Roberts]

Originally posted by Joe Johnson
Jeremy,

I am excited about Atlanta but I know that many many folks are worried about the ramp issue and to a lesser degree, the distance to the pits.

Getting inside the dome building is one thing, getting to the field you have to play on is another.

How sure are you about this (especially the flat walk)?

Is the playing field on ground level? Many of the fields I am familar with have the field in a hole, below grade.

How long do you estimate it will take to get from one corner of the football field surface to the opposite corner?

I am not complaining, I am just asking.

Finally, I don't think it is spilling the beans or stealing FIRST's thunder to put our minds at rest on these issues, but you will have to decide what Gracious Professsionalism requires in this instance (especially if FIRST more or less made you swear on a stack of bibles not to devulge any such details).

Thanks.

Joe J.

In answer to your question I am 99.99% sure about the flat walk. I already mentioned the two short loading dock style ramps but those are not even worth caring about. The playing field is on same level as the pits (ground level). As far as the walk across the stadium, I am not quite sure how long it takes to walk. Its about 1.5 the size of a football field on the floor.

I was at Houston and believe me when I say this is a lot better for moving back and forth with the robot.

Lastly, I do not think that the Peachtree Regional will be held in the Dome. As for it being the week before the Nats. we will just have to wait and see when FIRST releases the dates.

I would never say anything I did not believe FIRST would mind me sharing. Even if I tried I'd probably disappear before I could talk.

<edit> Contrary to one of my previous posts I think the walk from pits to field is about 2-3 min (nearer 3). I guess I just walk really fast </edit>

[Alaina]

Holy XXXX, I can't wait!!1!

[Jeff Waegelin]

Looks exciting. Hopefully I'll get to make it down there next year. As has been said before, the fact that Atlanta beat out two former Championship hosts bodes well for the future. In my mind, it appears Atlanta has most of the benefits Houston gave us, with few of the problems. I can't wait to see what FIRST and Atlanta have in store for us!

[Beth Sweet]

i dont know about the rest of y'all, but im just excited that it's gonna be somewhere warm, and they didnt schedule it for the silverdome or anything!!! anyways, wherever it is, im sure that they'll make it unforgettable, they always find a way to!!!

[Eric Brummer]

Hey, yeah atlanta sounds exciting. I read a rant online about no matter where you are going you always end up stopping in atlanta on the way there. If you are flying from San Francisco to Hawaii, you some how stop in Atlantas airport. (They are a major delta hub for those who are curious.) Anyways, both myself, and another guy on my team are Lutheran, (protestant Christian church) and the national lutheran youth gathering for the ELCA is being held in about 15 days in atlanta, at all the same venues, so i'll take lots of pics and scout stuff for anyone interested. From what I already know its a great venue to have stuff at. And whichever team was offering an ultimate frisbee game, heck yeah! ultimate frisbee is the best. Obviously the people that live there can help better with most stuff, but i'll discuss how the hotels were etc when i get back.

[nirvanalover69]

I cant wait untill nationals, but i'm kinda upset about the whole atlanta deal. our team is so close to atlanta. oh well for the traveling. i would have to say that it is better than a 20 hour ride to Houston!

[Alexander McGee]

Originally posted by cutiebethy
...they didnt schedule it for the silverdome or anything!!!

yeah, that would be the end of all things good in FIRST. Sure, it's only like, what, 10 minutes from where we build our robot, but the silverdome SUCKS! Now, Ford-Field isn't that bad, but Michigan blows in the first place. The weather is unperdictable and random. Nobody wants to have nats here, and for good reason. How about a west-coast nats huh? Isn't it warm over there that time of year??