New Home for Nationals

[Carolyn Duncan]

I can think of four places where we can have Nationals where thousnads of people can be housed and kept busy for 5 days... Atlanta, Georgia; Lake Placid, New York; Los Angeles, California; and now Salt Lake City, Utah. If you can't figure out why I listed those places it's because those were all host cities for the Olympics. Obviously they had "atheletes' villiages and arenas to hold the events. And if the atheletes there weren't entertaind there would have been problems. I don't know that's just my opinion of how we can have Nationals for everyone and have it travel around so that each year it would be less costly for each different area... This way the west coast has a chance to host, as well as the east coast and the middle of the country (maybe we could even get some more teams to pop up in utah and the nearby states). oh well, $0.02 from me.

[Joe Matt]

Do you think FIRST has enough money to buld Olimpic Villages? Nope. Those places have anticipated the Olympics years in advance. FIRST is just like some science fair to them. We will be ignored and will have to fend for ourselves. Disney is the only place in the forceable future for FIRST.

[dlavery]

Originally posted by Team384:JosephM
Do you think FIRST has enough money to buld Olimpic Villages? Nope. Those places have anticipated the Olympics years in advance. FIRST is just like some science fair to them. We will be ignored and will have to fend for ourselves. Disney is the only place in the forceable future for FIRST.

I think that you missed Carolyn's point. Cities that have hosted the Olympics have already built Olympic Villages. Once the Olympics are over, those venues are not torn down - they are used over and over to host huge conventions, conferences, colloquia, competitions, and other things that start with "c."

By definition, any city that has hosted the Olympics has the facilities, housing/hotels, and infrastructure necessary to support an influx of more than 500,000 people for several weeks. Despite the phenominal growth rate of FIRST, we are several years away from overwhelming resources like that. And the cities that have those resources are anxious for groups of all sizes to make use of them.

-dave


---------------------------

"Gee, don't the gears have to actually touch each other to work?"
-- innocent student to "know-it-all" engineer (names withheld to protect the innocent)

[Tom Fairchild]

Originally posted by dlavery

they are used over and over to host huge conventions, conferences, colloquia, competitions, and other things that start with "c."

LoL, you missed a "c" word - College. I'm visiting Georgia Tech right now (and will be attending here next year) and they use the olympic village as dorm rooms.

~Tom Fairchild~

[aman]

Did u know a regional costs on avg about 1million dollars for each one!
First has how many again (like 15) imagine 15 million dollars being spent! and i bet nationals is 1.5 million. Where does first get all this money!!??
thats why they prob started segway
Aman

[Ben Mitchell]

Where does first get all this money!!??

Ummm...Dean Kamen has a private island, and two helicopters parked in his garage...some of it might come from there...

Also on the Board of Directors of FIRST, are the top brass of several of the largest corporations in the United States. A million to them is pocket change.


I never thought of using Olympic sites, with the event infrastructure already set up, as possible sites, great idea, Carolyn.


Atlanta would be ideal, its a huge travel destination, and has lots of airports and hotels, teams should'nt have trouble booking a flight there.

---Ben Mitchell

[Jnadke]

Originally posted by Ben Mitchell
...Ummm...Dean Kamen has a private island, and two helicopters parked in his garage...some of it might come from there...

Also on the Board of Directors of FIRST, are the top brass of several of the largest corporations in the United States. A million to them is pocket change.


I never thought of using Olympic sites, with the event infrastructure already set up, as possible sites, great idea, Carolyn.


Atlanta would be ideal, its a huge travel destination, and has lots of airports and hotels, teams should'nt have trouble booking a flight there.

---Ben Mitchell

Yes, donations are a great way for rich people to help out, but they also see donations as tax deductible

All of these are great alternatives, but do the problems merit so big a threat that we have to break away from Disney?

[Ben Mitchell]

sure, why not? Having the Nats move to other cities would be great for a change,

and besides, everyone makes a point of saying how much money Disney LOSES by hosting the event. Why not do them a favor and go somewhere else?

Florida too, is an a extreme part od the country. A more central location might prove easier for all teams, better averaging the flying/driving distance.

And since Mickey, whose rates were never low to begin with, is upping the ante for FIRSTers, why stick around, when there are other cities that want the attention they'd get from hosting the FIRST Nationals.

--Ben Mitchell

[Mark Hamilton]

Your all just jealous of our Florida weather(no snow = good) ;p

As a resident of Florida I may be biased, but I hope to see FIRST stay at Disney as long as possible. True it is costlier then many other places, but on the other hand it provides a safe enviroment ideal for handling the thousands of students involved with FIRST.

[Joe Matt]

As a resident of Florida I may be biased, but I hope to see FIRST stay at Disney as long as possible.

Your not bias, I am from Virginia and I think FIRST should stay at WDW. Capacity is let allone enough.

[Wetzel]

A few comments.
At last years nats I was to busy scouting and doing whatever within my own division to interact at all with the other division, other than one or two walks through the pit.

Florida might be far, but Orlando, due mainly to Disney, has extremly cheep airfare due to high volume or travelers.

I do like the olympic citys. Nice thinking c.

If FIRST keeps up this growth rate, and I think it will, then one national will not be fesable anywhere if all teams go. I am thinking 1500 teams at an average of 20 people a team...30,000 participants. And that is not includeing any support staff...
A great horde of crazy kids and crazy old farts.
30,000 additional people would overwhelm even Disney I think, and 20 average per team is on the low side I think.
Don't forget a 10 ft by 10 ft pit for each of those teams.
So it may be a few years before 1500 teams. I think there will be by 2004, and plans for something of this magnitude need to be planned out long in advance.

Multiple nationals. The number I've heard for regionals next year is 22. There where 17 this year. Turn several regionals into 'super regionals' where there are 150-200 teams. Where to have them? Olympic cities?

When I someday join the ranks of teh old farts 10-20 years from now, I hope to remember fondly the years past when there were only 500 teams competing.

Just some thoughts. If I have anymore, I'll be back.

[Carolyn Duncan]

Originally posted by Wetzel
Florida might be far, but Orlando, due mainly to Disney, has extremly cheep airfare due to high volume or travelers.
I do like the olympic citys. Nice thinking c.

Thanks Wetz, I thought it was a good idea too. Then again i liked my idea last year too... There is one thing I must say in responce to your post though... Flying into Orlando is actually not as cheap as other places in Florida. They actually add just enough to the cost so that its just slightly cheaper than flying into another airport then driving to Orlando; be it by car, bus, trainor other means of transportation. I have checked and actually offered to pick up a few people at the Jacksonville airport and drive them down with me because i am driving anyway.
Thanks Dave for clarifying my post earlier. I knew there was a reason I was being nice to you at VCU

[Teedoff101]

I believe that LA could hold a great national competition. It could be held in either the Convention Center or Staples Center. Staples is more ideal because of seating and because its an arena, but the Convention Center could hold up to around 50,000 if they rented out two rooms.

[Judy]

Hey guys... just from reading, I have a few ideas. I may be from a rookie team, but I have competed in a competition sort of like this before.
First off, I think that multi nationals take something away from it, I mean, not only are you there to compete, but to meet people from all around North America, if you have multi nationals I think it takes away from the non-competitive aspects of the competition.
Ok, as for venues, has anyone ever thought of Universities. I know U of Tennessee, Maryland and Iowa have all hosted intellectually geared competitions before. I think it's also really good for teams without a lot of money(I know being one of those teams) that if they arent hosting classes, they can conceivably set up a package so that competitors can stay in dorms. Not to mention, being at a university makes transportation a lil easier because many have transportations systems set up already.
Anyway, that's my idea. And oh, just wanted to say the last time I was at Disney for a competition of this magnitude... well, bus-ing from place to place was... fun... because they werent able to antipate needs and kinda didnt have enough buses. Not saying that it will happen, but if you do end up there... be prepared for it, just in case.
Not to mention... Florida's HOT and being from Canada well, we arent too used to that.. the humidity and night heat is just not fun.
Anywayz, good luck everyone!
Ann-Marie-team 783

[Maikettei]

I would have to disagree with just going to a place that can hold all of us. I know that the point of Nationals is FIRST driven, but what happens after the competitions with kids who aren't allowed to leave their hotels without an adult? How easy would it be for adults to keep up with us if we are scattered all over certain parts of town? The trip would be miserable for those of us who would have to sit around our hotel rooms all night. Having nationals at a theme park can keep us busy as there are lots of things to do within a contained area. For the most part, Disney is safe. Allowing a huge mass of students to roam parts of a city is kind of a bad idea, IMO.