What did u think of the Canadian Reigional?

[ebenh]

This was my first competition and i found it very enjoyable. In comparison to other reigonals how did u verteran teams find it?

[Ian Mackenzie]

I think that was almost definitely the most fun I have ever had at a FIRST event. Of course, actually having a regional in one's own area with local teams that you know helps, but still...I think a few of us were worried that the high number of rookies would mean quite a few matches with one or more dead robots, but we were all very pleasantly surprised when pretty much everyone worked, almost every match. It was really fun to have a mix of Canadian and American teams. The qualifications and finals were a lot of fun to watch, and hey - tying the year's best score (156) in one match and then beating it by a large margin a little while later (165) helps too. My impression, and that of my parents (who were volunteers and part of the organizing committee) was that most if not all rookie teams had a good experience, the sponsors were absolutely sold on the idea if they hadn't been so already, and there was a huge amount of interest from other engineers and schools - which, in the end, is really the main goal anyways.

And then winning the regional Chairman's Award just capped off a perfect weekend...I hope everyone comes back next year, and good luck to all going to Florida!

-Ian Mackenzie
Team 188
Woburn Robotics

[patrickrd]

This was the 10th regional event I've attended over the last four years and I must say it was among the best (if not the best) regional event I've been to. It was extremely well organized, everyone was great, the teams were great, and the facility was perfect. The only negative of the event was the team party -- not the music was too loud and not in good taste.

Patrick

[Matt Attallah]

HEY!!

The team party was in my favor, i like DJ music , everything was very well organised, but it lacked the "Fire" that I am use to. Is it due to it being the 1st Canadian Regional? Or was everyone frozen? I am use to being in GLR, and all the cheering going on, but this was very far from this competition. #49 did a lot of cheering, and the "GOT Pink" (the number ??) cheered too, but it seemed kinda dead for cheering. Eather than that, it was a blast!! P.S. We where the team that did the "HEY!" a-lot! People where annoyed by it We wheren't saying "Eh"--some people got offended by it, and we explained it to them...

[XRaVeNX]

Think Pink was team 233. They actually had an excellent robot. In the finals, they were one of the many teams we feared. Their ball gathering ability was amazing.

But in the end, just for patriotism sake, CANADIANS WON! hehehe

But ya, the Regional was great. The team party wasn't that good. The food wasn't bad but the music wasn't that great.

AHHH no more robotics for two weeks.... I'm gonna die....

[Martin]

This was certainly an experience of a lifetime, going to a place filled with amazing people, expecting to finish 30 and lower, we were 1st after one day of copetition( yes luck was on our side as well) finishing 3rd overall in the seedings. We lost in the first round, but it was the greatest fun iv'e ever had, te party, the screaming,the rush (i was driver).....absolutley awsome.
I wanto congratulate everyone on a great competition, especially our small team, we won 2 awards and with a robot built for 50 bucks, im %%%% proud to be team # 907.

YYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally posted by Matt Attallah
HEY!!

#49 did a lot of cheering, and the "GOT Pink" (the number ??) cheered too, but it seemed kinda dead for cheering. Eather than that, it was a blast!! P.S. We where the team that did the "HEY!" a-lot! People where annoyed by it We wheren't saying "Eh"--some people got offended by it, and we explained it to them...

Hey! Give Team 48 some credit, buddy! We were your neighbors in the pit right down the aisle! We were the ones there cheering, as Team 49 wasn't even there (although I'm sure that if they were, they would have been equally as loud! ). I think we were your "Hey!" partners, too.

233 was definitely a positive pink presence in Canada - both with their team and their great-looking robot. Who knew pink and blue could look so good together?

Travis
Team 48 Delphi ELITE

[Matt Attallah]

Sorry, i was referring to you guies! I couldn't exactly rember your # (sorry, i am not good w/ numbers and i didn't want to miss-spell your name!) Once agian, it was u guies that where kick @$$!!!

Ya! It was u guies and 919(?) that did our "Hey!" thing, that was so cool! Hope to c u next year!

[Jordan A.]

AGH NOT THE HEY'S!!!

Saturday was a hard day for me, little sleep friday night combined with a full day of competition took its toll on me so I was lying with my team in the hall while people were getting organized, we were right beside the doors which had the high pitched alarms that sounded every time someone went out them. Then when I thought my brain was about to explode they "hey's" started

At the time I was ready to die, but when you guys said "hey" as I ran by with my medal I was loving it

[Matt Attallah]

ya, hahahaha, thoes alarms where great! That high-pitched squeeling sound. Gotta love it. Did anyone notice the food-police around there. (The security guards at the Hershey Centere) They made 1 of our engineers dump his coffee out before comming in there. Talk about greedy! They even made a team, don't know what team, eat out side in that cold. They tried to bring in some big pizzas instead of paying 2.75(?)canadian dollars/slice. Talk about a rip-off!!!

[Robocardgrl5]

I think the regional was so-so. It was quite smaller than I am used to. I'm used to going to GLR. the teams didn't have as much spirit and weren't as friendly. It wasn't until after the party we were spoken to and that was that much. As an American team some of us felt out of place. Team 188 was very friendly so I thank anyone from 188 for making this regional more enjoyable. and to the teams that helped us score 141 points!!!

[Justin 188]

I would have to agree with Matt that the relative lack of cheering is due to the fact that this is the CR's first year running. Give it a few years and there'll be ALOT more people, ALOT more veteran teams, and ALOT more cheering

As for the team party, yea it was quite boring compared to GLR (I particularly missed the inflatable thingies). But again, I think I can safely say that it will be better in future years.

[Robocardgrl5]

Hey Justin I think I danced with you at the party. lol. but anyways i think you're right. it must have been more exciting for your team because it's your country. so i can see how you'd enjoy it more. i hope that our team showed everyone a good time also. we tried but for a small team from a different country it was hard to tell if you guys were enjoying us. the whole toronto experience was interesting. it was different than i'm used to but i enjoyed myself. and next year hopefully the teams will have more spirit.

[Ian Mackenzie]

From: Blair Mackenzie (Ian's dad) Keep these comments coming! As a member of the organizing committee for the regional, we really value them and will act on them where we can. We too wanted to do something better than a video dance for the team party this year, but like some of you, we too were on a limited budget. And many Canadian teams, having no idea of the level of cheering or spirit at (say) the GLR, were quieter than some of you would have expected. Any more comments out there? We want and need your feedback.

[Justin 188]

Hehe it probably wasn't me because I was so tired at one point I fell asleep on a chair!!!

Anyways, I truly think everything will be amazing next year. First-year things always both exceed and fall short of one's expectations after all