New Regional in Europe in 2006

[unapiedra]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

We are seeing in North America the problems associated with the growth of the quantity of regional events. Certain events remain unfilled, others cut costs dramatically in order to even exist--this is not desirable. With that in mind, certain things are necessary, including a strong base of committed teams--this usually takes the form of local teams with nowhere else to go easily--and a number of corporate sponsors.

Currently, there are very few European teams; a first priority might be to ensure that there will be enough local teams to meet the demand for a regional, both now, and in the future (teams don't always return--that's too often overlooked). Of course, it is easier to form teams if they know that there will be a regional event locally--which is a rather circular problem. The current lower limit for a sustainable regional is (arguably) about 30; there are a couple of exceptions this year (Israel due to special arrangements, and Waterloo due to an unfortunately-timed religious holiday), but this is approximately the minimum.

I think of starting around 30 teams in the first year, with the hope that 10 might survise and than have American teams fill up the rest (see special Israel arrangements).
A reason for this is that all European teams will be rookies (except the two british teams), so it might be good to have mentoring American teams.