So which one is more exciting? Regionals or the Championship?

[Lil' Lavery]

IRI!
The intensity of a regional and the competitive level of championships. Plus the talent show.
Out of those two choice, championship by a narrow margin.

[Ali Ahmed]

In terms of intensity, I would have to go with Championships because of the sheer competitiveness. But in terms of closeness, regionals because in our home regional(SoCal) we know all the teams and its just fun. So if you are looking to have a good time then regionals but if are looking for a good time with competitiveness then Champs.

[danield710]

the championship is more exctiting to me...more robots, more people, more excitement

at regionals you only get to see 60-70 teams, while at championships u get to see over 300

[Steph]

Personally, I like regionals. We went to three this year, yet never saw the same team three times. I saw lots of old friends, and made many new ones along the way. At the Championship, I'm usually so exhausted (and busy) that I don't get to walk around the pits and visit all of the teams, etc. I like the smaller regionals (like Waterloo for example, 24 teams) because you play with and against each team, often more than once. You get to see the teams you've mentored compete and succeed without having to run to another field. I love the Championship as well, I just like the more personal sort of feel to the regionals better.

[JackN]

Championship was much cooler than all the regionals because you saw so many people and got so much cool swag.

[Alan Anderson]

It's a close call. I voted Championship, because when I'm there the excitement extends farther than I can see. Regionals are more concentrated and the excitement level can even peak higher, but I perceive a definite boundary around it.

Especially at early Regionals, there's a lot of anticipation over what is possible, and a lot of opportunity for any given team to do something outstanding. At Championships, there's an undercurrent of "best of the best" which raises my expectations of the teams' performance, strangely making it harder for a good showing to excite me. Fortunately, there are plenty of great showings to compensate.

[Wayne C.]

While the Championship is the place to see all your friends from across the countyr and generally be at the "big show", I found I had the most fun this year at the Palmetto Regional. The trip down was fun, the people were hospitable and friendly, it was economical, the competitin was good and there were no hassles.

They did a great job and we hope to go back next year.

WC

[Ali Ahmed]

This poll is really close. People are really split on their opinions.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by ali_rockon22

This poll is really close. People are really split on their opinions.

My plan is working!
MWHAAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Shu Song]

I agree fully with Koko Ed. I've been to 7 regionals and one championship. While I got to see a lot of awesome robots and intense competition, its nothing compared to the small scale competition where just about every team knows another. All the teams just felt very close to each other at regionals.

[DCA Fan]

Regionals are my pick, because they are smaller so you get to know more people. The championships, while following the "more the merrier" principle, are so large that it's hard to keep track of all the fields and find people sometimes.

[nobrakes8]

I think regionals are more fun to attend. The teams seem to yell louder, your local rivals are usually around to go against them or compete with them, usually if a team is mentored by another team both teams show up to the same regionals, and even the music seems a lot louder and more exciting. Even the actual competitions are just as fun as nationals once you get to the semi-finals and final rounds at some competitions, especially in the Northeast and midwest where most of the powerhouse teams are, you're sure to see the same teams battle for a a regional championship battle for the division or world championship in April.

As far as the social life goes nationals is better. Like after how bad UTC was for their social this year I won't be surprised to see A LOT MORE kids just go home. At nationals if the social isn't good you still get to go back to the hotel and hang out with other teams. I thought the party in the park was pretty good (better than the SkillsUSA dance that SkillsUSA has at their nationals)..

My team mainly kept to ourselves except we did have a good time when we met team 1592. They had kids on house arrest, with a room overlooking the pool, they got their projector, hooked up power point and decided to have a party in their room and project it out to everybody at the pool. Now my team has kids who want to try and track them down to get to know them and maybe devlop a friendship so we could say "well your kids probably never seen a lot of snow why don't we host you and come up to UTC this year, and maybe you guys host us down in Coca Beach".

I guess regionals are better if you want a lot more spirit, yelling, and seeing a lot more action in the pits.

Nationals is probably better if you're into more social stuff if you're not a key member of the team and don't really care that teams aren't "as spirited" as at the regionals.

[qhsscience]

So many thoughts I am not quite sure that I can organize them...

I voted for regionals because they are venues that have a limited number of teams all competing on the same stage. In many cases, going back to the same regionals year after year allow more relationships to build among teams as well as more competition/rivalry. I can think of a few teams that we look forward to seeing again and again because of friendships forged as well as competitive battles fought.

I also believe that regionals can be more exciting because there is more chance for success. I doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that less teams means more potential for team success in competition.

I started attending the nationals back when it was held at Epcot in the American Pavilion(?) and the number of teams then was much more manageable. Throughout the growth at Disney and the subsequent Houston National, I felt more disconnected at Nationals than at the regionals. Certainly there were more teams and nothing can compare to 18,000+ screaming fans (for excitement), but being limited to a field (Newton, Galileo, etc.) did effectively limit exposure to many of the other teams and I never felt like I had time to capture the whole experience. I guess in my long-winded manner, I am trying to say that I personally feel more excitement in the smaller regionals because I don't get overwhelmed as much as at Nationals.

Our team has made the decision not to attend Nationals the last two years for a variety of reasons, but the debate always arises - if we don't attend nationals, how will we ever know how good we really were? We shall see what next year brings...

[Tiki]

I'd say both regionals and championships are of an equal "exciting level". The Championships, with their sheer size, with you knowing how much work has been put into every single one of those robots and youre there to compete against every last one of them. Regionals are excitiing because you get to show the teams from around your region what youve been doing the past year. Youre there to show the rival town from just a few miles away just how much you worked for the sole purpose of beating (or allied with) them.

[Richard Wallace]

I've been to three championships: Hexagon Havoc 1996 at Epcot (with one of two St. Louis teams started that year; both have since disbanded), then Stack Attack 2003 in Houston, and Triple Play 2005 in Atlanta. Also seven regionals: Toroid Terror 1997 at Midwest (rookie year for that regional, I think), Zone Zeal 2002 at St. Louis (rookie year for that regional and for my current team 931), Stack Attack 2003 at St. Louis, First Frenzy: Raising the Bar 2004 at St. Louis and at Midwest, and Triple Play 2005 at St. Louis and at Buckeye. Starting in 2003 I have also volunteered at every FIRST event I've attended.

Regionals are more enjoyable for me. About 50 teams and the volunteer staff needed to accommodate them makes for an event size where I can comfortably try to meet and interact with most of the participants. Given the choice, I'd rather go to my home regional (St. Louis) and one or two others, and skip the championship.