Championships for dummies

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by nycpunk

what the deal is with scouting at nationals, in general and in particular for those of us who aren't expecting to go far, but are instead attending for the experience.

But you never know how far you'll go, so do the scouting as if you expected to win it all.
The goal should be to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the other (84?) teams, with an eye towards what strategy might work well against or with that team.
Nationals is huge, so spread out the scouting amongst a lot of people, so everybody gets time to just watch, cruise the pits, etc.

Good luck,
Don

[JamesBrown]

If you have a mentor team or if you mentor a team who is in your division then think about splitting up scouting between the two teams.

Also if you have friends (or want to make friends) in another division offer them scouting reports on your division In case they make it to Einstein

[Nuttyman54]

This is what I've come to understand about how the championship works. Is this correct?

There are 5 divisions: Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and Curie for the award winners and preregistered teams, and Einstein for the regional winners. Each division plays like a regional. Each winning division alliance goes on to play to be the National Champion alliance. One thing I'm not clear on is how the Championship Finals play out? How do you do it with 5 alliances?

[Matt_Kaplan1902]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

This is what I've come to understand about how the championship works. Is this correct?

There are 5 divisions: Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and Curie for the award winners and preregistered teams, and Einstein for the regional winners. Each division plays like a regional. Each winning division alliance goes on to play to be the National Champion alliance. One thing I'm not clear on is how the Championship Finals play out? How do you do it with 5 alliances?

There are only 4 divisions with all the teams mixed, not a seperate one for regional winners. Einstein is used for the division winners to play the Final 4.

[Dan Petrovic]

There are only 4 divisions. Archimedes, Newton, Curie, and Galileo. Einstein isn't actually a division, it's just a field that FLL is played on as well as the finals with the the division champions.

The Einstein finals are just like regular elimination matches. I don't know which divisions go up against which, though.

One of our mentors counted the steps between the pit and the field. 652 steps, not counting escalators or elevators. It's quite a journey between the two. For the drivers, there's a much shorter route.

[Freddy Schurr]

Is there any good java places?

[Dillon Compton]

There is a starbucks in the convention center, fairly close to the pits; ~5 minute walk.


We also need to figure out scouting at nationals this year.

[blue_crew]

Is there any kind of sack lunch program available?
How and where do you eat your lunches?

[Matt_Kaplan1902]

Originally Posted by blue_crew

Is there any kind of sack lunch program available?
How and where do you eat your lunches?

The CNN Center is about a 5-10 min walk from the pits and has a mall-style food court. I found it to be the best option as far as lunch goes.

As far as scouting goes, make sure to sign up for a CD of all your divisions matches from SOAP. I believe they are going to have a pre-event sign up sometime soon.

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by MATT_kaplan108

The CNN Center is about a 5-10 min walk from the pits and has a mall-style food court. I found it to be the best option as far as lunch goes.

It's more than a mall-style food court. That food court is HUGE! Bigger than any mall's food court I've ever seen. It's enormous and it just goes UP! You go in there and look up, it sure is a sight to see.

The CNN center food court is a point of interest. It's like 5 minutes walk away from the arena, too. In fact there is a walkway from the food court to the arena.

[RoboMom]

BTW-NEMO is starting another white paper in the hints and tips series. "Preparing for the Championship" Thanks to KathieK for another great idea. The main focus is not stuff like scouting, but how to plan ahead for this, especially with funding. We will include any best practices from this thread.

[Carol]

Also check out MOEmentum, which gives weekly updates during the build season for rookie teams; it includes tips from mentors and students compiled throughout the years. The unit on the Championship hasn't been updated yet, but you can still access last years - "Championship Preparation - The Mother of All FIRST Events". It will be updated in a week or two


http://moe365.org/moementum.php

[KathieK]

Register to attend a conference workshop. Your peers are volunteering their time in Atlanta to present these great workshops and every team should take advantage of them. It's a good learning experience, and also another way to network with other teams you might never get to meet otherwise.

Visit the Chairmans' Award Winners Hall of Fame. Be inspired by the best in FIRST!

Visit the FIRST LEGO League World Festival (80 teams from 30 countries competing on Thursday, Friday and Sat morning) and the FIRST Vex Challenge Championship competition (50 teams from around the U.S. competing on Thursday and Friday).

Visit the many colleges and universities' booths and learn about their FIRST Scholarships. It's never too early (or too late) to start thinking about higher education options.

If you get some "down time" travel across the street to Centennial Olympic Park and play some frisbee or run through the water fountains (it's OK to be a kid at heart sometimes). Or better yet, time it so you can enter the fountain circles without getting wet and grab a picture when the fountains cycle back on!

[pyroslev]

Be prepared to walk if you are on the Drive Team or one of those people going on field. I didn't measure last year but I'm taking a pedometer with me this year just for that walk. Someone said half-mile round trip from Newton Pit to Newton Field. Not sure about that but wouldn't surprise me.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by KathieK

Visit the FIRST LEGO League World Festival (80 teams from 30 countries competing on Thursday, Friday and Sat morning)

Just to clarify, FLL has a practice and judging day on Thursday, competition on Friday, and awards ceremonies on Saturday. I've been asked to be a judge.