Championships location from 07 and onwards

[Jeremiah Johnson]

I agree with David Kelly, it'll innevitably end up (I hope) somewhere in the Midwest. Indy is very close to a lot of teams, not to mention only 5 hour drive for me. I don't see the Championship ever going too much further towards a coast than what Atlanta is right now... It just doesn't make any sense. St. Louis would be a very good place to put the Championship, also.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah Johnson

I agree with David Kelly, it'll innevitably end up (I hope) somewhere in the Midwest. Indy is very close to a lot of teams, not to mention only 5 hour drive for me. I don't see the Championship ever going too much further towards a coast than what Atlanta is right now... It just doesn't make any sense. St. Louis would be a very good place to put the Championship, also.

There are more teams in the Indy area than Michigan area?!?!?

[A_Reed]

The Championships move out of Orlando right before my freshman year because FIRST was getting to big for the Facilities that Disney World provided. Then they moved the championships to Houston for a year, it was fun but the walk from stands to ground floor of the Astrodome was much longer than I think anyone liked, oh and the robots had to take the same journey up and down the Switchbacks leading in and out of the building, the two day team social inside Houston Six Flags Astroworld was fun too. But ever since it has been in Atlanta, Its a nice location and the walk is not that bad if you know the side entrances and stuff.

The idea of the Championships being somewhere else would be interesting, the centralization would probably not be very efficient for either side of the nation(as previously stated), but what if they had two sites for nationals like Atalanta for East coast and Vegas for the West coast and you switch venues back and forth every year to balance out the costs

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by Pavan

There are more teams in the Indy area than Michigan area?!?!?

No, but they are mostly all within a drives distance or so. There's no Michigan area that I know of that's big enough to hold the number of teams. Also, non-Michigan teams (exlcuding Canadians) would mostly have to fly in, because getting around the Great Lakes by bus/car is not very efficient.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by A_Reed

Vegas for the West coast

I have a feeling that some schools would not like that idea and it might even prevent certain teams from even going.

[edthegeek]

How about in San Jose? The capital of the Silicon Valley? San Jose has many large hotels in the downtown of it, and has a rather large convention center very conveniently placed. Not to mention that I would not mind having nats be biking distance from my house...

[GaryVoshol]

Let's review the requirements again (this seems to come up every year):

(1) A covered full-size stadium for the fields.
(2) An adjacent convention center for the pits and other parts of the event.
(3) Hotels within reasonable distance/access.

There's not too many cities in the country that have all three.

Disney met (3) wonderfully, but fails miserably on (1) and (2) especially since the event has gotten so big.

Houston had (1) and sorta (2) and (3) - maybe with the new convention center planned to replace the Astrodome (2) would work better.

Detroit has (1) but not (2) at all, and hardly (3) because most of the hotels aren't near Ford Field.

Despite just being at IRI, I wasn't downtown. It is my understanding that the new development will have both (1) and (2), and someone else will have to address (3).

What other cities with covered stadiums are there to consider? Not Vegas. Minneapolis? (but who wants to go there in April - weather in Indy would be iffy enough)

[A_Reed]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

What other cities with covered stadiums are there to consider? Not Vegas. Minneapolis? (but who wants to go there in April - weather in Indy would be iffy enough)

Good Point...Start Factoring Weather into Championship locations.

[AdamHeard]

One thing we know for sure; FIRST won't screw this up.

Also, although atlanta isn't the most convienent for most (I know, I'm from california), it's a great location.

[Nica F.]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

One thing we know for sure; FIRST won't screw this up.

Also, although Atlanta isn't the most convenient for most (I know, I'm from California), it's a great location.

Even if it's not "convenient" for those like us on the west coast, there's not a place that is next to everybody.

Atlanta is great for because there's a lot to do, the venue can fit all of us FIRSTers, and a lot of hotels in the area.

Personally, I'd like to have it at a new location for something new, but if it's stays in Atlanta, I won't complain.

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Let's review the requirements again (this seems to come up every year):

(1) A covered full-size stadium for the fields.
(2) An adjacent convention center for the pits and other parts of the event.
(3) Hotels within reasonable distance/access.

There's not too many cities in the country that have all three.

Disney met (3) wonderfully, but fails miserably on (1) and (2) especially since the event has gotten so big.

Houston had (1) and sorta (2) and (3) - maybe with the new convention center planned to replace the Astrodome (2) would work better.

Detroit has (1) but not (2) at all, and hardly (3) because most of the hotels aren't near Ford Field.

Despite just being at IRI, I wasn't downtown. It is my understanding that the new development will have both (1) and (2), and someone else will have to address (3).

What other cities with covered stadiums are there to consider? Not Vegas. Minneapolis? (but who wants to go there in April - weather in Indy would be iffy enough)

I was talking to my dad about this and he asked why teams didn't like Houston and I told him about all of the walking up and down and pushing the robot etc was just difficult and he had a suggestion. He said use golf carts but that got me thinking...

A few students on our team have tried this and it had some success, but if each team ordered 2 extra CIM's and hooked them up to a battery DIRECTLY (so that you don't need the costly stuff) and had to KEEP a button pushed down it would solve much of the problem. I wouldn't mind it being in Houston obviously but if that is one of the better places than it would be worth it for teams to adapt. Now is 2 CIMS a few feet of wire and a few mounting screws really that expensive if you're traveling to Championships?

(The 2 CIMS are just powering the in place wheels, I don't think steering is that difficult. If you wanted you could do a joystick but it'd be too complicated...I smell a white paper!)

I honestly think if a place is really that great, and there are few kinks to work out, it is worth working out those kinks so that you're still able to be in a great place.

Pavan.

EDIT: They tore down Astroworld btw, so I guess if that is what finally persuaded FIRST to move championships there I guess that selling stone is out of the picture.

[Madison]

The 2007 Championship -- held in Atlanta, GA with its covered football stadium and enormous convention center and and and... -- hosted 344 FRC teams.

The 2002 Nationals -- held in Epcot at Walt Disney World with its giant tents, stadium seating and main stage -- hosted 335 teams.

There are way more teams now than there were then, but the size of the event has not changed significantly where FRC teams are concerned. There were operational shifts, certainly, including abandoning the use of the Einstein stage for regular match play. That's not a great loss, all things considered, given how remarkably alike and boring all of the fields have become, however. The biggest change, however, is the inclusion of FLL and FTC competitions at the same event. This is where capacity needs changed and so it's probably wisest to consider the needs of these programs when considering new locations than it is to consider our own.

I think, as with many things in life, the deciding factor in the location is more about economics than it is about anything else. If another city comes along and offers FIRST a better deal that still meets their capacity needs, they'll take it -- even if that city doesn't have a big, ugly football stadium and concrete-floored convention center to make us feel all warm and cozy.

[Kyle379]

Indy is in the process of building a new football stadium (another dome) and upgrading the convention center. . .

[=Martin=Taylor=]

In my completely unrealistic & un-practical opinion I think FIRST ought to build its own stadium.

The stadium would be an ideal location for the championships. It could have an underground pit area, right below the fields. It would be carpeted, and would be surrounded by In-N-Outs, and Krispy Kreme shops. It would also feature an adjacent "Robot Museum," featuring famous or incredible robots from FRC, Pop culture, or the real world.

During the offseason it would be FIRST's HQ. Kickoff would be held here; as well as various conferences and planning sessions. FIRST could pay for the stadium by renting it out to other robotics competitions: BEST, EARLY, Botball, RoboCup, Combots, Robogames, and (depending on FIRST policy) Battlebots.

Of course it would also be used for FRC regionals and various FLL, FVC, and FTC events.

Now where to build it....

[Pavan Dave]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

FIRST could pay for the stadium by renting it out to other robotics competitions: BEST, EARLY, Botball,...

Good luck getting that through. EARLY rivals JFLL and BEST and Botball rival FVC, FLL, and even FRC to a degree. So much for working together to promote the common goals these organizations share...