2008 Greater Toronto Regional!

[Kingsmen]

We are a team based in Northern Indiana and we were wondering if we wanted to go to the Toronto Regional, would we need passports? and Would it be hard to get Passports for the whole team?

[tseres]

passports would be reccomended. abut getting them in the US? im not sure, but Canada it's pretty easy

[Steve W]

Some good info on the following link.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ight=passports

If you contact Karen Rosenthal she can give you info about shipping your robot to make it cheaper and safer. Info for Karen is at:

http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/site/contact

Hope to see your team in Toronto 2008.

[lukevanoort]

Passports are pretty easy to get, but you MUST allow for extra time to get them, as delays are not a rare occurrence. The main problem with a team getting them is price; for my Canadian passport it was about $100CAD, the US one was a little cheaper, but not by much. Although it is a good idea to possess a passport, it would probably be more realistic to have the team go the photo ID route.

[MWTrek]

The rules about US citizens going to canada seemed to be written so that the rules could be changed quickly with little notice. I believe (don't quote me on this) that they would only give 60 days of notice if they changed the rules.

Anyway, Aces High is making sure that we don't run into any problems and all team member going to GTR must have a passport. We don't want to have any problems at the boarder.

[dtengineering]

First of all, let me vouch for the high quality of GTR... it is a great regional. Not that I've seen a bad regional yet, but GTR is outstanding, especially in "super regional" years. In fact over the past four years we've flown across the continent four times to be part of the show, and this year will likely be our fifth. If you happen to have a chance to make it to Niagara Falls, too, well then so much the better.

Second of all, thank you for the reminder about passports, as the rules for entering the USA are getting stricter all the time. While Americans are generally welcome to come up to Canada without a passport (and always have been) it is ironically getting home that is an issue.

Fortunately school groups have been deemed to be "low risk". I quote:

"Will children be required to present passports under the rule?

As announced by the departments on Feb. 22, 2007, U.S. and Canadian citizen children under age 16 and children age 18 and under traveling in designated school or youth groups could carry birth certificates. U.S. children could also present Consular Reports...."

The plan to get passports for all team members is a good idea, but judging from the above it should not be mandatory. Some other things you want to consider when competing internationally are:

1) Medical Insurance

2) Parental consent, particularly in the case of children of divorced parents... consent from both parents is typically required to cross an international border. (Although no one has checked on that the last three years for us.)

3) Non USA/Canadian citizens... may need to get VISA clearances early. We have had a situation where one student did not get his VISA cleared up in time and had to stay home, and another where he was listed on his mother's VISA... she had to travel with him. (She had a great time, by the way.)

4) You'll think I'm joking... but ask if anyone has a criminal record. I asked as joke once, and am glad I did. One of our members, unknown to anyone on the team, had done something stupid a year or two earlier and could have been very embarassed if they had checked him out at the border. Crossing a border with a criminal record... even for minor crimes committed as a youth is not something to be taken lightly.

5) Watch for the "roaming" fees on your cell phones...

Hope to see you in Toronto in the spring,

Jason

[Graham Donaldson]

Team 1676 is making their first trip up to the Great White North (which happens to be my home country & country of citizenship) for GTR!*

*(or at least we're supposed to be- we still have to register)*


So, who's going? Who do we get to meet?

[T3_1565]

you get to meet us!!! 1565!! w0000 toronto regional is the best!!!!

[tseres]

you get to meet me!!! and the rest of team 1565

[tseres]

GAAAAA....he beat me to it.....

[Steve W]

Team 188 - The Force from the North - Blizzard

[Pat Fairbank]

Team 1503 from Niagara Falls will be there, of course. Should be fun; too bad it's not a Super Regional this year.

[Graham Donaldson]

Originally Posted by Pat Fairbank

Team 1503 from Niagara Falls will be there, of course. Should be fun; too bad it's not a Super Regional this year.

I assume by Super Regional you mean 2-fielder? I thought it was always that way. Did they change the venue from years past?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by robotcanuck1676

I assume by Super Regional you mean 2-fielder? I thought it was always that way. Did they change the venue from years past?

The venue is, as ever, the Hershey Centre (a hockey arena). However, the size of the event varies from year to year, and the number of fields also varies accordingly. If there's sufficient demand for places (likely >60), FIRST and the regional committee might commit to the second field.

[Nica F.]

I'm currently in the process of raising funds to send myself up to volunteer... and also in the process of convincing my mom to let me fly alone

I'd love to go to GTR.