Food

[EricH]

Originally Posted by KTorak

Usually, at GLR, it's nice enough to eat outside. My dad will run and get fast food for me and the other drivers and stuff and we'll just eat outside on the sidewalk.

Same at L.A. and S.D. Actually, at S.D., there are two or three fast-food places in the parking lot. The only issue with those is that they were sometimes full...

L.A.'s nearest place is a Subway across the street. If you know what a Subway is like...

[Cow Bell Solo]

One thing is don't worry as there is always food nearby to most of the Regional Facilatys, some even sell their own food. Think of FIRST values about sneaking food in.

[Betty_Krocker]

Originally Posted by kfox1731

I know at the VCU Regional they don't let you bring any type of food from the outside into the stadium. They wouldn't even let us bring in Starbucks so they probably wouldn't like candy.

yeah, vcu is tight on the food thing, we had to eat in 4 person teams last year...

[Mike Martus]

WARNING: You are violating the rules of FIRST if you pass out any candy or food. Please read the 2008 manual.

Many, many, many years ago we passed out Michigan Fudge.... a real hit among all. We stopped because it violates FIRST Rules.

[ay2b]

The best way to get food at a FIRST event is to sign up as a volunteer (BTW, you'll also get a free T-shirt.)

[JYang]

if you are handing food in the pits, check with the organizers. other places will allow you to bring outside food outside the building but nothing will be allowed inside the doors
standard things that are handed out at competitions are buttons/pins, pencils, sometimes pens, etc. at SVR last year, one of the hawaiian teams handed out leis to people

[lukevanoort]

I really wish that some of the events would relax their restrictions on bringing in drinks, at least. I find it somewhat ironic that FIRST puts such an emphasis on safety, yet puts people in an environment conducive to sweating a lot and then bans bringing in drinks. I understand that often it is the venues that are doing the banning in order to boost their profit margins (overpriced stadium refreshments are your only option), but it just seems irresponsible to have such a policy in place. I know that I have gotten dehydrated enough at competition that it impaired my ability to concentrate, which is just an usually just an annoyance, but becomes dangerous when you are operating power tools. Honestly, I would just like to see a clause that provides exemptions for water, which isn't a lot to ask for, in my opinion.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

I really wish that some of the events would relax their restrictions on bringing in drinks, at least. I find it somewhat ironic that FIRST puts such an emphasis on safety, yet puts people in an environment conducive to sweating a lot and then bans bringing in drinks. I understand that often it is the venues that are doing the banning in order to boost their profit margins (overpriced stadium refreshments are your only option), but it just seems irresponsible to have such a policy in place. I know that I have gotten dehydrated enough at competition that it impaired my ability to concentrate, which is just an usually just an annoyance, but becomes dangerous when you are operating power tools. Honestly, I would just like to see a clause that provides exemptions for water, which isn't a lot to ask for, in my opinion.

As I recall, bottled water is allowed in the pits, and there are usually drinking fountains.

[lukevanoort]

Originally Posted by EricH

As I recall, bottled water is allowed in the pits, and there are usually drinking fountains.

I guess that depends on the event. I just double-checked the rules and they say nothing about bringing in drinks, just food; at VCU they search your bags to make sure you aren't carrying food or drink into the building (or other some other things, like guns, I imagine). As I recall, they aren't quite as uptight at the Championship, and they definitely weren't at Palmetto (they actually gave the teams some bottled water at Palmetto). I guess you're right about water fountains, but I have always been wary of them at FIRST competitions; I'm usually not a person that is uptight about keeping everything clean and germ-free (case-in-point: I make a point of avoiding anti-bacterial soap and other excessively powerful sanitizers), but after my brother mysteriously came down with mono right after a regional, not to mention the norovirus outbreak at VCU in 2004, I try to avoid them.

[Cow Bell Solo]

I just found Out that at the Minnesota Regional this year that there is no food allowed on the grounds