Invite to US teams to attend Waterloo Regional

[Mr. Lim]

I'm not an economics major, but the Canadian dollar has dropped VERY quickly, and the prices haven't had a chance to adjust yet. For Americans, this is THE best time I've seen, possibly in my entire life, to do some cross border shopping.

That said, the Waterloo Regional has got to be some of the best bang for your buck around for US teams. 25% more purchasing power (prices here are about the same face-value CDN vs. US), combined with the fact that it is a small regional make this a GREAT sell. You're paying less for an excellent team to award/qualifier ratios, and a large number of matches, that is of course if things like that are a priority to you or your team .

On top of that, Waterloo is an extremely well run event, and although it isn't as big as the GTR, I would definitely argue that gameplay at Waterloo is a much more fulfilling experience.

Can't wait!

[commodoredl]

I've been looking into getting our team to attend Waterloo, but need some more economic advice before I can know if the team will want to go.
What hotels have teams traditionally stayed in at Waterloo, and do you know what the going rate usually is per night?

[Koko Ed]

The hard part is Waterloo is competing with it's Marcia to it's Jan aka the Greater Toronto Regional which has grown over the years into a bigtime regional.
That's tough compete with.

[B - Morris]

This link lists a bunch of hotels/motels in Kitchener/Waterloo.

http://www.kitchener-waterloohotels....com/index.html

I have stayed in the Howard Johnson Hotel and in the Knights Inn (HoJo is a better hotel). I can't remember what we paid in the past, but the website shows a range of some room pricings.

For any team worried about crossing the border I know it can kind of seem overwhelming initially, but as Karthik said earlier FIRST Canada is willing and able to help however they can, and I got two robots back and forth across the border last year a few times and for the most part it is straightforward.

Any questions/concerns I'm willing to help out as well.

GTR is a nice event, but personally I've always liked Waterloo better. More matches, better teams, and a friendlier, closer atmosphere.

[Richard Wallace]

FRC 931 attended the Waterloo Regional a couple of years ago, and it was a blast!

Waterloo's advantages include lots of enthusiasm, lots of noise, a great volunteer crew, a cozy-but-comfortable venue, and one of the best emcees to be found at any FRC event.

We highly recommend this event -- for us the trip was long, but worth it. For 2009 we'll be attending Kansas City and St. Louis, but we definitely will keep Waterloo on our short list for future seasons.

[Mr. Lim]

Originally Posted by commodoredl

I've been looking into getting our team to attend Waterloo, but need some more economic advice before I can know if the team will want to go.
What hotels have teams traditionally stayed in at Waterloo, and do you know what the going rate usually is per night?

Dan,

Many teams have stayed at the Destination Inn in Waterloo. It is a 5 minute drive from the venue, and every year we've been there, it's been teeming with FRC teams. It's popular. Team 188 has booked there since Waterloo first started.

They've gone through extensive renovations over the past year, so they may no longer be as good of a deal as they once were. So if you call for a quote, and it seems expensive, don't stop and try elsewhere.

http://www.destinationinn.com/

[Adam McLeod]

For anyone who's on the fence over whether or not to attend the Waterloo Regional, I figured I'd throw in another endorsement, for what it counts.

I haven't missed one of these yet, and wouldn't want to: from a scrappy, competitive first-year regional to an ever more smoothly-run veteran event - I've loved every year. I can all but guarantee an intense, intimate venue and an engrossing event from start to finish.

I remember having a great time teaming up with a few American teams at Waterloo in the past couple years, and the more the better: keeps the same Canadian teams from beating up on each other too much, right?

[commodoredl]

Thanks B-Morris and Shawn for your help. Unfortunately, our budget was a lot tighter than it appeared and it looks like there's next to no chance of us going to a second regional this year.
Next year, though, I'll recommend to my team putting Waterloo right at the top of the short list, especially if our previous favorite Boston continues to be in week 2.