Other Off-season Events Open for Teams

[Steve Ketron]

I understand how everyone wants to go to IRI for the amazing experience, but there are other events that provide some really good competition and have slots open for teams. If you are willing to travel to IRI, then why are you not willing to try these other events? I run an event and I take great pride with not only the competive teams but the social aspect also. We have a blast and really enjoy socializing with all the teams. I guarrentee that all the other events, would also like to have some teams from outside there region show up for there event.

[Jared Russell]

Steve,

Team-run off-season events are one of my favorite parts of FIRST. They offer a lot of play time for the dollar, tend to be much more "light hearted" than official FIRST competitions, and are a great way to have new team members get a few matches under their belts before it counts. Team 341 regularly attends three off-season events (our own Ramp Riot, 365 and 316's Duel on the Delaware, and 222's PARC) in addition to a slew of others that we've attended from year to year when the timing worked well for us (25's Brunswick Eruption, 236's Bash at the Beach, EDIT: 1403 and 75's Monty Madness, etc.).

However, IRI markets itself a bit differently from most other off-season events. It is an "all star game" of sorts, and its invitational model means that only the best robots get in. As such, many veteran teams are willing to travel further distances in order to prove their meddle. It also helps that IRI is run by two established, role-model teams in 45 and 234, both of whom have many friends across FIRST.

So, my suggestion to you if you want to increase the scope of your event's draw is to:

* Pack a lot of value into your event (many rounds of competition, simultaneous VRC/FTC event, non-robot related activities, etc.) so that distant teams are more likely to invest in nontrivial transportation and lodging costs. Andy and Chris and co. do a great job of this at IRI, and word of mouth has spread like wildfire.

* Use your connections with other teams. At Ramp Riot we routinely draw teams from 5-7 hours away because we have become good friends off the field.

* Reciprocate! If you bring your own team to other, distant events you can form friendships that will result in other teams doing the same. For example, we normally would not have even considered driving from Philadelphia to Connecticut for Bash at the Beach except for the fact that we had known teams like 173 and 236 for years.

[Steve Ketron]

I host the MARC event and I am very proud of what our event has accomplished. The MARC in its two years of competition has grown from 12 teams to 28 last year and I am extending the teams to 42 this year. We have teams come from Wisconsin and Indiana. I feel with our mentor rounds, team social, and this years pig roast that we will fill our spots for the event and have a great time during it.

My team goes to other events each year and that all depends on the money available for it. Since I have been on the team (4 years) we have gotten a major sponsor each year. Usually starting out with a sponsor then losing them or most of the money right before the funds are due. So I have to be cautious with how I allocate our teams funds. This by no means means we don't go to any other off-season events. Every year we go to at least one other event. Kettering 2006 and 2008 and IRI 2007.

This post intended to be more of a shout out to those teams that I read about every year that want to go to IRI but don't make the invite. Just letting them know that there are other competitive events that they can come to and get some serious competition experience while also enjoying the comaderie of the other teams.

[wendymom]

When is MARC? It may be a timing issue. IRI is in the summer when kids are availible for travel to distant states. I know we try to limit the amount of time our kids are out of school. We lose at least 9 days during regular season unless we can go to a regional during spring break. Sometimes that works...sometimes not.

It takes us 2 days to drive to IRI, plus 2 days there...and another 2 days to drive home. We couldn't do that during school.

[RoboMom]

As soon as Kathie can catch her breath, NEMO will update the calendar of off-season events on the website.

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Steve,

Team-run off-season events are one of my favorite parts of FIRST. They offer a lot of play time for the dollar, tend to be much more "light hearted" than official FIRST competitions, and are a great way to have new team members get a few matches under their belts before it counts.

i feel the same way. this is why i'm trying to convince my team to go to MARC especially since our drive team from this year are all seniors.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by wendymom

When is MARC? It may be a timing issue. IRI is in the summer when kids are availible for travel to distant states. I know we try to limit the amount of time our kids are out of school. We lose at least 9 days during regular season unless we can go to a regional during spring break. Sometimes that works...sometimes not.

It takes us 2 days to drive to IRI, plus 2 days there...and another 2 days to drive home. We couldn't do that during school.

MARC is June 27th.

[ATannahill]

Team 79 hosts an annual off season event called Tempest 'n Tampa (TNT). Each year we take over the Sun Dome at USF and offer a FRC competition along with FLL, FTC and VRC activities, last year we had a VEX qualifier. We offer the floor of the dome to teams over night so you don't have to pay for a hotel. We drew 28 teams last year and 18 the year preceding. I encourage all teams that can to sign up. It is the second to last weekend in October, spanning Friday evening through Saturday.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Jared341

11's Monty Madness

Giving credit where it is due, Monty Madness is 1403 and 75's offseason. It is a brilliantly organized event and we love going and competing with the best in the area.

Team 303 is reviving their roots and is hosting Bridgewater Raritan Battle Royale this year, we may partner up with them on this, still discussing.

Cal Games has some sick competition as well.

[AlexD744]

Originally Posted by rtfgnow

Team 79 hosts an annual off season event called Tempest 'n Tampa (TNT). Each year we take over the Sun Dome at USF and offer a FRC competition along with FLL, FTC and VRC activities, last year we had a VEX qualifier. We offer the floor of the dome to teams over night so you don't have to pay for a hotel. We drew 28 teams last year and 18 the year preceding. I encourage all teams that can to sign up. It is the second to last weekend in October, spanning Friday evening through Saturday.

You beat me to this extremely awesome event. Last year 254, the Cheesy Poofs, were in attendance, and it was awesome to have them. I think it would be really great to get teams from all across the world at TNT, and I also hope that 254 returns.

[brasil]

My name is Gui from Team 2344, The Saunders Droid Factory. We would like to invite all teams to an offseason event we are planning to host on Saturday, May 30th, at Saunders Trades and Technical High School.We will have an official playing field, and are hoping for about 24+ teams


Our event is called Robofest
May 30th at Saunders Trades and Technical High School, Yonkers NY entree fee is only $200
if any teams are intrested contact Jose nunes at jnunez@saunders.ypschools.org

Thank you and we look foward on seeing many of you guys there!!

[artdutra04]

There's always something about the Michigan district competitions that makes me chuckle a little bit inside.

Three or four years ago, a group of people was started in New England to find ways to improve and strengthen the FIRST experience within New England. The group mostly included those who were student alumni from FRC teams, which meant that most were in their teens or twenties at the time, and all have remained highly active in FIRST as team mentors, key volunteers, and so forth.

One of the original ideas this group had was to create "The New England Cup". Small, localized, low-cost [offseason] competitions would take place in which the winning teams would be awarded points, to which they can use to be invited to the culminating New England Cup competition. Sound familiar? The only catch was that all of this would occur after the Championship Event, because if there is one thing New England FIRSTers love more than defense, chowdah, and the Red Sox, it's off-season competitions. (In fact, the very idea of off-season competitions was born here in New England, back at Rumble at the Rock).

About this time, the particular name of the group really struck a nerve within the FIRST community. Honestly, to this day I still don't know why there was so much public backlash against the group, but existed it did. And with this backlash, most of the groups activities began to fade, although the members of the group remained as dedicated as ever towards FIRST in New England.

Now the idea lives on as FiM, although I honestly have no idea if there are any direct connections between the two other than coincidence. But what I see here is probably one of the most important lessons I've learned about FIRST, and that is that different regions in the country really focus on completely different aspects of FIRST.

Some areas of the country really focus on being ultra-competitive. Others have a ton of teams that exist from late December until late April, then lay dormant the rest of the year. And then there are places like New England (actually, the entire northeast in general), where we compete really hard in the competition season, but then put an extraordinary amount of effort into creating an amazing number of off-season competitions which honestly are just to have fun. There are literally dozens of off-season competitions within an eight hour drive of southern New England, which really started my train of thought.

I'm beginning to wonder if a FiM-style competition structure in New England would detract from the resources and efforts of off-season competitions, many of which are at least partially sponsored by the colleges and universities who would be likely candidates* for FiM-style district events. While it may sound like a 1-for-1 trade at first, remember than many teams in New England use off-season events as one of their fundraisers to better help fund and expand their own programs, while providing pre-rookie teams with a great experience prior to their first official year in FIRST.

Right now, it's not very hard for a team in New England to compete at 50-90 matches over the course of a season (competition and post), while building an identical practice robot, for under $25k-$30k per year. Which makes me think: perhaps there is something to the New England Cup after all, and perhaps FiM-style district-level competitions may appear in different forms throughout the country, with each region altering the idea to best fit the "personality" of the region.

At least within New England, as long as an off-season event has good marketing, a well-run event, and doesn't conflict with other important dates (such as finals, graduation, etc), most have waiting lists by their third or fourth year. Want waiting lists sooner? Have other fun activities, such as team social, side competitions, and great food, and the event will sell itself. And depending on how it's implemented, a two-day event can draw even more in.

So don't be disappointed if your event is not as "popular" as IRI. Concentrate on your event and your region, and you will build a loyal fan base of teams that will return year after year. That's what's important.


* Another thing that may be lost if the collegiate support from off-season events is transferred to the competition season, is that the Admissions office at many of these schools views these events as marketing events for the students. By the time March rolls around, most of the decision making for seniors is already over. But in the spring, summer, and fall, that's when a particularly good off-season event might help sway the decision of students towards a particular school.

[MrFixIt2719]

i think all off season events are a blast i ahve been to our own (MARC) and kettering and also IRI and have been trying to talk our administrator to go to other out of state events to just get a different feeling then the original events we go to as i am also pushing him to go to different out of state regional events.

[rbrown1]

The CowTown ThrowDown will be held on November 7th in Kansas City, MO.

[MrFixIt2719]

and i'm sure if it says when Marc is but it june 26th and 27th it's a friday and saturday event