2002--Here we go again

[Nate Smith]

Originally posted by Mike Norton

Why can these people put on a great completition for less money than the ones the regionals put on?

We been around long enough. The game has change from making a great robot to making lots of money to play. If more people push back maybe FIRST will look at making things cheaper.

While I can't speak for the first few years, I can say that for as long as I've been in the competition(this is my 5th year,) the registration cost for events only raised when the change was made to letting us keep the control system, rather than having to return it. And as far as that goes, that's an extra $1000 I'm willing to have to part with.

Also, FIRST understands that because of the weaker economy, things are tough for many teams right now. That's why they're having the remote kickoffs. That's why they came to us for the team forum, rather than having all of us go to them. Unfortunately, as far as the regional costs go, there's not a whole lot that they can do. Working with several regional crews personally, I know a large part of the cost goes into the site itself(rental, security, food service, etc.) as well as the lighting and sound. It costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $125,000 to run a regional event of the size and grandeur we've come to expect. And while some of this is offset by corporate donations, remember that your $4000 per event doesn't only go to pay for that event, but also to help offset FIRST's operating costs for the year, as they are a non-profit organization.