How Many teams Attend 2 Regionals?

[1708xMr.Roboto]

We are trying to figure out weather we want to go, to two regionals this year.. This would be our first year attending two competitions, and we are trying to figure out what we are going to do.. I was just wondering how many teams went to multiple competitions, and if so what week's are they?


Thanks,

-Eddie

[BrendanB]

Our team is attending two regionals for the first time this year: BAE Granite State and North Carolina. We hope to have a fun season this year!

[ttldomination]

The thing about going to one, is that your season comes down to that one event. And if you have a good robot, and you end up falling short at that one event, you end up wondering what could've been...

Doing a second event has added much more fun to our season plus increased the longevity of our competition season.

[Chris is me]

1714 goes to two events every year and always has. There are many reasons for this. For one, going to a single event is a bit more pressured and intense. You only get one shot to prove yourself. Also, going to a second event every year gives the team and robot time to improve. We in particular have had troubles doing well at our first event; at Wisconsin we missed eliminations, and in Minnesota we rapidly improved and were the first overall selection. Additionally, you get to travel with your team and meet more new people and play more matches. All in all, I couldn't see myself doing only one regional.

2791 also is doing two events this year, for similar reasons.

Back to back regionals aren't recommended, but not impossible if they're close enough.

[John G]

Just like the person above me said, my team had a good robot last year. We lost in the semi's in Long Beach. Everyone was disapointed. Then we won our second regional and eventually went to the finals on Curie. Going to two regionals really does help.

[BrianT103]

Our team always attends at least two regionals. Then we decide whether to attend a third regional or championships. If you have the money to do an extra regional, I recommend doing it. You're going to be spending the same amount of time working hard as a team to build a robot, so you may as well reward your team by having a good time and going to an additional event. However, I am also a strong proponent of attending nationals at least once per 4 year cycle of a team. If you have juniors on your team that have not attended championships yet, I would recommend saving some money this year by only going to one event so that way your team will have plenty of funds to attend championships next year in 2011, especially since it will be in St. Louis and will be only a 10 hour drive from your location.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by 1708xMr.Roboto

We are trying to figure out weather we want to go, to two regionals this year..

At our 1st regional it will probably be a late winter thing, very cool, drizzle rain probably. Indoor kind of weather.

Our 2nd regional will be much more like spring, sunny, flowers, moderately warmer. Much more pleasant.

[rdlevy1215]

1676 Always attends two regionals, and we've been doing that since our second year. We always attend our home regional (NJ) and at least one other event. (We have attended 2-3 Official Events every year we've been in existence) -- 2005 NJ Regional, The Championship Event; 2006 NJ Regional, Palmetto Regional; 2007 NJ Regional, Buckeye Regional, FIRST Championship; 2008 NJ Regional, Greater Toronto Regional, FIRST Championship; 2009 NJ Regional, Palmetto Regional, FIRST Championship.

In 2010 the team will be attending the NJ Regional and Virginia Regional (and hopefully the FIRST Championship if they qualify)

Going to two or more events (especially long bus rides) ends up becoming a huge team building exercise and let's your team function more like a team.

Highly recommended to do more than one event!

[Mark McLeod]

~27% of non-Michigan teams will attend 2 or more Regionals in 2010.

76% of Michigan teams attend two district events.
5 Michigan teams do both.
Up to 64 of them will also appear at the Michigan State Championship as a second or third event for their team.

Then there's the Championship too.

It'll be interesting to see how skewed your poll ends up from the actual numbers.

We've done two Regionals every year since 2002.
This'll be the first year we haven't done the Championship as well.

P.S.
Ed Law published a preliminary white paper showing where every team is going. You can sort by number of events to see if any teams you know are doing two Regionals.

[IKE]

If possible try to do two events. make sure you have at least 1 down week between the two. Ideally I would pick doing an event the 1st weekend, and then the week 4 or later.

Week 1 is neat because the game is really just being played for the first time, and there is something magical about it.

The later regionals involve a lot of strategy and refinement from watching and scouting a lot of other events. Doing a big gap between the two can give you some time to analyze what went right during the first event and what you would like to improve on or change during the second event. This is a curcial step in prototype development that often gets missed or overlooked.

P.S. if you can't afford two "in-season" events, I would highly recommend doing some off-season events. Similar benefits at a usually cheaper price.

[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

~27% of non-Michigan teams will attend 2 or more Regionals in 2010.

76% of Michigan teams attend two district events.
5 Michigan teams do both.
Up to 64 of them will also appear at the Michigan State Championship.

Then there's the Championship too.

It'll be interesting to see how skewed your poll ends up from the actual numbers.

We've done two Regionals every year since 2002.
This'll be the first year we haven't done the Championship as well.

P.S.
Ed Law published a preliminary white paper showing where every team is going. You can sort by number of events to see if any teams you know are doing two Regionals.

This information is pretty eye-opening... only 1/4 of all the teams do two regionals...thanks for the info...

[johnr]

"76% of Michigan teams attend two district events."
I hope that percentage is wrong. Don't michigan teams get two districts automatically with registration? If nearly a fourth aren't going to their second district that would be just sad.

[Wayne TenBrink]

I highly recommend going to a second event. Try not to do consecutive weekends.

Besides getting more use of all the work you put into the robot and spending more time together as a team, you will have the opportunity to modify and improve on your original creation. As Ike said, this is often overlooked, but it is a very important part of the engineering experience. Nothing is perfect the first time out - hardware, software, strategy, etc. Being able to react to circumstances and incorporate improvements is almost as important as interpreting the game rules and coming up with the original robot.

Also, if your robot gets damaged and you can't fix it on the spot, you will have a very short and frustrating competition season - very uninspiring to all potential scientists and engineers on the team. A second event cushions that blow.

[Rc Soarer]

I think the poll will favor two events because teams who go to two regionals are more involved and the more involved teams are the ones with people on Chief Delphi.

[carbuff2228]

2228 has always gone to two. This gives you alot more than just one. It gives the team a better chance to improve from the first regional. Also it gives the team a chance to be together. THis year we are going to flr and north carolina