Never been to championship before got questions

[Bethie42]

Another first-timer at Atlanta.....thanks for the link to the older thread, that was extremely helpful.
I just wanted to check this, as I've got friends coming: Championships are free to the public like regionals, right?

thank you!

[Kristian Calhoun]

Originally Posted by Bethie42

Another first-timer at Atlanta.....thanks for the link to the older thread, that was extremely helpful.
I just wanted to check this, as I've got friends coming: Championships are free to the public like regionals, right?

thank you!

Correct—like all other FIRST events, the Championships are free and open to the public.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Bethie42

Another first-timer at Atlanta.....thanks for the link to the older thread, that was extremely helpful.
I just wanted to check this, as I've got friends coming: Championships are free to the public like regionals, right?

thank you!

Yes, and stay in touch with your friends regarding where to meet you. It would be good for you to establish that with them before they head your direction.

Funny story, I was trying to find my team last year at the Championship. Our main team color is purple and I was looking for purple in the stands. They chose to wear their gray shirts that day and I wasn't looking for gray. Luckily, they spotted me (in my PURPLE), looking for them.

Jane

[DUCKIE]

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...mpus%20Map.pdf

Official 2010 diagrams are not up yet, but was able to find this one on the FLL page.

Pits are usually in GWCC Bldg C, and non-drive team members use ground-level C entrance to access the Georgia Dome.

What they call "west plaza gold deck" is the grassy area where most teams eat lunch / toss frisbees / where the annual Chief Delphi Web-hug is held.

[Bruceb]

So where do we park to unload our pit and where do we go to park for the day?
Bruce

[familyguyfreak]

Originally Posted by DUCKY

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...mpus%20Map.pdf

Official 2010 diagrams are not up yet, but was able to find this one on the FLL page.

Pits are usually in GWCC Bldg C, and non-drive team members use ground-level C entrance to access the Georgia Dome.

What they call "west plaza gold deck" is the grassy area where most teams eat lunch / toss frisbees / where the annual Chief Delphi Web-hug is held.

Using the map in the link above, teams unload and bring their stuff in for their pits using the Northside Dr. entrance. I don't where you can park for the day, when we went, we went in a bus and the buses parked in the Yellow Lot that's further down Northside Dr.

[Katie_UPS]

DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN AT THE WRAP-UP PARTY!
And cheer and scream and have fun.
And go to RoboProm (assuming that it's happening this year).
Championships is the best place to network, so meet people from other teams and have too much fun.

[IndySam]

Encourage a few team members to volunteer at the event. It is a lot of fun and you meet so many cool people. Plus free lunch and access to the floor. Hard deal too beat.

It's also really a great thing for recent team alumni to do if they come along with your team.

[Jeff Pahl]

One thing no one has mentioned so far: not only is it a fair walk from the pits to the field with the robot, but it is not flat. Make sure you have a decent cart with some real wheels on it, a furniture dolly, even with a handle, will not make you very happy. Also, make sure there is room on the cart for some basic tools, and a spare battery or two. Every year as I am walking back and forth, I see poor kids trying to run from the pits to the field with a battery. It's a long way to try and run with a 12 lb lead brick... Also, as there will be some matches on the schedule where you will not really have time to go back to the pit between matches, you may want a way to power/charge your Classmate.

See you there!!

[kjolana1124]

First, how many team members do you usually bring?

Our team tends to enforce a rule that you need to attend 60% of the meeting at least in order to be eligible to go to Atlanta. However, almost everyone on our team does, so we normally end up with around 30.

How do the teams get from the hotel to the arena and how long does it take?

The unofficial FIRST parade, as I like to call it. You'll probably see at least half the teams walking with you every day to the Georgia Dome (much to the confusion of Atlanta residents). Depending on your hotel, it should take around 5-15 minutes.

Is the pit realy far from the playing field? I have heard a mile and I can't believe that.

Sadly, this is true. Depending on if you're a driver or not there's a shortcut tunnel, but most people still have the walk. And if you're on a field that's on the other side of the door, it can be even longer ><

Do most teams go out for lunch? 45 minutes is not a long time to make that happen.

No, I don't think so. There's so much food just around it's not really worth it.

Can you bring food to the pits?

No. However, there is a lot of places to eat around the pits, so you can dart outside if you need a bite. I always remember this one smoothie stand I must've went to at least five times.


Other notes:
Talk to teams on other fields if you can. Many teams have at least one contact per field for scouting in case they make it to Einstein. It's good to have that information.

The Wrap-Up party is amazing, you may need to prepare yourself for that level of awesome.

Don't forget that this is supposed to be one of the best experiences of the year. Just have fun, and good luck!

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN AT THE WRAP-UP PARTY!

Don't forget an Einstein performance and a lot of time at the wrap up party are mutually exclusive! Knowing 706's robot, this could be an issue.

Originally Posted by Bruceb

Well since 706 has committed to go to Atlanta I have a couple of questions. First, how many team members do you usually bring?

Usually this is constrained by who CAN go rather than constrained by having too many people that can. At least 10.

I never like to tell anyone they can't go to the Championship if they otherwise could, unless they're a terrible student or bad team member or something (I know of neither occurring?)

Is the pit realy far from the playing field? I have heard a mile and I can't believe that.

I don't think a mile is right, but you should walk for about 10 minutes each way. I like leaving about 7 matches in advance (to give you extra time to gather person xyz who's NEVER in the pit, etc)

Do most teams go out for lunch? 45 minutes is not a long time to make that happen.

I never did, just grabbed some overpriced vendor food. That, or my team's parents brought sandwiches and stuff outside and made them for me and my teammates. Sometimes other team's teammates.

Can you bring food to the pits?

Nope, but outside's all good.

[Tarzan19]

This thread has been a great help to team 2345, as this is also our first year to Atlanta. I was thinking of starting a thread like this, but following the Chief Delphi rule, i searched FIRST. haha. Thanks again to all that posted.

[AcesJames]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but remember to get a really good night's sleep for the entirety of your stay in Atlanta. Having gone last year and having a complete blast, it's pretty easy to get carried away and want to stay up all night wandering around the hotel hallways, talking to friends and other teams, but you definitely pay for it the day afterward. Championships is probably the most tiring and sometimes nerve-racking event you can attend, but of course it's also the most fun! However, running back and forth between the field and the pits, as well as making last minute tweaks in between is no fun when you're running on 2 hours of sleep

[MarkoRamius1086]

For the subject of meals, my team has found it is just better to eat a breakfast at the hotel... assuming they have one... lunches in the commons (correct term for it?) for they have a few different snack and commercial vendors out there... and dinner at the Omni Complex.

Lunch is the tricky buisness as you pointed out. Being busy all of the days, we have found it best to go during one of the few, brief, points of convenience to go out to the commons, or run over to the Omni Food Court.


There is another question I would like to bring up. What is being done about the WiFi and other communication problems at Atlanta? Ignoring the abyssmal issues at the Israeli Reigonal... it still takes around seven to nine minutes on average to turn the field around! Despite having four feilds, I am afraid that Atlanta will have enormous delays.

[Pausert]

I think that is the reason that the beginning of qualification rounds have been moved up to Thursday evening.