District/Regional Format

[IKE]

Originally Posted by rwood359

Are the MI competitions less expensive to produce?
Can two MI events be produced for the cost of one "standard" regional?

This is going to sound crazy, but I believe that all 7 districts cost about the same as 1 traditional regional. While that sounds impossible, you would be shocked at what a Regional costs. Talk to your local RCA to get an idea.

Joe J. was partially correct. 4 of the districts were at High Schools, and 3 were at colleges (Kettering, Wayne State, and Grand Valley). The State championship was also held at a university (EMU). For those that don't believe a great event can be held in a HS gym, I give you the IRI. With the lower costs and 1 less day of disruption, this model is much more attractive to Universities. A true growth plan would be to use technical Universities that are 1-2 hours from major team centers as hosts for District events. Teams would get the opportunity to compete in 2 districts in weeks 1-4 and thus qualify for a Regional Championship in week 5. About 50% of teams would qualify for the regional championship. At the regional championships, about 50% of those teams would qualify for the World championship.