pic: Districts in Minnesota Flyer

[Liam Fay]

This is a great way of explaining districts in general, not just Minnesota. How would the math work out for California - as in, how many district events would there likely be and how many teams would qualify for district and world champs?

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Liam Fay

This is a great way of explaining districts in general, not just Minnesota. How would the math work out for California - as in, how many district events would there likely be and how many teams would qualify for district and world champs?

The readout from FIRST that I can see shows 258 registered teams in the state of California. Mark McLeod, the spreadsheet whisperer, might have a more accurate number.

Standard district event size is at 40 teams. Some of the small single state districts like North Carolina lean towards 32 team events, but this would definitely not apply to California.

Each team is required to get a spot at two unique events in a district system format. That means there must be a minimum of 516 spots. At a clip 40 teams per event, you would need 13 events. If California transitioned any later than next year, a requirement for 14 events would be all but assured. The state championship would be a 15th event.

[Alan Anderson]

That's a remarkably one-sided view of a switch to districts. I wonder how much experience the person who put it together has with what the impact is on those organizing and running the events, as opposed to what the teams see.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

That's a remarkably one-sided view of a switch to districts. I wonder how much experience the person who put it together has with what the impact is on those organizing and running the events, as opposed to what the teams see.

I feel like the people of Minnesota are very in tune to the other side.

[jessss]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

That's a remarkably one-sided view of a switch to districts. I wonder how much experience the person who put it together has with what the impact is on those organizing and running the events, as opposed to what the teams see.

I mean as a strategic communicator I learn how to write a message for a particular audience. If the audience for this specific message was potential planners and people who would be involved in moving Minnesota to districts the message would be different. I'm focused on the WIIFM (what's in it for me) and for our specific audience our particular message worked well. We were trying to educate teams about what districts would do for teams.

Once again this was to educate teams, if in the future people want to change to districts in Minnesota that's great! But I think the message was pretty spot on for the target audience.

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

That's a remarkably one-sided view of a switch to districts. I wonder how much experience the person who put it together has with what the impact is on those organizing and running the events, as opposed to what the teams see.

In addition to what Jess said, if teams asked about some of the more behind-the-scenes details, I answered them to the best of my ability. I have not personally been involved in organizing or running a district event; however, I am aware of a fair number of the details from my time in FIRST in Michigan.