Starting A New Regional

[Dchandlerk]

I was unsure of which thread I should post this in. I'm going to graduate soon and I'm planning on attending college in a different state, where the concentration of FRC teams are less dense compared to areas like the Northeast. I want to pursue my studies, but also continue participating in FIRST. I want to volunteer but the closest Regionals near where I'm attending college are Peachtree and Bayou. There isn't much I can do about this, right now. I'm interested in knowing what processes goes into finding new venues for Regionals as the number of teams continue to increase.

[popnbrown]

I would think that the regional director of each region, along with whoever is right about them (someone probably from NH, maybe Bill?), probably analyzes if a new regional is required or not based on teams and growth etc. At that point, I would think they would contact potential venues of their interest, and compare prices/location/amenities etc.

Chances are starting a new regional won't happen unless there is significant growth in your area.

[Nate Laverdure]

Here's how to reach the regional contacts. Looks like Charles Kennedy would be the guy to talk to.

[rsisk]

Starting a regional is a LOT of work.

First you will need support of the regional director in the area, as others have said. Then you need a facility that can host 40-60 teams for the pit area, have sufficient field area, extra rooms for judges, volunteers and other staff, sufficient power to provide power to the pits and fields, availability usually from Wed-Sat night. You need to put together a planning committee to help bring in all the volunteers (about 140) needed to run the event, provide food to feed volunteers, guest speakers, maybe a team social, insurance, lighting and sound equipment, etc..

Oh yeah, you also get to raise ALL the money needed to pay for all this.

And regionals are sanctioned based on FIRST's needs, so you need a thumbs up from headquarters before you even get started.

There is a document on the FIRST web site that describes this...

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ning-committee