New Championship Layout 2015

[Justin Montois]

FIRST just announced that the 2015 FIRST Championship in St. Louis will take place in 3 venues. FLL & FTC will be in different venues while FRC will remain in the Edward Jones Dome and Convention Center.

I think it's a big change that could be a sign that the FRC Championship will be bigger next year. 6 fields? 600 teams?

I'm interested in what people think about this change.

[dodar]

Be prepared for 8 divisions next year. This move by FIRST is massive.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by dodar

Be prepared for 8 divisions next year. This move by FIRST is massive.

Yep. I think they're going 8.

[Michael Hill]

Booking hotels now for 2015</sarcasm>

But really, where are 600 teams supposed to stay? We're in Collinsville, IL right now, a good 20 minutes from the venue, and the manager told me hotels out here are completely booked with robotics teams. They don't have anywhere to put their business travelers.

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

But really, where are 600 teams supposed to stay? We're in Collinsville, IL right now, a good 20 minutes from the venue, and the manager told me hotels out here are completely booked with robotics teams. They don't have anywhere to put their business travelers.

This actually worries me most of all, and it's not just the 200 more FRC teams. Everyone in this thread seems to agree that the FLL and FTC championships are going to see some significant growth.

With 200 FRC + 200-300 (?) more FLL/FTC teams...?

- Sunny G.

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

But really, where are 600 teams supposed to stay? We're in Collinsville, IL right now, a good 20 minutes from the venue, and the manager told me hotels out here are completely booked with robotics teams. They don't have anywhere to put their business travelers.

That *is* an interesting logistical problem. CMP is now growing to the point where not only is there only a handful of venues capable of hosting, but only a handful of cities that can even support the influx of visitors that CMP brings.

Long-term? I still think a move back to Orlando (and the OCCC) is the only real option. Orlando would certainly have the hotel density to support us.

[goldenglove002]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Booking hotels now for 2015</sarcasm>

But really, where are 600 teams supposed to stay? We're in Collinsville, IL right now, a good 20 minutes from the venue, and the manager told me hotels out here are completely booked with robotics teams. They don't have anywhere to put their business travelers.

The airport is also worth some concern. Flights were much more expensive and harder to come by this year. Large increase in the amount of people coming in to town? Yikes! Lambert is not very big.

[CENTURION]

Everybody's talking about a lot more divisions (eight even!), but I don't see it.

I mean, moving the other programs out only frees up space for one more field (where the FTC fields are). So where are the other three new divisions going to go?

The new division, plus more practice fields will probably fill up the newly freed pit space.

[Chris Fultz]

one option could be two fields per division, side by side. some volunteers move back and forth between the fields, others are set to one of them - that way you don't need 2x the volunteers - maybe 1.5x. More matches, faster cycle times, faster pace for the crowd. almost no down time.

[AustinShalit]

The next time FIRST moves Championships to a new city they are going to move it to a bigger city. St. Louis just cannot accommodate more teams....

[dag0620]

Originally Posted by AustinShalit

The next time FIRST moves Championships to a new city they are going to move it to a bigger city. St. Louis just cannot accommodate more teams....

Also a hub city would be nice.

I get why St. Louis is attractive from the HQ perspective, the venue was almost built for FIRST Champs, the city works well with us, and it appears to be in the middle of the county.

BUT

The city isn't really capable of handling the influx of people, in terms of hotel and infrastructure. Also Lambert isn't a hub city, so getting flights into the city, and cheaply for that matter, is hard for almost everyone.

St. Louis has been great, but I hope for 2018 they look for a city that is a little more capable of handling us in areas outside of just the venue.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by dag0620

Also a hub city would be nice.

I get why St. Louis is attractive from the HQ perspective, the venue was almost built for FIRST Champs, the city works well with us, and it appears to be in the middle of the county.

BUT

The city isn't really capable of handling the influx of people, in terms of hotel and infrastructure. Also Lambert isn't a hub city, so getting flights into the city, and cheaply for that matter, is hard for almost everyone.

St. Louis has been great, but I hope for 2018 they look for a city that is a little more capable of handling us in areas outside of just the venue.

I dont know why they ever left Atlanta. Either go back to Atlanta or go way back to Orlando.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by dodar

I dont know why they ever left Atlanta. Either go back to Atlanta or go way back to Orlando.

I'd love for it to come back to Atlanta, but with the new dome moving even farther from the GWCC than the current one is, I don't think FIRST will move back here. Unless teams like a 1 mile walk to and from the dome floor to the pits.

[goldenglove002]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

I'd love for it to come back to Atlanta, but with the new dome moving even farther from the GWCC than the current one is, I don't think FIRST will move back here. Unless teams like a 1 mile walk to and from the dome floor to the pits.

Don't rule it out. It's only about 2/10ths of a mile from the door of building B to the doors of the new stadium. As long as there is a path from the convention center into the stadium for the robots, it would be a strong venue that could handle an expanded competition.

If you need visual reference, this was just released to show the idea for a convention center hotel. New stadium is in the bottom corner: http://media.bizj.us/view/img/252577...nal-sm*600.jpg

[Cam877]

A lot of people are talking about more FRC teams being able to go, but I think the addition of new FRC teams will be pretty minimal. If more divisions are added, it will be to increase the amount of matches teams will play, and adding more teams is not how you do that. While thee might be a few more positions available, I doubt it will be significant. That would defeat what I think would be the main purpose of this move.