Potential Regional Sites

[santosh]

There are quite a few college basketball courts that put VCU's court to shame. But VCU was probably my favorite regional in the past two years I have been in FIRST.

I would really be up for a Boston regional.

[pakrat]

a great '07 loaction would be Provo or Salt Lake City in Utah. There are planty of available arenas with the proper preparation, and I'm sure that BYU and UofU would start some teams with a regional so close. Also, teams from nevada, cloroado, even cali and texas could go. It would be a pretty good spot i think

[MrToast]

Provo, Utah!

Brigham Young University has one of the largest enclosed arenas in the world (The Marriott Center), we've got lots of hotels (for all them college families), lots of parking, a 20 lane bowling alley in the student center, all the important stuff!

It'd be a nice in-between location for the teams out west that think Denver is a bit too far, and the teams out east that think Vegas is too much temptation.

Either that or Salt Lake City's Delta Center or something.

[edit] I think pakrat's on to something.... [/edit]

Dave

[Ricky Q.]

Originally Posted by Eugenia Gabrielov

However, geographically, what areas are developing right now in each region that really need the consideration of a new regional, and need suggestions? I don't pretend to be the most informed about it, but look at Wisconsin...

Anybody got suggestions in Milwaukee for something great? From what I hear, that state not only has some extremely awesome teams arleady, but has at least 8 or 9 rookies in the works for next year. I'd definitly want to see a regional location up there. Feel free to check out the thread about the possible regional as well.

Milwaukee has good potential sites for a regional. My best bet would that it would be held at the US Cellular Arena (http://www.uscellulararena.com/). This is the home of the UW - Milwaukee Panthers Basketball Teams, the Milwaukee Admirals AHL Hockey Team, Milwaukee Wave Indoor Soccer, and many other events.

It is located right downtown next to several hotels and it has enough space for the pits and field. It would proabably be set up like many regionals are, with the field and pits all on the arena floor seperated by a barrier.

There is a bunch of stuff to do in Milwaukee and all the teams here would sure welcome a regional closer to home. We shall see what will happen for next year.

[Mike AA]

Wouldn't the biggest thing to look at when looking at new sites for a regional be the funding? Without sponsors a regional might be a little more difficult. But then again many of the after season events didn't have big sponsors for a while.

-Mike

[craigcd]

I have not seen any official notification but I have it from a very good source that there will be a regional in New Orleans in 2007.

[jdhawg]

Originally Posted by craigcd

I have not seen any official notification but I have it from a very good source that there will be a regional in New Orleans in 2007.

I hope that isn't the same reliable source that told me we would be having a regional in New Orleans in 2005..... er, make that 2006...... no, wait; make that 2007......

The problem with a New Orleans regional is corporate sponsorship. If that could get that taken care of, then University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena would be great! Cool enough for teams to say "We're going to New Orleans" but still too much of a walk for team members to sneak out of the hotel at night and get to the French Quarter/Bourbon Street without "Adult Supervision."

[Dan Richardson]

How about a South Florida Regional at Ft. Lauderdale convention center.. or one in miami... its 2 miles from the beach :-)

Common who wouldn't want to come to beautiful sunny ft. lauderdale towards the end of winter and get to blaim it on robots

[Matt_Kaplan1902]

Originally Posted by Stud Man Dan

How about a South Florida Regional at Ft. Lauderdale convention center.. or one in miami... its 2 miles from the beach :-)

Common who wouldn't want to come to beautiful sunny ft. lauderdale towards the end of winter and get to blaim it on robots

A South Florida Regional would be pretty sweet. I would think it could be at the Office Depot Center or American Airlines Arena. The University of Miami has a pretty new convocation center as well.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by jdhawg

The problem with a New Orleans regional is corporate sponsorship. If that could get that taken care of, then University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena would be great! Cool enough for teams to say "We're going to New Orleans" but still too much of a walk for team members to sneak out of the hotel at night and get to the French Quarter/Bourbon Street without "Adult Supervision."

Actually, the problem with getting a New Orleans Regional competition started has to do with team density and not with corporate sponsorship. More than 75% of the funds required for the event have already been identified. However, it was expected that there would not be enough teams to fully populate a new competition event this upcoming season without adversely impacting the other events in that region of the country. In particular, there was a concern that too many teams would have to be drawn from Texas and Florida to attend the new event, and that would draw down on the attendance at these competitions. So the decision was made to postpone planing for the New Orleans regional for at least one year, and concentrate on growing new teams in Louisiana in 2006.

-dave

[jgannon]

There are plenty of places in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that could support a regional, I'm sure. With only one team in the whole state, and so many huge potential corporate sponsors (3M is based there, Ford has a huge plant, and I'm sure there are myriad others), planning a regional there for 2007 could spawn many more teams in 2006 and the years after. I assume that some of the Michigan and Indiana teams would be interested, but not too many to impact the regionals there. So, why not Minnesota?

(Am I the only person other than pakrat who suggested a regional that isn't coincidentally convenient for my own team? )

[santosh]

I would really like to see a regional somewhere in Europe. Generate some interest and create some excitement over there which could lead to some teams starting over there. I would really like us to be able to keep some of these other regionals around. I know Peachtree is out a ton of money because of no more NASA money. I wonder how they are going to function next year.

[craigcd]

Right now New Orleans has four teams. OP.Walker (1550), Abramson (1534), Kenedy (1589) and New Orleans Math and Science (1304). There will be two new teams in 2006. We are trying to get at least two more new schools on the north shore (Slidell and Covington) making eight in total. NASA will sponsor the regional and guarantee at least 30 teams. The Lake Front Arena at UNO will probable not be the site and the Ponchertrain Center in Meterie will most likely will be the choice, mainly because of the availability to hotels and restaurants. For 2006 NASA has $100,000 available to sponsor New Orleans and Louisiana schools. By 2007 the goal is to have at least 10 teams from Louisiana. BLAST (Building Louisiana Science and Technology) a group of volunteers from major business and universities in the New Orleans area are providing the groundwork and support for getting the regional. This will involve getting the corporate sponsors necessary to fund an endeavor of this size. You guys at Gulfport (364) might like to get involved.

[Koko Ed]

Looking over the FIRST map the Northeast is all tapped out. The West (particularly the Northwest) is underdeveloped and remember, it's not just about giving something for current teams to do but to spur the growth of FIRST in a given area. I think Seattle is a good bet. New Orleans (especially if they happen to wrestle the championship away from Atlanta. Dallas. Washington, DC. Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Salt Lake City all look like good bets.
Surprisingly there hasn't been alot of talk about what the new regionals will be next year like there was last year.