9 Spots Open Hawaii Regional?

[TKM.368]

Indeed, the event capacity is expected to be approximately 36. There is one Hawaii team listed taking a mainland spot so there should be a waitlisted team who will make it as well.

Event Information:
Hawaii Regional (click event name for agenda, match results, awards, etc.)
Manoa Valley, Oahu, HI USA
Dates: 3/27/2008 - 3/29/2008
View the 9 teams registered for this event
Pending Teams: 0
Open Capacity: 0

Limited availability of openings necessary to accommodate the Rookie teams recruited in Hawaii for this regional. If these teams do not materialize then we can open up for others interested in attending.

[waiakea2024]

For the Hawaii Regional, Our govenor wanted more teams from Hawaii to join and participate, so FIRST graciously granted us about 25 teams. As for the 9 slots, I am not sure why there are so few. I was told that there was going to be at least 20 open. Yes there are going to be many rookie teams, but we are trying to push FIRST and robotics out here. This past year, my team and I traveled to San Jose, and we were promoting the regional there. We pushed for it at nationals too, yet we were very busy. I dont think there was a mistake in the list. It wouldnt be suprising if the teams are filled with California teams, due to the fact it is easier, to get here from California. Our mentor told us he was watching as registration opened and in less than a minute, the slots were filled. Sorry if you didnt get in, but that is our situation.

[Richard Wallace]

As of this afternoon the FIRST site shows 15 FRC teams based in Hawaii. Ten of these are 2008 rookies and all of those rookie teams have registered for the Hawaii regional. The five veteran teams have all registered for other regionals, and it is probably a safe bet that spots are being held for those teams so they can also attend their own home regional.

I don't see anything wrong with this. Similar situations exist in other regions; for example, three teams based in Indiana decided to register for the Great Lakes regional. It is probably a safe bet that spots are being held for those teams so they can also attend their own home regional (Boilermaker). Nothing wrong there, either.

It is reasonable for us to ask how each regional director or planning committee chair decides the proper number of spots to be held open for situations like this; reasonable to ask, but maybe we shouldn't expect a public answer. For mature regionals, like Boilermaker, that question is easier to answer than for new regionals, like Hawaii.

[AmyPrib]

As far as I know, regionals should not be holding back any spots except for Rookies. If there are special instances, like for Hawaii, then I do not know about them. For Boilermaker, I was never given any choice or option to hold spots for Indiana/local teams. If I were, then perhaps 45 would have signed up somewhere else first, but that's not how it works. That would give a lot of "selective" power to the committees, and I wouldn't want to be in that position... it's not an "invitational". The spots that are held back are purely for rookies, which hasn't changed in the last few years. So if regionals are being given the choice to hold spots for teams other than rookies, then it is not a consistent thing across all events.

Originally Posted by Richard

I don't see anything wrong with this. Similar situations exist in other regions; for example, three teams based in Indiana decided to register for the Great Lakes regional. It is probably a safe bet that spots are being held for those teams so they can also attend their own home regional (Boilermaker). Nothing wrong there, either.

It is reasonable for us to ask how each regional director or planning committee chair decides the proper number of spots to be held open for situations like this; reasonable to ask, but maybe we shouldn't expect a public answer. For mature regionals, like Boilermaker, that question is easier to answer than for new regionals, like Hawaii.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by AmyPrib

As far as I know, regionals should not be holding back any spots except for Rookies. If there are special instances, like for Hawaii, then I do not know about them. For Boilermaker, I was never given any choice or option to hold spots for Indiana/local teams. ...

Thank you for correcting me, Amy.

So, now I wonder if those veteran Hawaii teams will be attending their home regional?

[mrs. p]

i guess i'm confused. we had signed up for hawaii and still hope to be able to go but had to withdraw and sign up for our local regional first since it was filling up. are there any open spots? are they all being saved for the new rookies?

thanks for your help

[Cory]

Originally Posted by mrs. p

i guess i'm confused. we had signed up for hawaii and still hope to be able to go but had to withdraw and sign up for our local regional first since it was filling up. are there any open spots? are they all being saved for the new rookies?

thanks for your help

I think the idea is that 20-25 slots are being held for Hawaiian teams. If those spots aren't all filled, the waitlisted mainland teams will then be allowed to fill them.

[1527Michiru]

I thought that they weren't allowed to hold spots for local teams unless they were rookies.
Does hawaii really have that many rookie teams? Or is it a porblem with FIRST?

Anyway. I know <u>we</u> were rather confused about it all when we first saw it. . . .

On another note, This is my first EVER post on chief Delphi!

Yeay for me!!!
~Casey

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by Cory

I think the idea is that 20-25 slots are being held for Hawaiian teams. If those spots aren't all filled, the waitlisted mainland teams will then be allowed to fill them.

Is this rumor or fact? - as a wait listed team that worked for a year prepping to go to this event I am deeply "concerned" about the situation (that is a translation- you guess for what). I would also like to know just when the decision to open the slots will be made. It is useless to us after all the other events are filled up. Do we even know the total capacity of the event? ( here we are being told that new FIRST events won't even be considered unless they hold 60 teams)

If anybody has real official news regarding this situation I would appreciate some view from beyond the darkness.

WC