Invite to US teams to attend Waterloo Regional

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I know at least a few Michigan FRC teams have registered for out of state events (I believe one at Buckeye in Week 1 and two at Pittsburgh in Week 3 - there may be more at other non-MI regionals), so there is a precedent. As far as I know, no one has erected any outposts to stop MI FRC teams from crossing your state borders, so maybe Waterloo would work for some MI teams?

There are two registered for WI as well, 141 and 1502.

[J Flex 188]

Since this thread doesn't really need any more FIRST star power endorsing hehe, I figure I would throw in the perspective of a college mentor who's been away from the game for a year. Having been away, I can safely say that the regional I look most forward to attending is going to be Waterloo.

The GTR is historic and always a good time, but its something about the PAC in Waterloo, when it actually gets crowded to the rafters and people are yelling and screaming for their teams, way more for them than I'm sure any other team besides the UW Badminton team gets to hear in the PAC.

Seriously though, for a ton of real fun in a regional that isnt so cavernous and still has the magic of an intimate FIRST event, for the best and most welcoming teams, volunteers, committee members and FANS of FIRST, head to Waterloo this year, I know I will be!

[B - Morris]

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has so enthusiastically given support of the regional on this thread.
Now, the Waterloo regional stands at 9 teams registered and we desperately need teams to ensure that we can continue hosting this FRC event. Open registration starts Nov. 6th, so give some thought to coming to Waterloo.

Any team trying to decide on a second event, Waterloo is for you!
Hope to see some of you there!

[Nawaid Ladak]

I've been wanting to go to waterloo for a few years now, but i can't drag myself up to canada for some reason, cash is tight so i can't come this year.... and i want to go to the Olympics in Vancover next year so that puts Waterloo and GTR on wait until 2011 for me

another issue thats came up unlike previous years, you now DO need a passport to get into Canada, before, all you needed was a U.S. Birth Certificate or some ofther form of documantation telling the border officals that you were a U.S. Citizen.

I was actually going to go up to Toronto for something else next weekend, until i realized the passport issue which mine is expired....

Waterloo is always fun to watch on the webcast, it's the most fun i've had watching a webcast of any FIRST event. if you cannot make it to the regional, make sure you watch Karthik and Paul do their MCing (pushups anyone). and you WILL want to go the next year.

plus, my favorite elimination match from 2007 was played on the field at waterloo: (qf 2.4, not on TBA, but i will hunt it down from my computer and post a link later)

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

another issue thats came up unlike previous years, you now DO need a passport to get into Canada, before, all you needed was a U.S. Birth Certificate or some ofther form of documantation telling the border officals that you were a U.S. Citizen.

Strictly speaking, for crossings by land, for American or Canadian citizens entering Canada, proof of citizenship and identity (e.g. with a birth certificate and driver's licence) are required. If exiting from Canada to the U.S. via land before June 1, 2009, the same documents are sufficient for Canadian and U.S. citizens. (After that date, the WHTI requirements come into full force, and passports or other approved documents will be required for entry into the U.S..)

The websites of the U.S. Department of State and the Canada Border Services Agency provide a more comprehensive set of details. Consult those sites for the most reliable information on this subject.

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

I was actually going to go up to Toronto for something else next weekend, until i realized the passport issue which mine is expired....

So that might actually mean that you can enter Canada (and return to the U.S.) legally, in the near future.

[Raumiester2010]

As a member of team 68 I would like to say that I love it at Waterloo, it is a really great venue and the attitude there is really nice. (that and the fact that there usually is only a few teams there so we all get a lot of time to tinker with our robot and compete more) Each year that I have been on the team, I have always enjoyed Waterloo and it is depressing to say that it looks like we most likely wont be able to attend Waterloo this year... We are signed up for the Troy/Athens and the Kettering District events and we cant get our robot through shipping to Waterloo then get it back in time for our next event... (we had issues last year with shipping) Sorry to be the one to break the bad news.

[bigbeezy]

1592 went to Waterloo in 2007 and loved it. Great atmosphere, tough competition.

One thing that is a pain and kinda discourages US teams from crossing the border would be passports, when we went you could still drive across w/o them but now u must them for air, land and sea crossings. This tacks on about $100/person that doesnt have a passport and they would have to get them quickly.

Waterloo is a great regional and I'd love to go back. They were especially nice to let us play in the snow since we're from Florida

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by bigbeezy

One thing that is a pain and kinda discourages US teams from crossing the border would be passports, when we went you could still drive across w/o them but now u must them for air, land and sea crossings. This tacks on about $100/person that doesnt have a passport and they would have to get them quickly.

That just isn't true

Originally Posted by http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

CURRENTLY:
U.S. citizens need to present either (a) a passport, passport card (scheduled to be in full production beginning in July 2008), or WHTI-compliant document; or (b) a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

LATER:
On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have a passport, passport card, or WHTI-compliant document.

[B - Morris]

Tom's right, you do not yet need passports to enter Canada by land (not a 100% positive about air), just valid ID.
Perhaps you could talk to your team about this, and see if they would consider Waterloo. We'd love to see you make a return trip from Florida!

P.S. I'll either be helping team 2702 or volunteering, but if you do come look me up and us Canadians will show you what a real snowball fight looks like.
P.P.S. I'm in Waterloo now, and we already have snow

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

That just isn't true

Thanks for correcting that info.

Just a point of order, but I clearly presented these facts on WHTI travel guidelines in a post earlier in this thread. Maybe everything I say is invisible when posted to the Internet..... Everyone ignore me - it's fun!

[B - Morris]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Thanks for correcting that info.

Just a point of order, but I clearly presented these facts on WHTI travel guidelines in a post earlier in this thread. Maybe everything I say is invisible when posted to the Internet..... Everyone ignore me - it's fun!

Hahaha... Thanks for your help Travis!
FYI, I have experience with doing shipping and customs papers (I took care of it for two teams last year), and I am going to go over my information and talk to the people I know at Customs and try to make sure that I can get a packet of information put together for any U.S. team coming into Canada for their robot shipments and for bringing in their tools, etc. Hopefully this will help encourage any teams who are worried about the logistics involved.

Thanks!

[Jonathan Norris]

Originally Posted by B - Morris

Hahaha... Thanks for your help Travis!
FYI, I have experience with doing shipping and customs papers (I took care of it for two teams last year), and I am going to go over my information and talk to the people I know at Customs and try to make sure that I can get a packet of information put together for any U.S. team coming into Canada for their robot shipments and for bringing in their tools, etc. Hopefully this will help encourage any teams who are worried about the logistics involved.

Thanks!

B - Morris, I would recommend any US team interested in traveling to Waterloo get in contact with the regional director Karen Rosenthal. She will have all the information the teams need and facilitate the shipping arrangements.

[B - Morris]

Jonathan, yes, working through Karen is a good idea. I am a new member of the Waterloo Regional Planning Committee, and I have also worked with Karen in the past. I helped get everything straightened out for shipping into the U.S. last year, as well as helped make sure teams had the paperwork filled out properly to get back to Canada from Atlanta.
We are working on making it simpler for teams to travel into Canada, so if you might be interested then you can let Karen know and we'll do whatever we can do to help.

[Jonathan Norris]

So regional registration is closed and Waterloo stands at 23 teams, hopefully another team will pop in there late to give us 24 teams (and hopefully no one drops off...).

Looking at the team list this year it is painfully obvious that most of the well known 'veteran' Canadian teams are not attending Waterloo this year: 1114, 188, 610, 771, 772, 1006, 1503, ect. It is too bad that these great teams will not be attending Waterloo this year, but I think it will give an opportunity for teams like 854, 1305, 2056, 2609 and other lesser known teams to shine (I'm bringing my rookie team with many familiar faces), many of whom have been overshadowed by the giant that is 1114.

As for why these teams are not attending Waterloo this year, from my understanding it has more to do with yearly complaint that Waterloo is the weekend before GTR, and in these tough economic times funding is tough to come by. Hopefully we will see a return of these great Canadian teams in the future to support Canada's second regional (or as I wish for every year Waterloo is moved to a earlier week).

[Pat Fairbank]

Speaking for 1503, we really regret not being able to attend Waterloo this year. With General Motors being our primary sponsor, and given the automotive industry's ongoing financial troubles, we only have enough funding for two regionals in 2009, and chose Finger Lakes over Waterloo as our second regional because it's not back-to-back with GTR (which our GM sponsorship obligates us to attend).

I'll be there volunteering as the scorekeeper again, though. Waterloo's still my favourite regional, and I'm sure the 2009 edition will be a blast!