California Offseason Event Feedback

[R.C.]

"Team 1323 is trying to put together a post-season regional in Fresno CA right in the heart of the Central Valley. In order to do so we need support from FSU so that they may provide us a venue and we need the support of FIRST so that no rights are broken. The only way we can get the support of both is by getting feedback from teams that would want to attend the competition. It would be open to anyone and run with exactly the same rules and regulations used by FIRST. It would be held over three days in June, July, or August, but most likely July. Expected price to attend would be around $300. The event would be non profit and price to attend would be the very least possible to run the competition. Shipping would be the responsibility of the teams attending.

If your team would come to this competition please add a comment to this thread saying so. We need a list so that we have an estimate of how large this will be and so that we can assure FIRST and FSU that this event will be worth supporting. This is NOT a binding agreement in any way. All teams who say they will come will be immediately notified when official sign-ups are released but this is just so we can get a better perspective of the turnout we can expect to see.

Feedback is welcome. Please mention your views on the subject.

Staff is taken care of but if you would like to volunteer please email the address below. If you have connections that may help with this effort they would be greatly appreciated and should email the below address as well.
Please email your questions to the address below for an immediate response. All received emails will be replied to."

josh_1323@yahoo.com

Thank you.

-----1323

[Akash Rastogi]

"The event would be non profit"

Why would you guys go to this much effort without any aim for a profit? I understand you not wanting to fundraise this way, but whatever money you make, use it in your educational programs at school or for scholarships/funding other teams. Do not waste an opportunity to fundraise.

[Matt Howard]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

"The event would be non profit"

Why would you guys go to this much effort without any aim for a profit?

Perhaps because seeing the students engaged and learning is profit enough in his eyes. While the perks of fund raising are great, off season events such as this are a great way to gain public attention, and recruit team members, sponsors, and mentors.

This is a great Idea. I'd be willing to bet our team would like to attend.

[Johnny]

The Devil Duckies used to hold an offseason event, but for the last three years it has been cancelled due to the unfortunate San Diego Wild Fires. If things don't end up catching on fire, there is a high possibility that the "Battle at the Border" will return.

[David Brinza]

Our team makes it a point to support multiple off-season events. It's a great way to introduce people to the program and get more fun OUT of the robot. (After all, we've invested a lot of effort putting fun INTO the robot, right?)

Try to avoid scheduling near other established off-season events like IRI (end of July), SCRRF Fall Classic (mid-Sept), WRRF Cal Games (late-Oct), and Battle at the Border (TBD), so teams can relax a bit between events.

You can expect some offerings of help in preparing and executing the event from other teams. Keep us posted!!

[jmarsh24]

TEAM 2085!!!!!

[billbo911]

I believe you could count 2073 in.

[joshy1323]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

"The event would be non profit"

Why would you guys go to this much effort without any aim for a profit? I understand you not wanting to fundraise this way, but whatever money you make, use it in your educational programs at school or for scholarships/funding other teams. Do not waste an opportunity to fundraise.

You raise a great point, and we appreciate the input, but the purpose of this is not to make money. We would not want any teams to be left out of this event simply because they find it to be too expensive. What are the robots good for once the competition is over every year? I suppose they are good for doing demonstrations, and maybe a few teams turn them into T-shirt launchers, but for the most part they have very little function outside of the game. This event would be a chance to use the robots for what they were made for one last time. Or a second chance for teams that were disabled by silly unexpected problems. We are going to make sure that the prices we give are enough to provide insurance against unforeseen complications with running the competition, but we aren't going to milk fellow teams for profit.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

"The event would be non profit"

Why would you guys go to this much effort without any aim for a profit? I understand you not wanting to fundraise this way, but whatever money you make, use it in your educational programs at school or for scholarships/funding other teams. Do not waste an opportunity to fundraise.

Do teams usually run off-season events for a profit? At the Fembot's pre-ship scrimmage they sold snacks to make a bit of money, you might want to consider that as a small way to fundraise. Other than that, if you want a lot of teams to come, keeping the costs down will be a must. And keeping the costs down would be nice because I'm sure 1678 would like to come (and we don't have much money )

[Akash Rastogi]

I never said that you MUST make money for your own team.

Use any of the money earned to offer scholarhips, fund other teams, invest in your future offseason events.

RC told me why this is part of the venue deal though.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

I never said that you MUST make money for your own team.

Use any of the money earned to offer scholarhips, fund other teams, invest in your future offseason events.

RC told me why this is part of the venue deal though.

Yeah, Akash is right. For this season we want to host a tournament and FSU (Fresno State University) said they would pretty much lend the Venue free of charge if we had enough teams to go. Also since they are sponsoring and mentoring a team they appreciate FIRST robotics. They wanted to keep it non-profit, along with the reasons josh stated.

[Brad Voracek]

I'd definitely be interested, if I don't have an internship at the time.

I might still be able to get my team to go, thats relatively close to us, and I'd love to make the trip.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Yeah, Akash is right. For this season we want to host a tournament and FSU (Fresno State University) said they would pretty much lend the Venue free of charge if we had enough teams to go. Also since they are sponsoring and mentoring a team they appreciate FIRST robotics. They wanted to keep it non-profit, along with the reasons josh stated.

Getting the venue donated is a great deal, its will make your life a whole lot easier when you plan out the details for the competition. Another thing I was thinking about was the 3 day competition length you mention. I've never actually heard of an off-season competition lasting that long. You might run into problems with teams not willing to shell out the extra money for travel costs, which is I think why off-season competitions are traditionally 1-2 days.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Another thing I was thinking about was the 3 day competition length you mention. I've never actually heard of an off-season competition lasting that long. You might run into problems with teams not willing to shell out the extra money for travel costs, which is I think why off-season competitions are traditionally 1-2 days.

IRI is three days, if you count Thursday load-in. (I'm not sure if any practice matches are run then.)

Take out practice matches and trim it to 2 days, and you'll probably get more people.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

"Team 1323 is trying to put together a post-season regional in Fresno CA right in the heart of the Central Valley. In order to do so we need support from FSU so that they may provide us a venue and we need the support of FIRST so that no rights are broken.
<snip>
Feedback is welcome. Please mention your views on the subject.

Have you already discussed use of a field with FIRST? Or do you plan to use field elements (boundary, driver stations, regolith, FMS, etc.) from WRRF or other teams?

Last year, SCRRF worked with WRRF to borrow the overpass/lane divider field elements for the Fall Classic and Cal Games. Be aware that FIRST will require a significant deposit, plus insurance on the field and the event itself. Also, you will be responsible for transportation costs of the field to/from NH.

Let us know if you'll need help with these logistics...