Registration 2012

[thefro526]

I'm under the impression that most wait listed Regional teams eventually get in somewhere... Is this true?

We've never been wait listed for a regional before, or at least not since I've been around so I'm sort of lost on this one.

[Mark McLeod]

Ultimately, that comes down to how flexible teams are able to be.

Being on a waitlist doesn't get you into a particular competition.
Every year venues do fill up and waitlisted teams do get turned away.
Smoky Mountain had that very public problem last year and had to ask if two veteran teams would willing trade their slots to rookies in exchange for a different event. BAE, SBPLI, NYC, and others have to turn teams away each year. Most teams are able to switch events, especially in the high event density of the East and FiM/MAR. Some of them cannot. Room is made for everyone to play at least once though. That's what reserving some slots for waitlists helps guarantee.

FIRST will work with teams to find a substitute event, but the practicality of the event change depends on the team being able to take on any additional travel/food/housing expense, not having a conflict for an alternate weekend, school board approval for crossing state/country boarders, etc.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I'm under the impression that most wait listed Regional teams eventually get in somewhere... Is this true?

We've never been wait listed for a regional before, or at least not since I've been around so I'm sort of lost on this one.

Last year we were really revved up to travel out to the west coast for a competition. Based on scheduling and expenses, we decided on registering for the San Diego regional. We got in what we thought was pretty early, but still ended up on the wait list.

A few emails exchanged with the regional director painted the picture pretty clearly for us. With the amount of teams in the region that were sitting on the wait list, and rookie teams needing available spots, we were highly unlikely to get in. The director didn't completely rule it out (which actually made things a little more complicated because the ball was in our court so to speak). We ended up making the decision to register for a regional that wasn't full and assure ourselves of travel plans, etc.

It worked out great for us in the long run. We had a great time in New Orleans at the Bayou regional, and met a lot of awesome teams. Just a quick anecdote of our experience on a regional waitlist FWIW.

-Brando

[Travis Hoffman]

I'm happy to see 71 sign up for Queen City. Now only if we could get into Midwest, we could see them twice (or more).

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I'm happy to see 71 sign up for Queen City. Now only if we could get into Midwest, we could see them twice (or more).

--confused-- I don't see 48 on the list.

QCR has a great mix of veterans and rookies. I'm excited to see this new event and location.

[Chris is me]

We're waitlisted for Boston and CT (likely changing to NYC waitlist). Whichever we get in, we'll go to, if we have the money. A lot is hanging on a few grants, but this could be Shaker's first three event season ever.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Taylor

--confused-- I don't see 48 on the list.

QCR has a great mix of veterans and rookies. I'm excited to see this new event and location.

We signed up for the Midwest waitlist 2nd to prove to Dan Green we really really really want to go there.

I'm keeping a close eye on the QC spots left. 19 at last check.

The question I have is, if we can't get in to Midwest, where would we go as a backup? Week 4 or 5. Hmm....

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Last year we were really revved up to travel out to the west coast for a competition. Based on scheduling and expenses, we decided on registering for the San Diego regional. We got in what we thought was pretty early, but still ended up on the wait list.

A few emails exchanged with the regional director painted the picture pretty clearly for us. With the amount of teams in the region that were sitting on the wait list, and rookie teams needing available spots, we were highly unlikely to get in. The director didn't completely rule it out (which actually made things a little more complicated because the ball was in our court so to speak). We ended up making the decision to register for a regional that wasn't full and assure ourselves of travel plans, etc.

It worked out great for us in the long run. We had a great time in New Orleans at the Bayou regional, and met a lot of awesome teams. Just a quick anecdote of our experience on a regional waitlist FWIW.

-Brando

Thanks for the insight Brando.

We're sort of between a rock and a hard place right now. NYC was the only regional that was logistically and financially viable for us. We don't really have the budget to travel all that far, and NYC was right on the cusp of our day travel limit (2 Hours there and back isn't going to be fun 3 days in a row) and the only other event would have been Chesapeake, which conflicts with our Week 2 district...

I guess we'll give it some time and then see if we can beg our way in.

[KevinGoneNuts]

Thank you everyone! We got an email this morning that we were taken off the wait list for SVR and we're registered there now. We're on the wait list for SAC currently. Apparently you can't add another event until you have been officially registered at one event. Thank you for all your help everyone!!

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

1800 teams this morning.

Close to 270 teams or three weeks ahead of last year at this time.
...

1800/(1800-270) = 1.1765

So, if things hold up, that's a 17.6% increase over last year. That sounds pretty good.

Is that a typical year-over-year increase or is it a big enough change to merit notice?

Blake

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by thefro526

Thanks for the insight Brando.

We're sort of between a rock and a hard place right now. NYC was the only regional that was logistically and financially viable for us. We don't really have the budget to travel all that far, and NYC was right on the cusp of our day travel limit (2 Hours there and back isn't going to be fun 3 days in a row) and the only other event would have been Chesapeake, which conflicts with our Week 2 district...

I guess we'll give it some time and then see if we can beg our way in.

The only advice I would give is to get in touch with the RD as soon as you can (if you haven't already). Try to find out some information regarding the waitlist (# of teams, # of rookies, # of local teams, etc.) and inform them of your situation. Getting involved in the process early can only help your cause.

-Brando

[Doug G]

Originally Posted by Madison

I have a novel idea.

First come, first served.

I am beyond aggravated with FIRST and TIMS right now.

If only they had an online system to support 1000+ requests in a matter of minutes.

And automatically register a rookie team in their home regional.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

We signed up for the Midwest waitlist 2nd to prove to Dan Green we really really really want to go there.

I'm keeping a close eye on the QC spots left. 19 at last check.

The question I have is, if we can't get in to Midwest, where would we go as a backup? Week 4 or 5. Hmm....

Wisconsin is really lacking outside teams this year...just sayin'...

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Wisconsin is really lacking outside teams this year...just sayin'...

But you might not get to use power tools, so watch out

[Mark McLeod]

• 470 out of state/country plays (not counting Championship) - this is a little misleading for border events, such as Kansas City
• 663 extra events including Championship & 2nd Districts

Here's where the rookie teams (so far) are going to play:
# rookies -- Event
18 ---- Montreal

14 ---- Los Angeles

11 ---- Orlando
11 ---- Midwest
11 ---- Pittsburgh

9 ----- Oregon
9 ----- San Diego

8 ----- Bayou
8 ----- Smoky Mountain

7 ----- Peachtree
7 ----- Boilermaker
7 ----- NYC

6 ----- Arizona
6 ----- South Florida
6 ----- Toronto-West

5 ----- Alamo
5 ----- Boston
5 ----- Buckeye
5 ----- Palmetto
5 ----- Spokane

4 ----- Dallas E
4 ----- Seattle-Cascade
4 ----- Seattle-Olympic
4 ----- WPI

3 ----- Central Valley
3 ----- Dallas W
3 ----- Finger Lakes
3 ----- Lake Superior
3 ----- MAR-Chestnut
3 ----- Oklahoma
3 ----- Silicon Valley
3 ----- Utah
3 ----- Waterloo
3 ----- Wisconsin

2 ----- Colorado
2 ----- Connecticut
2 ----- DC
2 ----- Long Island
2 ----- MAR-Mount
2 ----- Chesapeake
2 ----- MI-Traverse
2 ----- MI-Troy
2 ----- MI-West
2 ----- St. Louis
2 ----- North Carolina
2 ----- Las Vegas
2 ----- Queen City
2 ----- Lone Star
2 ----- Virginia

1 ----- 10000 Lakes
1 ----- Granite State
1 ----- Hawaii
1 ----- Kansas City
1 ----- MAR-Lenape
1 ----- MAR-Rutgers
1 ----- MI-Waterford
1 ----- North Star
1 ----- Sacramento