2010 Chesapeake Regional - NEW Location!

The Chesapeake Regional is back again! Please note that the location is DIFFERENT! In previous years, the event has been held in the Halsey Field House at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

This year, the event will be at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Personally, while I loved Annapolis and thought it was a great location, I am extremely excited to be attending a regional at the convention center. I attended an event on May 30th this year where some local teams got the chance to show off their bots at a NASA Expo, and the place is terrific! I’m really looking forward to it.

More info:

Date: March 11-13, 2010
Location: NEW Baltimore Convention Center
Volunteer Coordinator: Livinda Dunham (e-mail address coming as soon as I OK it with her)
Website: http://www.chesapeakefirst.org/

I look forward to seeing many teams there!

Edit 3: Revenge of the Edit

There are many volunteer positions open for the event. Please see the flyer in the following link and sign up to volunteer in VIMS:
http://chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/volunteerpositions.html

Local planning committee has posted hotel suggestions:
http://chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/venuebaltimore.html

I dont think we will be going this year, because it`s one week after the D.C. Regional and it might not be a good idea if our robot needs to be modified and we only have one week to spare :frowning:

I wonder what the pit setup will be there in comparison to the Naval Academy

Team 708 will be joining the Chesapeake Regional this year. Anyone know of good places to eat around the convention center???

I have no idea how close they are to the convention center, but six Baltimore locations have been in Guy Fieri’s Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins shows - They might be worth checking out.

Welcome to the Chesapeake Regional! While I, too, will miss the USNA and Annapolis - the Convention Center will be a great venue. It is centrally located, within walking distance of the Inner Harbor and the Galleria Shopping Center. The Inner Harbor has a wide variety of places to eat, and the Galleria has a small, but nice food court. While you are there, the Baltimore Science Center is also a great place to visit.

Here is a link to some of the places to eat in the Inner Harbor
http://baltimore.org/dining-and-nightlife/neighborhood/17

See you all soon!

Steve

Will be going out to the 2010 Chesapeake Teams after ship day.

Calling All Student Volunteers!
**

  1. Student Ambassadors.** For the 5th year we are recruiting students to serve as Student Ambassadors. The Student Ambassadors will have a one hour training on Thursday March 11, 2010 from 1-2pm at the Baltimore Convention Center.

    • After training the students receive a name tag and will sign up for 2 hour time slots on Friday and Saturday. Students may sign up for numerous time slots. Students on the drive team should not sign up to be Student Ambassadors.
    • Each year there are students who discover they shine in this role and provide a valuable service introducing VIP’s, school groups and the public to FIRST.
    • If your team has invited Team VIP’s (your sponsors, partners, elected officials) please forward on their contacts so the Chesapeake VIP Coordinator can welcome them, and we can connect them with your team when they arrive.

2. Student Singers. The Chesapeake Regional also has a proud tradition of having students from the teams join together to sing the National Anthem during opening ceremonies on Friday and Sat. Interested students will meet at 10 am on Thursday March 19 to select a student leader and figure out practice times/locations each day.

Announcements will also be made in the pits and sign up for both positions will be ongoing Thursday morning.

Please send the names of students on your team who might want to be Student Ambassadors or Student Singers to Jenny Beatty <snip>

2849 will be theier

Sent to all the teams.

Team Social Update
We are planning two optional events for all Chesapeake Regional participants on Friday night, March 12.

* After the closing ceremonies on Friday, teams are invited to stay at the Convention Center upstairs (2nd floor) area for a pizza and beverage social time.  There will be music, karaoke, some pizza and drinks (but maybe not a full dinner for a hungry teen) and time to meet each other and relax a little.  This event is free to all team members and runs until 8pm.  We would like a head count for planning, so please let me know how many of your team members will come.  Send an estimate to me, Bill Duncan: 
* All teams are invited to the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer league game at the 1st Mariner Arena (two blocks from the Convention Center).  The game starts at 7:35pm and will be followed by a concert by the band Hawk Nelson.  The Baltimore Blast have generously provided discount coupons for $10 tickets; we will distribute the coupons to all teams on Thursday, then you pay for the tickets at the 1st Mariner Arena box office.

For those planning other meals during the Chesapeake Regional, some food options are posted on the Chesapeake Regional website.

Ruth’s Chris steak house – a bit high-brow, but the food is to-die-for and the service is excellent.

Phillip seafood is good, right in the inner harbor and only blocks from the center.

I can’t recommend any of the hotel restaurants, not even at the Renaissance.

A little farther away, but still close is Little Italy, can’t go wrong there.

Basically, google for “baltimore inner harbor restaurants”.

Edit: Not nearby, not even on the city, but the world’s best crabcakes – http://www.gandmcrabcakes.com/

We love Baltimore – see you there.

More on food:
http://chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/food.html

I’m looking forward to a new venue experience! :yikes:

Wetzel

Vol. Coordinator is still recruiting a couple more helpers for field assembly on Wed. Sign up in the VIMS. Find the link here: http://chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/volunteerpositions.html

Updated info on load-in posted here: http://chesapeakefirst.org/regionalcompetition/parkingandloading.html

The Chesapeake Regional will be welcoming 50 teams in a couple of days to the Baltimore Convention Center. 10 states and DC will be represented. Some old friends, and some new teams. The committee hopes to have a couple of fun surprise guests, bringing in some local flavor.

Lots of info here: http://www.chesapeakefirst.org/home.html

Looks like rain in the forecast for the entire time so bring your umbrellas.

I’ll be there, catching a train Wed morning. :slight_smile:

Come find me and say hi, I’ll usually be around the field.

Wetzel

The regional is being webcast. You can to it from the Chesapeake regional homepage mentioned in the last post or directly at:

livestream.com/chesapeakefirst

Except there’s no video on the page. Just a big, white box…

You have to wait to get on. Only 50 viewers allowed. I waited fora couple minutes and got on! Thanks for the link!

I moved to a PC and got right on. Still nothing on the Mac though, not even a “there are too many viewers” message.