2024 Orange County Regional

Competition Regional Competitions
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All regionals should have threads. There, I said it.

Event Website | Agenda

We’ve been an earlier event for the last several years, but we’re going to week 5 this year March 27-30, 2024.

Looking forward to welcoming 48 teams to the Orange County Regional in Costa Mesa, California!

We’re welcoming four international teams: 5887 (Mexico), 8805 (Taiwan), 9301 (Mexico), 9598 (China); one out of state team: 9037 (Utah); and teams from all over California.

We have a Championship division Engineering Inspiration winner and a five-time Championship division winner in our company.

It should be great fun!

But Jared, what volunteers does Orange County need?

Thanks for asking! We’re looking for a few more Field Resetters, one more Queuer, a Machine Shop Attendant, and a Quiet Room Attendant (Fri only). We’ll also still accept more Robot Inspectors and any students who want to help with safety or the practice field.

If there are any teams who want to help with teardown, we’d love the help. Please connect with me.

We know it’s the happiest place on earth, but what else?

Yes, Disneyland is less than 20 minutes from the venue. If you’re looking for a fun team activity at night, check out Joe’s Italian Ice for Italian ice/ice cream, head to the Irvine Spectrum Center and ride the “Giant Wheel”/grab some dinner, or visit the many nearby beaches.

If you’re looking to make a college tour out of things, Vanguard University and Orange Coast College are both literally across the street, and it’s just a short drive from University of California - Irvine, Chapman University, and many more.

Other things to know:

  • Parking is very easy at the venue, but there is a fee for teams, parents, and other attendees. It’s not worth trying to find free or cheaper parking – it’ll be quite the walk and you won’t save much.

  • The venue is indoor/outdoor with the pits and field being in two separate buildings, connected by an outdoor courtyard. We hope it won’t rain, but if it does, you’ll want a way to keep yourself and your robot dry between buildings.

  • Outside “commercially prepared” food is not allowed (read: big catering orders) but individually packed sack lunches are fine. We’ll have several food trucks on site and the venue also offers their own catering service to teams. There’s not much walking distance, but there is a great park across the street where your team may wish to gather. It’s a few minutes away, so plan accordingly.

  • It’s likely too late, but if not (or for next time!), avoid LAX and go to the far more convenient SNA – Orange County’s local airport.

  • Bring the good vibes. We like to keep things low stress at Orange County. It’s about having fun, getting play time, and the teams enjoying themselves as much as possible. If you’re not having a great time, find me and let’s change that.

Not to be confused with: FNC District Orange County Event 2024

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Looking forward to Game Announcing here again! Orange County was such a great time last year (despite the protest from my vocal chords). Kind of disappointed I’ve never been to this event as a competitor, I would have loved it.

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Excited to come back again this year, secretly hoping for more shenanigans and crazy twists reminiscent of last year. Regardless, looks like a great roster, will be fun to see everyone there!

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Team 4276 is happy our home event is also our second! Always nice to end the regional competitions at home.

Speaking of volunteering… OC has often had a “bumper help” area. Is that something we can get going for this year? I’d be happy to get my team on board.

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I think this is just something that kind of happens organically…I love the idea of actually making an effort to do this. I’m not sure that we can set aside space or anything in advance, but I would not be opposed to the inspection station also having some bumper resources nearby :slight_smile:

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Wish we could have got in.
Low priority since we’re not from Cali.:slightly_frowning_face:
Instead we have to do a song and dance and go to Chicago.

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Heyyy, Imperator 5887 over here, were so glad you welcomed us in your regional, we are very very excited to see you guys over there and hopefully make some new friendships for our team. We were also kind of looking what to do apart from Disneyland so we’ll take into consideration those places you talk about. Also is there any good hotel close to the venue? Tysm and see you in week 5.

-Imperator 5887

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What day(s) will you be here in addition to the event days? Sunday after the event is the Easter holiday, so a lot of things will be closed, but the places that are open should be pretty quiet which is nice.

Unfortunately there is not much that is walking distance. The airport hotels near SNA are only about a 10-minute drive away, and there are a lot of good options there. You’ll save money looking for a hotel away from the beach rather than towards it.

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We are considering arriving on sunday 24 and leaving sunday 30 so we’ll have monday tuesday and wednesday after loading the robot for visiting.

Ohh so airport hotels we’ll try and search for them, is there any hotel in specific you recommend? Thanks

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I haven’t stayed at that many of the hotels around, but here are some you may want to check out:

  • Best Western Newport Mesa (one of the closest to the venue)
  • DoubleTree SNA airport
  • Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa
  • Holiday Inn Express Costa Mesa
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Perfect, thank you so much, anything else I’ll write you. Good luck on your competitions.

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Personally been to every OCR event since it was founded (and was a member of its original RPC when the event was hosted at UCI). Looking forward to another fun competition!

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With load in just 20 days away, we need just a few more volunteers:

(1) Queuer - ThuFriSat all dya
(1) Safety Attendant - Thu 2:00pm-8:00pm
(1) Safety Attendant - Fri all day
(1) Practice Field Attendant - Fri all day
(3) Field Reset - Thu all day
(1) Judge Room Assistant - Fri all day

Hope to see you there whether you’re volunteering, with a team, or just enjoying the sunshine (we WILL have sunshine and if not, I WILL not eat a shoe).

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Where is the venue for this event? Same as Beach Blitz? Does it have the same feel?
Orange County is such a nice area to visit and lots to do on the side.

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OC Fairgrounds, in the Hangar and one of the nearby exhibit halls.

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Lots of overlapping volunteers. Same no stress, no BS vibes.

But at the end of the day, it’s an official Regional event so some things feel a little different.

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Well, it’ll be a little different with some of the volunteers on the competing side of things :wink:

Excited to see everyone in a few days!

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Atmosphere for these two events is the best of any i’ve gone to. Friendly people, lotta good teams (it’s gonna be a bloodbath this year) and good space. The seating area is also super nice, easily accessed and a good place to chill other than the stands/pit if you need it. One of my favs for sure

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Thanks for the responses. Sounds like a great event to attend. Good luck everyone! We are home making spare parts at the moment, then fly to Chicago. Our robot just arrived there via Salt Lake City.

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Aside from there being only one water bottle filler, it’s pretty good. :grinning: