Posted by Mike.
Student on team #175, Buzz, from Enrico Fermi High School and UTC - Hamilton Standard Space Systems.
Posted on 10/13/99 9:14 PM MST
Hello,
My name is Mike Dubreuil and I’m a student on the Buzz team. I can fully understand why teams are trying to avoid our regional. Our team has tried to sway the opinions of those who do the desicion making that do not wish to have it anywhere else. However, our efforts have obviously failed. What we need now is good reasons from actual people of why you do not feel The Meadows Music Theatre is a good place to hold a FIRST event. It is fine if you would like to post your opinion to the board or e-mail me ([email protected]). Please include your name, team member type (student, engineer, advisor), team number, team name, and a brief explanation to support your opinion. Thank you very much.
Posted by Gary Gabriel.
Engineer on team #121, Islanders, from Middletown High School and Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
Posted on 10/14/99 10:27 AM MST
In Reply to: Hartford Regional posted by Mike on 10/13/99 9:14 PM MST:
Mike,
The main, and only real, reason we will be going to Rutgers instead of Hartford is the timing. We just didn’t feel there would be enough time between the Hartford Regional and the Nationals and the events were too close together to justify the amount of time the teachers and students would have to miss school. Having worked on many field teams, I am personally terrified of short ship dates and 3 days is way beyond my stress level! (thats ship it out Mon 3 April and hope it get’s there Wed 5 April) Shipments get delayed and lost too easily. Beleive me we would have LOVED to stay close to home and save the travel money for Nationals but so be it. We felt the minimum of time between Regionals and Nationals would have to be two weeks.
Have fun, Gary Gabriel Team 121
Posted by Joe Johnson. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 10/14/99 6:41 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Hartford Regional posted by Gary Gabriel on 10/14/99 10:27 AM MST:
FIRST,
Now is the time to speak up on the shipping issue with regard to the last two regionals.
Lack of information could be driving people to decisions that they would not make if they had the whole story.
To all teams:
Consider driving your own robot down to FL.
With a lockable robot box and pre-planning with FIRST, you can have another team (or even some local person of good repute, a Congressman for instance) lock your robot up, thus fulfilling FIRST’s ‘out of your hands’: requirement.
Then drive your own robot down. Once at the competition, FIRST can provide you the means to unlock your box (usually the combination faxed to FIRST by the locker or the key FedExed to FIRST or a bolt cutter if all else fails ;-).
The drive is not particularly pleasant, but it is fairly reliable, even given a 3 day shipping window.
Consider it if it works for you. It is very nice knowing that if your robot is not there on time, at least you know where it is.
Joe J.