I’m freshly back from IRI where I had a blast and I’m putting the final touches on our 2010-2011 budget.
This years plan has us attending two regionals (Philadelphia and one other) and us using our NASA pass to get to St. Louis. We will be attending
PARC
Bridgewater
Monty
Duel on the Delaware
Ramp Riot
IRI (if we get invited back)
Rochester Ruckus
IRI, Rochester require overnight stays, PARC would be nice, otherwise it’s a long day trip. If I include travel costs, I can go to the 7 off seasons for about the same cost as the second regional.
So my question is this, in light of tight budget constraints, is it worth it to do the second regional (and or Championships). If I pull those two line items out of my budget I could go to 1 Regional (Philly*) and 14 off-season events. (*Might as well go to the regional since it comes “free” with the kit of parts and Philly is an hour away)
If I look at the experience level, 15 events means I can get more / different roboteers to each event. I’m doing events almost every month so there is a constant flow of “build/repair for 3 weeks”, compete, repeat. Also it helps that when I get new students in I can grow them.
If I look at the “robotics is fun” level, then the off-seasons rock. All of us said flat out that IRI was the most fun at any competition. Most of us agree that the off seasons are far more fun than the regionals. If I’m trying to balance the lots of hard work now and fun later, I get more fun for my efforts.
Bottom line is I’m trying to stretch some very thin robot dollars as far as I can. I look at the FIRST $4000 regional cost vs 7 off seasons for the same $4000 and I’m not getting it.
(And yes for those of you that are going “Well didn’t we talk about this before” we did, but back in the days where money grew on Segways. Sponsor money is very very tight this year.)
Help enlighten me O Oracle of (chief) Delphi, why should I do more regionals? How do I maximize my dollars to inspiration ratio?
I love going to regionals. As one of my favorite mentors once said “They put the Inspiration in FIRST.”
You do make a valid point, however. I mean, our team doesn’t go to a lot of off-seasons, but I’m trying to fix that. From a student standpoint, regionals tend to be a bit more intense and thus some of the kids pick up on that intense pressure a little more than offseason and enjoy that level of competition more. I mean, that’s what events like IRI are for yes, but sadly no (most) teams can really guarantee if they’ll get in.
I would say try, if possible, to go to at least two, or a regional and champs. There’s something about that extra level of competition that really pulls some people in.
I think a certain balance has to be achieved between the number of regionals and off-seasons you go to. One of your options includes 14 off-seasons- this strikes me as very draining! Competitions are a lot of fun and a great learning experience, but they take a lot of energy for preparation and at the events themselves. Students and mentors and parents all need some time to rest and recover after competitions before preparing for the next, and I don’t know if that’s really possible with 14 off-season events. Everyone needs a bit of a break after the high-stress build season! Regionals also tend to draw crowds from more diverse locations, rather than just a local scale, so they allow the opportunity to interact with other teams. They also have a huge level of energy and excitement. On the other hand, if you attend a lot of off-seasons, lower team attendance will probably occur at each competition, which means more team members will have the opportunity to try out different roles on the team. I think you should opt for somewhere in the middle - maybe do two official competitions (either a regional and the Championship or two regionals), and a handful of off-seasons. This way there is a balance between the competition types and their different atmospheres, but no one burns out.
I’d say, 2 regionals and a bunch of offseasons. Offseasons are a great way to have fun, introduce new students (and faculty and sponsors) to the event without a lot of stress, and all that, but regionals tend to be more competitive and expose you to a wider variety of teams, all of whom can be learned from. The second regional will also give you more experience, should you qualify for Championships (and, for that matter, if money was really tight, you might be able to pull out of the second event and use the money to help with your Championship registration–but talk to the folks at FIRST on that one, I don’t know anything about how to do that).
While off seasons are a lot of fun, I think it is important to have multiple on season regionals and / or the Championship Event. You’ll get more events the other way, that’s true, but you won’t be getting the balanced competition, judging, awards recognition, or general “completion of the design process” that you would get from doing 15 off seasons or so.
At regionals, you’re competing against teams that have put all their efforts into their robots, as well as all their time. Off seasons, you may get teams training new drivers, teams that spent the entire summer rebuilding their robot, teams that barely showed up with a drive team, and teams that just don’t really care. You also rarely, if ever, replicate the judged aspects of a regional competition.
Off seasons to me are a bonus and a tool. They’re a bonus by giving you another event for very little money, and they are useful to give new team members a chance to experience something like a competition before the season begins. I don’t think they would work as a replacement for a regular season.
This line of thinking is a major reason why the district system is implemented in Michigan and will likely expand elsewhere in coming seasons. Ramp Riot costs us an order of magnitude less to orchestrate than a Regional, yet attending teams consistently tell us that it is just as fun, and frequently moreso. In terms of experience per $, off season events are simply unbeatable.
That said, Regionals do offer some things that off seasons never will. The audio/visual production, the scale, the diversity of teams from around the globe, and the competitiveness (IRI doesn’t count here, obviously :)) make for an atmosphere that definitely adds something to the overall experience, in my opinion. For some students (and mentors), the “magic” of an official event (rather than playing in their own gymnasium) is an integral part of their takeaway from FIRST. Is that magic worth $5k+ per event? Depends on the team and their circumstances.
On a personal level, Regionals are a time for our team to focus on our goal of competing hard on the field - something that we can do 2-4 times per year, but definitely not 14 times (I’m burnt out enough after Championships). There’s a reason Team 341 has won 5 Regionals in the past 4 years, but hasn’t performed up to that level in the off-season.
Fortunately, you don’t have to decide on Regionals vs. the offseason - you automatically get one Regional, and then can add a handful of conveniently timed and located offseasons at your convenience. Philly is an outstanding Regional; if money is tight, I wouldn’t think twice about forgoing a second official event.
My one suggestion, however, would be to work towards a trip to Championships at least once per 4 years, so every full-time team member has the opportunity to experience the “Superbowl of Smarts” at some time during their tenure.
Doing 3-4 events per year is key to improving your teams ability to make a quality robot.
Teams that only do 1 event will often have some sort of “issue” that keeps them from performing as well as they believe they could. Having a second event requires that you fix said issue. With a fixed bot, you can see how it really will perform relative to your design. In theory you will also get exposure to another 20-50 robots/teams depending on how far you travel and what event you go to. This also gives your team a chance to revise their scouting strategies and improve them. Continuous improvement is a key component to many companies cultures especially in their development cycles.
By the third event, your drivers have enough practice that you can actually discuss and do tactics. This is part of the reason the Championship is so awesome. Many teams have competed in 2 regionals and are just then hitting their peaks of performance and capability. “Powerhouse” teams often do 2 Regionals and the Championship. Doing this many events is part of the reason they are “powerhouses” year after year.
A fourth event really tests the durability of the machine. Without a major modification, it isn’t likely to score that much better. It will however give you a good idea of what systems were on the edge. At the MARC, I personally helped fix 3 of the 6 robots in the finals. These bots were really starting to show the wear and tear of the season.
For a young team (not rookies), the off season is a great way to get up to speed with other teams. In cerain regions, it is extremely cost effective, and has many of the same benefits as doing a regional.
If your ambition is to become a contender during the regular season, take the off-seasons seriously and try to improve your robot and team (scouting, pit crew preparedness, presentation skills…) at every event.
If your ambition is just to have more fun with the program, then it is a tougher call. You can treat this just like an engineering problem. Before mapping out the realities (like you have started), figure out what the team really wants to get out of the program. Do they eventually want to be world champions? Are they interested in being contenders? What are the expectations of your sponsors? These (and many more questions) should help define the goals of your team. From there, you can then compare and contrast the two different strategies.