Team 4926 is headed to St. Louis for the first time. Who’s got the list of “what to do at the Championship?” A quick CD search didn’t turn up what I am looking for. Questions:
-How do you communicate among far flung mentors/students?
-Where do you sit, does it matter?
-How do you organize your days?
-What should we definitely “not miss”?
-What are you best logistical recommendations?
-What did I forget to ask?
And I was finally starting to feel like a “not rookie” until now.
I feel you. We have some of the same questions you have.
The A-Z guide for Houston has released, and should help a little bit with everything. It includes prices for parking and how load-in/out works, among other things.
Has the St. Louis A-Z guide been released yet?
as far as i know, no. I got this from CD and have no clue where it was released on FIRST’s website so I am of no help there.
Thank you for that guide book link! I had no idea to even look for that. I’ll keep checking for the St. Louis version.
First off have fun when you are there.
I would recommend not missing the Innovation Faire and the Conferences. A majority of folks get wrapped up in the competition and don’t have time/forget to visit these items. They are very informative and fun!
It will take a bit of time to get acclimated but after day one you should have everything kind of figured out.
Walking between the pits and the dome takes a bit so don’t run late. On that note, get really comfy shoes.
Opening and Closing Ceremonies are PACKED so get used to not being able to sit with the whole team at once. Make friends with other folks sitting with/around you as they all take in the spectacle.
Closing Ceremonies will run late. So plan accordingly.
Thanks everyone, keep the suggestions coming!
I’ve attended the Championship in St. Louis with my team every year since 2011, so I would be happy to answer some of your questions!
How do you communicate among far flung mentors/students?
We use a combination of text messaging and an app called Team App (http://teamapp.com/) where we have a Group Chat. Since we’re a Canadian team, we like to avoid roaming fees for our students if possible.
Where do you sit, does it matter?
If your team does Scouting, it definitely matters. The exact spot within the Dome will be different depending on your Field, but ideally, you want to find seats directly in front of the field. Otherwise, your Scouters will be stuck with a pretty poor viewing angle.
When the competition moves to the Einstein Field for the Finals Matches, this is another time seating is very important. Most of the seating on that side of the Dome is blocked off several hours ahead of time by event staff. Having a few team members volunteer to find your team seats Saturday Afternoon could pay off big time, or at the very least, avoid having to sit in the 300 Level Nose Bleed Seats.
How do you organize your days?
On Wednesday, we try to fit in a fun/educational/tourist activity before the event starts. This usually means the St. Louis Arch, the Science Center, or my personal favourite, The City Musuem (trust me it’s the best). Wednesday is also Load-in. If getting to work on your robot ASAP is important to you, I highly recommend showing up at the Load-In Doors 1.5 to 2 hours ahead of time, offloading your stuff, and have your 5-person Load-in Team wait there.
For the other three days at the Competition, we create a schedule for each of our students. The Business/Chairman’s Team, the Drive Team etc. have pretty self-explanatory schedules, but we usualy have 25+ students with us. Our goal is to give them all a special/fulfilling experience while they’re there. So, we’ll have students rotate through jobs like Scouting, Talking with Judges, Sponsors etc in the Pit, Taking Photos using our Press Pass and more. Free time is also very important, so we make sure to always give our students breaks to explore the pits, visit the Sponsor/Partner expo, or take a nap.
A typicaly Thursday/Friday would look like:
What should we definitely “not miss”?
What are you best logistical recommendations?
If you can avoid it, don’t pay for food at the Dome or Convention Center. It’s extremely overpriced. If you don’t mind walking a little bit, go to “Culinaria - a Schnucks Market”. It’s an awesome Grocery Store/Couter Service Restaurant that serves made-to-order sandwiches, wraps, pizza, salads & more.
Try to Pack up and Load-Out ASAP on Saturday. If your team doesn’t make it to the Playoffs or is eliminated before Einstein, its best to do all of your packing Saturday Morning. With the excitement of Einstein Matches, Awards, & the Finale, it’s best to have it all done before any of it starts.
Label Everything of Value.
If your parents, mentors etc. plan on driving to St. Louis, make sure that they don’t leave anything in their vehicles. Theft from Vehicles in the Free Parking Lot next to the Dome have always been an issue.
FIRST has really beefed up security in recent years, but, St. Louis is still a fairly dangerous city. When traveling outside the Dome, always travel in Groups, preferrably with a Mentor.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
All of this!
All of these, too. If you like pasta, go to Porano. It’s close to the Dome, and they have organic pasta(including gluten free), for a low price. Think Chipotle, but with pasta instead of burritos. They also have good popsicles. More info below…
Use a group messaging service, such as Slack or GroupMe. I’ve used both; Slack has more features, while GroupMe is more basic, but both are good. Make sure everyone keeps up with new messages so they don’t miss something important.
Yes, as others have said, you will want to sit near your division’s field. The front rows, however, are still fairly high off the ground and will provide a decent view of the field.
+1 to the Innovation Faire. Last year, they had some arcade games set up(including a pinball machine and a few vintage video games), Bosch gave away some stuff, and there were a lot of other interesting companies/things there. If the big LEGO tower is still there, be sure to add your team number somewhere on it! 
I would visit the Hall of Fame(in the FRC pits.) The old courthouse downtown is worth checking out if you have time.
+1 to loading out early. If you go to a restaurant for lunch, leave just before the break if possible. You’ll get there ahead of most other teams, so you will(hopefully) have a shorter wait. If you want to collect buttons from other teams, do so early, as they might run out. +1 again to planning your available time before your next match. If you need to be re-inspected, run to the machine shop, etc. make sure you allow time to get back in queue. As a basic guideline, consider staying in queue if you have two matches that are 40 minutes apart. Also be sure to carry anything you may need on your cart(extra batteries, red/blue bumpers, basic tools) when you queue. You might not have time to return to the pit to get something you forgot.
There will be people at the main entrance checking any bags/backpacks you’re carrying. Just approach holding your bag open in front of you, and you’ll get right through.
That is outstanding advice. Thank you!!
Glad I could help! One thing I forgot: there are a lot of escalators(elevators should be available if you need them.) Make sure you know where they, in addition to the stairs and hallways go, because getting lost from going to another floor isn’t too difficult. Basically, don’t wait until you’re late for a match to figure it out. Two things I forgot, actually: On the floor with the concessions, in the big hall with the tables, there will be a platform with a FIRST logo. This is a good place for a team picture. Lastly, in the hallway between this area and the concessions, there’s the FIRST Championship Store, where you can get official FIRST CMP merchandise!
Best of luck!
Visit the store early in the week if you want Championship gear. By Sat. - the lines are long.
I know my team is making sure our batteries and cart are in good condition. Having a charged Drive Station laptop and plenty of ready batteries is important. We’re also double checking that we have anything we might need for extra materials. I know AndyMark has free shipping for having things delivered directly to your pit in HOU/STL (which is open until the 24th noon EST for STL) in case you need anything you can’t run out to Home Depot for.
Comfortable walking shoes are a must! Drive Team especially. The amount of time standing in queue alone is definitely more than at a regional competition. Having good shoes can for sure help with the inevitable pain from standing so long and the distances that are required to walk everywhere in and out of the Dome. The queues were long enough that we gave our programmer the press pass so he could work on code for our automatic climb in Ultimate Ascent.
To keep everyone informed for my team we use Remind to send text blasts with information on lunch (which describing the specific location for will probably be necessary), departure times from the hotel/Dome, and whatever info we need to get out to everyone fast. I can’t recall the service availability in the Dome/pits, but I doubt it’ll be lightning fast with the number of people there.
Take advantage of The Blue Alliance and the Qualcomm Event App to stay informed and have the resources to make things easier. TBA has good match and gameplay info while Qualcomm has good event info including maps and schedules for all of the FIRST Programs including when pits/machine shops are open. It also shows when the lunch breaks are for which fields on comp days which can help to plan in advance.
And even though it’s a stressful event, definitely make sure to have fun and enjoy it! For any members not scouting or working I would definitely recommend walking around the pits and seeing other teams not in your area and collecting giveaways. Taking pictures of robots, pits, the mass of people in the stands, and St. Louis’ sights are all great things to have to look back on!
I could probably keep going but I feel like this is a long post as it is so if you have any questions I can definitely elaborate. I hope you guys have a great time there! Maybe I’ll see you there 
A-Z Guide for SL is supposed to be posted Tues.
Thanks RoboMom!
Check out this page: https://www.firstchampionship.org/campus-guide-st-louis - it helps to understand the St. Louis “campus.”
FRC is competing in the Dome (aka a “stadium”), which is connected to America’s Center (a “conference center”) - the complex is huge. America’s Center hosts the FRC pits and the FLL pits and competition fields, as well as conference and meeting rooms, etc.
A short walk across the street from America’s Center is the Marriott Grand Hotel, site of the Innovation Faire/Scholarship Row.
Across the city in Union Station is the FLL, Jr. displays, and FTC pits and competition fields. Union Station is an old restored train station/hotel - worth the visit if you get the chance to go see FLL Jr and FTC.
If you have not already done so, have your team download the Championship App for their smartphones and select St. Louis - https://www.firstchampionship.org/event-app - you can create your own schedule so you don’t miss conference presentations, for example. It lists every official event going on with locations.
If you have questions about events not in the official app, we’ll be staffing an Info Booth in America’s Center (usually located near the volunteer check-in booths). Don’t hesitate to ask!
The seats in the front few rows will be reserved or teams who are competing during that match. Don’t be the team that “reserves” the front row seats as you will most definitely be told to pack up and move.
Which means that teams will be constantly filing in and out of those seats as they play and then go. Plan to get in and out quickly and in an orderly manner. Don’t be saving blocks of seats for your team to get the best view, or blocking off rows so other teams have to go around you. It’s just three minutes.
You’d be surprised how much you can learn about the character of a team by watching how their mentors interact with other teams.
Anyway, other tips for St. Louis:
There is a LOT of walking. Some of the things are in entirely different buildings, and entirely different neighborhoods (unless this has changed), and there will be a shuttle bus. If you’re not OK with students exiting the dome and walking 2 blocks down the street to the Innovation Faire on their own, plan your mentors accordingly.
The souvenir/shirt store will grow a very long line up. But, you can order some of that stuff online. Pay for shipping or wait in line? Your choice. There was also a second store selling iron-ons to order, downstairs near the pit entrance, and this line up was a lot shorter.
They theoretically stop you from bringing any food inside (but the stuff I’ve seen teams manage to sneak in is mind boggling) so you could plan to have tailgate parties at the entrance areas or by your vehicles.
There are really great conference topics offered but you have to watch your time carefully and plan ahead.
Definitely take a walk to the City Museum if you have a chance.
It’s really not a museum at all, but more of a post-apocalyptic 10-story jungle gym.