Hello there FIRST Friends!
As someone who really enjoys trying to make events better for everyone involved, I would love to ask broadly “What would make a regional cooler?” By that, I mean, as someone participating in the event, what would make your regional that you bring up to others?
For instance, I remember when I was a student Woodie Flowers came to the Wisconsin regional, spoke for a bit, and walked around the pits and took photos with people. I also remember the governor came and signed a bill at the event that was for a grant program for robotics teams for the state. Was it cool? Heck yeah! Did it add or take away anything from the main event? Not really.
Main reason I am asking such a question is because I am on the Regional Planning Committee for the Wisconsin Regional and I would love to see if I can make contacts with some famous Wisconsinites that may be interested enough to even come, like Mark Ruffalo, Charlie Burns, Trixie Mattle, ect ect.
Or maybe having some kind of entertainment come? I know there is a walkthrough at the Las Vegas regional of a Mariachi band during lunch one day and it was super cool to see, especially since I was expecting it.
Is any of this even worth pursuing? Am I over my head even wanted to pursue such a task of trying to get this rolling? Someone outside of my immediate circle please let me know. I just want to try something exciting that I would set up myself and just let the committee know so they can add it to the schedule/documents. I don’t really do too much for the RPC and Id like to be a valuable asset
edit - If you’re going to roast me/my idea please do so gently lol
The one thing that stood out this year from previous years is the return of the team socials at several events. It just adds a little something special to the event experience for teams.
Im also in charge of the team social for Wisconsin too! I do agree, its really fun, and I still got some kinks to work out from feedback we got this year
I’ve been to Duluth, Lacrosse, North Star, Milwaukee in various roles and over various years. Team socials are a great idea but in reality getting that many people in one place for say, a dinner, makes for a lot of noise, chaos and waiting in line. Not saying don’t do it but think logistics, always think logistics.
A couple of things…
Having a Thursday night “competition” if there is a game related thing. I proposed having a human player ball toss in 2019…the year when you could pitch a ball in for a score during auto. Set up an analogous target in a room somewhere, round up some teams, have a silly award.
I’ve also considered whether there should be a special award for teams coming from adjacent states. A “Cheesehead” for WI teams at the Minneapolis events, some sorta gopher for MN teams that dare venture to Milwaukee. Highest rank at end of quals gets the traveling trophy. It would encourage teams to return the next year just to (get rid of/try to repeat).
And more mascots please. Duluth in particular used to have lots of silly mascot dances and antics. Lacrosse is better.
I also liked the thing FIRST did with team submitted videos played during pauses of elim rounds. Oh, I’m biased as we had a fun goat/pet vid. Maybe some of the bigger and more organized teams would do a special video for y’all. Give them a theme like Robots in the Wild or re-enacting a famous movie scene in your build space…
One of my favorite things that PNW events sometimes do is have the AV crew quickly put together a recap video of the event that shows off each the teams and is shown at the end of the event. Imo, it really helps the teams that didn’t get awards or into the playoffs feel like they had been seen.
Back a few years, someone hit the switch to turn on the floor coolers at the LA Regional, which was being held in a sports arena that has ice rink capability.
There was quite a bit of entertainment before the accident was found and corrected.
I think one of the coolest things I’ve seen at a regional is the Air Force bringing in a flight simulator. It’s big (basically a semi trailer), so you need the space for it… but definitely pretty sweet to have available at the event!
Up until COVID, Autodesk sponsored a whole lounge area by the pits for every PNW DCMP. It had rows of computers to show off their CAD software, a VR area (iirc it had their game/sim Synthesis going?), a couple 3d printers, and then a proper “seating” (bean bag) area. with TV’s showing the stream. While it was around it was a bit of a highlight for students.
PNW (and i think a couple other districts) also are able to have a full practice field with FMS. I dont think its as feasible for regionals due to districts already having these extra fields but if you are able to get enough of a practice field going and enough volunteers to simulate matches you’d definitely be on teams radars.
I’ve gotten so used to it, I forgot… We also have a full practice field in Duluth and Grand Forks, although there isn’t a full FMSField Management System with it, and the field elements are typically the team versions. One of the benefits of MN having a few full sized field boarders
1: The volunteer base. This is what makes or breaks how cool a regional is. I want to shout out the volunteers at GNR. They did a fantastic job to ensure the best possible team experience. Having a volunteer come to our pit with the time remaining before our next match after we broke in finals 1 was extremely helpful. This is just one of a handful of good interactions we had at the event.
2: The venue. My all time favorite venue is the Alerus center used for GNR. This is due to the open layout. The #1 thing most MN events suffer from is feeling cramped for space which just adds to the stress levels of competition. GNR is always the most relaxing competition for me.
3: Event size. For most of the reasons mentioned under the venue section, event size is a big part of how fun a regional is. Having a less cramped experience is always cool in my opinion. Plus having more matches with shorter turn around times add to the excitement of the event.
4: Not possible at most events, but Duluth with the double DECCER is always the coolest part of LSR/NLR for me. For those of you who aren’t familiar, two regionals are held simultaneous at the DECC in Duluth and the winners of both regionals face of in an exhibition match.
I always find it quite amusing when the FTA checks all the sensors are running and the field reset crew runs the score up 2-3 times what robots can. Some games this works better than others, (I.e. wouldn’t want people climbing on some of the endgames from recent years). Get a few hockey helmets (if there is a head hazard) work it out with the FTA and go to town. Maybe involve a few students other than the field reset crew, do a “sensor test” at the tail end of lunch before elims start, maybe have the refs call fouls if they are down for it lol.
Wisconsin regional specific, assuming it is still at the venue it has been at for years. Organize something to help teams with that huge ramp with load in/out if that isn’t a thing yet. It won’t be noticed by many, but it will be appreciated by more than a few people. Been years since I have been to that venue (2014?) But all the same, that load in ramp sticks in my mind.
Legit… making load in quick and straightforward. Clear signage, clear traffic direction, and ensuring that there are volunteers available to help with moving tools/equipment are things I find very cool.
Don’t rush teams though - make sure they are moving quickly but safely. Ensuring a smooth load-in process is chef’s kiss when it comes to cool events though.
One of the main things I miss from back before Michigan went to Districts was the “light shows” events would have on the playing fields. Any more it seems like that kind of presentation is limited to only worlds (and even then, only for afternoon elims) Obviously this sort of thing is tremendously expensive, but it does certainly give your newcomer to FIRST that impression of “oh, this is like, a big deal”
The Festival de Robotique events from Canada used to be a great example of this (though it looks like they may have toned it down a bit in recent years):
