Okay so I’ve created numerous posts asking small things but still feel like my team is unprepared for worlds, so I ask you the big question. What do we do at worlds? Tips, workings, how it plays out? Cool things that happen, etc etc. Any and all tips would be awesome.
The FIRST website has a good list and explanation of the events that they coordinate
if you feel prepared, you’re doing something wrong
I just realised how many threads there are for this. But please still any advise helps
[Edit] it seems alot of the other thread are about how to get there, this is more about how it works at worlds
Think of it as eight separate regionals that are happening all at the same time in the same building. There will be eight playing fields on the dome floor. You will be assigned to one of them. This will determine which sections of the stands your team will sit in, and which general area in the pits you will find your particular pit.
The implication of this is that there will be a LOT of walking! Expect the walk from your pit to queue your robot on your field to take 10 minutes. And they won’t be announcing your queuing over the PA (that would just be insane) so you need to know your schedule and keep watching the clock so you know when to get going.
In addition to eight separate FRC regionals in the stadium there is a whole other building attached, and there’s stuff going on there too. FLL will be happening in another giant room. There will be a schedule of seminars and workshops that will be available to your team with topics of interest to both students and mentors. These seminars go on throughout the day and they do overlap with practice times, qualification rounds, etc. so you will need to decide who can go to what and who will have to miss the seminars (e.g. probably drive team and pit crew). If Karthik is doing another talk on strategic robot design, I highly highly highly recommend you sit in on it.
In addition to all that, there’s even more stuff going on outside the building! In another building down the street they have Scholarship Row which includes exhibitors from companies and colleges/universities vying for your attention. Go check that out when you have time. Great to meet contacts from different schools and companies and they hand out lots of fun free stuff too 
In addition to THAT, there’s an FTC tournament happening at Union Station which is a considerable walk, or a 10-minute shuttle bus ride, from the dome. It’s harder to schedule time to go see this but if you have time and opportunity, go check it out.
You’ll only need to scout for your division, and there could be 70-80 teams on the division. When students aren’t scouting or watching matches, they can walk over to another field and see other robots playing, or walk over to the seminars, wander through the pits of your division or any of the other divisions, wander outside to one of the other buildings, wander over to any of the many concession stands, merchandise stands, etc. - there is so much wandering around they can do! Plan to allow them to explore, but definitely travel in groups so you people don’t get lost alone.
Basically - plan to do a LOT of walking. Expect it to take 10 minutes to walk from anywhere to anywhere (from pit to field, from entrance to stands, from stands to seminar room, etc.) It would be very helpful for your mentors, and hopefully students, to have a texting plan that works in the States so you can signal to each other. Even then, be aware that cell service is spotty inside a giant concrete building. There’s limited WiFi but don’t expect it to work very well. Getting a student in the stands (such as a programmer) to go down to the pit is a bit more of a logistical exercise than it would be in North Bay. Find ways to allow groups of students to explore when they’re not scouting or in the pit so they can take in other aspects of the event including going to workshops and exploring Scholarship Row, or going to buy FIRST merchandise. Expect big line ups and crowds pretty much everywhere. It’s crazy, but it’s so much fun.
When it comes time to gather for the big events - like opening ceremonies, or getting seating for the finals after everyone moves over to Einstein - get up and move FAST and TOGETHER if you expect your entire group to sit in the same area.
(Man, now I really wish I could go again.)
Tips:
Send one person in to collect all of the badges before driving the team to the venue from your hotel (assuming your hotel is within 30 minutes or so of the event). Only drive the team over once the person has badges in hand, or is near the front of the line, because it can be hectic waiting around for that with a full team
Make sure that anyone who will be moving from the pits to the field (drive team members) or pits to stands (scouting team people relaying information) on a regular basis is wearing good shoes. For my team in Galileo last year it was at least half a mile to walk the robot to the field and another 1/2 mile plus to get it back again. You also will just do a bunch of walking around the venue in general, so wear running/hiking/tennis shoes that are comfortable and meant for lots of walking. It would’ve been terrible to do all that walking in Converse or some other type of shoe that doesn’t have great support.
Make sure to tour the pits, even if you are someone who doesn’t usually do that. It’s a lot of fun to go around and see the different teams, especially the “famous” ones such as 1114, 254, 148, 118, etc. I know the mentors and students of team 148 last year were especially happy to talk with me at length (we had a conversation of over an hour) about the different aspects of their design that made it so effective. I learned they actually installed a fan that blows pool noodles out of the way of the moving part of their robot so that they don’t become obstructions, which is a cool tidbit I would’ve never known otherwise. I also learned they were just generally cool people, and I got to see 1114 assembling the harpoons (I freaked out when I first realized what they were going to turn out to be on Friday when I saw them being assembled), as well as a bunch of other fun stuff you miss out on in the stands.
If it is being held again this year, I would recommend any interested students purchase tickets for and attend Roboprom. It’s a fantastic event hosted by Team 399 (another group of fun people, I had the opportunity of competing with them in Utah in 2014) that was unanimously fun for everyone on my team who attended. My only concern was the floor of the room the event was hosted in, which appeared to be oscillating with an amplitude of up to an inch at times. It just goes to show how into it everyone at the event was though, and I had a great time and would definitely recommend it if it happens again.
Have fun! Don’t make the mistake of getting too caught up in the competition. I know that I put a huge load of extra pressure on myself when we got to championships as a driver and it led to me feeling very stressed on Thursday. On Friday I lightened up and made fewer silly mistakes as a result, leading to me feeling like there was less pressure and creating a positive feedback loop that let me really enjoy myself for the rest of the event. Get to know the other teams, collect pins, dance, and enjoy all that the event has to offer. Championships truly is not about the competition, but about the experience.
+1 to all of the advice posted by everyone above.
If you didn’t already do this for your previous events, I highly recommend establishing a whole-team(parents, mentors, students, etc) group communication method. We really like GroupMe. It has a really well built app and it helps us stay connected as a team. Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts are also suitable if everyone already uses them, but GroupMe only requires a phone number to stay in the loop.
Group communication is critical for us as we had several different groups of students and mentors travelling separately. GroupMe helped us organize the logistics of dinner plans, team meeting places, emergency contacts, etc.
We also have a group specifically for scouting and strategy. That was great for communicating robot pictures, statuses, scouting data, etc.
QFT. I highly recommend making time to visit the other FIRST progression of programs in the other championship campus venues as well as the other championship event offerings like conferences, Scholarship Row, and the Innovation Faire. FIRST provides periodic shuttles between the venues and all of these events are definitely worth your time.
I agree with previous posts. Here are a few of my thoughts.
- Buy roboProm tickets online now! Encourage your kids to go.
- Use the Metro to get places. Don’t wander out away when it’s dark. We ended up in a terrible position trying to get to BBQ one night.
- Food is tough there. Stadium food is expensive.
- Take time to get the kids to the Arch, City Museum, and zoo.
- Don’t bother with the Experient and the other FIRST sponsored things to buy. I can’t speak to the baseball game this year but, last year we did a few things and both were horribly done. Experient is a disaster.
- Wear really great shoes!
- Expect the check in process for all the badges to take a few hours. I was standing there for most of the afternoon.
- Relax and enjoy the experience! It really is wonderful!
I am cross posting my own reply to this from Reddit.
Congratulations on making it to the Championship! I am one of the Lead Queuers at this years event. As you correctly guessed each “division” or field works like a regional with Qualifications, Quarter Final’s, Semi-Finals’s and Finals. Then each division’s winner moves to the Einstein fields (energy and mass) where the 8 divisions are split into the 2 fields. Those fields narrow down to 1 and eventually we have a season champion.
Things to know about the Championship event and Venue.
There are lots of options for food inside the Convention Center and Edward Jones Dome (collectively called America's Center).
There will merchandise available for purchase with 2 satellite stores and one main store.
There are many additional options for food within walking distance.
Busch Stadium is not in walking distance of the convention center for most people, however our Light Rail System picks up from America's Center and drops off across the street from the stadium. Noted for the Cardinals Game.
Public Transit is readily accessible in Downtown St. Louis. Fares are $2.00 for Adults and $3.00 with a 2 hour transfer.
There is a good chance that the St. Louis Blues (NHL) will be in playoff contention. If hockey is your thing, there is a light rail stop at the Scottrade Center where they play.
The event will be very busy and crowded. The pits can be very loud. At championship you will never hear a team # called for whatever field if they are missing. If you miss your match it is on your team.
While some fields allow for repair work to occur on the robot in queuing, some, do not. Most fields follow a rule of no work to be completed beyond the center curtain where they field is. This is in an effort to keep matches flowing and fields on time. Many events have been getting behind for numerous reasons this season and it is being stressed to stay on schedule as much as possible.
The pits are in the exhibit halls of the convention center. And as such there will be a dedicated robot path for teams to enter and exit the competition floor in the Dome. IF, a celebrity is in the pits (on the field, etc.), either as a mentor to a team (Grant Imahara, Will.i.am, etc.) or to see the event in action, please do not block the path by queuing up to meet them. This causes backups for teams trying to enter and exit the fields.
***Please note, the celebrities are there to support what FIRST is about and to see you do well. Remember you are there because of the hard work and dedication you put in to the season. Please remember to use gracious professionalism when you meet these folks. They want to see you at work, not fan girl-ing over them. Focus on your task, if you have free time and want to meet them. Try not to interrupt the celebrity when they are with other teams interacting with them in their pit or on the field.
You will have lots of opportunities to network with many many people from the biggest corporations of the STEM fields. Be sure to be the best you can be hygienically. Freshly showered each day, wear deodorant, and clean clothes. Guys - remember AXE Body Spray is not the same as deodorant and can trigger asthmatic attacks for some folks.
If you have time between now and the championship, put together an academic resume. You will have an opportunity to speak with colleges in Scholarship Row and having a resume on you will allow you an opportunity to see what else you might need to do to qualify for admittance and scholarships when you are ready to apply. It also helps the recruiters identify which scholarships you may already qualify for.
REMEMBER to have fun. This is a competition and we want you to focus, but do not become over stressed about the outcome of the event. We are all there to celebrate our accomplishments and it is a big deal to just make it to the Championship. Remember that. I can not stress this more. HAVE FUN...
Whew… I wrote a lot and I could write more. I live in St. Louis, so if you PM with any additional questions, I will be happy to answer as best I can.
EDIT: Added after initial post on Reddit.
Metro will have all buses that run downtown stop at the Union Station Metrolink stop. Construction at the Civic Center stop (Scottrade Center) will be occurring.
As someone mentioned; Team check in may take a while. Only one representative will be needed for this process. There will be many people doing their best to make this process as smooth as possible. Please be patient with the folks helping as many of them may be volunteers assisting at the last minute.