I don’t know if this is just my region, but 11 qualifications is an insane amount. Typically we would do 8 at most for states. Taking away at least 7 minutes x however many teams at the tournament would leave enough time for a BO3 eliminations round. That’s just my observation though
Personally, I don’t think 8 qualification matches is enough, especially at state-level. I do like @Nathan_Rossi’s pitch to “encourage” all state-level tournaments to be 2 days to ensure sufficient time for a large number of qualification matches (10 at least).
So the present model has us renting facilities, tables and chairs, power cords, etc and then using volunteers. A second day is more volunteer time and maybe more venue charges. I’ve rented venues that are “24 hour days” and I’ve been doing a load in on top of a group trying to get out and then trying to load out while the next group is on their way in. You could easily double the cost for a 2 day event.
Yes, costs could go up, and maybe RECF will pitch in a bit to help. With the increasing number of VEX teams, a smaller percent of the teams will be able to attend worlds, so it would be good for the State events to become more like worlds to give a “next level” experience to more teams. Our organization has hosted Michigan MS States a few times and (before Covid) worked to add some atmosphere: pipe-and-drape for the pits, raised fields, more displays with livestream cameras, and a team party at the local waterpark. I’d be game for a 2-day event, especially if some RECF Grant money was available.
Who gets to host state in Kansas is already competitive. If teams could bump up the bar to a 2 day event, that would certainly add the the prestige of state.
You guys over here complaining about having 8 qualification matches when we only had 6. The 1st and 2nd ranked alliances definitely weren’t clawbots and didn’t make it to finals. No, no, never.
My pocket, their pocket. I have sponsors here that help me, if RECF eats them then I have an issue. I don’t hit Google now that RECF has them, I used to get $1,000 per year, I want them away from the big Delmarva companies. For example NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility is a huge Delmarva sponsor (hi Amy) and moving that money to RECF would make me cranky. Cash sponsors are what I need. I love my in-kind sponsors, but pizza, chicken and drinks only takes me so far. Annual raffle for car wash, oil change, lawn cutting is fun, but hard.
2 divisions = double quals. I often take lots of teams to states and managing them overnight gives us a host of problems. If your state isn’t already doing that, call them now and offer to bring a field or two. They are planning now. Offer help!
If RECF wants these events to be mini-WORLDS I am for it, but they need to do that building from the top. Your average EP cannot handle the stress of taking on an event that size… Almost personally took me beyond my limit in Feb 2020… (I had over $20,000 of the event on my personal credit card during the event.) If they want to do big partnerships like they did in Indiana, that sounds great. Applying pressure down to get EP’s to step it up is going to be much more difficult and will burn your good people out.
Unless you are in a region with a large state championship (getting past 50 teams) that effectively requires divisions, I would avoid them. It really stinks to get to the state championship and not be able to play with half of the teams in the state. This is the very reason why our region used 2 field sets a couple of years ago, same idea, double the fields, double the matches (they introduce other problems but that is a story for another time).
I also wouldn’t advocate for applying pressure for EPs to do 2-day championships. I think @Mentor_355U phrased it best, encourage 2 day events. I fully understand it increases cost and might not make sense for every region. I’m part of a group of EPs who hosted the ms state championship this season and are looking into creating a bid for the hs state championship next season that is 2 days long. It’s not as easy for a variety of reasons! But I believe it provides a better team experience, so we’re doing what we can to try and make it happen. Help from the RECF would certainly be a plus.
Lol, I would surrender all my perceived coolness in a heartbeat, if that could give competing teams security of having a second chance in eliminations when World Quals are on the line.
Also, watching young Tabor competing as an insecure middle schooler in person sounds like fun.
Dr. Foster, may I borrow the keys from your DeLorean for a sec?
I promise to fill that 22,000 gallon tank in the school gym of yours as soon as I am back.
And I promise that when I’m back it won’t be the only tank to fill.
So many roboteers that I’ve watched grow up, go to college, get cool jobs and create families of new roboteers as I grow older. Pretty cool to watch the next generation.
No sympathy for him.
He had his turn having fun watching my team’s 1st ever wallbot from Singapore trying to “spear” through the cubes during Skyrise. Lol…
And @Foster , you will outlast most of us here.
“See” you this weekend!
That kind of depends on how they do it. However, if they do everything randomly, the chances that you would play with any particular team would be no different. It does make a big change for the eliminations, as you only get to pick from half of the teams.
In terms of BO3 → More divisions = More BO3.
Yes, that works… There are a number of ways to do it, and getting to 10 is worth doing.
I really wish you the best of luck. Perhaps at some point you could let us know how it is going and what the budgets are going to be like. If you want to post in the EP section that would be pretty cool. Our event ended up being about $37,000. We were thinking about incorporating the state championship to really make it a group effort but then COVID hit and put all that on hold… And for me personally it was for the best. The sheer magnitude of the money involved and the stone age accounting from the RECF make for a stressful combination.
(joining old geezer off-topic)
Papertape
Punch Card
I missed punchcards by one year…when I took Fortran 77, we got to use the new “full screen editor” and do our work on a CRT terminal.
Paper tape
Punched Cards in both the 80 col format for unit record machines we programmed with a plug board, ad the 96 col version on the spiffy Model 3.
But the very first was the Cowculator, an analog computer that could estimate milk production based on the age, weight, feed, last calf, etc.
My first job as a young engineer was taking over a model from ym boss who was retiring. I met with him for the handoff and he handed me a box of punchcards. The first thing I did was convert it to FORTRAN IV and throw those punchcards away. That’s as close as I ever came to using punchcards.
we had 64 teams at ohio states and we didn’t have divisions
We also had 3 fields to play matches on and 3 separate fields for skills.
Bold move on your EP part, they clearly have a top notch team of volunteers to run a well oiled event machine. I run divisions since bad things happen to me ( yes roboteers, karma strikes ) and it gives me a way to recover without the entire event falling over. Nice job Ohio!