I just recently heard that the IFI world competition in Dallas TX will be open to any registered IFI teams, whether they qualified at a regional or not. This change is supposedly due to low registration numbers among teams who have already qualified. This change could have an affect on whether or not our teams travel to more than one regional. Could someone clear up this issue for me?
If this is true, I think it is absolutly stupid. Teams should have to earn their way there. That is what makes going there so special. It should be the best teams, not just some random people who decide to sign up.
I HOPE THIS IS NOT TRUE!
I know we heard about it yesterday and everybody was mad.
I heard about it several days ago. 
FIRST has done this before. It’s no big deal. In this economy, I’m just hoping that the VRC program can survive its infancy and go on to long-lasting success. The recession couldn’t really have come at a worse time for VRC. FIRST, on the other hand, has been piling up cash for three years. FIRST as an organization will make it for sure, although a lot of FRC teams are likely to lose funding and have to either fold or downsize budgets significantly.
If having poor teams present concerns you, I doubt very many teams with non-competitive robots will pay for the cost of the trip. I’d expect that even the “open invitation” teams will have credible robots.
EDITED: Are you sure this is for the Vex worlds in Dallas? I did receive an email that the Vex Championship of the Americas in Nebraska is now accepting teams to fill out the tournament. I have not heard this about Dallas.
That’s because FIRST rips people off with their $1,000 entry fees for worlds.
I was told that there was something on Robotevents addressing this.
There is a waiting list for the Championship of the americas and it can be found here. I’m guessing that is what you guys heard.
If you look at the world champs page on Robot events it explains this.
http://robotevents.com/event.php?eid=1201
The organisers have kept places for all the winners of all the regionals where more then 12 teams competed.
But if some of those teams are not be able to go to World champs then there is a waiting list of non-qualifying teams to make up the numbers.
I think this fair enough as it would be better to keep the numbers up at the world’s then have it look only half full.
And as competition winners have first call then if they all go there would be few spaces left.
Wow, step away from a computer for a day to watch a football game and look at all the speculation and rumor that pops up. 
Anyway, I’m not sure what rumors anyone is talking about or what anyone recently “heard”, but we’ve had the option for teams to sign up on a waiting list on the World Championship event page for over 4 months now. There is no “open registration”, as anyone will see if they try to register without an invitation.
We had a waiting list last year, this year, and will most likely do it in the future. We know many teams want to experience the World Championship and try to give as many teams as possible the opportunity. Our first priority is to guarantee spots for all the teams that win/qualify. We committed that we’d guarantee a spot for at least every qualified team this year - that no winning alliance partner, skills challenge or excellence award winning team would have to enter a lottery or not be allowed to participate in the World Championship. Our view is that any team that wins a tournament, skills challenge or Excellence award has earned the right to know right then and there that they have qualified for the World Championship. They have earned the right to make their travel plans and shouldn’t have to wait to learn if they “might or might not” get the chance to go.
With over 90 qualifying tournaments, and many in the same regions, we also know that a number of teams qualify more than once. We know that teams appreciate having as much time to make travel plans, get school approval, budget, etc. We decided as the World Championship gets closer, that we would try to notify teams on the wait list as soon as possible if any spots opened up. We know how frustrating it is for teams to get an invitation just weeks before the event, learning that they can’t go because they don’t have time to get district approval, fundraise or that airfare has become too expensive because of how close the event is.
The World Championship registration numbers are higher at this point than we had expected (there are already over 100 qualified teams who have signed up). Every few weeks we look at how many teams have qualified multiple times and then try to offer some of the extra spots to teams on the wait list. Every single qualified team is guaranteed a spot, while teams on the wait list aren’t guaranteed anything - some will get invitations as the World Championship gets closer and many will not. There is still only one way to “guarantee” a spot at the World Championship, and that is to qualify.
I’m not sure why anyone would consider this a rumor or recent news - it’s been a practice for years and the wait list option for this year has been posted for over 4 months (here). We expect the VEX World Championship to be an amazing competition this year and hope all who attend will have a great experience.
Congrats to all the teams that qualified at the events this past weekend - once the event organizers have sent us the results, those teams should receive their invitations within a week.
Please let me know if there is still any confusion regarding qualifying and the wait list - I just wanted to try to clear that up.
Just wondering, how is it decided which teams on the waiting list will be chosen to go to Dallas?
By guess is the ones who signed up on the waiting list first.
Now that the registration for Dallas issue is over, this is a good time to remind you that the Eastern Pennsylvania Regionals on the 28th of February. Come claim your invitation to the World Championships by winning at Downingtown PA. A few slots are still open but are going fast. Register today!
As long as we are on the subject, the first Washington State VRC tournament is going to be March 14, and there are still five slots available. Register today 
(or something like that).
As long as everyone else is advertising their regionals…Come to Neenah, WI on March 21st to compete for a spot at Dallas. We have many spots open yet. Just go to Robotevents.com to get the info on it, or click on the link to our club website below.
I had heard that it was going to be C of the A at first. II wonder if they’re doing both…
That’s what I’m wondering. It’s possible that there was an initial misunderstanding.
No kidding. I realize that the venue needs to be paid for, but that is ridiculous. Hardly gracious professionalism.
Thanks Jason, you really cleared things up for me. I have no problem with offering spots to teams on the waiting list. The rumor I heard was that sign ups for worlds were so low that everyone who got their name on the list was guarnteed a spot. This didn’t really make sense to me and that’s why I asked the question. Anyhow the way the organization is handling it is great, thanks for clearing the air so quick. We’ll definitely be heading to more than one regional now!