Hello Everyone! I would like to know your opinions of the different signature events this season. Next season, my team will not be able to go to Worlds because of exams since we are from the UK. However, we will be able to go to one signature event, so I would like to know which signature event would be best to go to. Therefore, I am asking you to rate this season’s signature events based on:
Quality of competition
Size of Competition
Quality of venue and organisation of it
Places to go near the area like tourist attractions etc.
Thank you!
I think Kalahari is the gold standard as far as Signature Events go. Mall of America is great, especially as an early season schedule may make travel from the UK easier if it’s before the school year starts.
This past year, we attended Mall, Kalahari, and Lambeau. All were very well run and had high level competition. Each has unique tourist attractions, each of which may appeal to a different type of itch to scratch - Mall of America, an iconic American Football stadium, and a fantastic waterpark.
The problem is that we can’t really start building until September because of the scheduling. This year, we have exams until june, and then we have holidays until september with no access to the workshop. We’d rather go some time around January-February. With Kalahari, what are the tourist attractions etc. close to there like compared to other signature events.
Kalahari itself is a nice waterpark, though certainly not terribly unique at least here in the States but definitely a fun time. I’d guess you’d probably fly into Cleveland which has the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (disclaimer, I’ve never been there); I’m sure Ohio-based roboteers would be able to give better advice on attractions in the area.
I will say that Ohio (and Indiana, which is just to its West) probably has one of the highest concentrations of high-performing VRC teams anywhere. I can’t emphasize enough how well-run, friendly, and competitive the tournament is. You’ll definitely meet many teams there who you’ll see again at World’s. As a mentor, in my opinion, the Elimination rounds are probably just as competitive as World’s Divisions’ Eliminations, and the Qualifiers are on-par with World’s Quals.
It fits your timing - mid- or late-January, probably right around the time the meta for Regionals solidifies and as elite teams start to get ahead of where the meta evolves into for World’s.
Battle for Las Vegas was awesome. In my opinion it was well organized and fun, especially the attractions that were involved. In terms of size, it was advertised as the largest signature event in the world. I won’t disagree. In terms of tourist attractions nearby, it’s Las Vegas. “The entertainment capital of the world”. All the teams that went had the opportunity to purchase buffet tickets and even exclusive Battle bots tickets, which was an amazing show. 10/10 recommend
I watched GWL, and the high school division was extremely competitive and clearly difficult to win matches in.
Sadly the ms division only had 18 teams and about 3 could shoot consistently. Still a great opportunity and disappointed it won’t be around next season.
Minus tech issues which are mostly out of control, the competition was run fantastically and efficiently.
The 100 teams this year was perfect for two sizable divisions.
The venue was nice, but they didn’t allow wheels down the long hallway which made daily transport difficult, luckily you could walk around on the sidewalk but it felt awkward. And I wish the pit isles were orientated to face the divisions just to minimize walking with a heavy robot. Easy access to bathrooms and well organized otherwise.
Right in Calgary, there were plenty of things for us to check out.
I also need to add that all the volunteers there were clearly there in the interest of giving the teams the best tournament they could. Queue managers were on top of it and friendly, refs and emcees were always creating a fun environment for teams, and there was just a friendly face at every turn.
As for the Colorado signature,
Fantastic emcee, good refs (one or two calls that confused me out of my mind but honestly not a huge deal because they were very respectable about it), and competing at the Broadmoor hotel was amazing.
To sum up all of my critiques into one sentence: we let the EP of 2022 Colorado states run another major event, and we have not forgotten.
