Note that:

• Bring robot bags or tarp in case it rains.
• Make sure you are using the radios that you used at competition this year to connect to the FMS for CalGames.
• We will have 120 VAC at driver stations, please plan accordingly.
• We will have food pre-orders on Friday, and food trucks on Saturday starting at 11am (see the food document in this same folder for full details)
• We have self-inspection this year, but this does not replace the inspection process. It will expedite the official inspection performed by inspectors.
  • To do so, a team mentor needs to initial next to the inspector initial lines on the checklist before inspection.
• Pits will be a nonstandard size (8’x9’) – plan accordingly!

Event Agenda:

October 7 – 8, 2016 (Friday – Saturday)

FRIDAY (October 7th, 2016)

3:30pm – 6:00pm* Pits Open, Robot Drop-off, Inspection Begins
6:00pm – 6:10pm Opening Ceremonies
6:10pm – 8:00pm Qualification Matches
8:30pm Pits Close

*There may or may not be practice matches depending on the progress of field setup, inspection, and FMS & WPA configuration*

SATURDAY (October 8th, 2016)

7:00am Pits Open
8:00am – 8:15am Opening Ceremonies
8:15am – Noon Qualification Matches
Noon – 12:30pm LUNCH**
12:30pm – 1:50pm Qualification Matches
1:50pm – 2:10pm Alliance Selection
2:10pm – 2:30pm BREAK
2:30pm – 5:15pm Final Rounds
5:15pm – 5:45pm Awards Ceremony
7:00pm Pit Closes

**Food trucks will be available starting 11am

A printable copy can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3q…ew?usp=sharing

Campus map for load-in

Food Information for Friday and Saturday

Friday night food pre-order options (due by end of day 10/4/16)

1) Pizza – Large (14 inch), $10 each
Options – cheese, pepperoni, green pepper & onion, pepperoni & sausage

2) Soda – cans, $1 each or 12 for $10
Options – Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Orange Soda

3) Water – $1/bottle (12 oz each) or 12 for $10

Order using this form! https://goo.gl/forms/8nOs0XFyUWhUG0b53

Saturday Food

Food will be sold at the event throughout the day (light breakfast, coffee, water, soda, snacks).

Savory and dessert food trucks will be available from 11AM onwards! Teams are advised to go early to avoid long lines at lunch.

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SEE ATTACHMENTS –

Registration announcement

Click Text to Download

Registration FORM

Click Text to Download

• EARLY (Tier 1) Registration opens May 11, 2016, 12:01 a.m. by email only: complete attached form.
• OPEN (Tier 2) Registration begins July 1, 12:01 a.m. by email only: complete attached form.

Announcing Registration for CalGames 2016!

Competition Date:     October 7-8, 2016

Competition Venue:  Fremont High School, Sunnyvale CA

Competition:                CalGames 2016 — replay of FIRST™ Robotics Competition: FIRST STRONGHOLDSM

Registration:                $500 Registration 

                                          $100 Volunteer Deposit (returned after completing team volunteer assignment)

                                          $500 Registration Fee + $100 Volunteer Support Deposit = $600 due by September 1

Registration Policy for CalGames 2016

1)      Registration cost is the same as last year. We are actively seeking corporate sponsors to defray event and ongoing costs.  If you have ideas or leads for WRRF to pursue, send an email to CalGames[at]WRRF.org
If we obtain sponsors, we hope to refund some portion of the registration as we did in earlier years.

2)      Two registration tiers, same as last year.

Every team needs to volunteer for a slot to confirm ANY registration regardless of TIER. (see FAQs at end for details on what “Every team needs to volunteer” means). CalGames 2016 will support up to 36 teams and has two registration TIERS, similar to prior years.

IMPORTANT POINT: If a team does not show up for their volunteer slot, two things will happen: (a) the $100 deposit will not be returned; and (b) the team will be suspended from participating at the following year CalGames.

The goal of the TIERED registration process is to encourage a commitment by teams for harder-to-fill volunteer slots. Tiers this year are (1) early registration and (2) open registration.

PLEASE READ THIS: If WRRF registration receives an emailed registration form before the opening date of either tier (which is ok to do); the date for those early emails will be the opening date/time for that tier (e.g., 12:01AM 5/11 or 7/1). (See FAQs at end for examples if this idea is not clear). A random lottery resolves any ties. CalGames traditionally has had more registrations than openings (and lotteries occurred last four plus years). Teams should consider applying for early registration slots to ensure a successful registration for CalGames 2016.

Payment

Postmark with payment must be 9/1 or earlier, otherwise the registered (but unpaid) team goes to the waiting list. Sending payment soon after receiving accepted registration is recommended, but not required. 

 

PLEASE NOTE THE     September 1, 2016      DUE DATE FOR PAYMENTS

Forms

To obtain the Microsoft Word registration form, go to https://sites.google.com/site/wrrffilesandpages/  to download the registration form. This form must be used for registration. Please do not send a .PDF version of it.

To register, please complete the form, attach to an email message, and send to Register4CalGames@WRRF.org. No need to send a paper copy without a check via USPS.

Please DO include a printed copy of the registration form when sending in any check. Make check payable to WRRF and send to:

WRRF, 2530 Berryessa Road, #134, San Jose CA 95132-2903

Early Registration (22-24 slots)

• Tier 1 Registration opens May 11, 2016, 12:01 a.m. by email only.
• The form must be sent by email using the Word Document form: do not send a .PDF format.
• Registrations will only be accepted for Early Registration Slots (shown below) in this period (May 11 until July 1).
• Payment due on or before 9/1
• SLOTS:

1.EVENT harder-to-fill team volunteer slots (13):

5 SLOTS: Thursday afternoon & evening (after school, day before event):

2 SLOTS – Storage Locker after school, 4444 Enterprise, Fremont

3 SLOTS – Fremont HS, Sunnyvale, 8 – 10PM

3 SLOTS: Friday 9AM – 12PM to build the field and pits at Fremont HS, Sunnyvale

3 SLOTS: Friday, 12PM – 3PM to build the field and pits at Fremont HS, Sunnyvale

2 SLOTS: Sunday morning after competition, ~11 AM, Storage Locker, 4444 Enterprise, Fremont

2.Event Support Activity (1):

Team makes the Drive Team buttons & the Event Buttons

3.CalGames Host: Current & past two years (3)

Host in past two years: Still need to pick a volunteer slot during the event, but it need not be a hard-to-fill slot

Current Game host (assumed to have already filled a volunteer slot by hosting)

4.Maker Faire Host team (1); Team 1868

5.WPA Set-up (1): position holder approved by BOD.

6.Rookie Team Slots (only 2, not all rookie teams), first come-first served: FIRST Rookie year in 2016 or from a newbie team who has not yet competed in FRC. (Rookie teams still need to pick a volunteer slot during event, not a harder-to-fill one).

7.Summer Inventory Activity (1) and Locker Move Activity (possibly) (2)

Most slots (except for prior hosts, host, Maker Faire & WPA set-up) will be awarded on a “First Come, First Served” and any ties will be dealt with by lottery (random number generator in Excel). Additional hard-to-fill volunteer slots might be identified as CalGames planning proceeds.

Open Registration (12-14 slots)

• Open Registration begins July 1.

1. Priority for Rookies if a lottery occurs
2. Otherwise, first come, first served to register.
3. A lottery will determine any registrations with the same email date/time, if more are received beyond the number of open slots.

4. Sending an email before July 1 is ok, but the date/time for it will still be July 1, 12:01 a.m.

FYI: More teams sought to play in prior CalGames events than slots available; teams committing to early registration slot can help a team confirm CalGames participation.

If you have registration questions: send an email to Register4CalGames@WRRF.org. You should receive an answer within two business days; in particular, replies are fastest on weekends.

Staying Informed: It is vital that contact information for your team is up-to-date: send an email to WRRF.Info@WRRF.org  to confirm email addresses on file for your team! Inform everyone on your team about this event. Think about what you and your team can do to help.

GO CalGames 2016!

Schedule

May – June
5/11	CalGames EARLY Registration formally opens
TBD (JUNE)	OPEN CalGames TEAM meeting at Fremont HS, Sunnyvale
July – August – September
7/1	CalGames OPEN Registration opens
9/1	All monies due and payable or registration slot is lost
October – November – December
10/7 (3PM – 9PM) – 10/8 (all day)	CalGames 2016 First set of qualifying matches will occur on Friday, 10/7, sometime after 5 p.m. Inspection begins at 3:15 p.m.

CalGames is a COMMUNITY event. We NEED EVERYONE in the Bay Area FIRST community to join the CalGames Planning Committee to help put the competition together over the course of the summer!  The CalGames Planning Committee is open for all to join, whether you are a student or an adult. So think about what kind of event you want, what awards, what speakers, what displays, and come speak your mind at the summer meetings!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:    Rookie teams this year outnumber the two rookie slots. Is this correct?

A:      Yes, that is correct. Only two early registration slots are allocated to rookie teams. If a rookie team does not get one of those, they could sign up for some other early registration slot, or take a chance in the open registration slots. We have decided to prioritize rookie teams over non-rookies for the open slots, however all slots will likely fill up at or around 7/1.

Q:     What does “every team has to volunteer” mean?

A:      A team needs to provide eight or more students to meet the CalGames volunteer slot requirement and earn their deposit back. Two adult chaperones are required as well. Teams cannot leave their volunteer slot until released by the coordinator assigned to that time slot, or risk losing volunteer deposit and missing CalGames 2016.

CalGames needs volunteers, and many of them, to make CalGames successful. Many adults and teens volunteer their time over the summer to plan and prepare for CalGames; the team volunteer slot is not related to general support volunteering from within the teams and the community. Around the event itself, many more people are necessary. For several years, WRRF has required teams to volunteer, in fact, requiring teams to pay a deposit as motivation for teams to show up during their assigned and committed time.

Q:     What if team emails registration before May 11 (early registrations) or July 1 (open registrations)?

A:     If received PRIOR to beginning date/time, the registration will be dated May 11 (early) or July 1 (open), 12:01 a.m. If several teams send registrations in early, they will all have the identical date and time. You are welcome to send it early; it just won’t be acted upon until the slot opening date and times. A lottery is possible if more submissions are received than slots available (this occurred in 2013).

Example 1:

• team #1 sends a registration email with form on May 8, 8PM for an early registration slot.  That registration is set with a date of 5/11, 12:01AM.
• team #2 sends a registration email with form on May 10, 10PM for an early registration slot. That registration is set with a date of 5/11, 12:01AM.
• team #3 sends a registration email with form on May 11, 8AM.  That registration is set with a date of 5/11, 8AM.

RESULT: Lottery might ensue for team #1 & #2 if the slot requested is the same, depending on if only one volunteer slot is available. Team #3 is after that.

Example 2:

• team #4 sends a registration email with form on June 15 for an open registration slot. That registration is set with a date of 7/1, 12:01AM
• team #5 sends a registration email with form on June 30, 10PM for an open registration slot. That registration is set with a date of 7/1, 12:01AM
• team #6 sends a registration email with form on July 1, 9AM for an open registration slot. That registration is set with a date of 7/1, 9AM.
• Team #7 sends a registration by USPS (and no email) with a postmark before 7/1. Registration is not accepted unless received electronically first. CalGames registration will send emails to people on the form telling them this.
• Team #7 sends a registration by USPS (and no email) with a postmark ON 7/1.  Registration is not accepted unless received electronically first. CalGames registration will send emails to people on the form telling them this.

RESULT: priority for team #4 & #5 are the same. Team #6 is next in priority/queue for an open slot. Teams #7 & 8 are not accepted into queue unless an email is received first.

Why won’t a hard copy registration by USPS be accepted? If we had to wait for all the registrations to arrive by USPS we could not confirm slots for about two weeks after that date. We don’t have that much time to do this.

Q:     What if dates/postmarks are the same and not enough slots?

A:     If open registration entries fill the balance of slots, then a lottery will ensue and other teams will go on a waiting list. CalGames 2016 will only have 36 slots. See the example above.

Q:     When does the $100 Volunteer Support Deposit fee get refunded?

A:     The support deposit is refunded after team shows up for assigned volunteer spot and completes slot responsibilities.

Q:     What happens if not enough teams sign up?

A:     A cancellation of CalGames can occur if insufficient teams are registered and confirmed by September 1. In this unlikely event, any paid registration fees will be refunded.

Q:     Will a liability waiver be required for each student, mentor, adult, parent, etc. from teams?

A:     A WRRF liability waiver will need to be completed by every team member (students, adults, parents, coaches, mentors) attending, similar to that done for any FIRST competition. This form will be made available to teams a couple of weeks prior to the event.

CalGames 2016 Planning Committee

Western Region Robotics Forum

2530 Berryessa Road, #134, San Jose CA 95132

CalGames[at]WRRF.org