Greetings Oregon FIRST LEGO League Championship Teams and Volunteers,
First, I want to say I am very glad all of our teams were able to stay safe during the difficult road conditions caused by the storms earlier this month. Your heartfelt notes thanking us for postponing the state championship did make it easier to see how we had made the right decision (not that the school ended up being open either.)
However, all of this has resulted in our current status. Liberty High School is booked for all of the weekends we could possibly have the state championship. We will NOT have our event at Liberty High School this year. We aren't giving up though! We've looked carefully at the ORTOP competition calendar and chosen the dates February 18 & 19, March 4 & 5, and March 11 & 12. We are approaching all of our partnering schools in the metro area to see who has enough space available for us on one of those weekends to host the tournaments.
We are looking for a space with enough seating for at least 1500 that we can set up 3 competition tables at. This is most likely a large gymnasium, but may also be an auditorium. We are also looking for enough space for 60 6ft pit tables, 15 judging rooms, a volunteer hospitality room (with kitchen), and a space for spectators and teams to eat. The host location needs to be accessible for teams coming from South Oregon and East Oregon, and close to the bulk of our volunteers who currently reside in the and around the metro area. It takes 175 volunteers each day to have a FIRST LEGO League state championship for 60 teams.
I know this isn't the update you all wanted, but it is what I have as of 10am on January 23rd. I hope to turn around an email a confirmation with a location very soon. Please know we are not giving up on the tournaments at this time.
Best Wishes,
Loridee
What about the Expo center or Ridgeview high school in Redmond? Central Oregon is a good location for all the competitors/travelers, but not sure about the volunteers.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the Expo center or Ridgeview high school in Redmond? Central Oregon is a good location for all the competitors/travelers, but not sure about the volunteers.
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult location for volunteers and to get all of our equipment to. Plus with this winter I'm a little more hesitant to recommend a location in the middle of the snow.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd love to come see Redmond. I haven't been able to visit there yet.