35,000+ Expected at FIRST Championship international robotics competition

This sounds like a great positive downtown event featuring the kind of image Detroit should be projecting--smart kids doing cool things--while have great economic tourism impact. Win-win. I would have been here with my kid if he was still of that age.

The K-12 event includes competitions involving four different FIRST programs, which are segmented into different age brackets:

• Grades K-4 compete in the Lego Jr. competition, building models and creating a poster depicting research.
• Grades 4-8 compete in the Lego League competition, which involves building robots using Lego Mindstorms technology.
• In the Tech challenge, grades 7-12 are tasked with designing, building, programing and operating robots to play a floor game in an alliance format.
• In the Robotics competition, grades 7-12 use a robot — built and programmed during a six-week timeframe prior to the competition — to try to defeat a boss in an 8-bit video game.

The prize for top performers is bragging rights for winning one of the largest youth robotics competitions in the world.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...troit-showcase

Vault of Midnight is gonna get so much business. ;)

best of luck to the participants. visit downtown shop around.

The Robotics World Championship is at Cobo this weekend bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Detroit. They have a contract to hold the championship in Detroit for the next three years. Detroit could benefit from attracting more events like this and conventions as well.

Here's a little clip from WXYZ talking about the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZQ7ExmZH9g

This is a great event, and one Detroit should work hard at getting a long term commitment for. It is a natural fit here with all of the engineering, technology, and manufacturing companies in the region.

Anyone downtown notice the influx of visitors?

They are all over the place, particularly morning commute, lunch and evening commute.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jakewayj

Anyone downtown notice the influx of visitors?

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Oh dear yes. Lunch has been CRAZY. I went to Woodward Coney yesterday and it was packed. I want to Cadillac Square Diner today, also packed.

I have talked to several people visiting for this convention. They all seem to be having positive experiences with our city. They mention the great programming lined up at the parks, the beautiful riverfront, and the great selection of food. They have mentioned how kid-friendly downtown is. I find that interesting because I find our downtown to not be very kid friendly...though the improved programming at Beacon and Grand Circus Parks this week probably has a lot to do with their comments.

Not on the same scale, but still very positive for visitors will be the Urban Land Institute spring meeting in Detroit next week. I believe the out of town audience for that one is 5,000 or so. This is a great time of year to show off the city.

Nice to see. Screen snap from today's Free.
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