View Full Version : FRC Blogged- District Award Allocations and Kickoff Taping
Steven Donow
10-12-2013, 13:44
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-District-Award-Allocations-and-Kickoff-Taping
Folks have asked what the allocations will be for awards at District Championships.
The Districts will have flexibility in how they allocate their awards, within boundaries. This gives Districts the ability to tailor the award package available at their Championships to local conditions – team capacity at their Championship, number of rookie teams in their District, leadership preference, etc – while making sure the meaning of each award does not vary too greatly between Districts.
For the 2014 season, allocation ranges will be as follows:
For Chairman’s Award:
One Chairman’s Award for every 6 to 10 allocated FIRST Championship slots, rounded to the nearest whole number.
In practice, for 2014, this means the New England and Pacific Northwest Districts can select 2 to 4 Chairman’s Award winners, the Mid-Atlantic Robotics District can select 2 or 3, and Michigan can select 3 to 5
For Engineering Inspiration Award:
All Districts, 1 or 2
For Rookie All Star Award:
All Districts, 1 or 2
For FIRST Dean’s List Award:
One FIRST Dean’s List Finalist for every 4 to 6 allocated FIRST Championship slots, rounded to the nearest whole number.
In practice, for 2014, this means the New England and Pacific Northwest Districts can select 4 to 6 FIRST Dean’s List Award Finalists, the Mid-Atlantic Robotics District can select 3 to 5, and Michigan can select 5 to 8
For all other judged awards presented at the District Championship, including the Woodie Flower’s Finalist Award, there will be a single winner.
When Districts have made their decisions regarding award quantities within the ranges above, they will be announcing them.
Kickoff Taping
We taped the segments needed for the Kickoff broadcast that involved the field on Saturday. This was the first time we had a chance to take a look at a fully assembled 2014 season field in person rather than on a display screen or on paper. I thought it looked great. Especially impressive was the...but, I guess I shouldn’t say any more.
As you may remember, a few weeks ago we put out a call for team t-shirts that the FRC staff could wear during the taping. FRC Engineering had the idea for staffers in the videos to wear team t-shirts rather than traditional FIRST or FRC shirts. Response was much greater than we expected! 123 teams sent in shirts for us to wear. I was at the taping only for a few hours on Saturday – and it went all day and in to the evening – but I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone shout ‘Wardrobe!’ meaning it was time for the staffers to change their team shirts to get ready for the next scene.
Many team shirts made the videos – but you’ll have to watch them to find out which ones. Remember, also, that in addition to the main Kickoff broadcast, we tape additional videos that present more detail. Staff were wearing team t-shirts during those as well. If time permits, these will be broadcast right after the main video on Kickoff day, and they should also be available on our YouTube channel later in the day. Whether you sent in team t-shirts or not, watching these additional videos will give you a more in-depth understanding of the 2014 season.
Less than a month until Kickoff! I’m very excited.
Frank
Interesting how they're letting each district choose how many of each award to give.
Calvin Hartley
10-12-2013, 13:51
Especially impressive was the...but, I guess I shouldn’t say any more.
This is obviously a hint. Important parts highlighted in red.
Seriously though, I like the variability allowed in the awards.
Steven Donow
10-12-2013, 13:53
This is obviously a hint. Important parts highlighted in red.
Seriously though, I like the variability allowed in the awards.
He's talking about the pyramids, of course
Calvin Hartley
10-12-2013, 13:55
He's talking about the pyramids, of course
There's three pyramids this year. Three dots, three pyramids. We've figured out the hint, now we can all go sleep for 3 weeks.
Nuttyman54
10-12-2013, 14:00
This is obviously a hint. Important parts highlighted in red.
Ellipsis - a series of dots indicating an omission.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis
Quick, how many wacky game ideas can we generate? Morse code? Falling? Leaving stuff out of goals? GO!
Dean assigns homework at CMP, hardly anybody does it.
Frank mentions sending in shirts for the video, six score teams do it.
There's three pyramids this year. Three dots, three pyramids. We've figured out the hint, now we can all go sleep for 3 weeks.
Well, no. he said "especially impressive was the," not were. It's singular. There's some singular impressive object or structure on the field. Likely central, probably similar to 2007.
Calvin Hartley
10-12-2013, 14:11
Well, no. he said "especially impressive was the," not were. It's singular. There's some singular impressive object or structure on the field. Likely central, probably similar to 2007.
Good point. Maybe there's three tiers to the pyramid. Oh... wait a second.
Taylor, I don't want your post to become lost in the jocular comments about this "hint." While I don't have time left (in class :o) right now to comment, I would love to see people's thoughts on this. Reasons for lack of participation, how to improve participation, etc.
Dean assigns homework at CMP, hardly anybody does it.
Frank mentions sending in shirts for the video, six score teams do it.
To be fair, making a good video (during a time of year when everyone is likely doing everything else in their life that doesn't involve robots) is magnitudes of effort and difficulty more than sending in a t-shirt.
DonRotolo
10-12-2013, 14:24
Quoted again for truth. Although we don't KNOW how many teams did it.Dean assigns homework at CMP, hardly anybody does it.
Frank mentions sending in shirts for the video, six score teams do it.
If I were running a district, I would choose as many EI winners as possible, since there is a monetary award as well.
Anyhow, to te obvious game hints:
including the Woodie Flower’s Finalist AwardThat incorrect apostrophe is surely a game hint. Coupled to the ellipsis, it is clear to me that there is a grammar element to this year's game, specifically punctuation.
Or maybe it's just a mis-spelling of ellipses, those oblong circle thingies...:p
Akash Rastogi
10-12-2013, 14:36
If I were running a district, I would choose as many EI winners as possible, since there is a monetary award as well.
I thought the NASA award excluded districts last year? Am I wrong, or thinking of something else?
Q
Or maybe it's just a mis-spelling of ellipses, those oblong circle thingies...:p
You mean footballs? Clearly, football game piece.
Steven Donow
10-12-2013, 14:39
I thought the NASA award excluded districts last year? Am I wrong, or thinking of something else?
It excluded winners at individual District events, not winners from the overall "District/Region" (it's a matter of phrasing)
Dean assigns homework at CMP, hardly anybody does it.
Frank mentions sending in shirts for the video, six score teams do it.
Number of FRC Team's that submitted Dean's HW: ~50
Number of FRC Teams that sent in shirts: 123
Although 'six score' does make it sound like more, it's only 2.5 times more, and as for the bigger picture, compared to the 2,500 FRC teams that competed last season, both still just barely scratch the surface.
I thought the NASA award excluded districts last year? Am I wrong, or thinking of something else?
It excluded winners at individual District events, not winners from the overall "District/Region" (it's a matter of phrasing)
I think he's trying to say the NASA Grant applied to FIRST Championship registration, but not District Championship registration.
scottandme
10-12-2013, 15:19
For MAR - here's the distribution that was given at the 10/26 meeting
18 Slots:
3 MARCMP Event Winner
2 Chairman's Award
2 Engineering Inspiration
1 RAS
10 "points" slots
There are only 5 rookie/1st year teams in MAR, Michigan has 89!
MamaSpoldi
10-12-2013, 15:21
I for one am very sad to see the reduction in the number of Dean's List Finalists being sent from the Districts as well as the Woodie Flowers Finalist. I know that I will be corrected that it is not about the number of previous regionals that are being replaced. However, last year we would have had 14 Dean's List Finalists heading to Champs from NE regionals and now it is a max of 6... and from 7 Woodie Flowers Finalists down to 1. This is a very large reduction (more than 50%) even if you take into account that mentors and students from outside of NE would/could have won some of those spots in previous years.
I just feel that these awards are about celebrating those among us who are role models. Granted these people do not make choices based on how it will look to an awards committee, they do what they do because they believe in the message of FIRST. Reducing the number of these awards just leaves us with less to celebrate. :(
Akash Rastogi
10-12-2013, 15:43
I just feel that these awards are about celebrating those among us who are role models. Granted these people do not make choices based on how it will look to an awards committee, they do what they do because they believe in the message of FIRST. Reducing the number of these awards just leaves us with less to celebrate. :(
Not necessarily. You can celebrate your students and mentors any day of the week :)
Keep in mind how difficult judging becomes at the Championship level for these awards. I don't see it as a bad thing to become more selective.
Alan Anderson
10-12-2013, 15:47
I can see I'm going to have to adjust my vocabulary. Until now, I thought FIRST was calling the areas running a district model "Regions" -- the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region, the Pacific Northwest Region, etc. I've been very careful to follow that usage. Now, however, it seems they're being labeled "Districts".
Except I thought that was what they called the smaller areas within a larger region hosting district competitions. I'm confused.
Steven Donow
10-12-2013, 15:55
I can see I'm going to have to adjust my vocabulary. Until now, I thought FIRST was calling the areas running a district model "Regions" -- the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region, the Pacific Northwest Region, etc. I've been very careful to follow that usage. Now, however, it seems they're being labeled "Districts".
Except I thought that was what they called the smaller areas within a larger region hosting district competitions. I'm confused.
The only time I've ever seen a map actually divided into numbered districts" was a map of MI, and I think was to show how teams are/were divided into "home districts" ie. one they are arbitrarily signed up for. There's been no such division like that in MAR, but the 'first level' of competitions has been referred to as "district events'.
My guess is this is just to further distinguish/seperate the district model from the regional model, so instead of going to "regionals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQtVmGO3cu4)" or "regional championships", you're going to the "district championship"
wilsonmw04
10-12-2013, 16:29
Dean assigns homework at CMP, hardly anybody does it.
Frank mentions sending in shirts for the video, six score teams do it.
Totally.
Maybe I missed it in an earlier post but I don't see the total number of teams advancing from each District Championships to the FIRST Championships.
Applying the multipliers/rounding implies PNW & NE could be sending 22, 23 or 24 teams. I vote for 24 :)
Steven Donow
10-12-2013, 16:35
Maybe I missed it in an earlier post but I don't see the total number of teams advancing from each District Championships to the FIRST Championships.
Applying the multipliers/rounding implies PNW & NE could be sending 22, 23 or 24 teams. I vote for 24 :)
From an earlier blog: (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-Standard-District-Points-Ranking-System%E2%80%93More-Info)
FiM 32
MAR 18
NE 24
PNW 24
From an earlier blog: (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-Standard-District-Points-Ranking-System%E2%80%93More-Info)
Thanks. I obviously didn't read all the way to the end of that post!
Andrew Lawrence
10-12-2013, 19:27
There's three pyramids this year.
Oh boy a Coopertition Pyramid!
Akash Rastogi
10-12-2013, 19:30
Oh boy a Coopertition Pyramid!
Stop that.
DampRobot
10-12-2013, 19:31
This actually gave me quite a chuckle.
Especially impressive was the...but, I guess I shouldn’t say any more.
I can see I'm going to have to adjust my vocabulary. Until now, I thought FIRST was calling the areas running a district model "Regions" -- the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region, the Pacific Northwest Region, etc. I've been very careful to follow that usage. Now, however, it seems they're being labeled "Districts".
Except I thought that was what they called the smaller areas within a larger region hosting district competitions. I'm confused.
In PNW we consider ourselves the Pacific Northwest District. The qualifying events district events and the big event District Championships of DCMP. In PNW there is no geographic divisions within the District any team is allowed to register for any event, until of course slots are filled. Of course most teams registered for the closest event as one of their two. I've heard that one of the reasons for the fiM home events was to determine which event they were eligible to present for Chairman's, of course now teams are able to present for Chairman's at all events they attend whether District or Regional.
I've heard that one of the reasons for the fiM home events was to determine which event they were eligible to present for Chairman's, of course now teams are able to present for Chairman's at all events they attend whether District or Regional.
One of the advantages of districts is so that for more teams, they can travel to/from home to at least one event instead of needing hotels. It was my understanding that home events are actually the event closest to you. By ensuring that you get your home event, it ensures that you don't need to book hotel rooms.
However, I don't recall reading this anywhere and the briefest of searches didn't show much. Can someone from FiM explain home events better?
Christopher149
11-12-2013, 11:36
One of the advantages of districts is so that for more teams, they can travel to/from home to at least one event instead of needing hotels. It was my understanding that home events are actually the event closest to you. By ensuring that you get your home event, it ensures that you don't need to book hotel rooms.
Funny, we've always needed a hotel for our home event. I mean, I wouldn't want a 3+ hour commute to our home event.</serious sarcasm>
Now, our team is in FiM, though I don't know all the specifics about what qualifies as home event. I think it is closest, but I could be wrong. About the map of "districts" within the district (http://www.firstinmichigan.org/mi_district_map.html), I think that mostly serves as a way to assign district contacts or some such thing. Otherwise, FiM is a district, with district events and a district (state) championship.
Funny, we've always needed a hotel for our home event. I mean, I wouldn't want a 3+ hour commute to our home event.</serious sarcasm>.
That's why I said more, not all. And besides, it's your fault for being in the wrong part of the state. =P /sarcasm
Seriously though, because of the way Michigan is, the district structure actually makes it harder on teams in the UP because there is no short, cheap way to get to the bulk of the events in Michigan. The event in Escanaba is closer for you guys, but a hotel room is still a hotel room. All it saves you guys is gas and travel time.
*Internet hugs* One day, we'll be able to teleport, right? =/
I can see I'm going to have to adjust my vocabulary. Until now, I thought FIRST was calling the areas running a district model "Regions" -- the Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region, the Pacific Northwest Region, etc. I've been very careful to follow that usage. Now, however, it seems they're being labeled "Districts".
Except I thought that was what they called the smaller areas within a larger region hosting district competitions. I'm confused.
I feel like lately Region and District have been used interchangeably, at least in the community. I've heard the Championship event tier in a district system called the District Championship and the Region Championship. Just like I'm still not sure if I'm technically in the New England Region or New England District. Even though the local entities have somewhat settled this, there is clear inconsistencies across FIRST with this.
While I understand this isn't exactly the most pressing issue at hand, it wouldn't hurt for FIRST to come out with a standardized set of terms to settle this and avoid a little confusion down the road.
Nathan Streeter
11-12-2013, 13:40
I'm glad FIRST gave some sort of directive on this... but also think it's real cool that they gave individual districts some leeway too.
For New England, I'd personally say 3 Chairmans', 2 EI, 2 RAS, 6 Dean's List.
Have the award qualifications to Championship been announced/standardized? I apologize if I'm failing to remember a piece about this from the Standardized District Point System announcement. Basically, do the Chairmans', EI, and RAS winners at DCMP all auto-bid to CMP? Also, do the DCMP Winners also get an auto-bid?
I would agree with auto-bidding the three FIRST culture awards, but I am personally not in favor of auto-bidding the DCMP Winners... If they don't get enough points by winning DCMP, they probably shouldn't be going (last year in Michigan the lowest-place team to qualify for CMP by points had 133 points. Winning DCMP gives 90.) One could argue this makes it a fairly irrelevant point... I'd have to quietly agree and sit down. :-)
I for one am very sad to see the reduction in the number of Dean's List Finalists being sent from the Districts as well as the Woodie Flowers Finalist. ... This is a very large reduction (more than 50%) even if you take into account that mentors and students from outside of NE would/could have won some of those spots in previous years.
While I do agree that it feels wrong to send so many fewer DL or WF finalists, they are approximately in line with the other awards... 1 Chairmans', 1 EI, 1 RAS, 2 DL, and 1 WF would go from each Regional before. Now that is scaled up by 2-4 from Regionals to DCMP awards. Except WF... this little part surprises me personally and I do agree that we should be able to send 2-3 Woodie Flowers' Finalists. That said, I do agree with wanting to send only 50% as many award winners to CMP... I'm sure the pool of candidates at CMP is tremendous! Whittling it down a bit more beforehand has got to be helpful from a CMP-standpoint.
I just feel that these awards are about celebrating those among us who are role models. Granted these people do not make choices based on how it will look to an awards committee, they do what they do because they believe in the message of FIRST. Reducing the number of these awards just leaves us with less to celebrate. :(
It is about celebrating the role models around us... and I had this same objection until I tried thinking about it in more dimensions. I think this celebratory aspect is actually being improved by the advent of districts... In New England there will now be 9 Chairmans, 9 EI, 9 RAS, 18 DL, and 9 WF winners... at the District event level. This pool will get paired down a bit more at DCMP before joining an enormous pool of applicants at CMP that are paired down even more. FIRST went from 2 tiers of awards to 3 tiers. We're upset that the "DCMP-tier" is smaller than the "Regional-tier," when they've also made the lowest tier bigger. All-in-all I think this is better... More people will win awards, then there will be another level of distinction (winning at DCMP), before the FIRST-wide winners are determined.
I for one am very sad to see the reduction in the number of Dean's List Finalists being sent from the Districts as well as the Woodie Flowers Finalist. I just feel that these awards are about celebrating those among us who are role models. Granted these people do not make choices based on how it will look to an awards committee, they do what they do because they believe in the message of FIRST. Reducing the number of these awards just leaves us with less to celebrate. :(
The way I've always looked at it is that it is irrelevant to send more than one Woodie Flowers Finalist to the World Championship from the District Championship. Only one person can win the Championship Woodie Flowers award, so why send three or four from your district when you can just send the best one?
But that's just my opinion, I get the idea of celebrating all of the wonderful people involved with FIRST, but that's why all of the nominees are called down at the district event that they are nominated at, and (at least in the past in Michigan) all of the Woodie Flowers nominees are called down to the field at the District Championship before the winner is announced.
Nathan Streeter
11-12-2013, 15:44
The way I've always looked at it is that it is irrelevant to send more than one Woodie Flowers Finalist to the World Championship from the District Championship. Only one person can win the Championship Woodie Flowers award, so why send three or four from your district when you can just send the best one?
Given that every judging panel is different and who best embodies the Woodie Flowers award is a bit of a subjective thing, I see why it would be viewed as an advantage to send more than one person... I'm guessing it's anything but a clear-cut decision who the single best Woodie Flowers Candidate is at the DCMP level. If the DCMP panel prefers a heavier team-level commitment but the CMP panel weighs involvement throughout all of FIRST more heavily, there's an easy example of where sending two or three candidates would be helpful.
That said, I don't envy the job of the CMP judging panel for any of these awards... it's got to be exceptionally difficult to come down to a single winner! Having fewer candidates get to that level can't make it any harder to decide on the single best nomination.
This is true, I was just suggesting what their thought process might have been.
Jessica Boucher
12-12-2013, 10:45
Have the award qualifications to Championship been announced/standardized? I apologize if I'm failing to remember a piece about this from the Standardized District Point System announcement. Basically, do the Chairmans', EI, and RAS winners at DCMP all auto-bid to CMP? Also, do the DCMP Winners also get an auto-bid?
This is actually covered in the Standard Points Document:
Chairman’s Award winning Teams at the District event level get automatic byes to the District Championship, where they will compete both with their robots and for the District Championship Chairman’s Awards. Winning a District Championship Chairman’s Award will earn the Team a slot at the FIRST Championship regardless of their final rank in their district.
Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All-Star Award winners at the District event level will compete at the District Championship level for those specific awards, even if they do not rank high enough to compete with their robots.
Winning one of these awards at the District Championship will also earn them a slot at the FIRST Championship regardless of their final rank in their districts.
Carolyn_Grace
12-12-2013, 11:31
Anyhow, to te obvious game hints:
That incorrect apostrophe is surely a game hint. Coupled to the ellipsis, it is clear to me that there is a grammar element to this year's game, specifically punctuation.
:yikes: Quick! Every team recruit an English teacher mentor!
1529 and 3176 are sure to dominate this year. :cool:
:yikes: Quick! Every team recruit an English teacher mentor!
1529 and 3176 are sure to dominate this year. :cool:
Team 910 has one of those as well. I knew I would come in handy eventually :p
MamaSpoldi
17-01-2014, 11:29
It is about celebrating the role models around us... and I had this same objection until I tried thinking about it in more dimensions. I think this celebratory aspect is actually being improved by the advent of districts... In New England there will now be 9 Chairmans, 9 EI, 9 RAS, 18 DL, and 9 WF winners... at the District event level. This pool will get paired down a bit more at DCMP before joining an enormous pool of applicants at CMP that are paired down even more. FIRST went from 2 tiers of awards to 3 tiers. We're upset that the "DCMP-tier" is smaller than the "Regional-tier," when they've also made the lowest tier bigger. All-in-all I think this is better... More people will win awards, then there will be another level of distinction (winning at DCMP), before the FIRST-wide winners are determined.
From what I see from the submission criteria right now, it looks like neither the DL or WF will be awarded at the individual district events. It looks like they will only be awarded at the DCMP event for each district. This truly reduces the visibility of these awards and the number of people who will get recognition. Personally I have never been at an event where the WF nominees were brought onto the field before the award was given... and even more so the DL nominations are not recognized either, only the finalists selected at each Regional.
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