Chairmans Award tips

[Samwaldo]

This year is our teams 10th year!!! The same format format has been used for our chairman's award video for awhile. It is very unsuccessful. Last year I only kept it the same because I was given the responsibility very short notice (I was still working on it the morning of the presentation). This year though I have some time, so this year we are doing it alot differently. We have lots of things that make us different and a great team. But we need help organizing everything. We have a idea of a format we want now. But before we meet next, I would just like to hear what other ppl have to say.

Does anyone have any tips, for anything chairman's Award?

[1986titans]

Dig through this particular forum. For some reason, it doesn't show all the threads by default, so you'll have to go to "Display Options" down at the bottom and fiddle around with that.
Check the white papers (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/?), some teams publish their essays there.
Look up the websites for past Chairman's winners, some have essays.
Many teams put their Chairman's videos up on Youtube.

[Samwaldo]

Thank you so much! I hadn't thought about looking at team websites for essays

Any personal tips, from own experiences?

[musicgurl1329]

Here are some links to my team's videos. We have won Dallas (2010) and NJ (2011) Chairman's before.

2011- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxZWjTSgugg

2010- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vf6Vls5Uks&feature=related

2009- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sVvWs_ucnw&feature=related

I hope this helps!

[VKP]

Here is our team's winning 2011 chairman's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03Tx9bVxJw&list=UUbV2b_9xnmoV7xLj6WM0XWA&index=23&feature=plcp

And these guys won the Championship award last year (Hawaiian Kids 359) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9IV1chHJtg


Good luck! =D

EDIT:

Also, I wasn't on the chairman's award team (the group that did the actual essays and video) but I do know some of the ideas they worked with:

1. You don't need to describe all of your team's activities/accomplishments in every submissions. e.g. you don't need to mention that you volunteered at a certain event in your presentation, video, other essays etc. Don't try and cram everything in if you think it woudl be better to fully describe other activities in mroe detail.

2. BE CREATIVE. Our team sent three people to the chairman's presentation, and they made sure to have the judges laughing, or at least smiling, the entire time. (they had puns, singing, etc. the judges loved it) You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n5EbZngUVc&list=UUbV2b_9xnmoV7xLj6WM0XWA&index=11&feature=plcp

[waialua359]

Our 2011 CA video was much better than our 2010 and leaps/bounds vs. our 2009 one.
As the OP has stated, given the task and doing it last minute vs. doing it with much more preparation and time makes a difference.

Every team works hard and we find inspiration in seeing many teams do what they do outside of building robots, BUT, were you able to capture the moment?

Our CA video was by far the hardest part of the CA entry vs. the essay, team pics entered, and the interview process. We spent almost every day working on it from day 1 of the school year......editing, re-shooting, cutting things out, putting in clips again, rewriting the storyboard, just to name some of the challenges in putting it together.
Til this day, some members of our video team still want to make changes.

[penguinfrk]

Here's a presentation I gave for one of the offseason workshops for other teams. I'm sure you can find similar resources on other teams' websites too, if there are some questions left unanswered afterwards.

[karomata]

Here's 2 of 1511's winning Chairman's award videos.
2009-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM5CHlNmJh4&feature=plcp&context=C3791554UDOEgsToPDskJfJ8p5sBfRaWuPJ1tVA78H
2011-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOAeuHzcOCg&feature=plcp&context=C3aed28eUDOEgsToPDskLH3IlW2JArQb98wPtR7eKA
These videos won in Chesapeake and DC

[ebarker]

check these tips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OLsjhk-VN8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5o4IMvvDec

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/FRC_Documents_and_Updates/CAV%20Tips%20and%20Guidelines.pdf

[RoboMom]

Slide show from a workshop I did on awards, including Chairman's. Most of the Chairman's info came from the Senior Mentor call hosted by national judge advisors. http://www.mdfirst.org/images/stories/documents2011/2012_Judging_101.pdf

Lots of hints included.

[rachelholladay]

In case you are wanting to look at a lot of different ones, here's ours. We won at the Bayou Regional in 2010 and 2011

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp7q-b0zRjM&feature=plcp&context=C3ce8c46UDOEgsToPDskL-SystzX_0HWlNhJCKJJCe

Essay - http://team1912.com/docs/chairman_essay11.html

Short Answer - http://team1912.com/docs/chairman_short11.html

[Phoenix Spud]

You can view our team's Chairman's video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKx44euF7og&feature=plcp&context=C3b5bb19UDOEgsToPDskJb7r_zW55viEJ80Nd0d6SU

I think the key for the video (and your submission as a whole) is to find what works for your team. You'll see stuff in our video (such as the Australian Flag) that probably won't work for your team. We also try to incorporate as much of our team as possible. For example, because we have a bunch of students who love animating, we try to include that in the video as seen with the graphics on the bottom of the screen.

[breeahnuh]

Hi,
if you don't know me or of me already, I am former member turned mentor of 359 in charge of chairmans and other award submissions and presentations. I was thinking of maybe doing some helpful youtube videos for teams needing help? I would like to know what you all (teams wanting help) think.

Aloha,
Bri

[Carol]

If you go to the CD-Media section, papers, and use the word Chairman in the search field, you will find lots of previous entries and some tips.

It is too late, but for future reference some Kickoffs - such as the one in Upper Darby PA - have seminars on how to submit a Chariman's Award entry, given by previous winners.

Here is presentation given in 2008 at Kickoff - it doesn't discuss the video **(which wasn't required then) but can still be useful. I'll see if they can post this year's slides.

http://moe365.org/moeu/chairmans_award_preparation_2008.ppt



And for the past three years (and most likely again this year) there is a conference/panel discussion presented at Championships entitled "Chairman's Award Chat - Talk with Championship Chairman's Award Teams" which can be very useful.


(http://firstd7.browndesignclients.com/uploadedFiles/Robotics_Programs/FIRST_Place/Workshops_and_Conferences/2010_Assets/2011FIRSTRoboticsConferenceAbstracts.pdf)


**I personally think the essay and presentation to the judges are more important than the video. The essay is the first thing the judges read and you can go into more detail there. And the presentation is a make or break - you can either wow the judges or ruin all your chances face-to-face. But I don't know for sure; this is just my guess.

[Cynette]

**I personally think the essay and presentation to the judges are more important than the video.

No guessing.The essay and the presentation are more important.


Chairman’s Award Video (DVD) Requirement

Teams submitting for the Regional Chairman’s Award must provide a DVD (see note 1) to the judges at the event. The content of the DVD should explain what the team has done to earn a Regional Chairman’s Award. The video may be shown to the judges during the team’s 5 minute presentation time at the discretion of the teams; however the team must provide the equipment for viewing (i.e., laptop). Although it is a requirement of submission, it is not a requirement for the judging process. If the team has prepared an acceptable DVD and has met all of the criteria, the DVD of the Chairman’s Award recipient may be shown as part of the closing ceremonies on Saturday. Teams who do not submit a DVD to the judges will not be considered eligible for the Chairman’s Award and will not be interviewed by the judges.
(emphasis mine)

[Shu2137]

We are submitting for Chairman's for the first time this year and so much of the information is about the video. But in reality the video should be one of the last items on the priority list because it is not even due until the competition date, correct?

I read the sames section that was posted previously but then so much emphasis is put on the video throughout the packet and tips guide so it makes it a little confusing. Am I understanding this right?

I am mentoring the Chairman's Committee this year so any help would be greatly appreciated. I am just trying to get my head around everything and make sure that I fully underestand it all.

Thanks! After all of this, I now have much more respect for the Chairman's teams!

[rsisk]

We are submitting for Chairman's for the first time this year and so much of the information is about the video. But in reality the video should be one of the last items on the priority list because it is not even due until the competition date, correct?

I read the sames section that was posted previously but then so much emphasis is put on the video throughout the packet and tips guide so it makes it a little confusing. Am I understanding this right?

I am mentoring the Chairman's Committee this year so any help would be greatly appreciated. I am just trying to get my head around everything and make sure that I fully underestand it all.

Thanks! After all of this, I now have much more respect for the Chairman's teams!

The video is important in the sense that if you don't have one, you most likely will not be allowed to do the Chairman's interview at the regional and not be eligible for the regional Chairman's Award.

On the other hand, as Cynette and Carol have both said, the written submission and interview have the greatest impact with the judges during consideration for the award and the video of the Chairman's Award receipient is reviewed for a potential showing at the regional.

Remember to pay attention to copyright rules while creating your video, especially when considering video and music included in the video. Look for music that can be freely used without copyright violation.

[starlightstereo]

Does anyone know the due date for this year's chairman's award?? We can't find it on the FIRST site! Dx also a handbook or something of the sort would be very helpful, we're slacking...

[ebarker]

This and other important information is on the FIRST website at www.usfirst.org
click the FRC tab and then the calendar button on the sidebar.

The FIRST website is your source for official information.

[dtengineering]

First of all, please remember that while we often focus on winning the Chairman's Award, that it is the effort to win that matters. No one "loses" RCA... if you've worked your butt off all year in the spirit of the award, then you've already won before you even get to the regional. Our team submitted for the Chairman's many times, comfortable in the knowledge that while we had done a lot over the course of the year that other teams had done more and were more deserving of the award. We were able to celebrate their success and still be proud of our own contribution. Formally documenting our efforts as part of our application was a capstone of the year's work. While we never won an RCA, we were a better team because we tried... and maybe once or twice we made it a tough decision for the judges!

And that decision can be tough. Last year I had the honour of being part of an RCA judging panel. I wish there was some way to truly convey the respect that the judging panel held for all the teams that submitted while respecting the confidenitality of the judging process. We read, carefully, every word of the written submissions. We were blown away by the quality of the carefully practiced presentations. Several teams finished their presentation within ten seconds of "the bell". Not that we were judging on time, but it underscores just how carefully they had practiced compacting a year's worth of activity into one short, dynamic presentation. In the end we had to choose one recipient of the award and it was very, very difficult to do.

It is probably too late to start on this for this year if you haven't been doing it all year long, but one thing that we truly appreciated was the documentation that teams provided that illustrated their activities and demonstrated their impact. Having photos of events, thank you notes, newspaper clippings... proven, hard facts that backed up the key elements of the presentation in an organized fashion was very helpful.

Find a team in your area that has won multiple RCA's and ask if they can show you the documentation that they bring with them to the judging room. The cool thing about the RCA is that the teams that truly deserve it are teams that want to help you win it. And believe me... there are many more teams who deserve an RCA than there are awards!

Be proud of your accomplishments, and go for it.

Jason

[Katie_UPS]

Chairman's in a nutshell:
-Focus only on the last two years of efforts (you can mention longevity of projects)

-Remember that you have a presentation and a paper. The presentation should not be a summary of the paper. Expand on what you said in your paper with the presentation. You have two opportunities to show the judges how cool you are.

-A chairman's team is a model team in all aspects of FIRST.

-You also have an executive summary/essay. This is a third place to show them how cool you are. Information should be related in each piece

-Some teams (my old team included) will pick a theme for their paper. Examples would be a robot analogy (mentors are like the wheels, etc) or a puzzle (all these pieces fit together). This makes it easier to integrate your paper and your presentation.

-Have Fun

-Its not just what you do, but why its important. Don't just tell them "We showed our robot to middle schoolers", also tell them "This got the students excited in a time when many lose interest in STEM. It also is a recruitment tool to help sustain our team."

If you need any help, PM me. I'm willing to help edit team's papers, but I'm warning that I'm a pretty harsh editor. If you would like to see the winning paper that I helped write, I'm willing to share.

[Shu2137]

Thank you for all the help!!! So far things seem to be going to together very well and we are excited to present on all of the effort our teams puts in. We have definitely seen how it can be rewarding to just put together a Chairman's submission. I have been thrilled to see our team get so much excitement from this by looking back and seeing the effects of what we have done the past few years.

If anything it has served as a great reflective tool to see how we can improve even more in the future.

[moonlight]

The video is important in the sense that if you don't have one, you most likely will not be allowed to do the Chairman's interview at the regional and not be eligible for the regional Chairman's Award.

On the other hand, as Cynette and Carol have both said, the written submission and interview have the greatest impact with the judges during consideration for the award and the video of the Chairman's Award receipient is reviewed for a potential showing at the regional.

Remember to pay attention to copyright rules while creating your video, especially when considering video and music included in the video. Look for music that can be freely used without copyright violation.

So.... the video is not due 'til presentation day at the competition? for some reason i thought it was due on February 16 as well as the submission... can someone please clarify this to me?

[moonlight]

Chairman's in a nutshell:
-Focus only on the last two years of efforts (you can mention longevity of projects)

-Remember that you have a presentation and a paper. The presentation should not be a summary of the paper. Expand on what you said in your paper with the presentation. You have two opportunities to show the judges how cool you are.

-A chairman's team is a model team in all aspects of FIRST.

-You also have an executive summary/essay. This is a third place to show them how cool you are. Information should be related in each piece

-Some teams (my old team included) will pick a theme for their paper. Examples would be a robot analogy (mentors are like the wheels, etc) or a puzzle (all these pieces fit together). This makes it easier to integrate your paper and your presentation.

-Have Fun

-Its not just what you do, but why its important. Don't just tell them "We showed our robot to middle schoolers", also tell them "This got the students excited in a time when many lose interest in STEM. It also is a recruitment tool to help sustain our team."

If you need any help, PM me. I'm willing to help edit team's papers, but I'm warning that I'm a pretty harsh editor. If you would like to see the winning paper that I helped write, I'm willing to share.

Hello Katie_UPS i was wondering if you could email me a copy of the paper you are talking about? ;) my team is going after the chairman's award this year. This is our second year as a team and we know how big this is and that it requires a lot of work, bet we believe we have potencial... we just need alittle help.

[moonlight]

Does anyone know the due date for this year's chairman's award?? We can't find it on the FIRST site! Dx also a handbook or something of the sort would be very helpful, we're slacking...

The chairman's award must be submitted on February 16 at noon Eastern time. You can find the Chairman's award criteria in the FIRST website... i don't know when is the video due though :S i'm hopping someone will help me out with that part

[KelliV]

If I could only recommend three things to teams I would recommend the following:

1) Have your presenters talk to some people that have been on the team for years. We talked to Al on the way to Atlanta and it was great, knowing where the team came from really helped us know the spirit and history of WildStang and really made answering questions easier, allowing us to get through more questions in the interview process. It also allowed us to share with the rest of the team where we came from.

2) Just applying is an achievement. You have come far enough to fill out something in every category and that's awesome. Congrats to you, always be proud. Applying for the Chairman's Award isn't just a product of the "Chairman's team", it's a reflection of every person who has ever been on the team, after all, the team wouldn't exist without it's members.


3) Be yourselves. Don't spend time trying to be just like team so and so who won in year whatever. Every team has something unique to bring to the table, show your uniqueness. If your team is quirky and fun then apply a theme to your essay, if you are a business then make it more business like.

-Kelli

Also... on the video side, remember that if you win this will be the video that is played when you guys are introduced. Wow the audience with something that is quality. If you want help let me know, I can read essays or review your videos.

[Mc Kenna]

The chairman's award must be submitted on February 16 at noon Eastern time. You can find the Chairman's award criteria in the FIRST website... i don't know when is the video due though :S i'm hopping someone will help me out with that part

Like many others before me have said there is no "steps to follow to win chairmans" but there is a lot of great advice from a lot of mentors on here and in the white pages from quite a few people who this isn't their first rodeo, so do your research. Also reach out to the HOA teams who offer to help! We love to help people, and often people are shy to email us but don't be.

That said don't get to caught up in what made one team successful and try to emulate that. I mentor both 1868 and 254 for their awards and they both submit *very* different chairman's last year in the head to head at SVR 1868 won but both submissions were very strong for very different reasons. You need to find out what makes your team strong and tailor everything to that.

The other thing is chairmans is a process 254 didn't become a HOA team over night and 1868 is still working on getting there and there isn't anything wrong with that. What is important to show is improvement every year you should be doing "better" and be able to track and show that. Its a cool story 254 did 4,000 hour of community service last year, whats a really cool story is that of the 8,000 they did in the last 3 years 4,000 of it was last year and with more members this year that number should go up.

I couldn't agree more with Glen about capturing it being the most difficult part. You cannot leave it till the end or you simply will not have the footage you need to create that awesome clip.

That said, at the RCA level the vid is more of a tie breaker than anything else but there needs to be a tie first, where as at the national level with so many teams who should be in the HOA it really can come down to the tiny things.

You will submit the vid at the regional you are presenting to but I cannot stress enough don't leave this to the end!

Also if any one would like my thoughts on their awards submissions I'm always happy to take a look and offer my thoughts so feel free to PM me.