Chairman's Award Question?
 

Hi, my FRC team had a question regarding the Chairman's Award. We are not competing for this award, we are doing it in order to receive a grant from NASA. Our question is, if we are not competing for this award are we still required to write the essay that comes with the award criteria. Any help is greatly appreciated.
-EliStevens12

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

The Robotics Alliance Project site states, "Sponsored teams MUST COMPLETE and submit an annual report (aka Chairman's Award) to NASA" as one of the requirements (#3).

So, as long as you need to do all of the work, why not present it? The experience alone will be worth it for the students and will help prepare for the future.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

Even if you don't believe you have a chance to win, preparation (and presentation) of the Chairman's Award video and report serves as an annual reminder of and refocus onto what FIRST is all about - making the world a better place, both for individuals on the team and the greater community that we live in. Some of our team's better outreach events (and even a few sponsors) have come about as a byproduct of preparing a previous year's chairman's video and report.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

"I'm just here so I don't get fined."

You're doing the work to qualify for the grant. Why not do the best you can do with it, and present it? You might learn something about your team and something about yourself.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

"Thanks for Axen" I have reported this to my mentors and we are now doing the essay. I'm happy because I really wanted to do it and we are now competing for the award !

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

OK, I'm going to take this question one step further. Our team did a GREAT job in PERSON but we had a lousy powerpoint video. Our HS mentor (who was in charge of "assigning" this to students in the robotics class) felt it didn't matter what the video content was, just so long as they got it done.

Needless to say, he assigned it to a rookie who had no investment in the team and even fewer video skills. It was an aberration. So bad, in fact, that when we saw that it violated YouTube copyright laws, we were thrilled to take it down. We punted at the last minute, creating a new "video" from an adequate powerpoint our co-Presidents made for an earlier grant presentation.

That said, it's obvious that the judges care a LOT about the video, after all, they want something impressive to show during the ceremony. Our team has done some incredible things (especially considering our rural, low-income profile) but there's virtually not a chance we would be getting the C.A. because our video is pathetic, compared to some of the (ahem...commercially produced?) ones that are out there.

SO - all that background given....is there any requirement that we have to go for the C.A. at more than one of our district meets? I am unable to find anything specific to that.

thanks in advance for your replies....

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

I am not a chairman's judge. I am on a team that takes Chairman's & what is stands for very seriously.

It depends. If it is presented as part of your time with the judges, it very much matters. If it is not part of the presentation them they might not look at until the decision is made. A bad one might loose it even at this point.

What the judges look at and how is defined in the judges manual. (I have not seen it.) Aside from specific guidance in the manual what they look at & weightings is open to their interpretation.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

Even if you are not competing to win the award, it is still a good idea to submit at your regional/district since your team will eventually want to win Chairman's at some time. Chairman's really holds the FIRST ideals and you never know how good your team is or what ways to improve your "outreach". Yes, write the essay (or at least you should have by this point...) and really commit to Chairman's, and you will have a head start for the next few years when you decide to further your community involvement and compete to win Chairman's.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

I have a somewhat related question. That is, when do the Chairman judges view the video turned in? And is there a difference if a link was submitted online rather than only the video in person?

I ask because our video and presentation have slightly different content and i wanted to know what our presentation team should prioritize.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

I believe the video is the lowest priority. While it is up to the judges' discretion, at many events the judges don't even watch the video, or only watch it as a final judgment between the two or three teams running up for the award. The presentation, essay, and pit interviews, etc. are much more important for the award.

Re: Chairman's Award Question?
 

According to Q&A you can update your video. So it should be the one you turned in as you entered for your presentation.

Q459 Q. We submitted a video for the Chairman's Award according to the deadline and rules. After presenting at our first regional we decided that we could do sections of the video better. Can we submit a new Chairman's Award video for presentation at our second regional?
FRC2846 on 2015-03-12 | 1 Followers
A. Yes, you may. The rules only require that you submit a video at the start of your interview at the current event. In the same way you may tweak your presentation, you may also tweak your video."