Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Thanks for checking on this. I'm in a really awkward position here because we did submit to Chesapeake, along with many other teams, obviously. I've been dancing around, trying to inquire with gracious professionalism but I am so confused. It's hard enough trying to figure out where to submit (I always assumed that it was "good form" to submit to your closest regional, but maybe not) and then when a team wins who you didn't even think was eligible, it is so frustrating. It seems there are teams that have been finalists repeatedly over the years. I know the system has evolved over the years and continues evolving.
That said, Team 16 has a long history of being a role model and deserves to be recognized. I just wish that FIRST would help us understand the rules.
Rich, I'm really trying to get out of this thread, promise :)
Jenny

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

And just to clarify a sticky situation that has occurred numerous times, Team 007 Parkville Robotics, is not the same as Team 7 which won in 1993. We got a recycled number in 1996. Took me quite a while over the phone to explain to a nice person at FIRST that although we would LOVE to come to NH for induction into the Hall of Fame, it wasn't us. She thought I was joking. :confused:

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

No, but if there's a need for space to display them , we could do it on our web.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

That would be a mixed bag of feelings to miss all the excitement of winning in the moment at your regional, and be made the winner after the fact.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Just a nitpick but Parkville High School was assigned the number team 7 in 1998 (I remember when we first figured out it would be represented as 007). In 1997 it was team 5. 1997 also happened to be the rookie year for Parkville's team.

Matt

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Hi Matt, we miss you back East!
You're not nitpicking, you are CLARIFYING and thank you for doing so. I was counting backwards and it's evident that my sons didn't get any of their math genes from me. :)

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

I am from team 16 and I apologize for any confusion. At the moment, I am a little confused also. I can not find any documentation that clearly states that past chairman's award winning teams can or cannot compete at regionals. Can someone send me a copy of this letter? As far as I know, we have not recieved a letter that says we cannot submit a chairmans award presentation to a regional. The only thing I have found close to this is in the FIRST hall of fame fact sheet, that says "teams are not able to win anoher Chairman's Award, and the Hall of Fame applications will receive separate review by a panel of judges." The assumption is that this pertains only to championships as the rest of the document pertains to championships. I think the judges at Chesapeake would have informed us if this was not allowed unless there was some miscommunication. Judges at St. louis also inquired of our chairman's submission. Does anyone know of documentation that clarifies this that I am unaware of??? Thanks for your help.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Ashley,
Thank you so much for stepping up to the plate. 16 is a class act and that's why the BombSquad is so well known and looked up to.

The fact sheet sent to all Hall of Fame teams is the correct document. "Teams are not eligible to win another Chairman's Award..." was interpreted differently by our team and others.

An advisor from our team has been part of the Hall of Fame committee that was formed in the aftermath of the summer reception in Manchester where workshops were held to brainstorm ideas on promoting Chairman's and the Hall of Fame (see this thread). She helped develop the process and it was always Team 103's understanding that no Hall of Fame team could make any Chairman's submission on any level. Instead, Hall of Fame teams now submit the same four pages directly to FIRST for additional Hall of Fame recognition in the hopes of inspiring more teams to submit Chairman's entries.

However, there is no "other place" to verify any of this and I certainly appreciate 16 coming forward to answer the questions people have.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Hi all,
Like Rich said, Thanks Ashley for responding.
The folks at FIRST and the committee that was formed to do the HoF have been notified and are gonna look into the situation. I'm sure that they will contact all of the teams and let us know what is going on. I don't think that there is any irreversable harm that has been done - I trust they will come up with a very good solution to the problem.
Interestingly enough, they have also had rookie teams submit a Chairman Award at a regional. Sounds like there needs to be a better filter implemented to assure those that submit are eligible. Like I said, no worries - it'll all get straightened out.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

probably because of Section 8.1.3.15 of the manual

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Thanks meaubry for this post. I too trust that FIRST will come up with a meaning clarification. And Ashley, I too, appreciate your post and I hope you realize that this is not about the merits of your team. There is just a lot of miscommunication going on over the process itself.

If those rookie teams that are submitting are NASA grant receipients, it is a requirement of getting any NASA money to prepare a Chairman's Award entry. NASA wants their documentation. But I don't know where it goes from there, whether they go on thru the interview process.

Re: Hall of Fame Award and Display
 

Joe,
I would have identified the following -
8.2.2 · First-Year (Rookie) and NASA Grant Teams:

Because the Chairman's Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a one-year team effort, it is not possible for a first-year (rookie) team to receive this honor. We encourage Rookies, however, to develop a Chairman's Award submission which judges will use as a criterion to judge the Rookie All-Star Award. This submission will document where your team started its FIRST journey and will also provide background for documenting the results of your team's efforts.

I understand that they are allowed to submit, but my concern is that the folks that are reviewing the submittals are not aware of this section in the manual. Why schedule an interview with a team that can't win it - unless it's to encourage that team to continue it's effort next year. I suppose that would be a great idea as long as the teams were told what was going on.