Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

Another thing to remember is the importance of specific examples of what makes you different/unique. Yeah, it's great to say that you are spreading the word of FIRST in your community, but how? And how often? What impact does it have on the area? Do you have numbers/proof to back it up?

Don't just memorize the information in your presentation -- know the team history inside and out. Having this knowledge close at hand can be helpful when you have to answer questions on the fly!

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

guys , should we present a microsoft presentation in the 5 mints of presentation and to hand the judges our video and not to show them the video ??

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

show what ever you feel is necessary...the judges asked us if we wanted to show the video...and we did....our video didn't work at first...most of the questions they asked us were to elaborate more on what we said during our presentation...our judges were very lenient...our presentation took 5 min. and they asked questions for almost ten min. *hint to teams* DO NOT READ YOUR ESSAY TO THE JUDGES DURING THE PRESENTATION....they have already read and highlighted key points...make sure your presentation is lively and intriguing... and for the video we put 2 versions on dvd.... a compressed 5 mb version and a 64 mb HQ version...i believe they showed the HQ version when we won...can't remember was too excited... just do your best and good luck....

COURTESY OF TEAM 2344

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

This will be too late to help those of you competing at the Regionals, but for next year you may want to attend the Robotic Conferences being held at Atlanta. Among the many valuable talks is a panel discussion of Hall of Fame teams about the award.

http://www.usfirst.org/community/fir....aspx?id=11300

"Chairman's Award Chat - Talk with Championship Chairman's Award Teams"
who: John Larock & Other Chairman's Awards Representatives

The Chairman's Award is the top award in FRC and is more competitive each year. MOE 365 will lead a panel discussion with representatives from past Championship Chairman's Award teams. The panel discussion will cover the following topics - how each represented team earned the recognition, personal team stories, why submit?, know your team, how to plan, the written submission, the judges presentation. Teams should bring their Chairman's Award questions and be ready for some lively and (hopefully) helpful discussion.

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

Talking to people who were on the team in year's past helped me immensely during my interviews at both the regional and championship levels. Remember that Chairman's award isn't something that was won by the effort of your team this year, but something that has been years in the making and helped by anyone who has come into contact with your team.

Also, a few tips...

Be confident, this is YOUR TEAM, you know what you are talking about because you have done it, don't second guess yourself.

PRACTICE! No one likes it (Trust me I know) but practice is the key to a great presentation. Simply "winging it" isn't enough, practice everywhere you can, multiple times a day.

Be proud, just writing a CA essay is admirable, it is incredibly hard and a very rewarding process, congrats for getting this far. You're team is already awesome.

Don't bring yourself down, when you exit know you did something that only a few FIRSTers ever get to do, it's an honor to be a part of it.


Lastly, ask questions, people on other teams love to tell their stories, if you cannot attend the FIRST Robotics Conference at Championship take a quick look at teams that have won in the past and e-mail them. They will help you out.

-Kelli

PS: If you need any help with the video plan to attend the video workshop at the FIRST Robotics Conference in Atlanta this year.

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

Quick question: what music is allowed in the video? All I saw was that it must be free of copyright restrictions, where do I get that?

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

Record a full presentation and analyze it! Recognize your faults and follies and improve on them!

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

Lil lavery had some great advice. One more thing to add, you can make handouts or booklets highlighting things you have done. These should be things that are unique to your team. The judges can then take these handouts with them when they have to convince other judges of the merit of your team winning. Not all the judges see all the teams. Especially at the championships. You have to give the judge the ammo he need to be your advocate. Scrap book documenting your teams history helps too. They will keep the handouts and booklets, but they will return the scrapbooks

Re: Chairman`s Award - Need some answers
 

You have some options here:

1) Do the music yourself. Now you own the copyright, and you of course give permission, right?
2) Get written permission from the holder of the copyright to use it (and make sure to include the permission with the DVD/in credits).
3) Find music from the public domain. Usually, these never had a copyright or the copyright expired some time ago and wasn't renewed.