Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Has 341 raised the chairman's bar so high as to represent a disincentive to even compete for it?
Or have they simply shown the rest of us how it's done?

side-note:
I'm very impressed that international efforts are part of Miss Daisy's resume.
I dream of the day when great world cities compete for the honor of hosting world champs. :)

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This is a good question to think about. I'm sure there are many teams out there who don't bother compiling a Chairman's Award submission because they feel they have absolutely no chance at ever winning.

Honestly, we used to feel that way as well. We used to joke that we will never win the Chairman's Award, because as a team we haven't had to overcome a major obstacle (We are blessed to have an amazing group of students from a private school, and we are sponsored by a wonderful Major sponsor, AND we have -in my own opinion- the greatest engineers as mentors) and so the bar is set high for us. Yet, we have had our own internal struggles at times, and in the past our community outreach was at a minimum.

Over the past couple years, our Chairman's effort was launched into a much higher level than it ever was before, due to an awesome group of kids who started to believe that it was important! For the past two years, we've won districts and states Chairman's. It's been wonderful.

And yet, we still felt that we were missing something. We're getting there, we're competitors, but we're still not quite there.

Now, we have a new philosophy.

We are no longer going to compete for the Chairman's Award.
Winning this award soley so we can become a Hall of Fame team is not our goal.
We aren't looking for the prestige and recognition of what we accomplish.
We've decided that isn't what participating in the Chairman's Award is all about.

Instead, we're looking to spread the message that FIRST has taught all of us: That science and technology is cool! That they create jobs! That people can do this stuff and making a living having fun!

Instead, we're looking to help our community around us. Yes, there's a lot of talk about FIRST in Michigan...one of the reasons why we like it so much is that it saves us money. Something that EVERYONE in Michigan needs right now. And we feel that participating in a program like FIRST, in which we need to get sponsors and funding and ask the community to donate to us, brings about a responsibility to help the community in turn. So, we participate in events like the Pontiac Hunger Walk (May 1).

Will we compile a Chairman's presentation/paper/video? Of course! And we'll still hope that we win. But, are we compiling this together for the purpose of competing to win? Not anymore.

And...actually...we've found that it's a lot easier and more fun this way. We're still competitors for the award...but when you focus your goal to make an impact on the community, you find that is a much bigger reward than the blue banner you crave.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

The bar is set pretty high, but doesn't mean we still won't try and continue to do everything we do to better the community we live in. It's not about winning, its about making the world a better place.




The running gag on our team is next year as part of our chairman's effort is we are all donating kidneys and adopting children from 3rd world countries.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I have believed that the most important thing about the Chairmans award is what you get out of the process. It is great to win of course but that is not the thing that should drive teams. The fact that we are forced to look at our team yearly and say "What have we done this year?" keeps us on track. The team that I am on is not a large team ( average 30 ) but we have a team to be proud of. The kids start with VEX and mentor the new students on the team in how to build. At the same time they are going to the grade schools in our area and mentoring the kids in Lego. This stretches our team a lot but the kids do it without any help from the mentors.

There are times that we do community events but not to win awards but because the kids feel that it is important. They are proud to show their team colors when doing it. They do demos for TV, the Premier, other schools and anywhere that they are invited. They are always willing to give others a hand before, during and after build season.

When they look back on what the team has done in the past ten years they see a legacy that they all want to improve on and continue. The amount of teams, volunteers, mentors, RWFA and WFA that have come from this team is inspiring in itself. The fact that when they do the submission they see how FIRST has impacted so many lives and that they are continuing the great work started so many years ago makes them want to do better. Not for the medal but for others.

The Chairmans award should be done by all teams every year. Even past winners should be looking back at how they got there and what are they doing now to retain that level of excellence.

It's not about a team having lots of money to spend to travel the world to share FIRST but how the team draws the world into their FIRST experience.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

There can be a fine line between intimidation and inspiration when it come to the elite in FIRST. Those teams who have committed to setting the bar for excellence in ways that change the culture, help to draw that line and deepen it.

Just as not every team is destined for Einstein, not every team is destined for the Championship Chairman's Award. Does that mean they should quit making inroads of change in their team and in their community? Does that mean they should cap their potential? Does that mean that inspiration is limited to an award? No.

Does it mean that teams should assess their efforts each year and perhaps, realign and adjust their goals to match their progress? Yes. Does that mean that teams will change as they season and develop? Yes. Does that mean that as teams season and develop that so does their potential for impact and changing the culture by - increasing? Absolutely.

Where is the reward in this? In the students who move on to graduate and carry the team development and the inspiration they've received - with them.

If Miss Daisy's achievement - after several attempts - becomes a disincentive, then that reaction would be the total opposite of what 341 or ANY of the Hall Of Fame teams would want, desire, or hope for. They would want teams to continue to dig in, inspire, bring change, and - document it, with the potential opportunity of garnering a Championship Chairman's.

Jane

Edit: To be clear - I meant that every team who submits for Chairman's will not win the Championship Chairman's. It is my personal philosophy that every FRC team that qualifies should submit for the Chairman's Award and the Woodie Flowers Award. It is also very rewarding for rookies to submit for the Rookie All Star. The journey is full of win.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I am having a corny morning
So consider this fair warning:


It is uninspiring to catch,
A bar without a stretch.

Only Dreamers dare to go,
To levels they don't know.

So if the bar is still in sight,
Then height is set just right.

Great job to the Hall of Famers
Who found their moments to shine.

You will never find yours
If your wanting "To get mine."

Each year it gets more difficult
And thus more prestigous to win.

Most of us need to be ok
With stretching as "Our End".

********
I forget who posted this in another Chairman's thread, but this is a great question to ask yourself and worth repeating often throughout the year. "If they no longer gave out the award, would you still be doing what you are doing?" They were not referring to the documentation (although that is important too), but the actions that your team is doing. It is OK to say "no". I probably wouldn't have tried certain things, but after doing so, I am glad that we did them. I think that is why they give the award. As an incentive for us to try (and document) new things, and for the bar to exist that we are stretching to reach.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

That is the corner to turn! Service before self. Who will be next?

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think the fact that it took this long for Miss Daisy to win the Chairman's Award speaks volume to how much the top tier Chairman's teams do every year. They've been deserving off this award for as long as I've been involved in FRC (2004), yet they didn't win it until this year! One year they didn't even win the RCA! Clearly there are many teams doing incredibly impressive things.

If awards are a concern, I don't think it would be out of reach to ramp up an RCA winning program over the course of a student's high school career. Would it be a lot of work? Absolutely. But think of the benefits those kids (and the ones they involve through their extracurricular work). In the near term, it seems like it'd be some pretty slam dunk college application material, and the long term results are probably too numerous to count.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This is actually an interesting point. Also one I have a little bit of personal experience with. This year was my team's first year submitting Chairman's at the Championship (second year presenting the award overall). And, throughout the presentation process, I noticed many things:

• Last year, we submitted in Hartford. Because it was only our first year, we were just looking for feedback. However, many (if not all) teams there seemed to have the same mindset when I talked to them "Oh, it's going to be 236. It's not even a contest."
• After Atlanta last year, many people on many CT teams (ours included, truth me told myself included a little bit...not that I'm proud of this), were happy for 236. Not so much that they won, but that now other CT teams actually had a chance to submit.
• As I was working on our Chairman's binder on the way to the WPI regioanl this year, one of our mentors asked me what I thought. I told him I was unsure, but we may have had a slight chance to at least make an impression. He then asked me what planet I lived on.
• In the hotel in Atlanta, when our Chairman's presenters were going over our presentation, we seemed to get off task a lot. A few times I tried to get us back into focus, to which they responded "We're not going to win anyway, why does it matter?"

The Chairman's award is known as the most prestigious award in FIRST. It doesn't award a team that builds a good robot, nor a team that does a million and a half things for the community and the world. It's about being a model for other teams to emulate: finding a balance that all teams can celebrate and appreciate. However, it does create an insane amount of pressure of teams. But not the teams that do end up winning Chairman's. Rather, the pressure it put upon the teams that aren't at full Chairman's caliber...yet. They see what other teams have done and either become discouraged because they assume that they can't do the things other teams do. Or they become inspired to do better than those teams. Neither of these should be occurring. A team should see a Chairman's winner and feel the same way that we want kids to see when we demo for them, "I want to do that when I grow up."

That being said, kids don't just decide they want to build robots then build the next Einstein champion the next year. They tinker, they experiment, they get feedback, they learn. Yes, it's frustrating at times because it may seem like there's always the kid that can do it better and faster, but it will come.

Like Jane said, not every team is ready to submit Chairman's right away. They need to tinker and learn and get feedback for themselves. But, if we want to show kids that we're good role models for them, we first have to prove to ourselves that we can appreciate other good role models- not compete with them.

Congratulations to team 341, your work is nothing short of what I want to do when I grow up.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Yes, Miss Daisy set the bar high. However, this shouldn't deter people from submitting for the Chairman's Award, it should inspire them to see what a big difference one team can make. As with most teams, my team started our community outreach programs a few years ago because we saw a need in the community. There was no thought of Chairman's associated with our activities partially because we knew we had no chance compared to some of the amazing teams in our area. Three seasons after we began doing significant outreach work, we finally convinced the team to work on the Chairman's Award because of the value of the process. It's an amazing and inspiring experience to be a part of compiling the stories necessary to submit for the Chairman's essays. Different talents are used, it gets everyone involved in a new way, and it passes on important values and pieces of team history to a new generation of students each year. Once we embraced the Chairman's Award submission for the process, rather than for the sake of winning the award, we benefited so much more from it. This is the beauty of the Chairman's Award- you don't have to be the Championship Chairman's Award winner to benefit from the work you put into it. Everyone gains something from being a part of the process. I'm really proud of the students on my team for changing their attitude towards Chairman's and winning, because they've gained so much from putting together a submission for the past two years.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think that the greatest thing that Bausch + Lomb sponsorship brought to 1551 is the requirement that we strive to win the chairman's award every year...

We're a tiny school in the middle of nowhere with a fraction of the students/mentors compared to the teams we're competing against, we have some interesting limitations (for example, we are only allowed to do two -- limited -- fundraisers a year by our school so that we don't take too much from the other extracurriculars), and I honestly think that we don't have a snowball's chance in aitch-ee-double-hockeysticks of ever winning. But trying to win makes us a better team every year.

Not pretending to try to win. Not inventing silly shenanigans that will make us look better but that's all. But actually doing things that make our team better, our program stronger, and the experience richer.

And that's fantastic.

So the bar is set insanely high. Probably unachievably high for some of us. But what a shame it would be to lower it.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Do I think the bar is too high? I think impossible dreams and lofty goals are a key part of FIRST; the "top" being extremely far away only pushes people farther. The only people that would be "pushed away" from the Chairman's Award because it was given to 341 would be teams that were so full of themselves to think that they were "almost there" when they still have a ways to go. Everyone else, with a realistic and grounded view of themselves, knows that they were not at that level, and hopefully are now working to reach it.

I'm beginning to wonder though, if "Winning Championship Chairman's" is a realistic goal for any team made in the last 5-10 years anymore. The "line" of extremely successful Chairman's teams is so, so long, that even if everyone was stopped right now from doing any more Chairman's work, you'd take 10 Championships to award it to all of the many teams that deserve it. It's a little depressing that if you start a real push for Chairman's when you're a student, you can guarantee yourself that your team will not win it in your high school career.

Just my thoughts.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

And this is what I'm preparing myself for -- to help inspire kids who I fear may be intimidated by the enormity of the Miss Daisy win.
As I sat and listened to what Daisy had done, where they did it, etc., I was humbled.
I felt like -- jeesh, these guys are akin to a global conglomerate and we're just a bunch of hayseeds on a beer budget from Western Maryland.
Kids are extremely competitive.
They don't like pursuing unattainable goals.

Clearly, keeping them focused on the ideals rather than the award is the right thing to do -- as all responders have pointed out.
I hope nobody read anything other that into my post.
I am awe of Daisy and I want our kids to be inspired by them -- not intimidated.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Teams all over the world. They have been doing this.

Jane

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I know that it's a really hard lesson to explain. You're right, kids are competitive. It might take a while for them to catch on, but it will happen. Eventually they will "get it", and they will pursue Chairman's for the benefit of their community and themselves through the process. I don't think there's any one right way to pass this concept on. You know the students you're working with the best- try and find something that will strike a chord with them.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Tell that to the kid who says he's going to teach himself how to fly. Or to the one who swears that if he just reaches far enough he'll touch the moon. Or to the girl who says if she digs enough she'll find China. Tell that to kids who grow up to be real engineers.

Maybe I'm seeing things with a slight rose-colored bend, but I'd rather that than give up. These goals are not unattainable. Every team will just attack them differently and at different paces. Think about it: 341 did not do all this in one year. That being said, how come they didn't win this in the past? Clearly other teams have also done other great things. Next year another team will go up on that stage, and we'll be talking about the great things they've done.

As a mentor, I encourage you to have your students look at what 341 did. Explore the steps they took. See how you can translate it for your team. A goal is only unattainable if you let it be.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Something that we have found that works to "keep the presenters focused" is to actually practice our presentation in a very busy area. This brings everyone together, makes it a team event, emphasizes how hard the students work that present, and helps the presenters feel like they're not missing out on the fun at the hotel.

Last year they practiced in the pool at the hotel! It was great. They took turns saying their parts, while the other two goofed around. There were balls flying, people swimming around us, and squirting us with squirt guns, and everyone was laughing. It made the practice session a lot of fun. It also kept the presenters focused...they were able to relax and turned it into a game (they won if they could get through their part without laughing).

It was much much more effective than practicing in a quiet room, as if they were presenting to the actual judges. By having many things around them that could possibly distract them, they actually concentrated on focusing better.

And the rest of the team helped them, encouraged them, and made a big deal about how awesome it was that we were competing for the Chairman's Award.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This the point at which Robert Browning begins to resonate:

The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life: Try to be Shakespeare, leave the rest to fate!

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

-------
I leave it to your google skill-set to find the sources. ;)

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think people are starting to lose touch with what this award is actually about. The focus of a team should not be on how to win the Chairman's Award. Teams should be more concerned about what they can do to help their communities and developing outreach programs.

No team should ever say "How can we win this award? What do we need to do to win it?" Teams should think "What can we do to benefit our community? How can we help those around us and spread the FIRST program?"

Just my thoughts....

-Sam

P.S. Congrats to team 341 on their award. They represent a model team which other teams should try to emulate.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Very true and yet, we have several teams who are worthy now of the Championship Chairman's and have been, just as 341 has been. There are other teams who grow closer with each passing year. We are not lacking in any way of worthy teams who work hard each year to maintain that worth and to deepen it.

If teams think the Chairman's Award is unobtainable, it is the thinking of the team that is limiting the possibility. It is not the award or the potential opportunity of garnering the award that is limiting the possibility. When a team understands that it is limiting itself and wants to change that, then it can begin to plan, to organize, and to decide what to do about the directions that it is free (and has been free) to move in. Some teams have a hard time figuring that out but when they do - it is golden. That is when the truth of Mr. Browning's words ring truest.

Jane

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

The philosophy summed up as "There is no way we could ever catch them. Let's do it!" sums up what I try to achieve with my kids. Kids *are* competitive, and one of the most important lessons that FIRST teaches (IMNHO) is that no matter how good you are, or how hard you try, or how much you do, there are others out there who want it just as badly or more, who may or may not have the same or greater advantages that you have, so you'd better step up!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

To anyone who thinks that Daisy has raised to bar to places well beyond where it has been before didn't pay attention to the teams who are already in the Hall of Fame. I, personally, have done outreach with two Hall of Fame teams (111 and 365) shortly after each won the Championship Chairman's award. I've competed at Philadelphia Regional, where three hall of fame teams attend annually (103, 365, and 341). My teams have submitted at events where 234 and 612 won, two teams that haven't yet been inducted to the Hall of Fame, but will be. The team I mentor was founded by someone who previously mentored a Hall of Fame team. I can tell you that the bar for this award has been tremendously high for some time.

Make no mistake about it, this isn't in any way to belittle Daisy or what they accomplished. But as anyone else who's familiar with Daisy and their history can attest to, they're far from the only incredible team in the mid-Atlantic regional or the Philadelphia regional. 341 has a long history of success, they won RCAs in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2010. But you can see the holes in that legacy. The holes where teams 357 (2006), 1727 (2007), and 433 (2009) stepped up their game and managed to convert the incredible things they accomplished into an RCA in an event where 341 submitted. And from the opposite perspective, ask Daisy how they felt about having to submit in the same area as 365 for so many years before MOE won Chairman's.

And for all those who feel that age is a prerequisite to winning Chairman's, I suggest you re-read the paragraph before this one. 1727 won a RCA at the Chesapeake regional in only their second year. 341 submitted at that regional. I won't pretend that a long tradition of continued and increasing impact isn't helpful. I won't pretend that a RCA is the same as winning it in Atlanta/Indianapolis. But it shows that even the most storied and legendary teams are not guaranteed to receive the honors over a younger team if that younger team truly is a role-model.

The ultimate message is one that has been said far more eloquently and effectively already. But if you strive to win the Chairman's solely for the sake of winning Chairman's, you're missing the point.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

My two cents worth:

Chairmen's is an evolving award. Comparatively, the greater good we can do each year grows exponentially, and so does the message of FIRST. Society changes and so does the the competitive nature of FIRST. As a Michigander, I see the true difficulty some teams face when competing for Chairmen's.

As programs expand we see the undoubtedly significant impact of our actions. Every team, whether they do it for Chairmen's, or do it to change society, removes opportunities for others to do the same. Sure, there is a staggering number of possibilities for teams to pursue, but some might feel overwhelmed. In Michigan, it is difficult (though by no stretch of the imagination impossible) to win a Chairmen's award if you have not procured one previously.

But look around. The community is waiting. Innovation permits the creation and utilization of some remarkable things. Push forward! Create some crazy ideas and see them through. As we have Unsung FIRST Heroes, there are many Unsung FIRST Teams. Winning Chairmen's is something to be proud of, but the actions we take for those around us; those are something to be even more proud of.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think it all comes down to what motivates you... if you're doing good things for kids and in the community just so you can win a banner, a hunk of shiny plastic and a high-five from the judges, then you might be disheartened by how hard it is to win.

If you're doing good things for kids and the community because you want to do good things for kids and the community... then you're going to win every year. Maybe you won't win the Chairman's award, but you'll be inspired by those who do.


Jason

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Amen. Is there somewhere that we can make this a permanent banner for FIRST?

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Dean occasionally comments on the ‘bounce bounce’ pastime so here is a little story.

This conversation reminds me of a lunch I had with college basketball coach Tony Ingle. Tony has earned the distinction of being selected Coach of the Year at the High School, Junior College, and NCAA Division II level. He also is the only NCAA Division II Coach to win two national Coach of the Year awards.

In my early years as a FIRST mentor we were talking about team building, team dynamics, building 1st class teams, etc. He summarized some advice that I thought was spot on.

A coach / mentor has to always balances three things.

….Program Growth – the care and management of the program.
….Team Growth – the care and management of the current team.
….Personal Growth – the care and management of team members.

IMHO,

The Regional Chairman’s Award (RCA) reflects the team’s current and very recent team’s efforts. It is the personal and team growth piece plus a little slice of the Program Growth pie. The program growth plan may stretch over many years.

The Championship Chairman’s Award is the capstone to the long term program growth strategic plan. It is the summation of many teams, many students. It demonstrates the work and planning of a super-team where a super-team is the summation of many teams. It is the super-team’s work over a long period of time.

If your team wins a CA after you graduate you are still part of the winning CA program. Your efforts are part of that program that the award recognized.
Even though you may not be on the ‘team’ the year the CA is awarded, you are definitely part of the team’s program, therefore part of the CA award.

That is the definition of the CA. The bar isn't "too high". By definition it is the recognition of a program that is a summation of many great teams.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Absolutely a great idea, if only more sponsors promoted that. I know NASA used to put that requirement into their grants. Wouldn't it be amazing if some large organization that GETS FIRST, could do some sort of grants for non-rookies that stipulate a future funding on CA submissions (not necessarily winners). Maybe the first year is a $1000 grant, and 2nd year is either a $0, $1000, or $5000 grant based on their CA submission. Maybe even a 3rd year option as well. Not that teams do a CA for money, but those that are doing amazing things each year are encouraged to continue their effors. As in the case of 3 HOF teams submitting at the same regional in one year. Just a thought....

As an educator, I highly value the reflective point of the CA. You will find that for many folks, the best learning happens through or after a reflective period. In most high schools they go through a WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation process that is 90% reflective in nature. You spend 6 mo's reflecting on the state of your school, it's mission, where it has been, where it needs to go, accomplishments, and areas of needed improvement. The top honor is usually a 6 year accreditation. It simply means your school knows what it needs to do and are doing it the best they can.

This year our team modeled some of it's CA process after the WASC process. In fact our school's WASC coordinator headed up the CA entry. It was by far the best CA submission we have ever done, and we didn't win. We simply couldn't compete on the level of Team 115 (congrats to them - they are an amazing team). It shouldn't reflect negatively on us and I've tried to make that point very clearly with our team of how successful they are in this area, and what we can do better with the resources we have. It's the process that is important, and no team should forget that. If every team went through this process, we would more sustainability and program growth.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Time for me to come out of my usually quiet corner. The Chairman's Award should not have a bar. We should never say a team has set the bar for this award! It is a bad notion in my opinion. If we say there is a "set bar" it will deter teams from trying at the goal of doing a Chairman's project.

It is not the award that teams should strive for, it is not the fame or F.I.R.S.T. legend they should work for, but the achievement of making an impact on the life of another, without the intent of personal gain. Every student, mentor, and coach should be working for the desire to change themselves. Only when you change your mentality, can you work to change the world around you. When you have the mentality that the Chairman's Award is set so high that you can't get it, is when you have lost site of what this goal really is about. It's about being selfless. When you gain that, then why should it seem an out of bounds goal.

So if a rookie team can go beyond the struggle of starting the team and can impact the community around them in a positive manor, why then could they not be considered for Chairman's.

Forget this "bar" mentality, go for the goal of being selfless in nature. This is what I see as the basics of the Chairman's Award, a team being selfless, and for the benefit of the community, wether global or local, around them. Miss Daisy did this to their full potential and effect, that is all F.I.R.S.T. asks of us. To be selfless and to do good to our full potential, whatever that may be.

Hope I made some form of sense there.

Ivey

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This thread has really helped me with the message for my team next year. We went from doing the minimum because we had to write a submission for the NASA grant as rookies to a serious effort in the last two years (four year team). But hearing about the winners can be crushing to those kids who pour their hearts out and get good feedback from the judges and just can't win.

As much as I tell them it's not about winning, they care and are hurt. As many times as I say we don't do things to 'look good on the Chariman's submission', I still hear it.

My take-away from this is that we need to keep working on Chairman's every year because it does make us better, and we need to keep celebrating the teams that show us the next level. Preparing a Chairman's award submission is a great focussing tool for part of the team that may not touch the robot, but they really understand the greater goal of inspiration and outreach. I'm not going to let them quit.

Is it worth suggesting some way to recognize the next tier teams, the 'almost there, keep going'? Not adding more awards or taking away from Chairman's, but sending the message that you're on the right track, or that you reached a milestone? Judge's feedback is nice but very brief and a bit vague, and ours has almost always been the same - nice job, keep it up, start some new teams.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I'm not so sure that I agree with the term, selfless, completely, although I understand the thinking behind it. Let me explain (or try to) what I mean. Although it is true that many teams donate hundreds and thousands of hours towards achieving their take on the vision, mission, and goals of FIRST - what they are actually doing is building a more robust community, strengthening their area, and sometimes, having far-reaching effects. Profound effects. The actions of the individuals on the team may be selfless but I don't think that is necessarily the motivation. The motivation is to get the job done - to move forward, to dig deeper, driving the root system they are establishing - deeper into the areas/communities/conditions that exist, pushing the opportunity for change. We know of individual stories and will hear more with the coming seasons, of selfless acts being donated to this program. That's true. But, the motivation behind all of it is competitive, driven, and inspired. I think there is room for all of that and more, creating a very robust and tenacious program to power change.

Rose - I think the Judges' Award recognizes teams' efforts and achievements in ways that you are talking about.

Jane

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Let me hop back on my FiM soapbox for a minute. With the 7 district awards, finally there is some recognition for the "almost there teams". In my opinion, FIRST does an absolutely lowsy job of recognizing really good efforts that aren't "the best". Who gets awards, the winners.
I wish they would take a lesson from 4-H and/or SAE design comp series. 4-H May only award 1 Grand-Champion, and 1 reserve Grand Champion, but they also award several "honorable mentions". While striving for the grand champion, it felt good to get one of these "honorable mentions".
For FiM, I have been suggesting giving of season seeding points for Chairman's. X points for applying, and Y points for being nearly there or "Honorable Mentions". I was told this makes the judges job tougher, but having judged many other competitions, I personally believe this makes it easier as you don't feel so bad leaving Team 4444 out in the cold because they were only 99.99% as good as team Winners. With 10 points this year going to the District chairman's winner, I would give 2 points for applying, and 4-6 for an honorable mention (judges discretion on number).

Just like FRC is not solely about the robots, and the robots are the hook, the Chairman's award really isn't about the award, but the award is the hook. Without the award, many would still do the work, but would they document it and share it they way they do now? I know our team wouldn't. In fact most of the stuff we have done the last 2 years, we have been doing for the last 6 years I have been on the team. The biggest difference the last 2 years is the documentation, and the fact that once the students won a District, they believed they had the ability to do more. Altruism is a lot to ask of most teenagers. Childrens brains are hardwired to be self-serving. This is for preservation of the species. That is why we work on sharing at a young age and continue to work on it into adulthood. We have a hard enough time making the freshmen save a piece of pizza for a mentor arriving late from a hard days work. By Seniors, most of them "get it".

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Don't gauge the success of your team against others, gauge it against how well your team does with the resources available.

Keep aiming for 110% output each and every season, and eventually you'll become a team capable of HOF-style outreach efforts.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I forgot one thing I had planned to put in my previous post, which basically echoes the post before this.

What another team accomplished doesn't change what you've accomplished. Just because another team did something incredible and outstanding, it doesn't mean what you did isn't incredible or outstanding. Even if you don't win the Chairman's, it doesn't mean what you did is any less impressive. You shouldn't be any less proud of the effort you put in because of what another team did.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Sean brings up a great point here. Although it seems obvious, it isn't always internalized. When I was with FRC103 I was fortunate enough to play a role that helped lead to a Championship Chairman's Award. When I left Palisades HS for Lower Merion and founded FRC1712, in no way, shape or form did I say anything to anyone about the desire to "win" a Chairman's Award.

HOWEVER, I have stated from the beginning that my one non-negotiable item, as long as I'm a part of FRC1712, is that the team must always document, submit a CA entry, participate in the interview process, and make earnest efforts to improve year-to-year based on feedback. That effort has led to much growth and many accomplishments in Lower Merion and, in different ways, I'm just as proud of our students, mentors and overall team here as I was the day this photo was taken of 103. (yikes, did I really have that much hair?)

Will 1712 ever "win" a Chairman's Award? I have no idea. Will 1712 ever stop trying to better the community and students through the CA process? Not while I'm a part of this team it won't. I've seen too much growth in two totally different communities to ever say "we're not doing that anymore." I refuse to part of a team that "only" builds a robot and tries to win a game on the field (although standing on Einstein someday with that trophy would be cool, too :D).

In my estimation if a team chooses not to "do this" because it doesn't think it can win, it's TOTALLY missing the point and value in the process. I've been wrong lots before, but that's the way I see it.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Something tells me the source of concern regarding CA is not the fact that the 'bar has been raised' for the national CA award. I have a feeling that it's FIRST's lack of feedback to those who submit CA at the regional level, and lack of genuine thankfulness to the teams for their efforts year after year even though they didn't win any awards for it. The feedback form for CA is a joke some years -- in 2 of the 4 years we were eligible for CA, the feedback form simply regurgitated what the students presented.

If FIRST really wanted to turn CA into a less competitive vehicle to further spread the message, they could send CA-submitting teams letters that explain how to further the specific efforts that teams have already put forth so that those efforts are more inline with FIRST's overall mission. The purpose of such a letter wouldn't be to aid a team or tell a team what they did wrong at competition to not win CA, but rather to begin providing teams with constructive feedback in a more focused manner. I also believe it would open up communicative channels so that the actual award is administered more evenly across regionals.

Statistically, if nationwide 50% of teams do outreach and then present it at a regional, then as it stands currently only 11% of them are even recognized for it (50 regionals * 2 awards / 900 teams, with some rounding and estimation).

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think the activities and accomplishments of the Chairman's Award winners ought to be a valid indication of the efforts FIRST is looking for. If you want to be recognized as the best model for teams to emulate, emulating the teams that have already been so recognized seems a good way to start.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Maybe it's simply because we haven't been presenting that long, but I like the feedback they supply. What does annoy me is the fact that we got absolutely no feedback at Championships. If the judges want stronger contenders for future years, they should explain what would make us stronger.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I personally like the fact that there is only one Chairman's or only one EIA. Yes, the districts do allow there to be more than one, but that's a little different. To have like runner-ups kind of seems to defeat the purpose. While I will (and have admitted) that it shouldn't be a reason to strive for Chairman's, people do attempt to go for this award because it's so highly revered. Giving teams a "well, we still kind of like you" option may cause them to settle and not have to worry about always pushing that extra button. The worst thing you can do if you want to win CA is to fall into a comfortable pattern. CA should be hard, like everything else worthwhile.

Most teens are not FIRST teens. Give us a chance, we'll surprise you every now and again.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Not to nitpick... but I'm going to nitpick.

If you're feeling stress, and pressure, and believing that there might be a bar that's been set too high for chairmans...

You're doing it wrong.

I can see the presenters having stress - any good presenter does before going on stage for the big event. If, however, you're stressing during the off and on-season about the award, I'll say it again: you're doing it wrong.

Chairman's is about helping other people. Getting them involved. Opening their eyes to how they can help. There shouldn't be any stress in that picture.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. I do have one additional comment though. I wager very few teams would pursue a course towards a chairman's ideal if that award didn't exist. FIRST holds the winner up high to tell us how good a job they did, but don't fool yourself. The Chairman's award is really about motivating EVERY team to pursue that agenda. Even if they only pursue it a tiny bit.

Every team that does even a single outreach, demo, or community service event because of that chairman's flag and medallion has already won.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Rich threw it all together above folks. But to add, make the award your own and make it work for your team and community. After having spoken with many Chairman's Awards Finalist at different Regionals, they all have different game plans and styles. That is what makes the award unique challenge, it allows teams to demonstrate how to solve a problem in a variety of different ways while making a lasting effect on society. I always enjoy hearing all of the different stories from region to region and nationally.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I never stated I wanted my team to be the best for FIRST teams to emulate. I simply implied that CA is as abstract as it is competitive an thus most teams' efforts go unrecognized. If FIRST truly wants more impact sooner, they could provide quality feedback that enables teams to fully expedite their efforts.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Ask anyone on 2791 if we're satisfied with that Judge's Award we got in WPI. :P

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

So my team isn't solving world hunger, none of our mentors on are in-line for sainthood, we don't raise $3.2 million a year for charity. But we have done two years of CA submissions and we will keep doing it. It's a way for us to say "we are changing the world" (one kid at a time and sometimes in bulk .. dlavery) It is not about the award, it's about the mission.

I would like FIRST to display the names of each team at each event that submitted for the Chairmans Award. Celebrate that those teams made the effort to document what they do to make a difference.

And I'd like to see the essays posted. Show all of us what they did to make a difference. Show us the projects they have chosen. Maybe rather than starting my own project I can jump on theirs (thats the old 1+1=3).

The bar is high, just look at the HOF teams. But their robot puts its wheels on one at a time just like ours, so we can be a HOF winner too!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

YES! 100% agree.

The Killer Bees are trying to do this. Every project that we do, we want other people to do as well, and we want them to invite us to participate in theirs!

For example: We're participating in a Walk for Hunger in Pontiac, MI this Saturday, and we want as many teams around our area to come walk with us and raise some money for the local very needy community.

Other example: We're collecting science, technology, car (etc) magazines, applying a cool sticker on them about FIRST, and donating them to doctor's and dentist's offices and hospitals! We'd LOVE if other teams all over the country (world!) did this as well.

So, let's all share our ideas somehow.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I believe that both are true. While the bar is set a little high, and gets higher each time, i don't believe there is such a thing as being TOO high.

Take my team, for example. We are one of three FRC teams in West Virginia. We have begun the process of changing our ENTIRE STATE with FLL, FTC, and FRC teams all over, presentations, etc. While we do not go abroad and travel overseas to start teams like many Chairman award-winning teams do, we still do a lot. And it comes down to what the judges feel is more important (our team as an example): going overseas, or focusing on changing a state that doesn't have much excitement of science and technology at all. Again, i'm just using 2614 as an example, this can apply to anyone. I think that if the judges do their job, they will see what impact a team has had, not just how far they've reached.

There will always be teams that do more than yours. Some teams just simply have more resources or are in an area that actually needed FIRST to be spread, unlike a lot of larger cities. Some teams are just blessed with these things, and these teams will win chairmans if they use their blessings wisely. However, that doesn't mean that other teams don't DESERVE chairmans. But i do feel that a team shouldn't do things just to win chairmans or engineering inspiration. They should be doing them because they want to make an impact. And any team that does this out of their hearts deserves recognition, even without an award to show it.

Yes, the bar might be a little high, but that should be the inspiration for other teams to strive for. Not all teams will win chairmans, but most of them do, however, deserve it in one way or another.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

The winner is still the winner. I am not saying hand out 3 RCAs at each event (I don't fully understand why they do this at MSC, yes I have been told the reason and I am OK with it..). What I am saying is to recognize extraordinary efforts. There is an area of the world (not Michigan or CA) where 2 teams end up winning about 50% of the Championship slots EVERY year. This is Robot Performance, EI, and Cahirman's. The only thing they don't win is Rookie Allstar. Nothing against those teams (they are great teams and very deserving and should continue to inspire excellence), but it would be very frustrating to continuously come in "second" or "third" when there is no associated award. An honorable mention does not cheapen the Grand Prize in 4-H. Having won many honorable mentions as well as many Grand Prizes, I never thought, man I wish they only gave out 1 trophy because that would make it even more special for me. Think of it this way, when you go home from a competition do you say "We lost", or do you say we were QF, SF, got 2nd? Does the fact that there is a SF round cheapen the victory for the winners? Does being a World Champion get cheapened by there being Division champions? That is all I am asking for. Right now from a Chairman's perspective, there is nothing that tells you if you were 2nd or 42nd. Nothing that tells you, you are almost there, keep your chin up. It seems like FIRST has the Ricky Bobby philosophy, "If you are not 1st, your last". Yes, I just quoted Talledega Nights in a Chairman's thread.

One of the best things about FiM is now there are a lot of teams that consistently made it to the QFs and SF that are now getting an opportunity to play in the finals and finally take home a medal. With the District Chairman's awards, they are finally getting the recognition they have been "deserving" for many years. Remember it is For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST does a really good job on the Inspiration part, but could use a little work on the Recognition part.

IKE

Still having trouble with the concept? Which would you rather do, pick 1 student on your team to give a $20K scholarship to, or pick 3 students (1@$10K and 2 @ $5k). Clearly the $10k student was most deserving, but it allows you to recognize a couple others that have also made significant contributions. Seriously, try this exercise.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

No offense intended, so I won't quote folks above, but ...

Looks like some are focused solely on extrinsic motivators and not looking at the intrinsic. It's pretty easy to look at this as "what FIRST wants" and "they need to provide more feedback to get people to do this" but, if that's where the conversation ends it all seems kind of cheesy to me.

I firmly believe that FIRST "wants" us to do this because it's important to work at positive culture change. Why aren't more teams looking "inside themselves" in this pursuit? I mean, I'll flat out tell you, I personally feel no different in these efforts with 1712 than I did when I was a Hall of Fame member with 103 performing outreach and working hard at the same thing. Yes, the recognition is very nice and other people view it as a credibility thing on occasion, but when I go to bed at night, how I feel about myself and the efforts 1712 has made without the award itself feels EXACTLY the same way it did when I was at Palisades.

Lower Merion is a very different community and we've developed a very different approach to outreach, etc but at the end of the day the positive change is palpable and the satisfaction of a positively changed community is where it's at.

I'm frightened by the thought that someone wants to reduce all of this to a point system somewhere, in fact, it really makes me feel sick. I like the fact that its somewhat open ended and I don't want any judge checking boxes in this case instead of talking, reading, learning, understanding.

As for students being "wired" differently and the implication that they can't/won't/shouldn't be altruistic ... I just don't buy it at all. I just spent a weekend in Dallas with some incredible 20-somethings (along with many older folks as well) who were all there on their own dime, giving back to an effort they first learned as FRC team members. I also see it every day in the students we work with and I see it in their actions and decisions they make on their own long after they leave us. Is it hard? You bet. Is it frustrating? You bet. Does it run completely counter to what modern American selfish culture teaches them? Oh yes.

Kinda like the unfairly difficult nature of the robot thingy part of what we do, maybe we need to do this because the most meaningful efforts we can make in life are the most misunderstood, unrecognized, and thankless - but oh so incredibly necessary.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Agreed, Kres. Some things don't need to be nailed down, pigeon-holed, or boxed in. The Chairman's is one of those.

Working with students and mentors who are extremely analytical by nature has been an interesting challenge for me over the years. They've helped me grow in that area and I hope that I've helped or contributed to the areas of the team where outreach is important, sharing knowledge and expertise is important, and helping the communities around us understand who we are and what we do/stand for is important. To assign numbers and check boxes to that and force the team into constantly grading itself, would just make these personalities more analytical and data driven. The Chairman's Award and the Woodie Flowers Award and now the Dean's List Award - need more freedom to develop than that. This opinion may not be in the comfort zone of those who sigh with pleasure when surrounded by numbers, data, and whirring machines, true - but there is great wisdom in having the robotics competition and awards recognizing that aspect of FRC. There is also great wisdom in recognizing the accomplishments and growth of the FRC teams in areas of impact, development, and celebration. You have to look no further than MOE to understand this.

Jane

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Agreed again, 2nd the motion.

Every team has to have an intrinsic motivator. Every team has to determine their mission and how to best operate in their 'space'. That team has to determine their mission, and explain to the judges how their results align and complement the FIRST vision and mission.

The day that Chairman's judges starts box checking and point scoring is the day that innovation and entrepreneurship in pushing the mission of FIRST ends!

IMHO

Ed

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

To just nod and agree with Mr. Kressly here would not be who I am. I most definitely agree with Kressly in that, not to point and fingers or name any names, people are TRYING to win the Chairman’s Award. Winning the Chairman’s Award is not about trying and not about looking at what FIRST "wants". Yes in some ways it is when it boils down to it, but in the end what gets you there is who you are and who your team is. What your team does, community service and the presentation you give specifically, have to fit you and have to be who you are.

This topic came up multiple times in the Chairman’s Chat in Atlanta this year. As a Hall of Fame member, I/we offered this advice. If your team is a really rowdy cheer from the time you wake up at 5 am until you go to bed at 3 am, then that’s the presentation you should give. If your team is the team that is quite and very business professional, or something along those lines, that’s the presentation you should give. As well as defining you, and your team, what your team does in the off season or even during the season should be what you want to do and something you would normally do, NOT something you think you HAVE to do to win the Chairman’s Award.

I will tell all of you this in the Chief Delphi community. For Team 103, our kids and our team does community service because we feel it is right to reach out to our community that way. Every single thing our team does is because the kids and the mentors want to and that’s just who our team is. When it comes down to, “oh well, how many teams did 103 START?” The answer, is none, well only one FLL team. For us, it was more in our hearts and still is to help current FRC teams struggling or in need of a little guidance.

I know this has gone a little off topic of, ‘Is the Bar Set Too High Now,’ but I’m just offering advice. To answer the question of ‘Is the Bar Set Too High Now,’ the bar is only as high as you want to make it. Set your goals and achieve them, and then you have a shot at achieving the big prize. Do not look at what other teams have done and try to do the same. Look at what your team has done and what you plan on achieving. That in itself is pure success, at least in my eyes, and the eyes of all the members of 103.

This has just been my advice and my two cents. The Chairman’s award is what you and your team makes of it. Do not be sad if you do not win, you should look at what your team has done, and ALWAYS be proud of yourselves. If you win the Chairman’s Award, then congratulations, and I sure it is well, well, well deserved because it takes lots of work to get there. Now in my eyes, it was a lot of work, but it is FUN work, work that makes you proud.

If anyone has anyone has any questions about anything please let me know through PM and I would be more than happy to help.

Cass

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Forgive my pointedness...

Misquoting aside (and generally speaking), quality feedback in any organization significantly improves the organization's progress towards its goals. How is presentation of a suggestion for more improved feedback cheesy? It's a simple mechanism to accelerate what FIRST wants, no more. If FIRST hired a consulting firm and asked them "how do we accelerate our message to the broader scope of the world?" then I'm sure feedback to existing efforts would be somewhere in the recommendations.

It's easy to say/imply "my team does XYZ because of our own intrinsic ABC and so should every other team". Great job, the first part of that statement is the point of what we do! Yet that fully implied statement misses the point in the fact that currently the only mechanism FIRST uses to try to motivate teams (CA/EI) is so broad and vague that an FRC team who never visits CD will never understand the scope of their efforts in the broader picture. Thus, encouragement and alignment are simply auxiliary motivators.

Interestingly, half of the outreach we (1885) do is not FIRST-related or even completely student-oriented*. So even though we probably won't win a CA until we start N # of FLL teams and Y # of extra FTC/FRC teams we will continue to do more FIRST and non-FIRST outreach in order to quickly spread FIRST's message to a broader scope of people.

*SeaPerch, Rocketry, Cyber Warfare exercises -- why should people who are older than 18 miss out on the culture change?

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I take no offense. These are excellent points. I do need some help with questions.

1. How do you motivate your newest members to take on a noble cause? The kids we have worked with for 2-4 years seem to get it (some quicker than others). How should we be motivating the newbies?
2. How do you switch a team driven for the win over to driven for the goal? Especially when you are external to that team. As the number of teams increase, how do we plant the seed of altruism into an ever growing population. While this may not be Team 33's responsibility, it is the responsibility of FIRST as a whole and more specifcally how it applies to FRC.

3. Should someone that truly understands what Chairman's is about even re-submit? I am ok with a reactionary answer to this question, but I would much prefer some in-depth thought as this one has been bugging me since the Michigan State Championship.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

In FRC, FTC, and FLL, the judges invited to participate have an understanding of the FIRST vision, goals, and mission. In the events that I've been privileged to be a part of, the event planning committee is very careful to invite judges that bring a diverse variety of skills to the competition so that the many aspects of the competition can be covered and judged efficiently and well. We have also been asked to make notes for helpful feedback for the teams.

It may be frustrating to the teams who want specific reasons and suggestions as to where they should improve or where they may be lacking, but I don't think that is the judges' job to figure that out. I'm not sure that is FIRST's job to figure that out. We are a part of a global community where there is so much variety that it would be wrong to limit the possibilities. For example, I think your quote is an assumption. I think that you are assuming that you have to start N # of FLL teams and Y # of extra FTC/FRC teams to garner an award. Perhaps you live in an area where FRC, FTC, and FLL teams are lacking and helping to establish those programs and help mentor new teams would be an invaluable asset to the community. Perhaps you live in an area that is saturated with FRC teams or FTC teams or FLL teams and they are already an invaluable asset to the community so the need to grow isn't the same as an area that is sparse in teams.

Is FIRST supposed to tell you that? Are the judges?

Teams identify their strengths and weaknesses and work those out. They also learn to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their communities and surrounding regions. Dean's, Dave's, and Woodie's speeches help teams with that. Sponsors can help with that, too. A rep from one of our team's sponsors and I were talking at an event this past year and we discussed the lack of diversity in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. We also discussed how that lack is reflected in the enrollment in university majors in these fields. What I know from that discussion is that diversity is very important to all of us and it was reinforced by that interaction. Do we need FIRST to tell us to talk to our sponsors and find out what is important to them or valued? We can spend time in the FIRST website and glean a lot of information and understanding. How many of us do that? People gripe about the speeches and their length at the Championship. Those speeches are often highlighting the impact that we are making and that we should continue to strive to make or increase. They aren't just empty words. These are just a few examples of what FIRST is already doing and providing for teams to think about, pick up on, understand, and get involved in.
--
If we want to put together a list of what would be helpful to teams in understanding the Chairman's Award, let's do that. That is not the same as asking for specifics in how to win the Chairman's Award.

Jane

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

As previously stated. It does not matter how many teams you start. Too many people think that is the key to winning and from experience, let me tell you, we as a team started 0 FRC and FTC teams. We only started 1 FLL team that is no longer in existence. It is about all the other things you do.

Cass

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Well said. Thanks for sharing

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This is going to be way too long, but here goes anyway!

As Foster quoted me as saying, I very strongly believe that every team should prepare and submit for the Chairman's Award.

Why?
1. Because it is the perfect way to document your team's history, accomplishments, and challenges.
2. Because it makes your team think about what your impact is on the team members, your sponsoring organization and on your community, and look at what partnerships you have developed.
3. Just for the experience of writing an intense essay, preparing a 5 minute presentation and filming a 3 minute video. You'll never fathom the hidden talents and abilities of the team members until you present them with this challenge.

And that's why I love quotes like this: Every team is unique and has something to offer. Please share it! You never know when your little gem could transform another team. And this is the number one reason that I do not think the bar is set to high on the Championship Chairman's Award. I think it truly recognizes a team that has gathered enough little gems to make it shine as it strives to spread all those tips and techniques with other teams.

But I agree with Jesse -
We get great feedback at the regional level - which programs do the judges feel are effective, which areas need work... I'd love to get feedback from the judges after Championship.

And now on the other side parts of this discussion...

For my team (1511), a large amount of our outreach / community service is also not FIRST related, but it is definately student oriented. One of our team goals is for leadership development for all students. We do that by requesting that all returning students organize a community service project that all of the team members can participate in. So we play games with nursing home residents, we clean highways, we sort medical supplies, we walk for Autism. Yes, we mentor FLL teams and support other FRC teams, but so far the judges are just as likely to recognize our non-technical community service as they are the FIRST activities for the impact it has on our students as well as the community. Ike, that is how we motivate the newbies. In the first year, they attend and particiate in a number of these activities with the knowledge that the next year they will have the challenge to organize one on their own. Our team goals are always the primary focus which minimizes the emphasis on the drive to win.

Do all teams hit this wall at some point? I have to admit that we did. A few years ago, we seriously considered not officially submitting but instead preparing a presentation for the other teams at our home regional on how to prepare a Chairman's presentation. Reasons #1-3 above overruled, but that was the year that we started posting our essay for others to see as soon as it was submitted and working on convincing other teams that the process was more important than the outcome.

And finally...
This is a great idea! I will share it with one of our students who is scratching his or her head over a possible community service project! Thanks for sharing!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Desiring quality feedback isn't cheesy at all. Focusing solely on the extrinsic motivators and progressing from a standpoint of "what FIRST wants" solely, without regard for and discussion about intrinsic motivators, is, in my opinion, a bit cheesy.

Take it for what it's worth, I'm wrong a lot.


Now, Ike's questions with my responses:

1. How do you motivate your newest members to take on a noble cause? The kids we have worked with for 2-4 years seem to get it (some quicker than others). How should we be motivating the newbies?

Kids will certainly "get it" on different levels at different times. However, for the past five years with 1712 I've made an exhaustive effort from the beginning to do these types of things:
a. "You're here to have you life changed for the better - forever."
b. We built a motto with four legs of passion, leadership, perseverance, community and we pay equal attention to all of them
c. Our team members, all of them, spend as much time on outreach and community activities as we do on technical learning. Our robots are not as competitive as a result (we still do ok-ish), but I'm good with that. I certainly can't argue with the students we are turning out.
d. I explain over and over and over and over again that "only" building and competing with a robot is not something I'm interested in and participating in outreach is every bit as important. Not only will it help our community, it will build a mind and skill set that will give every student a leg up in the world while they are making it a better place.

2. How do you switch a team driven for the win over to driven for the goal? Especially when you are external to that team. As the number of teams increase, how do we plant the seed of altruism into an ever growing population. While this may not be Team 33's responsibility, it is the responsibility of FIRST as a whole and more specifcally how it applies to FRC.
Something I think a lot about and have posted on. Search around here for my "mainstreamers" theory. The desire and effort to win MUST still be there, but not at all/any cost. If we're not meeting the real goal, why bother? Let's just all go back to playing sports and yelling at refs and taunting other teams, right? I just continually preach, and then show successful examples from around FIRST and life, we invite in FIRST alums, we go visit them at work to see the REAL results, etc. It's an inexact and exhausting science, but we're doing OK with it.

3. Should someone that truly understands what Chairman's is about even re-submit? I am ok with a reactionary answer to this question, but I would much prefer some in-depth thought as this one has been bugging me since the Michigan State Championship.
Are you asking about a regional, state, or championship "win"? For some that might make a difference in the answer. For me, as long as a team is within the given rules in a year, it doesn't matter to me what a team does. If a team chooses not to resubmit and chooses to help other non-submitting teams to do it the first time, great. If a team resubmits because they want the students to experience the process/interview and they decide to provide a model to chase after, then great too. I do feel, that no matter what, each team should still document and prepare the award entry AND deliver the presentation to someone important (a school board, a sponsor, etc) in addition to or instead of event judges.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

During our rookie year in 2000, MOE 365 was sitting in the FIRST Epcot ampitheater during the Nationals Awards ceremonies (it was called "Nationals" at that time), we listened intently to the description of the team that won the Chairman's Award that year. We were in awe of all that this team had done to spread the message of FIRST and to change the culture in their area of the world. That team was Team 16, The Baxter Bomb Squad. Our team members watched and saw how excited and overjoyed they were to have been recognized this way.

In the back of my mind, I was saying to myself, "Wow. What a team. I can't imagine all the work and effort that went into all they did." To me, personally, at that time, BBS was tops. Winning the top award in all of FIRST. Amazing.

Over time, with that memory in the back of my mind, I saw our team of green take FIRST's message to heart and do things in our local community that aligned with FIRST's mission. I remember Woodie Flowers telling all the students in attendance at that National Championship that each one should feel special, because only a very small percentage of students their age participated in FIRST. He was absolutely right. There were so many others that had yet to be inspired by FIRST. Opportunity was there.

Seven years later, after being so proud of students and mentors alike for starting local programs, growing interest in FIRST and science and technology in our area, and helping peers in many ways, it was our team who was on that stage accepting the (now) Championship Chairman's Award.

In the back of my mind, I recalled my sense of awe in Florida in 2000 and said to myself, " there is some team out there in the crowd, who will hear what our team has done, and will be inspired like we were." And I fully expect that team to be on a different Chairman's Award stage in the future.

We are all part of the legacy that FIRST has created. By doing what we can to connect more students to FIRST programs and have them experience the excitement of what science and technology can be, we are all part of "raising the bar" for our society. Thank you to all the teams that do this (and it truly is everyone). Special thanks to those who document it and share it with others.

Bring it on!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Simply put, there are more teams then there were 10 years ago. Thus, the bar keeps climbing............
Teams that are deserving year in and year out, will eventually get their due. 341 was due for a while now, and I can think of a few others where its only a matter of time.

Our team has applied 7 times in our history and have won it 4 times now. In 2002 SJ, 2006 LV, 2007 NJ we didnt win. We won in 2003, 2008, 09, and 10 in SJ, HI, HI, and AZ respectively. In 2003, we felt we had a well-rounded program, but was rather limited in our outreach and sustainability plan at the time. Currently, we are very proud of how far we have come, considering the challenge of being from Hawaii. To be able to meet many teams year after year and compete in multiple events throughout the year, it has been a great opportunity for our students!
My job is to ensure that these opportunities continue, learning from the best of teams. If you cant walk away from any tournament with at least 3 new innovative and impressive things teams are doing, then you've missed a great opportunity!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

And this is what it's all about. Putting words down in text and video, to document what you have done as a team, to be able to show to the newbies 4 or 7 or 12 years from now when you are long gone.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think that the greater lesson in all of the awards in FIRST is simply something that is NOT taught in schools.

Too many students think that they can simply get an "A" by doing everything that is required.
Usually they do... so we get many 'A's. The value in the A has gone down....
An 'A' should be about going beyond what is required..... doing your best and finding new ways to do things or gaining new perspectives...

A 'C' is suppose to be for average work... doing the norm.... doing the minimum.... but for some reason that "BAR" has been raised to the point that students who do the minimum are now expecting to get an "A"

In real life... you don't get 'A's or awards... you work hard... you compete.... you learn and you produce.
You might get a raise or a thank you... but you do the work the best way you can...

FIRST might be better with no awards....
I would bet that everyone would still recognize the teams that inspire them....

Did everyone know that 341 was a team to emulate before the award?
OF COURSE they did.... When you move around the country you see what teams are all about.

Many teams have a tough enough time to just put together a robot and get to a regional...
This is a great accomplishment for them... they are inspired...

Other teams do more.... some teams do even more....

We need to celebrate in some way and the HOF is just a way we can acknowledge how some teams with the resources and the effort serve as role models for the rest of us...

Do you have to be HOF to be a role model? of course not...

On our team we are constantly reminded that we don't do outreach to get an award.
We do it because its the right thing to do....

Instead of worrying about awards... we need to feel self satisfaction and team satisfaction in the things we do....

I am not advocating the abolition of awards... or the efforts made in trying to achieve them but I really think we need to look inside ourselves for satisfaction...

I have been fortunate to work with many GREAT teams in the years I have spent in FIRST...
They are all winners... they have ALL influenced and inspired countless young minds....

It is in the striving to be better that we should find satisfaction....
In the overcoming of obstacles and learning how to work as a team...

My greatest joy and the thing that still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up is watching one of my team members working with a younger child.... seeing the lights go on in the child when they get to make a robot move.... or just see it move..... to be treated as an equal and excited by seeing what they can accomplish when they set their mind to it.....

This is why we are in FIRST....

Bar? what bar? set your own bar....then raise it yourself....

Someday you may look around and realize (as 341 did) that your bar is pretty high..
At that point you step down and help the other teams raise their bars....


In my classroom there are several quotes... but my favorite is one by Booker T Washington

"You measure the size of your accomplishments by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals..."


I am honored to be on the field with all of you.... and to work side by side with so many dedicated and hardworking mentors and students....

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I know this is an old thread but I always ponder about the Chairmans award when ever it comes around....

-The Chairmans award is a tricky thing. If you were to ask 100 teams what they should do to win this award they would give you all unique answers. Some may even say that you do not "win" chairmans, you earn it. It is given to the team that helps their community through FIRST the best.

After reading alot of this thread there was alot I agree with, and alot that makes me wonder. Although chairmans is suposed to be an award for teams who are not trying to win it, thats not what chairmans is. In a perfect world this award would be given to the perfect team and there would be no need for essays and presentations. The judges would watch over all the teams and see who was truely real and who were just trying to fake it. We are not in a perfect world. Chairmans teams need to prove to the judges through presentation and essay that they are indeed deserving of this award.

-Now, trying to be a chairmans winner is right and wrong at the same time. It is wrong to try to win chairmans so be a chairmans winner, agree.
It is wrong to try to achieve what chairmans stands for to be a chairmans winner, disagree.

If a team looks at the chairmans award and says, "I want to be a role model team in FIRST and I will push my self to do so" there is nothing wrong with that. There is a fine line between teams "trying" to win chairmans and "trying" to achieve the reality of what a chairmans team is suposed to be. I find myself stressed all the time when it comes to chairmans. Not because the bar is too high or because I dont think we can win, but because I love what chairmans stands for. I see the international outreach that Daisy brought and I believe we can do even better. I stress in finding new ways to spread what I believe in, which is FIRST. I want more people to know about what we do so I go out and find ways that will let them know. Not because I want to win the chairmans award, but because I want to be what the chairmans award stands for. A team that other teams look up to. A team that represents FIRST. Because how can we spread FIRST if we are not even deserving the title of representing FIRST. So when people say that you shouldent try to win chairmans they are right and wrong. You should not try to win the award just to win it. But if a team puts the same amount of effort trying to become a team that represents FIRST then they should "try" to win this award. The bar is being raised because people are "trying". When the Falcons played the movie clips or when Daisy went international it was because they were trying to spread what they love.

-And I will be ever so happy if I lose but I deserved to win, rather then winning but deserved to lose, because BEING a chairmans team is alot more important then WINNING the chairmans award.

Thanks for listening :D

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

If that was true they wouldn't give out the award.

I see what you're going for, and agree to an extent. The teams whose sole reason for doing "Chairman's activities" is the award are not likely the best candidates to receive the award, and I've often said things along those lines. But using the award as a goal, benchmark, and motivational tool (ie, trying to win the award) for the "Chairman's activities" you conduct is perfectly acceptable.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Now, granted i am from a fairly young team, but I don't think that we've ever looked at the chairman's award and said I want to win that.
Instead, we've looked at the team's who have won, all of the incredible things they had done and said WOW...I want to make an impact like they are making an impact. I don't believe that the chairman's award should be sought after just for recognition...if that's all it's for I think the point is being missed. BUT I do agree with what Ike from team 33: The Killer Bee's said:

"Just like FRC is not solely about the robots, and the robots are the hook, the Chairman's award really isn't about the award, but the award is the hook. "

You see this at every competition...the team that win's although they know they did their best, aren't expecting to win it. How do I know this? The team's reaction when their description is read and when their number/name is announced.
This year our team was very honored to be one of those teams for the very first time. I remember the night before, and going into the presentation (we were all nervous as heck but that's what pushes us harder for some strange reason) the 3 of us presenters decided our goal was to show the judges the steps we were taking to reach our goals, and the progress we were making in reaching them. We weren't looking for the recognition, rather the feedback. What can we do to become a more well rounded team? Is this just our style? Maybe...

So to answer the question is the bar raised to high I think is irrelevant. There is no bar...as our business mentor told me numerous times throughout this season "At the end of the of the day, it doesn't matter to me what 2 judges think, we know how far we've come and that's all that matters." In other words, the team should do it because they want to improve rather than be better than somebody else.

When we did though we cried like babies and it felt amazing, I believe any chairman's winning team regardless of level will say the same thing.

So, to round out my random thought process here.... for those that choose to set a bar (which I guess we all do if we do if we set goals...)

Others don't raise that bar for you.....they inspire you to raise it. :ahh: Think about it.... :)

Thanks for listening to this pile of thoughts. :)

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

can we adopt some children from third world countries and get them to join our team. We need more students.

putting that in a sentence sounds very bad.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

We put in a chairman's award presentation not because we believe that we will win it in any given year, but because it focuses us as a team on tallying up what we have and have not done this year in terms of making the world a better place, and serves as a launch pad for community service for the coming year.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I am thinking the same thing. We do what we can to excite the community about FIRST and STEAM. We promote all levels of recycling and, over the course of the past 4 years, have kept over 6 tons of materials from the landfill (approx 1/4 of it e-wastes.) Those two things keep us busy and make us visible in the community. Yes, we have overcome many obstacles - those of you who have teams in rural, impoverished areas can really relate to that, I'm sure. But when you compare our stats to those in urban areas who start 10+ new teams a year, run countless events, and manage to attract $$$$ we come up short every time.

We aren't going to start a bunch of new FIRST teams at any level, simply because we have learned the hard way that there are few adult volunteers in our community that are willing to work with kids consistently. It's heartbreaking to start an FLL team, only to see it die after a couple of years. We struggle to keep the 3 mentors we have, and one will retire this year. Our kids work hard to help bring relevant STEAM activities to our school and community, but our manpower is limited.

Doing the Chairman's Award is a great way for our team to focus on their many achievements and successes. It also helps our team develop more speaking and leadership skills. Finally, even though we don't do a professional job on the video, the students end up with a great presentation we can share with civic groups and our sponsors later on. It's never a waste of time, even though we will likely never win the Chairman's.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Wow! Quite the thread revival...

...but glad it was revived, because this is great advice.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

We had an issue with that. My friend and I were freshman on the team this year and we really wanted to do chairmans but the entire year the people who had been on the team previously said they had never submitted it and tried to convince us not to because they said we wouldn't win anyway. We kept working on doing more outreach and doing the chairmans essay, executive summaries, and video just on our own time instead of during practice since they didn't want us to, even though they told us we should just not do it. We finished it all barely on time (literally submitted it 13 seconds before the deadline) but we got it in. At competition, we actually ended up winning the judges award for all of the outreach we did. We are going to continue to submit chairmans and hopefully continue to improve with our outreach and presentation. Hopefully the rest of our team will start to realize the importance of chairmans and put more of an effort into it. It was a cool experience winning an award for our efforts and we hope other teams will be able to experience this as well. We also started to help our team realize and realize ourselves that it's not just about winning the award, it's the effort and the difference you make that is the important part.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This year, we applied for chairman's for the first time since our rookie season in 2004, because we had been focused on community service for a number of years and we wanted to share that with the FIRST community. While I don't regret encouraging the team to apply, I currently feel neutral about the experience and the award. I am leaning toward not having the team go through the process again. Here are my reasons.

1) The type of work that we are doing doesn't seem to fit the model. Our team is using their skills in STEM and fundraising to meet needs in our community, and it makes a difference, and I'm really proud that they are doing this. But I am unclear on whether it is what the kind of stuff that the award is intended to honor. Not saying that what I see Chairman's winners doing is bad (clearly not); it's just not quite our style, I guess.

2) I thought that going through the application process would help the students better understand and appreciate what they are already doing, but I don't think it actually did that for them. They like doing the service work anyway, and keeping a tally seemed more to be a distraction than a focusing tool.

3) kind of related to #1, I'm not sure that there isn't an element of self-promotion for FIRST that goes into what is judged to be good Chairman's work. FLL is great of course, but it's pretty clear that no one is going to win the award if their team doesn't start or mentor FLL. This is a bad comparison, but it's just a little like the Coke company giving a humanitarian award to a person for saving a remote village from dying of thirst by providing them with Coke products.

4) the effort to make the video, write the paper and executive summary, and prepare the presentation was a distraction for some of my best students, who have told me that they regret having agreed to work on it. They would rather have had their hands in the robot and the service work, and I don't blame them.

5) Probably the biggest deal: I am guessing on all of this. Is the bar set too high? How would we know? Without direct feedback, all I can go on is what other teams share, and on stuff from the past. Kids are now feeling disappointed and frustrated; not because they didn't win, but because they don't know if what they worked so hard on telling the community about was just shouting into the wind.

Anyway, those are my current thoughts on the matter. Thanks to whoever revived this topic.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

After four years of submitting for Chairmans Award, we won it at the Bayou Regional. Did we do all of the outreach we did to win? No. Did we use the criteria of what a Chairmans Award team is supposed to be? Heck yes.

I think what most people don't realize is that a regional level, a Chairmans Award is definitely reachable. It's simply about finding a niche and filling it. Our team's success is based on firsts. We started the first offseason in the Bayou Regional, the first FTC Qualifier in the state, the first official Kickoff in the state. . . And so on. If you were to have asked me last year if winning a Chairmans is possible for every team. . . I'm not sure. But looking back, I can see our learning curve. You have to find your own magic. You have to determine what makes YOUR team worthy to be called a Chairmans team.

Now... Looking to the World level. We know that winning this year is a pipe dream. If it weren't then we'd already be done and we have so much farther to go. Still, It's not beyond our reach, just currently out of our grasp. It's not about what any other team has done either. It's the magic that we bring. What magic does your team bring? What makes your outreach distinct? What is it about your team that makes people stop and take notice? If you haven't figured that out yet; that would be the first step. Let's face it. Everyone does demos. Everyone talks to politicians. Everyone does a lot of things. . . But what do YOU do? Where is YOUR heart?

It's not impossible. It's hard. And the tears of the struggle will be made all that more sweet from the striving.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This part of your post caught my attention.
I think in some respects, winning at a regional level can be more difficult than at the Championship level.


And I could go on for hours as to why.
The only thing I will say is that for us personally, winning any categorical award at the Hawaii regional is much much harder than it was when we started participating there at the inaugural 2008 event.

Congratulations to all that have won it this season and good luck at the Championships.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

My views have changed since this thread was started. I don't think the bar for outreach, education and scope of STEM is too high at all. In fact, there is much more to be done. FRC teams may remain the same size forever, but the programs that FRC teams start can grow and become their own self-sustaining entities. It takes incredible leadership, vision, diversity of thought and work ethic to get to that kind of level, however.

The bar is high with respect to the students writing and concisely presenting everything that has been done in a compressed format. That, combined with inconsistent or misinterpreted feedback makes it feel the bar is 'too high' I suppose. Yet I've learned that the success of outreach efforts and program growth never hinges on a single one thing a small set of individuals do in a judging room. Regardless of CA, ideas and programs which are full of merit at their core will continue to move forward.

Man, I can't believe I was the guy who typed some of the tangential vitriol. I am sorry Rich :-/ It was a weird high-pressure low-results time in my life. Just goes to show that 5 years ago, I didn't know Jack (and I probably still don't).

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I agree that each team needs to find their magic, but it helps if your wizard is well-versed at making a professional video.

I'd like to know if there are any teams out there who have won the CA in recent years that haven't had a great video. Yes, I realize there's a requirement that one be posted on youtube, but it also says this can be a converted powerpoint show (which is what ours was.)

I know Skunkworks won it at our Philomath district meet last weekend, but they didn't show their video (which was a surprise) but I bet it was pretty awesome.

For us, it's a lesson for teams/mentors: don't assign someone to make the video who isn't invested in the team. Because we had a student in our robotics class who didn't get engaged in any aspect of build, our instructor (we have 3 mentors, one is our robotics class instructor) assigned it the CA video-making to him. It was a complete joke and (fortunately?) violated youtube copyright policies (so we were able to take it down and redo it before competition.)

As faculty member, I do cringe when I see some of the videos that I know present grossly exaggerated claims of "rescuing high risk kids." Some teams really do that, I'm sure, but I find it difficult to believe some of the stats. I had to chuckle when I saw the comments above about rescuing 3rd-world students to be on the team, because some of the videos have gotten pretty close to ridiculous. I hear students coming out of the interviews saying "I pulled that statement right out of my ....."

We do the CA because we are a NASA sponsored team; however, I feel it is a worthwhile project that we will continue to do every year that we are able, simply because it helps us focus on our achievements and make a great sponsor video.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

We won at Queen City in 2012 with a video whose sound track was completely messed up, so they ended up playing it silently.

We will always work to try to win the Chairman's Award, but I always tell the kids that when someone else wins its OK. It just means the message of FIRST is being spread even more broadly. We try to win because to win requires engaging everyone on the team not only to get involved in outreach, but to remember why the team exists in the first place. This year one of my team leaders for next year told me that when we were discussing all of the things we do that he hadn't realized we did half of the things we do. We have a big team, and tend to have a lot of irons in the fire. The kids know the big stuff we do every year, but there are lots of projects we get asked to help with that just a few kids do. The process of getting the submission ready is also our way to make sure each group of students is immersed in our core mission.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Great Quote from a Great Team !

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I may be in a minority, but I don't think every team should apply, or be urged to apply, for the Chairman's Award. Our team has applied for CA every year since 2010 (and probably before that, since we go the NASA grants from the beginning, I believe). And I think it's been mostly a waste of time and a misappropriation of resources. I hope that this (next) year, I can convince everyone that we need to devote our very limited human resources (students and mentors) to 'shoring up our own house' - focusing on our business plan, making our own team sustainable, building up what we are doing for our kids in our community (we have a lot to do!), and not spend valuable time trying to 'spin' that stuff into CA material. We're just not ready to 'reach out' and help others, when we have so far to go ourselves, and while the organization and presentation skills the kids gain in putting together the presentation are valuable, I do not think it's appropriate for teams like ours to attempt to DO the things that a team must DO to earn the CA. (In our case, it's darn near impossible at this stage of our team development. How can we do international or even out-of-state outreach, or start new FIRST teams on our little island, when (1) all our elementary schools already have FLL, (2) there is no FTC competition in the state (I don't think, not sure about that - certainly none on our island), and (3) we can only (barely) support one FRC team for ALL of our high schools together?

I think FIRST should have another award, maybe, for teams like ours - maybe it is already there - the Entrepreneurship Award, or maybe EI... or call it the "Team Sustainability" award. (Maybe a team should HAVE to win something like that BEFORE they can even be considered for CA.) It is pretty clear that the kind of things WE need to focus our resources on (if we are to survive and grow to the point that we can hope to do more CA-quality stuff) - getting more students, more mentors, more sponsors - are not what they are looking for in CA.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I think team sustainability is really key - this is the whole issue focusing on FRC teams starting a bunch of FLL, FTC, and FRC teams...how sustainable is that, when you have such limited community resources? At times it seems like the push to have each team start a hundred more is a pyramid scheme, with little thought to how this might drain volunteers and scatter energy. Our efforts are better spent sharing (non-FIRST) STEAM activities with our community, to help foster more interest in something that kids and families can do without having to spend a bunch of money on a kit and a laptop or without finding an FLL team with openings.

I remember recruiting kids to 4-H and showing them the incredible variety of projects available....then having to say "well, there's no leader for that project, so you are going to have to do it on your own and just work with the extension office if you have questions." In a way, FIRST is like that, but worse because the initial costs are so high and there really is no way a student can do it on their own. Our team was started 9 years ago by 4 students like that, and we still struggle with getting mentors.

All that said, I still think doing a presentation is helpful. Maybe format it so it can be used for sponsors and civic groups, not just for the CA?

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Do what is right for your team, but without any FTC on your Island, starting FTC in you local sounds like a great way to expand FIRST and start a pipeline of students from FLL to FRC.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

Not a bad idea! A few years ago, a few of us mentors started a 501(c)(3) organization to support all robotics on our island (at the time we had VEX teams at MS level, changes in that tournament structure made it much less appealing for our students to participate and the teams have mostly disappeared, we are working on getting something going for those kids but it is not likely to be FTC or VEX), and we recently became a United Way participating agency. We are also applying for some other grants, so perhaps we could use our CA presentation for those applications. Nice idea!

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

This thread takes me back to something I said many years ago that ended up as a spotlight quote here on Chief Delphi:

I would rather see teams be recognized for the things they do, than do things to be recognized.

It is certainly disheartening to fall into the trap/mindset of "If that's what Chairman's is, it will never be us."

There are real limits to what each team is able to accomplish in their own community, and chairman's should not be a battle based on quantification of the outcomes of a team's efforts, because it leads to a competition to engage in efforts without a genuine motivation to do so other than to win the award.

I do not intend this post to diminish the extraordinary efforts of some very well deserving teams. However, the types of activities for which some have been recognized are just not within the scope of our program, and likely never will be, and not because of any lack of motivation or resources but because of a difference in structural and educational philosophy, and the desire to put quality over quantity.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

A couple thoughts have occurred to me as a read (and reread) this thread. The first is that you should not worry overly much about what a winning CA submission should be like. We have won three RCAs, and while two of the submissions were fairly similar and standard, the third was very different. We have had a couple of submissions that by almost any objective criteria were better than any of our winning submissions, but just not the best at that competition.

We do spend a significant amount of time with the presentation team trying to craft the best possible presentation. That is a useful skill to have, and it draws in many team members at one point or another. But the rest of our submission is largely about our own appreciation for and documentation of our history. It helps us stay focused on the core mission of the team. Like any team we have a tendency to think about activities as "robot stuff" and "Chairman's stuff." The submission serves as a reminder to everyone about what our core mission is. (OK, or second core mission after having fun. :) ) We try as much as possible to push our outreach and other such projects away from the build season. This keeps kids from getting too burned out. We have been doing more and more of the documentation and other work outside of the build season. I am aiming for the time when we get the Chairman's submission largely done before the build season starts. Doing at least some of that work on the submission in November and December is a good way to get people psyched up for the season to start.

The second, related thought is do not look at the CA submission in a vacuum. Most FIRST teams have to do presentations to sponsors every year. Your Chairman's video, essay, documentation and presentation can form the basis for these presentations. They should be used this way.

The final thought is this. When you decide what kinds of inspirational activities to do, think about what students on your team are enthusiastic about. Some of our members started a STEM sisters club a couple of years ago. They were/are really passionate about it, so it is easy to sustain. We have a number of kids who love to mentor FLL, so that is another program that is easy to maintain. We frequently get asked to help with projects in the school and community. When I am asked, I usually start by finding out if there are any kids interested in taking on the project. For example, our theater department wants a remote controlled "boat" that will wander the River Styx in a play and our track teams wants a rain and wind shelter for the pole vault pits. Both projects have some enthusiastic students who are interested in completing them. We have a couple of other projects we have been involved in over the years that took forever to complete because there were no enthusiastic students to see them through.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

A high bar is good. That means teams are being challenged to expand their outreach and really make and impact. The Chairman's Award isn't about winning, it's about celebrating a team's achievements and encouraging other teams to think about how they can impact the community as well. It's important for teams to realize that just because they haven't flown to Washington DC or done international things, because it's not about topping other teams or winning the award. Talk to any team that's familiar with Chairman's and they'll tell you it's always important to say "earn the award" instead of "win the award", and that's not just an answering tactic. In the end, yeah it's nice to win, but it's the process that's more important. With the Chairman's Award, you're not competing against other people. You're not trying to top other teams or downplay their achievements to make your own seem more significant. Submitting for Chairman's Award means your team is competing against itself, and trying to do its best to deserve the award.

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

[quote=pfreivald;957751]I think that the greatest thing that Bausch + Lomb sponsorship brought to 1551 is the requirement that we strive to win the chairman's award every year...

I agree Bausch & Lomb has done well for you by making that part of their sponsorship. That you see it so makes for a great partnership.

We're a tiny school in the middle of nowhere ... the students/mentors compared to the teams we're competing against, we have some interesting limitations (for example, we are only allowed to do two -- limited -- fundraisers a year by our school so that we don't take too much from the other extracurriculars)

If you want another fund raiser I'd suggest a weblink to mail order some of those delicious local made grape pies. MMMmmmm Hmmm

Re: Chairman's Award -- is the bar too high now?
 

I've only been to a couple regionals this year, but every Chairman's blurb from the judges I've heard this year has specifically mentioned the sustainability of the winning team.

The winner at GTR-E, Inverse Paradox, hasn't started any FRC teams. Instead, they created resources for new immigrant families in their community, and while they did do international outreach, it was built on the very stable framework of their team. They cited team member growth and alumni going into STEM as the major strengths of their program, and they won.

GTR-E was a Week 3 regional this year, and Inverse Paradox beat many teams with stellar Chairman's programs (two of which won Chairman's at later events: 2056 at Waterloo and 1305 at North Bay).

I've actually been very impressed with Chairman's this year recognizing new teams. Chairman's should recognize the teams who are constantly trying to improve themselves. As others have mentioned, you should be judged against yourself, not other teams.