[emusteve]

This would probably have been more relevant earlier on in the discussion, but I just discovered this thread, so here goes...

Going back to the original post, our team had a direct experience with having another team claiming responsibility for an event we initiated, paid for the venue, sent the invitations, set-up, supervised, etc. We included it in our Chairman's submission. The other team had their presentation scheduled before ours. When our kids made their presentation, the Judges told our kids to "Be more original, and DON'T COPY TEAM XXX!"

This infuriated the Mentors, but we're not allowed to defend our kids, even if we DO have the receipts and pictures. The Mentors quietly steamed, while the kids morale dropped to a new low. But everyone was gracious, and didn't say a word. We just sat and applauded as the other team was awarded Chairman's.

I relate this simply to illustrate and inform how deeply such an incident can affect a team. We haven't submitted a Chairman's application since. It just hasn't meant that much to us.

We're not a large team, and we're hardly ever noticed, even though we do lots of good things. We don't have a large quantity of projects in any one year, just not enough time. (Though we have quite an accumulation over time, I've always been under the impression a team should only submit their activities for the past year. Otherwise, you're just riding on the backs of your previous member's accomplishments.)

It's taken many years, and two generations of students, for the effects to fade enough for students to start to talk about making a Chairman's submission, and to look at some of the ones from the past. Perhaps we'll submit one in the coming season.

The one award that has always meant the most to me personally (meant more even than winning Engineering Inspiration), was the year we won the Johnson and Johnson Sportsmanship Award, because that speaks directly to the character of our Team and Students.

Feedback encouraged.