Quote:
Originally Posted by waialua359
Its a shame that the website or the new DMA is not going to be a regional level award.
I really cant see why teams at a regional level cant be acknowledged for their outstanding accomplishments among the peer group of teams at an event, other than a lack of website review volunteers being the major issue.
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Perhaps they could do the judging like they used to for the Animation award, which was peer judged at the competition by students and mentors (you could not vote for yourself), but industry judged at Championships. This would eliminate the need for dedicated and trained volunteers at the regional level, while still letting local teams get recognized by their peers for their work.
CMP judging would proceed as whatever plan they are currently working on, with all entries being eligible for the CMP level award(s) (I too would like to see multiple). They would be separate judging processes, regional winners are not the only eligible entries for the CMP award.
I think it's very important to recognize local teams that are excelling in certain areas. It's a powerful recruiting tool, it helps promote the team to their district, and it provides other teams in the area with inspiration and mentorship. If a team has questions about machining, design techniques, fundraising or outreach, their best resources are often other teams in their area that are doing well and winning awards in the area.
Local judging also helps teams to feel like they have a chance, and work harder at it because the "odds" are better. I realize that teams should (and many do) make good website and media just for the sake of promoting their team, but how many fewer teams will go through the submission process if they think they're chance is 10 out of 2500, vs 1 out of 25? Giving out 50+ awards at championship for digital media would dilute the reputation of the award, IMO, in the eyes of many team members and the public. It's much easier for the regional paper to run a story on how their local high school was selected as one of three or five or ten winners out of thousands for some award, than to say they shared the honor with several dozen other schools. And that, in turn, leads to better media outreach for the regional winners!