[nlknauss]

Originally Posted by Rich Kressly

"Creating a Chairman's submission" isn't about trying to win an award. It's about purposeful documentation of your program that will help you maintain proper focus on the ideals that drive the program and will help you plan for growth, provide PR materials to communicate the program to the community, and so much more.

Amen Rich!

I remember trying to answer the "Why even bother...." question during my team's rookie year when we couldn't even win the award. Even after that, there were conversations asking the same thing but we always produced one. These submissions provide the team with an annual opportunity to take a look at what it as done and share it as a story with the FIRST community. It has always given us an opportunity to look at what we do and compare it to the mission and values of FIRST. This has really helped us to grow as a team and has allowed us to develop our own way to participate.

So I guess my answer to "Why even bother..." is that it will allow your team to create framework for how it will measure its own success in the FIRST community. Keep the inspiration going, have fun doing it, and you're on the right track even if you don't win the award.