Great idea for a thread, Allen!
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How did other teams iterate on their awards process?
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FIRST Team 2468 presented twice, at Alamo (which we lost) and Hub City (which we won).
After not winning Chairman's at Alamo our team was ready to make major changes to our presentation. However, after speaking to several key people we discovered that we very narrowly lost, the decision being very close between us and another team. So after speaking to, well you Allen
, we decided to only add a poster to the presentation, and keep everything else the same. The strategy paid off after we won Chairman's at Hub City.
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How was the judging different from event to event for your team?
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The task for Judges at Alamo was very difficult, as it was a huge regional with a record number of teams competing (something like 24 teams) for Chairman's. The presentations were scheduled by the event staff. The judges in the presentation seemed like traditional judges, warm but stern/professional. At Hub City we had another unique judging experience, as there were a very small number of judges for a more normal sized event. However, the quality of judges was incredible, the warmest and friendliest I have ever met, both in the pits and in the presentation room. While this made everyone more comfortable, I doubt it had any comparable effect on the outcome compared to Alamo.
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Anyone else have their feedback forms posted for comparison?
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Neither of the feedback forms were very revealing. They both marked excellent in all categories, and neither offered much insight into why we won or lost. The Hub City form, however, did offer some advice for our Championship presentation.
Ultimately the new process implemented this year
did not affect our team. If we had to choose a regional at the start of the year to submit at, we likely would have presented at Hub City, which we won anyway. Though for many teams the iteration process helped improve their presentation, since we decided not to alter our presentation, for us this process didn't change much.
Still, I think it was definitely a change for the better and I am glad
FIRST looks to improve itself in ways like this.
-Mikey