[Lil' Lavery]

When discussing while traveling teams may find significant success outside of their region, I don't think "novelty" should be ignored. I don't mean novelty in that they are simply from a different region, but rather that their cultural impacts have not been shared with judges in the past. Judges are often repeat volunteers, especially those put in the position to judge Chairman's. They've likely heard the local teams' efforts in prior seasons, while the traveling team's may be new to them. It's not the same list of exploits that they've heard in years past.

Of course, many other explanations are also possible.

I do not think blaming "politics and bias" is a particularly fair cry here. Especially considering every team that has won a cultural award outside of MAR has won a major cultural award inside of MAR at least once since 2011 (granted, MAR didn't become a district until 2012).

It's important not to forget that MAR is an incredibly veteran district, with 50% of teams numbering under 2000. There are numerous well established teams with significant time to build a culture changing program in the region (thus why the region has been able to find so much success in terms of culture changing awards not only at regional events, but also at the Championship event). But further still, many teams that have roots and team structures that were created in the regional system. For some teams, travel events are a part of team structure, and being able to advertise travel is part of how they recruit students.