Quote:
Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
Question posed: Why does the fact that some of the awards can't get you a ticket to Nats make them less prestigious?
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See this week's QotW (and please, please answer!)
In the past, FIRST had said that the Engineering Inspiration Award was second only to the Chairman's Award -- yet it didn't qualify a team to attend the Championship. Similarly, FIRST also said that building an amazing, competitive robot was comparably less important, but those awards qualified for Championship attendance.
So -- which had a greater impact? FIRST's actions -- letting technically notable teams attend the event; or FIRST's words -- telling those teams that they should be striving for something better -- the Engineering Inspiration and Chairman's Award?
My feeling is that their actions have far greater impact upon teams than their words ever will. The changes effected that make different awards eligible for Championship attendance are a loud action that suggest, to me, that FIRST is reminding teams of that which is most important.
I don't believe teams should have any reason to think of a technical award as being something less valuable than the Engineering Inspiration Award, for example, but it's clear that FIRST does.