OK time for me to step in and throw my 2 cents into the circle...


I really like the chairmans award and what it stands for. My beef really isn't about the award itself, but how certain teams/individuals try to achieve this honor. There are still quite a few teams/individuals that mean good, but do the award for the wrong reasons. Too many times I have heard "What can we do this year to help us win the chairmans award" Almost everyone in FIRST is guilty of that, including myself. Dean's ultimate goal for FIRST is exactly what the chairmans award stands for, but I don't think he intended for the chairmans award to become a bribe. In many cases thats what its turning into. Nobody can deny that. So the long and the short of it, the chairmans award is a great idea, but it is often abused and there are many people out there that still do it for the wrong reason. Ask yourself, if the chairmans award is taken out of the picture, would you still do your charity work, demos, inter-team building that occurs now? For many of us, yes, but overall the number of teams that participate would drop because that extra incentive to do these good deeds and better society is gone.

Just as Jessica requested, before you people go blasting my views take some time to think what I said. Overall after thinking about it, I hope my words can give you a better reason to better society and help spread the message of FIRST without the chairmans award in the back of your mind.

Don't do it because you have to or someone else wants you to do it, do it because you realize you can make a difference.

On that note, I go

D.J.