FRC Blogged - Administrative manual is out

[waialua359]

Its a shame that the website or the new DMA is not going to be a regional level award.
I really cant see why teams at a regional level cant be acknowledged for their outstanding accomplishments among the peer group of teams at an event, other than a lack of website review volunteers being the major issue.

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Its a shame that the website or the new DMA is not going to be a regional level award.
I really cant see why teams at a regional level cant be acknowledged for their outstanding accomplishments among the peer group of teams at an event, other than a lack of website review volunteers being the major issue.

Perhaps they could do the judging like they used to for the Animation award, which was peer judged at the competition by students and mentors (you could not vote for yourself), but industry judged at Championships. This would eliminate the need for dedicated and trained volunteers at the regional level, while still letting local teams get recognized by their peers for their work.

CMP judging would proceed as whatever plan they are currently working on, with all entries being eligible for the CMP level award(s) (I too would like to see multiple). They would be separate judging processes, regional winners are not the only eligible entries for the CMP award.

I think it's very important to recognize local teams that are excelling in certain areas. It's a powerful recruiting tool, it helps promote the team to their district, and it provides other teams in the area with inspiration and mentorship. If a team has questions about machining, design techniques, fundraising or outreach, their best resources are often other teams in their area that are doing well and winning awards in the area.

Local judging also helps teams to feel like they have a chance, and work harder at it because the "odds" are better. I realize that teams should (and many do) make good website and media just for the sake of promoting their team, but how many fewer teams will go through the submission process if they think they're chance is 10 out of 2500, vs 1 out of 25? Giving out 50+ awards at championship for digital media would dilute the reputation of the award, IMO, in the eyes of many team members and the public. It's much easier for the regional paper to run a story on how their local high school was selected as one of three or five or ten winners out of thousands for some award, than to say they shared the honor with several dozen other schools. And that, in turn, leads to better media outreach for the regional winners!

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

For all the people clamoring that teams should continue efforts despite a lack of awards in that area, how many of you have animation/3DSMax groups? When was the last year you had one?

We have had a small but dedicated group of students on our animation team for the vast majority of seasons we have been doing FRC. Even though we have never won an award for it, the process of creating an entry that followed the prescribed format and had to be delivered by a certain deadline was an inspiring and educational experience for all involved, and showing the entry at our annual team banquet is a beloved tradition.

[OZ_341]

There are some obvious problems with the vacuum left by the loss of the Autodesk Awards which many FIRSTers have addressed here.

But nobody is pointing out the method in which we found out. FIRST has promised more transparency, yet such a major change is left to be found by deductive reasoning???
When you lose a complement of awards that have been a corner stone of your program for two decades, a simple manual release in DECEMBER is not the way you should find out.
I am sure there are coaches throughout FIRST that have been building up this contest for their students, as a goal for 2013. Now they have egg on their faces, just one month before Kick-off.

As Jared has mentioned, Team 341 has plenty of valuable CAD and Animation projects that our students can work on to fill this void. But the timing and method of notification is a poor choice and does not show an appreciation for the ground level mentors that are working with the kids on these projects every day.

The FIRST manual release is no way to announce such a major departure from the past.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

For all the people clamoring that teams should continue efforts despite a lack of awards in that area, how many of you have animation/3DSMax groups? When was the last year you had one?

We've had a nominal animation group for several years, but without any experienced students or a knowledgeable mentor they haven't produced anything substantial. The team's animation award submissions ended when our sponsor in that area stopped supporting FIRST.

[rsisk]

But nobody is pointing out the method in which we found out. FIRST has promised more transparency, yet such a major change is left to be found by deductive reasoning???

One thing to remember is a lot of change is occurring at FIRST HQ and the people that were the recipients of our "openness" campaigns in the past may not be there anymore. I think there is a lot of staff in various places with a year or less experience. So we may need to repeat our constructive feedback to FIRST in regards to openness.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by rsisk

One thing to remember is a lot of change is occurring at FIRST HQ and the people that were the recipients of our "openness" campaigns in the past may not be there anymore.

Is Frank Merrick still there? I think he really got the transparency message.

[ajc4nn0n]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

For all the people clamoring that teams should continue efforts despite a lack of awards in that area, how many of you have animation/3DSMax groups? When was the last year you had one?

We have had an animation group for the past few years now, winning a regional submission two years ago and making top 20 last year. Very disappointed to see this award go if it is indeed gone

[rsisk]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Is Frank Merrick still there? I think he really got the transparency message.

Frank is still there although there are lots of details that happen outside his sphere of influence or slip past him. I'm betting the communication/timing on these awards would be an example.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Is Frank Merrick still there? I think he really got the transparency message.

Yes, he's still there. At least, he was there yesterday when he posted the last FRC Blog!

And everyone, remember one thing... Just because there isn't an award for something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. If you've been working and preparing to do something based on awards that no longer exist... still go out there and do it! It's still a valuable experience for your students. They'll still learn a lot doing it. You can still share the results with the community.

When it comes to websites and social media... Well, doesn't all that count towards Chairman's as well? Even 10 years ago, the best way to get the word out about what you're doing and have an impact in the community was to actually take your robot out into the community. Today, you can make a YouTube video that could "go viral" reach 1000 times as many people with your message. In today's world, I don't think you can be a real Chairman's team without having a significant web presence to help spread your message. That doesn't mean you can ignore everything else, though!

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

When it comes to websites and social media... Well, doesn't all that count towards Chairman's as well? Even 10 years ago, the best way to get the word out about what you're doing and have an impact in the community was to actually take your robot out into the community. Today, you can make a YouTube video that could "go viral" reach 1000 times as many people with your message. In today's world, I don't think you can be a real Chairman's team without having a significant web presence to help spread your message. That doesn't mean you can ignore everything else, though!

Social media was definitely a big part of our Chairman's program last year. Our entire action plan revolved around expanding our team's reach in an effort to impact more people and teams; social media was an integral part of this strategy.

Jon is very right, going forward I have a hard time envisioning any future Championship Chairman's award winners without a significant social media presence. It's just too big of an avenue to be ignored.

[SarahBeth]

Originally Posted by Phyrxes

I'm glad this award changed to better reflect how the students interact with social media and the web in general, our students are more excited that this is no longer focusing on build a website that "mostly only our team looks at" and has shifted toward "this is how the we reach out to our fellow students and other people across the net."

I agree with this completely.

Still bummed and kind of confused as to why the New Media Award is Championship only. :/

[Zflash]

The Creativity Award seems to be missing as well.

[Carol]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

I think it's very important to recognize local teams that are excelling in certain areas.

That's why they have Judges Awards at the regional level. To recognize teams in areas where there is no set award.

As much as I agree with the value of teams getting awards, and the relative importance of them, every year at the end of many regionals and CMP you will see all the complaints about how long the award ceremonies took. So, where is the balance?

Many awards in many different areas => long award ceremonies
Shorter award ceremonies => less awards

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by Carol

Many awards in many different areas => long award ceremonies
Shorter award ceremonies => less awards

There is a simple solution to this problem. The same solution that FIRST employs on Einstein. In the playoffs of any event, you have 6+ minutes between each match. This is sufficient time to give out an award. We would need to figure out the logistics of where the judges stand, where the team comes down, etc., since there would be robots and personnel on at least part of the field. But there are plenty of smart people involved in FRC, and I'm confident we could find something that works.