Chairman's Videos: At what point do they become part of the judging process?

[ebarker]

Based on my conversations with people that should know, here is my understanding of the genesis of the Chairman's video.

The Chairman's video is a way for your to talk to other FIRST teams, and tell them what your team has done to pursue the award. It is to convey knowledge about your teams activities in the hope that as a role model, other teams will work to find their path to success in spreading the message about FIRST. This is the primary purpose in the video. Prior to the existence of the video, it was more difficult to convey this information, in some peoples opinion.

FIRST has also stated, that the judges could view the video if it was determined that the contest was close and they needed further information, but that is not the primary purpose of the video.