Why even bother submitting a Chairman's Award if we're not gonna win?

[Mr MOE]

Carolyn.

Thanks for initiating this discussion! There have been some great comments here and, as expected, different perspectives.

As someone who has been involved in my team's Chairman's Award submissions from the start and someone who talks with teams every season about the Chairman's Award (Philly regional kickoff and "Chairman's Chat at the Championship"), I agree that your main question "why bother submitting if we're not gonna win?" is what many teams are saying.

Whether we admit it or not, we all make decisions based on getting something out of it. It could be recognition or fame or the satisfaction of helping others or whatever. So, your question translates to "what is our team going to get out of submitting a Chairman's Award?"

Here is my list of what a team gets out of it. It has many similarities to others who have responded:

1. A measure of how your team meets FIRST's goals of changing the culture and inspiring others,
2. A document/record of what your team has done,
3. Training for team members in non-robot build areas like marketing, public speaking, presentation skills, graphic design, video editing, documentary development, planning and organization, etc,
4. A roadmap to guide you on the journey of the development of your team,
5. Another reason to engage in and increase your team outreach,
6. Organized data about your team that will help you secure more sponsors,
7. The satisfaction of doing something larger than yourself,
8. Another way to build a true team,
9. A reason more judges will come to talk with you during competitions
10. A reason to make a cool team video

I know much discussion has focused on the judging process. I'm not too excited to talk about that side of it. I want to focus on what your team can get out of going through the submission process, which really forces your team to operate differently just to get content for the submission process.

So, is the view worth the climb? I absolutely think so. However, you need to understand your team, their focus, circumstances,and resources before you decide to submit. I think it is a missed opportunity, if you don't.