Two Chairmans Winners Per Event

[Bharat Nain]

That's not the point. Re-read the Chairmans criteria.

[Joe Matt]

While I understand the reasoning behind it, I disagree. Many Chairmans award winners really don't do much "new" year to year, and are easily toppled (the "winners" syndrome, the idea that you're still the champion, and you get side-swiped). I know that several teams that win chairmans over and over again don't do much, or keep touting the same old stuff over and over again, and there just isn't any real competition to challange them. Then there's the reason for having multipule winners, so they can try again and again to win the Champs. And once they win the champs, they'll be removed from the pool at regionals, allowing for another team.

[santosh]

I personally think that there should be One, but I do think that there should be honorable mentions at the regional level.

[Vu2000]

Honorable mentions would just be too much... I think EI at the regional level is usually thought of as Chairman's runner-up.

[Mike Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Vu2000

Honorable mentions would just be too much... I think EI at the regional level is usually thought of as Chairman's runner-up.

Thats Incorrect, team 25 has recieved the EI award, at a regional the Chairmens was not submitted at

[santosh]

As did 612

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

Thats Incorrect, team 25 has recieved the EI award, at a regional the Chairmens was not submitted at

I just want to second that by saying other teams have had that happen. I also believe that the honor of the Chairman's Award is the uniqueness of its presentation - a team that can shine above so many deserving candidates is the winner - and recognizing such a team is the entire point of the award.

Besides, if you add two of Chairman's, you have to add 2 of other things to be fair...and that would just make the entire process crazy!

[Vu2000]

Yupp, I'm well aware that there are teams out there that have won EI without submitting a Chairman's Award. I do believe that there should be 1 chairman's award winner, BUT, I don't believe that there is only one deserving of the award. If a team does an exemplary job in their chairman's presentation and such, however, they should be rewarded with the second highest honor first bestows upon a team (EI) and a trip to Nationals. The problem with my statement before was that this situation has too many variables; one being that some regionals have way more submissions than others (i.e SoCal had 12ish this year).

[Madison]

The Chairman's Award and Engineering Inspiration award are separate awards with differing criteria. The Engineering Inspiration award is the second highest honor FIRST bestows upon a team, not a runner up to the Chairman's Award. The difference, however subtle, is important.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

This is a very special award and a special honor. I was happy to see regional awards for both Chairman's and Woodie Flower's as there are many deserving teams out there.
I disagree with the statement that teams don't do that much from year to year. A team who is worthy of the Chairman's award needs to be doing something every year. It is the only way.

[OZ_341]

I think their should be one winner only, although a Regional Honorable Mention may not be a bad idea.
EI and second place Chairman's are often confused by students and judges. EI should be more for spreading Engineering Interest rather general community activity or promotion of FIRST. Although there are many overlapping projects that teams create which are difficult to categorize.

Just to address the idea of Chairmans Teams slacking off. I don't think that most Chairman's teams sit back and relax. It is just not in their nature.

I can tell you for sure that we doubled everything we do this year and still did not win Chairman's in Philly. So I don't think that laziness is the problem. We just had different judges with a different idea of what made a team deserving of the award. Its not easy being a Philly Chairman's candidate there are just so many good teams!
And finally lets face it when you are seeking the highest honor in any competition, having two winners will not solve the problem. Eventually someone has to feel the sting of disappointment. This is how we learn and improve.

Good luck to all in the off-season!!!

[Jherbie53]

Only one team should win chairmans, but there could be an honorable mention for the teams that were really close. Lets say team A does a good job on there presentation and has done a lot to spread FIRST over the past year. Then team B has a great presentation and didn't do as much as team A did to spread FIRST. You can add as many teams in the mix as you want for this example, but twos good for now. Both teams are just as deserving of the award, but for some reason the judges choose one over the other. We don't know what tipped the scale to the team that won. Like OZ_341 said, you might have different judges every year, which makes it harder to win.

An honorable mention would give us an idea of who might of been second, but there really is no second when you are talking about chairmans. Why is there no second? you might ask. Because if you are doing anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to spread FIRST around, you are just as deserving as anyone for the award. Even if all you do during the off season is do one or two presentations for elementary schools or sponsor a LEGO league team, you are doing what really counts, spreading FIRST.

[RoboMadi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but i think its more about the process not about what do your team or how many 'numbers' of things they do in their community to spread the message of FRIST.

A team can do as many things as they want, but doing it every year and adding more to it is the hard part.
There are a lot of teams in FIRST (like to mention the HOF teams), that are all about the process. Members come and leave every year, which makes it harder to keep up with the momentum; but some teams have come up with extraordinary plans which have helped them not only creating a base, but also blossoming on that base.
Connecting back to what this post is about, i think there should only be one chairman award winner. As some people have mentioned before that teams does have an opportunity to win EI, which is fair enough
Also i do recognize the fact that as the FIRST is growing the competition will grow too, which does mean that every team has to work harder than ever before to keep up with their process, which actually can be a great learning experience.