What did you do to gain an Award?

[Carol]

Also be aware that you are judged not only by what happens at your pit, or how your robot does on the field, but also by the team's behavior everywhere else. And by team I mean anyone wearing your team shirt or colors, including siblings and parents. For example, if a judge overhears some of your team members trash-talking about other teams in the hallway, he/she will take note. Conversely, if a judge notices a team member going to great lengths to help out another team, that will be noticed as well.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Carol

Also be aware that you are judged not only by what happens at your pit, or how your robot does on the field, but also by the team's behavior everywhere else. And by team I mean anyone wearing your team shirt or colors, including siblings and parents. For example, if a judge overhears some of your team members trash-talking about other teams in the hallway, he/she will take note. Conversely, if a judge notices a team member going to great lengths to help out another team, that will be noticed as well.

This is probably the most important point of all. What you do related to your team in ANY capacity, good or bad, will come back to your team. Not just from judges but from other FIRST teams as well.
So whether that is at competition, online or out in the community you should be mindful of how you carry yourself because there's alot more at stake than just your own popularity in the greater FIRST community but the good name of your team as well.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

This is probably the most important point of all. What you do related to your team in ANY capacity, good or bad, will come back to your team. Not just from judges but from other FIRST teams as well.
So whether that is at competition, online or out in the community you should be mindful of how you carry yourself because there's alot more at stake than just your own popularity in the greater FIRST community but the good name of your team as well.

That includes CD (part of the "online" portion of Ed's statement). No disclaimer can fully disassociate you and your point of view from your team and its point of view. The judges and refs do read these forums. If you post something, bear in mind that it may be thought to be your team's opinion, even if it isn't, and may either raise or lower your team's reputation in the CD community's eyes.

[xxpingphuongxx]

So, I have a question. Does having an engineering notebook give you a higher chance in winning the Chairman's Award?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by xxpingphuongxx

So, I have a question. Does having an engineering notebook give you a higher chance in winning the Chairman's Award?

It probably won't, but it may up your chances for Engineering Inspiration or one of the technical awards. See Section 5 for complete details on the awards.

[Chris Fultz]

Lots of great pointers so far.

I would add that your team needs to be aware of each of the awards, and the criteria for judging them. Make an honest assessment of what your are likely compeitive for (innovation in control, industrial design, entrepreneurship, etc.) and then try to focus some of your materials and / or discussions to those features about your team.

Also, be ready to talk to the judges and have someone prepared and watching, so you can greet them when they arrive. Be prepared.

As other stated, something to give the judges is a help - a card or fler or something to help them remember your robot and your team.

[Danielle H]

At IRI, the computer gurus in our pit made and printed flyers about our robot while the girls had fun decorating the robot when we had a larger break between matches. Everything was in our team colours, and it was kinda ridiculously gaudy. It was most definitely fun though, and it got a few judges to stop and look closer at it, even if, in the end, we didn't end up with an award.
Having fun with it was the best part. Don't be so concerned with trying to get an award that you get too uptight and worried "Oh gosh.. that judge didn't stop... what aren't we doing right?" If you're having fun and you're learning and you're truly working together as a team to complete your tasks, and then happen to have some off time to make things pretty and eye-catching, the judges will notice your work more than your decorations.
At least, this is what I've come to notice.

[SaraBailey]

We made sure that our chairman's committee had at least one alternate. We use posters with out key points as a visual display that stayed up in our pits. One of us (We had two students switch off) would stay in the pits to talk to other teams, Judges, pretty much anyone that would listen. While the other two or three were in the stands. We covered ALL aspects briefly about our team, so the judges could better understand who we are and where we come from.

Also, we didn't win the Sprit award THIS year, but in years past it has been attained. It's courteous to your pit crew to cheer during matches. ESPECIALLY after a math, win lose or draw. It just good team values. Oh, and one more thing... Uniformity. Decide on a uniform, and make sure EVERYONE is wearing the SAME one.
Team 1086 wears our blue polos, cheese heads, and khakis. That's the dress code. It would look messy to have past years polos, or other articles of clothing mixed in. It definitely leaves an impression.

It's not about going for any of the awards. Awards are there to recognize what you are doing for First, your team, and the community. EVERYONE should be doing SOMETHING because it's what you want to do to spread the message of first. Whether it's participating in community events, doing dean's homework, or sharing a row in you stands for a smaller team. Be gracious andd professional, but certainly have fun!

[Salbert]

MARS 1523 (my team) won Chairman's at the FL regional. I was one of the 3 people who presented. I can't stress enough how important a business plan is.

Here are tips:

- Wear nametags
- Firmly shake the judges hand and say "Hello"
- Give them a folder/binder with info and tell them what's in them while others set up. We gave them a business plan and event documentation, I told them about it while my partners set up.
- Leave them goody bags (we had our MARS alien inside)
- Comment on their buttons (one judge had a SPAM button, I told them we did a demo for GE with SPAM)
- Anything you didn't cover in the presentation, try to bring up in the Q & A
- Make a business plan, the judges loved it!
- At the end, shake their hands FIRMLY and thank them for your time

I wish you all the best of luck, and for those of you going to Georgia, MARS will see you there!

P.S. Pink Team 233 was awesome. MARS' friends Swamp 179 was excellent. Cybersonics 103 was good too. The suction cup robot was cool too, it picked itself up when it tipped over.

[Pat Arnold]

Originally Posted by Salbert

MARS 1523 (my team) won Chairman's at the FL regional. I was one of the 3 people who presented. I can't stress enough how important a business plan is.

Here are tips:

- Wear nametags
- Firmly shake the judges hand and say "Hello"
- Give them a folder/binder with info and tell them what's in them while others set up. We gave them a business plan and event documentation, I told them about it while my partners set up.
- Leave them goody bags (we had our MARS alien inside)
- Comment on their buttons (one judge had a SPAM button, I told them we did a demo for GE with SPAM)
- Anything you didn't cover in the presentation, try to bring up in the Q & A
- Make a business plan, the judges loved it!
- At the end, shake their hands FIRMLY and thank them for your time

In addition to the above etiquette used in the judges presentation, MARS takes the approach that "If its not documented, it wasn't done."

We complete a brief one page report following each team activity highlighting "where, what, when, why" & results. Pages are placed in that year's document notebook along with any supporting info such as photos, newspaper articles, flyers, or letters of appreciation. Listing "Results" reminds us to check on/report objectively the effectiveness of our effort (i.e. how many visitors did the museum record during our demo, how many people did the newspaper say were at the parade our float was in, etc.)

Our outreach events have grown as more people learn about the team's existence. We targeted a greater range of age groups (from the ladies in the Red Hat Society to starting middle school LEGO groups). Learning how to write effective press releases and forming community partnerships (our big one this past year has been the South Florida Science Museum) helps.

Hopefully this info is helpful to other teams; we're still learning from FIRST's veterns how best to spread engineering & science excitement.

[basicxman]

we gave 'em big mini robotics posters (made by our sponsors)

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by xxpingphuongxx

Does having an engineering notebook give you a higher chance in winning the Chairman's Award?

As already said, probably not...but it DOES help keep all of the information and decisions in one place, and is a good practice.

Judges don't want to hear only from one bright kid, they want to see than almost everyone on the team can speak intelligently about the robot, team, etc. It is very obvious to judges when there is only one spokesperson.

Don't be afraid to admit shortcomings of the robot. It's OK to say "our lift mechanism is slow", and then talk about some ideas you or the team might have to address it. Or to say that the team hasn't discussed how to fix it yet.

It was said by Josh Goodman already, but bears repeating: ALWAYS have someone in your pit - and make sure they can speak intelligently about the robot/team/etc. That means, before the regional, everyone listens as a meeting where the SME (Subject Matter Expert) describes some part of the robot/team/etc and thus everyone knows a little about everything.

Also, if you want to win awards, read what the award "is" very carefully, then do that.

Don