Medals or pins--A poll

[EricH]

In response to this thread, what would you prefer? You do not have to give a reason here, especially if you have already posted there.

[Chris is me]

The "pins" Bill is referring to (at least the FTC ones) look nothing like buttons; they more resemble the Chairman's, Safety, and Gracious Professionalism pins.

[Mr. Pockets]

I'd go with medals as so many other pins are obtained throughout the competition that another pin probably wouldn't mean as much as a bronze medal.

[gorrilla]

I went with medals,

because, you can"feel" them....they have a weight to them and it feels like they mean something....more than a pin atleast....

[EricLeifermann]

I don't like participation medals, i never take one from my team because i never understood the point of them. I only want a medal that says i won something. The bronze medal, is supposed to symbolize 3rd place, you don't get third place so why would you take it if you didn't get third place? I would much rather have a pin, it shows you participated and it doesn't give people false imprecations of how you did at the competition.

[NalaTI]

Medals for awards winners only... pins for everyone (in addition to the medals)

[popnbrown]

Pins for participation...I've never taken a medal for participation

[Andrew Schreiber]

Pin for participation, the everyone is a winner philosophy cheapens winning. Bronze medal implies 3rd place and a team that went 0-8 shouldn't get a medal implying 3rd place.

[Richard Wallace]

I like pins. They are smaller, brighter, and more versatile. Pin 'em to your hat, collar, sleeve, lanyard, badge, scarf, necktie, etc.

And a supply of pins sufficient for one regional event is fairly easy to manage, from the freight handlers' perspective^*. As a volunteer who has been responsible for FRC event shipments, I support making those shipments lighter whenever we can do so, while maintaining high standards for the FRC experience.

^* Anyone who has handled one of the Medallion Cases at an FRC event knows what I mean. Those things are VERY heavy, and have been known to cause problems if they get loose on a truck, or crash into something at the event venue.

[EricH]

Chris, I know. I realized that after I'd put the poll up. I was thinking like the current RCA/CA pins.

As for medals, of course you'd keep the gold/silver ones in place.

[David Brinza]

I think pins similar to the mentor or volunteer pins would be fine. They are certainly more "wearable" and safer than medals dangling from a ribbon.

Having the year and FRC game title on the pin would be a nice touch.

[Chris is me]

Everyone's a winner is poor word choice, really. I think the idea is that a medal is a better physical representation of what you've accomplished as a team.

[JackN]

Pin, cheaper, more unique and more interesting. I would collect pins from past seasons which you can't really do with medals. Also, you could wear pins to a comp which you can't do with medals (at least not comfortably) .

[BrendanB]

I vote pins.

Medals were cool in FLL, but they didn't exactly mean anything significant to me and they seem cheaply built. I prefer pins as they are small, I can put them on anything, wear them at competitions and not feel as though a medal will get in the way, and they have an overall professional look over medals.

But the gold, silver, and chairmans medals are still cool with me.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Pin for participation, the everyone is a winner philosophy cheapens winning.

Giving someone an "I was there" trinket is not cheapening anything. Is winning and losing so important that we forget why this program exists in the first place? Hint: it has nothing to do with building robots or entering them in competition. A participation trinket is a recognition that you got off the couch, dropped the video game controller, and CHOSE to do something amazing -- even if your robot didn't win a trophy. I don't think it has anything to do with "everyone's a winner."

In my own program, I feel the awarding of participation recognition does nothing to lessen the feeling of achievement that the kids in Exothermic Robotics have in successfully building robots and winning 25+ trophies in the last three years. I haven't polled all of them, but I'd bet a nickel that the kids in our program wouldn't even care about the question, let alone the answer.