Regional Championship or Regional Chairmans?

[Tim Delles]

Okay so i guess i can put my 2 cents in.

I would have to say that in my opinion the best thing to win is a regional championship. As a previous high school student and now as i mentor, i know that personally for my team, the students are more excitted, and more willing to participate the better we do. So if continuing to win inspires them then we have succeeded in one aspect of FIRST. Now with the inspiration we can only hope that our high school students will eventually want to go out and spread the message of FIRST and to show other people how exciting it is, but you can not do this without them being inspired themselves.

This is just coming from my stand point as a previous high school student. I know that the thing that inspired me the most was to help drive a robot i helped build, into winning a regional. The exciting and culimnation of the 6 weeks was roled up into one final match. This helped me to try and inspire other students, and I am now a mentor on the same team I was a high school student.

But it really depends on the team, and the students which is better for your team, because sometimes inspiration can best come from winning, and sometimes it doesn't

[Donut]

Regional Champion. This almost always sounds more impressive to people who don't know the FIRST competition, I'm a very competitive person so I like to win, and to most of the students on our team this is why they are in the robotics club; this is their big project.

We have never had a seperate group for marketing or media stuff on our team (we finally created a media group starting this fall), which means in the past everyone has been involved in the robot building. Now we'll have people who will focus more on animation and website (occasionaly helping with the robot), but our marketing and all of that will still be done by the club as a whole (the brunt of the work is our officer's job). Since everyone on our team is involved with the robot, a Regional Championship will mean something to all of them.

My choice also has something to do with my mentality; when I first joined our robotics team, I cared about building a robot, and one that would perform well. I did not join our robotics team my freshman year with the intention of doing community service and teaching others about technology. After 4 years I do those things now; however I expect everyone who joins our team to have the same attitude I had at least their first year (more likely their 2nd and maybe beyond), and I definitely don't expect most of the members to get as involved with our team as I have become.

To me the competition will always be about how our robot performs. I would be ecstatic for a Regional Chairman's, but I want that Championship more.

[Lil' Lavery]

This is my personal opinion and should be used in no way to reflect the opinion of my team as a whole.
While I'd readily take either award, and pour my soul into striving to win them both, I'd rather be a regional champion at this point. I don't need a judge to tell me that I have helped inspire and that I'm working to spread FIRST. I know I am. I may not be doing quite as much as the top notch teams we've submitted against the last few years (namely 341 and 1002, both of which have won 3 RCAs and have been CMP CA Honorable Mentions), but I am doing plenty. I have seen and heard the reactions at our outreach events, to our publicity, to our team, and I know I am helping.
I also know the feeling, the buzz, after winning a big match. I know the excitement when taking the field during the eliminations. And I want that again.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

This is my personal opinion and should be used in no way to reflect the opinion of my team as a whole.
While I'd readily take either award, and pour my soul into striving to win them both, I'd rather be a regional champion at this point. I don't need a judge to tell me that I have helped inspire and that I'm working to spread FIRST. I know I am. I may not be doing quite as much as the top notch teams we've submitted against the last few years (namely 341 and 1002, both of which have won 3 RCAs and have been CMP CA Honorable Mentions), but I am doing plenty. I have seen and heard the reactions at our outreach events, to our publicity, to our team, and I know I am helping.
I also know the feeling, the buzz, after winning a big match. I know the excitement when taking the field during the eliminations. And I want that again.

There is a lot of honest truth in Sean's post. I know it reflects the comments of many VIPs that I have escorted at FRC events, who understood all of the judged awards as consolation prizes for teams that worked hard but did not seed high or do well in the tournament. For these visitors, their tour of the pits is like a peek backstage, while the real show is on the field. The ones that we recruit to be judges change their minds about that.

But many top business leaders (who don't have the time to serve as judges) share Sean's view of the competition; i.e., the teams that 'get it' already know that they do, and at the event they are the ones that will succeed on the field. Or not, since sometimes the breaks don't go your way.

I still think the awards are important recognition. Especially the Chairman's award. As Woodie says, we get the best of what we celebrate. But I do understand that some FIRSTers would rather measure their team's success by its record in competition.

I want to say there is something very American about that; does that seem patriotic, or just US-centric?

[Schnabel]

Chairman's Award def. The TechnoKats have been around for quite a while and I want to see the team get awarded for all it has done in the past 16 years. Plus I am bias as I was one of the people that worked on the CA last year.

[BBnum3]

Those vote tallies are really close.

I voted for for Regional Championship because the excitement of winning an event is incomparable. For a team that is new or hasn't won an event, the feeling is indescribable. When my team won a regional earlier this year we could not believe what was happening. A regional victory can come as a surprise which is what makes it so exciting. Chairman's victories aren't exactly predictable, but teams know that they have been working hard on outreach and can somewhat see it coming. It's the unpredictability and sheer exuberance of winning a regional that makes me choose a Regional Championship over Chairman's.

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by BBnum3

Those vote tallies are really close.

I voted for for Regional Championship because the excitement of winning an event is incomparable. For a team that is new or hasn't won an event, the feeling is indescribable. When my team won a regional earlier this year we could not believe what was happening. A regional victory can come as a surprise which is what makes it so exciting. Chairman's victories aren't exactly predictable, but teams know that they have been working hard on outreach and can somewhat see it coming. It's the unpredictability and sheer exuberance of winning a regional that makes me choose a Regional Championship over Chairman's.

I have to disagree with this. When they announced that we won Chairman's at NJ, it felt even better than winning the regional.

Like you said, Chairman's victories aren't predictable, but that, in my opinion, makes them 10x better. The surprise of winning it adds to the mix of emotions you feel when you win it.

Just wait until you're on a team that wins one...you'll see...

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by AtalanteStar25

I have to disagree with this. When they announced that we won Chairman's at NJ, it felt even better than winning the regional.

Like you said, Chairman's victories aren't predictable, but that, in my opinion, makes them 10x better. The surprise of winning it adds to the mix of emotions you feel when you win it.

Just wait until you're on a team that wins one...you'll see...

just wait until you're on a team that doesn't win 90% of it's matches...

[Libby K]

at this point, either one would be just wonderful for me. =]

really, a chairman's win would mean more to me. it's really showing that you're an outstanding group of kids, not just a beastly robot.

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

just wait until you're on a team that doesn't win 90% of it's matches...

Sean- where were you in 05? and 04? and 01? and 02? and 99? and 98? and 97? We weren't winning 90% then but we still had a lot of pride in our machines- even if the wheels fell off and they caught fire. We have been very fortunate to have a few really spectacular seasons but they were the result of a team of dedicated individuals giving their best for a long time to build to that.

Championship or Chairmans- tough call. I always tell newbies that if you build a great team the great robots will follow. So I guess that is recognized by the Chairmans.
But school administrators and company heads recognize and understand Tournament Champions better. So there is a lot of "political value" in that recognition too.

Our team has been fortunate to have seen both. To some extent a good machine and experienced drive team get the Championship. But our guys have made FIRST more or less a way of life these days and that seems to be how we were recognized for the Chairmans. To me it was a verification that the team was "doing things right" in the FIRST world and that we have hopefully been setting a good example for others. Oddly, I find myself more in line with the "vision" of actually helping kids develop these days more than ever. And I know the young people our team has sent out will always fondly remember how building robots changed their life for the better.

And we still have fun,,,

WC

[Libby K]

me too. read below.

Originally Posted by AtalanteStar25

When they announced that we won Chairman's at NJ, it felt even better than winning the regional.

yay 25!

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Libbeh1923

yay 25!

I think you missed the 4 at the end of that
254, great bot(s), and a Championship Chairman's

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by David Kelly

Collin, Cyber Blue 234 won the midwest regional championship in 2001 with 71, 269, 111, and 112.

sorry...234 has never won a regional while i've been on the team. a culmination of great robots and a really great strategy. 710. awesome. i probably watch the video once a month.

[Ryan Albright]

Def regional champion, i mean sure chairmen is great but just the fact of your robot performing well and the joy of beeing up there in the finals and winning the whole thing i think that would beat pretty much anythign

[Rich Kressly]

I've had the pleasure of experiencing both.
My personal opinion ... Chairman's