[2016] Chairman's Preview Week 7

Competition FIRST Impact Award
1

Nick (cadandcookies), Jacob and I are back with the week 7 installment of the Chairman’s previews.

The 2016 Peachtree District Championship has four eligible teams split into two categories: historical favorites (2974 and 1311) and new faces (1261 and 1648). With more regional and district Chairman’s awards under their belt than all three of the other teams combined, 1311 is looking to stake their claim on PCH DCMP for many years to come. 2974, whose recent awards history includes two EIs in addition to their four CAs, will be looking to challenge 1311 for this spot with their international STEM outreach and summer camps. Despite having never won a CA before this year, 1648 managed to beat both 1261 and 2974 to a DCA at Columbus, proving that they have the chops to win it all. Finally, 1261 has had plenty of time since their win at Albany to get their presentation ready to win all of Georgia.

Where to start with Michigan? With 21 teams competing for 4 spots, there’s a great mix between old favorites and fresh faces in the mix at the Michigan State Championship. One of those old favorites is 503, who has won the award at every single Michigan State Championship since 2009. Close behind them in overall wins is 33, who won it at MSC in ‘14 and ‘13 but missed last year. 548’s Chairman’s program is another stellar one to watch. With 8 wins in the bag so far, it’d be no surprise if they could pull off another this year. 1718 and 68 both have 7 wins, with the former having a wide variety of outreach programs ranging from sock puppet marathons to spaghetti dinners, and the latter having heavy involvement in bringing girl scouts into FIRST. 66 is looking to reboot its Chairman’s prowess this year, after winning its last RCA in ‘12. Finally, 2137 is hoping to continue the success they found here last year to qualify for CMP.

There will be two Chairman’s Award winners at the Mid-Atlantic District Championship, and at face value 1218 has good odds of being one of them. Vulcan Robotics has 7 Chairman’s Award wins, more than twice their nearest competitors, so it makes a lot of sense that they’d come home with a blue banner. However, they didn’t win RCA at DCMP last year – 321 and 708 did, and both teams would dearly love to keep that streak going. Watch for a dark horse bid from 1923, as well. The MidKnight Inventors have a two-year DCA streak going, and hot off an Einstein appearance last year, they’ll be looking to win their first ever RCA.

There are a lot of strong teams vying for New England’s four Chairman’s awards. Three Chairman’s programs stand out in terms of success with Chairman’s so far: 230, with impressive international efforts to support FRC teams, 2648, whose off-season competition could solidify their place in Chairman’s history next to the similarly numbered 2486 and 2468, and 558, who could come out on top with the help of their broad community involvement. 467, who picked up a DCA at Boston this year, is looking to add a fourth Chairman’s Award to their resume, and is sure to do so if their presentation is as polished as their website. Also with three Chairman’s Awards so far is 125, with an outreach program that includes the Latino STEM alliance and an all-around enviable program. A dark horse to watch is 4905. They’ve picked up a DCA so far in each year of their eligibility (including their first event this season, Granite State), and are hoping their stellar program can take them all the way this year.

The Indiana State Championship has only three teams competing for the District Championship Chairman’s Award: 868, 1741, and 1747. 1741 is the only team with previous Chairman’s wins, with RCAs in ‘11 and ‘13, so while this probably makes them the favorite, it isn’t enough to make them a lock for the blue banner. 868 and 1747 are both up-and-coming teams with great programs, so it’s entirely realistic for any of them to come away from Kokomo with the Chairman’s Award.

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What does running an off season have to do with Chairman’s? And why is one of the off seasons called out in NE but not the rest of them?

Not to say 2648 isn’t a solid contender but this REALLY undersells their program and casts doubt on your predictions at all.

3

Such an event promotes STEM, which makes it fair game for a Chairman’s discussion.

4

I think this prediction is really accurate. There is really no way to tell who will win. I’m hazarding 868 as a guess but all three teams are so close from what I’ve seen - it will probably go down to who has the best presentation. Last year was pretty similar for Indiana as well (but 234 was more of a favorite due to their long history of Chairman’s).

5

Each of these teams have extensive and amazing programs. There’s no room to list each wonderful thing that each team does, so for the sake of the predictions, one or two significant and interesting things are chosen.

As far as off-seasons, off-seasons are great ways to inspire other teams by giving them an opportunity to compete outside of the normal school year and involve new team members.

6

Perhaps you should read the rest of that line to really get at what I was asking.

My bigger point was that only highlighting their offseason undersells their program. They do a ton of other things, the off season is relatively minor in their bid. I mean, who needs to start 12 teams when you’ve got an offseason for 5 years.

7

If I were a betting man I would say that 869 and 1923 would be the ones getting the MAR RCA this weekend.

8

The Chairman’s Award, contrary to popular belief, is not only about starting x amount of teams. Hosting an offseason event is a great way to improve relations and provide a friendly atmosphere for the first community, in addition to giving newer teams more experience in FIRST events.

It’s hard to tell what judges are looking for in a given year, but it’s very easy to say that mentioning a team starting 12 teams is equivalently underselling its program as mentioning an offseason event.

9

What about 1519 in NE? Thie season they won a DCA and DEI, last year they also obtained a DCA. I have known this team for years and would not be surprised to see them finally get that RCA.

10

Chairman’s is not about the number of teams you start or EVEN about having an offseason event. While these things are great in helping to increase awareness for FIRST and STEM education, it isn’t the only way.

I had this big long bit written about some responses to this thread I’ve been reading, and really it boils down to a few things -

1.) Tell the story YOU want to tell, not the story you think the JUDGE wants you to tell

2.) Good luck to all the teams mentioned in this thread this weekend, you all have work extremely hard on this submission

3.) Good luck to every team who has won an RCA this year and is bidding for the big crown in a few weeks, I know how hard you all have worked

Peace,
CBJ