Hey guys. We are a rookie team and required to complete this application due to our NASA grant. Having some trouble with the exectutive summary and Chairman’s award on STIMS.
1.) We understand the 500 character topics, but we do not understand what the topic of the main, 10000 character, essay is. We read the manual and still did not find any clarification.
2.) Also what is the recommended video editing software for the Chairman’s award video? We are a rookie team and need thy help. Would there be any compatability issues if we used Imovie?
Please help!!
This is a great resource that is compiled by an FRC Senior Mentor and a multiple RCA/DCA/MSCCA winning team mentor.
www.assistingcreativeenergy.com
There are a lot of different ways to write the Chairman’s essay. It is you telling your story, rather than answering questions. Don’t stress about doing it right, just try to do it well. This link is to another post in which I posted our 2012 Chairman’s essay and the way we documented the stuff we put in it. If you would like, I can post our executive summary as well in order to see the differences.
Our team was a rookie team last year and also submitted essays for the Chairman’s Award. We ended up winning the Rookie All-Star Award at our regional, we believe, due to the quality of our story and outreach as displayed in our essays, video, and team notebook/chronicle. Every team has something special to bring to the table; just let your team shine!
Our essays are posted on our website here: http://frc3941.techbrick.com/rookie-all-star-2012/
Wishing you guys the best!
Like everyone else has been saying, there is no “right” way to write it.You basically want to explain what makes your team different and how you are spreading the FIRST message. If PM me your email address I can email you all of our past submissions to give you an idea of how we do it. 
I agree with 3941, it’s all about how you tell your story. Put a lot of effort into your essay, emphasizing community outreach, team structure/communication, and relationships with sponsors and such. Try to let the judges know what about your team is special. Videos are nice, but not necessary to win RAS or Rookie Inspiration (we didn’t have one and we won RAS at MAR Championships and Rookie Inspiration at CMP).
Our paper is here.
Thank you all so much. This information is extremely invaluable. We are trying our best to work on this essay and your information, tips, and examples.
If you’re looking for an example one, I’ve posted our last year one to our website that can be found here. Hope this helps! Good luck!
-David
iMovie is a great simple software to use if you have access to a Mac. Finale and Final Cut are better programs in my opinion but they’re expensive and can take a while to get used to, plus they’re not really necessary for a project like the Chairmans video. You shouldn’t have to worry too much about compatibility issues, just export and burn to a DVD.
For the essay I would advise doing a search here for other teams chairmans submissions. (a lot of them are in the whitepapers section) It will give you some ideas for what to highlight in the essay.
Good luck, and don’t hesitate to ask if you need more help.
Something I want to touch on quickly is what the purpose of each submission is for, as this is critical to the content of each submission.
The essay is probably the first thing that the judges will see from all of your submissions. This is how the judges will first get to know your team, and what you have done, so take this opportunity to draw their attention. If you do that, the judges will want to know more. If you are a veteran team, then at this point, the judges will view your presentation. In all cases, the judges will make the effort to come speak to teams in the pits, so they can find out a little more.
At this point, the judges have a pretty good idea of which teams they want to give awards, but often have a few teams in contention. At this point, the judges will look at the video. A team that Chairmans at championships will always have an amazing video, and FIRST will use it for promotional purposes. For most teams, however, it really useful to gain sponsors, and to promote your team, as its a really good, and quick, summary of what your team has achieved.
In terms of how to do the essay and video, a good place to start is to list everything that you want to have in a submission. Then, divy them up into which ones will go into the essay and the video. Keep in mind that these lists may have huge overlaps, so don’t worry if they do.
Hope that helps!
True… RCA judges receive the essay packages in advance of the competition. We will also refer back to your essays during our deliberation.
If you are a veteran team, then at this point, the judges will view your presentation.
Also true, so long as you are referring to the “in person” presentation, as opposed to the video. You may wish to include further documentary evidence of your team’s awesomeness (“sustained excellence”) such as photographs, thank-you letters, media clippings, etc. to support your claims. You can include that in a binder or folder to leave with the RCA judges following your presentation.
In all cases, the judges will make the effort to come speak to teams in the pits, so they can find out a little more.
Not necessarily true. Depending on the regional, the RCA judges may spend all of Friday and most of Saturday in the RCA judging room. There are other judges that visit your pit area and observe your robot on the field, and while there is communication between the RCA judges and the other judges, you should certainly not count on seeing your RCA judges in the pit area. As much as we’d love to be there… there often just isn’t time.
At this point, the judges have a pretty good idea of which teams they want to give awards, but often have a few teams in contention. At this point, the judges will look at the video.
Perhaps, “will likely look at the video” is a better way to phrase it. Once a winner is identified, the judges will definitely look at the team’s video to ensure it meets all RCA video criteria. Carefully check to ensure your video is suitable… if the video does not meet the minimum published criteria, a team cannot receive Chairman’s.
In terms of how to do the essay and video, a good place to start is to list everything that you want to have in a submission. Then, divy them up into which ones will go into the essay and the video. Keep in mind that these lists may have huge overlaps, so don’t worry if they do.
Excellent advice. For RCA winning teams (or serious contenders) the issue is not “how do we fill up all this space”, but “how do we cram everything we’ve done into it”.
It is also important to note that even for teams who are not in serious contention for RCA, your RCA presenation can alert the RCA judges to certain things that the other judges may have missed when they visited you in the pits. The judges like to chat about all the awesome teams we see, so you can’t go wrong making a great RCA pitch, even if you know you are going up against “more deserving” teams. At least once I’ve seen an RCA presentation (from a team that had no real chance of winning RCA) positively influence an award other than the Chairman’s.
Jason
Jason, thanks for the excellent advice and insight.