Preparing%20Your%20Chairman

1
Preparing Your Chairmans Award Almost As Fun
As Building a RobotFIRST Philadelphia Kick-off
EventJanuary 5, 2008

• John Larock / Carol Perrotto

2
Agenda

• Introductions
• What is the Chairmans Award?
• Why submit?
• Organizing your team
• Submission process
• Submission / Presentation Tips
• Examples
• Q A

3
Whats all the fuss about the Chairmans Award?
4
What is the Chairmans Award?

• Top award in FIRST
• Recognized as role model for other teams and
  embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST
• Regional award winners qualify to compete at
  Championship
• Championship winners enter FIRST Hall of Fame
• Qualify for Championship event
• Choose student to receive Allaire Medal
• Scholarship of 10,000
• Work with producer/director to develop video tape
  of team
• If youre lucky, you can visit the White House

5
Chairmans Award Process

• Complete on-line information
• Yearbook Page
• Complete submission on-line
• Executive Summary
• Chairmans Essay Submission
• Select regional event to submit at
• Same event you submit Woodie Flowers award
• Presentation to judges at Regional
• If qualify, present to judges at Championship

2008 Deadline Feb 21, 2008, 1159pm EST
6
Why Submit An Entry?

• To be able to organize, document, and communicate
  what your team does
• Allow students a chance to share their experience
  with FIRST judges
• For recognition of what you already do
• To get a nice trophy banner
• To allow students another avenue to demonstrate
  their skills and creativity
• To satisfy your competitive urges another way

7
Why Submit An Entry?

• Your team must submit an entry if you have
  received a NASA Grant
• Rookies should submit if you are vying for Rookie
  All-Star Award
• Rookies not eligible to win Chairmans Award
• Rookies to bring hardcopy for judges at Regional
• FIRST Hall of Fame teams are not eligible to win
  Regional Chairmans Award
• Encouraged to submit to verify teams are
  maintaining their Hall of Fame status

8
Organizing Your Team
9
Know the Criteria

• From Chairmans Award documentation in FIRST
  manual
• Emphasis on recent accomplishments (2007-08 year)
  and those of the past two years.
• IMPACT on learning experience of students, school
  curriculum, engineers and community
• ROLE MODEL demonstrate why should your team be
  considered one
• COMMUNICATION how well has team communicated
  excitement and impact?
• INNOVATION team documented innovative way to
  spread FIRST message
• PARTNERSHIP strengths of team partnerships
• DOCUMENTATION does content exemplify true
  meaning of FIRST?

10
Selecting Your CA Team

• Two main teams
• Documentation / Submission team
• Presentation team
• Strongly suggest that Presentation Team is a
  subset of your Documentation / Submission
  team
• General Criteria for Documentation / Submission
  Team
• First-hand knowledge of team history
• First-hand knowledge / experience of team
  outreach
• Embody the spirit of FIRST

11
CA Documentation / Submission Team

• Select leader for team
• Responsibilities / Tasks
• Proposes where to submit Chairmans entry to rest
  of team
• Gathers information for entry
• Develops draft of entry
• Obtains feedback on entry
• Submits entry
• Develops judge presentation

12
CA Presentation Team

• Additional Criteria
• Students who get it and are committed
• Students who know most / all aspects of team
• Students who are available to put in time
  necessary
• Select a leader for team
• Responsibilities / Tasks
• All responsibilities of Documentation /
  Submission Team
• Develop presentation for judges
• Practice presentation
• Gather presentation aids
• Give presentation

13
Considerations on Which Regional to Submit Entry
to

• What do you consider your home regional?
• The judges here will know your team best
• The regional has a history of your teams
  activity
• Competition
• Number of teams attending regional
• Number of teams you estimate will submit
• Competitiveness of teams most likely to submit
• Availability of Presenters
• Other reasons?

14
Planning your SubmissionPart I The written
part
15
Know Your FIRST Team

• What is your team mission, vision, goals,
  accomplishments?
• How do these match up against the award criteria?
• How can you best tell your team story to meet
  criteria?

It is okay to not have strengths in all areas of
the award criteria your submission should
focus on telling your teams story
16
Executive Summary

• Answer the question asked
• Stay within the word counts
• Focus on time frame requested
• More impact in recent years
• Less impact many years ago
• Provide as many concrete results as possible
• Use burger dots to provide more information in
  the space alloted

Any questions about Executive Summary?
17
MOE Executive Summary 2007
18
Essay

• Use your creativity!
• Adhere to word count
• Write what you need to and then edit down
• Get to the point as effectively as you can
• How can you best tell your team story to meet
  criteria?
• More words to complement info in your Exec
  Summary
• Emphasize areas you really want judges to focus
  on
• Emphasize what is unique / special about your
  team
• Balance results and emotion
• Use exact quotes if you can
• Show impact your team has had

Any questions about Essay?
19
MOE CA Essay 2007
20
Planning your SubmissionPart II The
Presentation Part
21
Presentation Prep

• Ensure the presentation team gets along with each
  other
• Complement info from Exec Summary and Essay
• Add info you could not get into essay due to
  space
• Enhance topics you want to emphasize
• Definitely cover topic areas you need judges to
  hear
• Develop a script of your presentation
• Better chance of getting specific information
  across
• Presenters can then focus on memorizing their
  section(s)
• Include props (posters, slides, etc.)
• Stay within time limit (including set-up)

22
MOE CA Presentation Script 2007
23
Presentation Prep

• PRACTICE!!!!
• Assess the flow
• Determine how presentation works with props
• Have different people review presentation and
  comment
• Continually upgrade

Any questions about Presentation Prep?
24
Chairmans Process Tips
25
Its not only about what is submitted and
presented

• Judges and others will be observing Chairmans
  Award contenders during the competition
• Input from judges and others (event volunteers,
  other teams) may be a factor in the judges
  decision
• Your team should walk the talk
• Team members should act as you describe your team
  in your essay and presentation
• Your team (especially competition team) should
  demonstrate Gracious Professionalism
• Every team member is an ambassador for your team
• Its not just about the students presenting your
  entry its about every member of your team
• This may include parents of team members

26
General Tips

• Best people on CA team are those who actively
  participated in team events outreach
• They have personal experiences they can share
• Look for ways to differentiate your team
• Get as much feedback on your Essay and
  Presentation as you can from a diverse audience
  before you submit / present
• Being well organized is extremely important
• Check out the layout of your presentation room in
  advance (if you can)
• Bring ALL of your props (including easels)
• Be on time for your presentation

27
Examples of MOE 365 Chairmans Entry 2007
28
MOEs Vision and Mission

• Vision
• to be a model FIRST robotics team
• Mission
• We inspire motivate young people to pursue
  science and technology careers and become
  confident, self-reliant, responsible citizens
  poised to make a real difference in our world
  using a fun, creative, and unique environment
  that extends learning beyond the classroom

29
MOrE- Specific Examples
www.moe365.org - go to Chairmans Award under
Main menu list
30
Questions?Good luck!