Give the trophies that you get to your sponsors. Most of you are on fully sponsored school teams so the school takes them. For those of you on outside teams with sponsors, give them the awards.
It makes them aware that their money is working out
it helps them campaign for your stipend / award for the next year
It is a solid recognition that their gift program works
And lastly
4) your parents don’t need to dust them. Face it, you are going to win lots of awards in the future and in 2075 when you pass away or have your brain moved to the robot body, it’s not a big deal.
We just make a tower out of ours, each ring being made of 10+ trophies, though now it’s getting a bit big as we’re in our tenth year and we’ll have to look into giving trophies to sponsors
Given the generic appearance of the trophies, it does indeed seem to get lost in worth. I saw trophy toppers on Thingieverse which does help to make trophies more distinctive - and we keep on display our Regional Championship trophies that advanced teams to Worlds, and our only World trophy. As for the others, re-gift to the MVP of the club/team, sponsors, etc.
EPs, please find a way to make your event visual brand part of trophy plaque or topper…
So sadly, you can’t use field elements or awards to build a robot. I know you are goofing on my post, but others may go “Hey, that award is wicked strong, lets us build a robot with that”
I do like the idea of making a mobile display of your awards and I’d love to see @rachel-ott tower of mobile robots.
But, your best bang for award metal ratio is give them to your sponsor. It’s the best tangible verification that it’s money well spent on your team.
So most of the awards given by me in Delmarva Region are custom, not the VEX awards. I’ve gotten hosts to do stickers, or a special design to make the award different. 3D printed or laser cut awards have been a standard since teams have had that access.
Wait for me in the 2021-22 season to post “Hey, GDC, teams can make 3D Printed or Laser Cut awards for events, why can’t they make robot parts?”
Exactly that. You won. you basked in the glory, your record is in the books. You got money for this season, you need money for next. Give up the metal to the sponsor to generate more money. You want the next year and the next years money and the awards that come from it.
The reality is that I know you are a champion, I see it on your college application, I see it on your resume, I see you in pictures holding it. But I will never see the physical metal. You are my hero, even though I can’t touch your award.
Edited to add
Steve and I have our Worlds Mentor of the Year awards ( Mine is in the window of the Robot Lab, I see it daily). But in the last decade I’ve passed awards from local event / regional evens down to sponsors. And I’ve collected thousands of dollars from that. We’ve supported dozens of teams that way.
So keep your Worlds metals, but you can give your local awards away, they will help you grow.
@Foster before you feel the need to send me any more DMs with rude personal questions, just know that 1) I’m being silly, 2) My org is my sponsor, 3) We have so few trophies it doesn’t matter.
So I’ve tried across the last few years to not slapping roboteers in public, it doesn’t look well for the roboteers or in some cases for me, But since you are good in slapping you in public, I’ll still refrain since I think most adverse roboteer ↔ mentor actions are best in private.
Happy that your org is your funding source, Lots of teams are constrained to get parts / travel / etc . and always recommend other funding sources. I can count on my hands, your hands an @enothecool hand the number of times that schools have said “no more funds”
Sorry you don’t have more metal, but my point is still the same: Trade the awards in for future funding and support. The award is for past work, yay you! Trade it for future possibilities!
