February 14, 2008
‘My team is great’ – tell the world why in an original way
Would you like to brag a little? Well, now you have your chance. Enter the “My Team is Great Contest” and tell the world how your team exemplifies the UW values that arose from the Leadership, Community and Values Initiative (LCVI).
“One of the great things that came from LCVI was the six words representing values the University stands for,” said Harry Hayward, director of electronic media and special programs in Media Relations and Communications. “It’s great to get those values identified, but they’re just words on paper until you put them into action. We decided to create a contest that would allow people to do that — and in the process to celebrate what they stand for.”
The contest works like this. A group of staffers who constitute a team come together and create a product that demonstrates how they live out one of the values. The product can be as traditional as an essay or as quirky as a tap dance. “We hope people will have fun with this,” Hayward said.
Once the product is created, it’s uploaded to the contest Web site, www.washington.edu/discovery/myteam/. Then, members of the UW community will vote for their favorite. The winner will be featured at the UW Community Celebration on April 23.
The team need not be made up of staffers who work together, Hayward said. It could be members of a UW organization, such as the UW Photographers Group, or one of the Toastmasters clubs that meets at the University. But each group needs to rally around one of the six UW values: collaboration, excellence, integrity, diversity, innovation or respect.
How the team projects are represented on the site will depend on what they are. “Static” entries such as essays or poems or photos can be submitted directly, as can videos and podcasts. If the team wants to do a live performance, opportunities will be provided to have that performance recorded for the Web site.
If a live performance is chosen as the winner, the team will perform it live at the Community Celebration. A winning entry in a different format will be displayed on the bandstand at the event. The winning team will also be invited to share a meal with either the provost or the president.
The deadline for contest entries is March 31. Voting will take place from April 1 to April 16 (you must have a UWNetID to vote).
“It’s all about empowering staff to think about this set of shared values in a way that they might not otherwise,” said Hayward. “I know there are a lot of great teams around the University and this is a chance to share how great they are.”
