VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

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VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

This is the official announcement for VCU Open 2015. Mirrors will commence August 8th, 2015, which is 3 weeks after Chicago Open.

Mirrors
Pending room reservations, the main site will be at VCU, located in scenic Richmond, VA, on August 8th (the weekend of the Watermelon Festival). A separate announcement will follow once rooms are confirmed.

Current mirrors include: A team formation spreadsheet can be found here, but is only to assist people in forming teams—it is not an official means of registration for any site, unless otherwise noted by them.

Mirrors in other locations will be considered. The mirror fee is $40 per team. If you would like to host a mirror, please contact me at [email protected].

Set Details
VCUO ‘15 will be written and edited by Cody Voight, Will Nediger, Evan Adams, Kenji Golimlim, and Matt Bollinger. The difficulty is “Regionals+”, as defined by VCUO ‘11.

Writing breakdown:
Cody—Science (with contributions from Akhil Garg); Music; Trash Film; Geography
Will—British, European, and World Literature; Painting & Film & Music; Trash Music; Philosophy and Social Science
Evan—American Literature; American History; Misc. Fine Arts; Religion; Trash TV
Kenji—European and World History; Current Events; Geography; some Trash
Matt—British and Classical History; Myth; some Trash

VCUO ‘15 will be implementing a Gaddis-style difficulty quota for answerlines, based on a 4-point scale:
1 – ACF Fall
2 – ACF Regionals
3 – ACF Nationals
4 – ++
Each packet will have approximately (4) 1’s, (8) 2’s, (6) 3’s, and (2) 4’s. This is a difficulty ceiling, not floor, so an answerline that might appear at ACF Fall can be categorized as a 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Tossups are hard-capped at 8 lines for 1’s and 7 lines for 2-4’s.

As the name implies, VCUO ‘15 is an open tournament and there are no eligibility restrictions.

Distribution
VCUO ‘15 will consist of 15 packets. The distribution is modeled on VCUO ‘11 and is as follows:
4/4 Literature (30% American, 30% British, 25% European, 15% World)
4/4 History (25% American, 25% European, 20% World, 15% British, 15% Classical)
4/4 Science (25% Biology, 16.67% Chemistry, 25% Physics, 11.67% Math, 11.67% Earth Science, 5% Astronomy, 5% Computer Science)
3/3 Fine Arts (split evenly between Painting, Music, and Miscellaneous Arts)
2/2 R/M (split evenly between Religion and Myth)
1/1 Trash
1/1 P/SS (split evenly between Philosophy and Social Science)
1/1 G/C/GK (40% Geography, 40% Current Events, 20% Geography, Current Events, or “General Knowledge”)

An additional 5/5 tiebreakers will be provided as a separate packet—1/1 each from Literature, History, Science, Fine Arts, and Religion/Myth.
Last edited by Cody on Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:08 am, edited 16 times in total.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by grapesmoker »

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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Frauny Von Smiley »

I can guarantee that I will be playing this beyond any metaphysical doubt.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by cruzeiro »

Cody wrote:1/1 G/C/GK (40% Geography, 40% Current Events, 20% Geography, Current Events, or “General Knowledge”)
I'm guessing current events shouldn't appear twice here?
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Deepika Goes From Ranbir To Ranveer »

cruzeiro wrote:
Cody wrote:1/1 G/C/GK (40% Geography, 40% Current Events, 20% Geography, Current Events, or “General Knowledge”)
I'm guessing current events shouldn't appear twice here?
I'm guessing it's 40% Geo, 40% Current Events, and 20% some combination of Geo, CE and GK. Note that Geography also appears twice.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by ryanrosenberg »

Depending on my work schedule, I'm interested on playing this at VCU. Otherwise, a UNC contingent might head down to Valencia.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by theMoMA »

Seeking team, not sure what site yet, but probably Ann Arbor.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cheynem »

I'll probably be playing this at Ann Arbor. Is there room for side events?
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Fado Alexandrino »

Cody wrote: We are looking for mirrors in Ottawa, Northern California, and Texas; mirrors in other locations will be considered. The mirror fee is $40 per team. If you would like to host a mirror, please contact me at [email protected].
Last year at CO, Matt Weiner mentioned to us that an Ontario 2015 VCU Open site can be held with no mirror fee if it was done instead of VETO. Does this agreement still hold?
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

theMoMA wrote:Seeking team, not sure what site yet, but probably Ann Arbor.
Likewise.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by minusfive »

The Last 20 Stanley Cup Winners wrote:Last year at CO, Matt Weiner mentioned to us that an Ontario 2015 VCU Open site can be held with no mirror fee if it was done instead of VETO. Does this agreement still hold?
Given that VETO is happening this year, and that it's being held before the date of VCU Open, that question is almost certainly academic.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by fett0001 »

I'm interested in playing, if some team will have me. I know some chemistry and physics.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

EDIT: Pretty sure I won't be able to play this anymore, but may be announcing a side event.
Last edited by naan/steak-holding toll on Thu Apr 09, 2015 5:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

The Last 20 Stanley Cup Winners wrote:
Cody wrote: We are looking for mirrors in Ottawa, Northern California, and Texas; mirrors in other locations will be considered. The mirror fee is $40 per team. If you would like to host a mirror, please contact me at [email protected].
Last year at CO, Matt Weiner mentioned to us that an Ontario 2015 VCU Open site can be held with no mirror fee if it was done instead of VETO. Does this agreement still hold?
Regrettably, the editors cannot honor this agreement.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by RexSueciae »

Is anyone going to be organizing another iteration of Triacontakaipentagon this year, or is that project dead now that Matt Weiner's gone?
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

RexSueciae wrote:Is anyone going to be organizing another iteration of Triacontakaipentagon this year, or is that project dead now that Matt Weiner's gone?
Eh, I don't really see what the point of continuing it would be. A lot of the themes are pretty forced / not very fun a third time around, so I wouldn't exactly be enthusiastic about playing it. And the sublime irony of it being an event designed to make fun of people not completing the tournaments they announce should probably just be left there hanging forever.

If someone else has another idea for a side event for this weekend that sounds actually-fun, and completes it, I'd probably play it too if I attend the main tournament.

EDIT: All three of the ideas immediately below this post sound fun and I would play them.
Last edited by Adventure Temple Trail on Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Mike Bentley »

I am pretty sure I'm going to be writing a side event for this. I'll announce the full details soon, but it's going to be some combination of technology (and its history) and consumer/business history. It will be somewhat similar to Will's Questions Concerning Technology, but will likely have more history and less (but not none) computer science.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

This is kind of a thread hijack, but if there is in fact room for a side event at VCU Open I would not be averse to coming out of side-event-writing retirement and put something together. I'd try to aim for a side event that has broad appeal and advances the game in some substantive way (or tries to, at least) over something that merely sounds like an amusing idea.

Some ideas:

- A current events tournament without a Japanese erotica distribution
- "Your Choice Fest". You know that 1/1 Your Choice distribution? Back in my day, at least, people didn't do much with it. There's probably more creative ways to use this space, and this side event could highlight innovative ideas for things to put in the 1/1 Your Choice spot. It would be a lot harder to write than the current events idea
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by vinteuil »

Will H-M and I will be announcing a side event for this tomorrow.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cheynem »

I actually do think an event like Tricon is fun, just with a less mean-spirited and stupid distribution this time around. I'll probably create something like a new version of the Mike Cheyne Memorial event albeit with some of the better Tricon categories as well and run that as a hybrid guerrilla event if there's room for it (I'll write at least three packets for it to create a foundation).
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Excelsior (smack) »

Mike Bentley wrote:I am pretty sure I'm going to be writing a side event for this. I'll announce the full details soon, but it's going to be some combination of technology (and its history) and consumer/business history. It will be somewhat similar to Will's Questions Concerning Technology, but will likely have more history and less (but not none) computer science.
This sounds awesome - I sure hope it gets run at the Michigan site.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Harpie's Feather Duster »

I will play the Michigan site, including any and all side events. I'd like teammates!
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

Skepticism and Animal Feed wrote:This is kind of a thread hijack, but if there is in fact room for a side event at VCU Open I would not be averse to coming out of side-event-writing retirement and put something together. I'd try to aim for a side event that has broad appeal and advances the game in some substantive way (or tries to, at least) over something that merely sounds like an amusing idea.

Some ideas:

- A current events tournament without a Japanese erotica distribution
- "Your Choice Fest". You know that 1/1 Your Choice distribution? Back in my day, at least, people didn't do much with it. There's probably more creative ways to use this space, and this side event could highlight innovative ideas for things to put in the 1/1 Your Choice spot. It would be a lot harder to write than the current events idea
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

Well, if it's a sea otter that's asking...
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Beevor Feevor »

I will almost certainly be able to play this at the VCU site. Looking for people who I haven't played with before and who don't mind someone who's not amazing at higher level stuff!
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by ScoBo »

Mike Bentley wrote:I am pretty sure I'm going to be writing a side event for this. I'll announce the full details soon, but it's going to be some combination of technology (and its history) and consumer/business history. It will be somewhat similar to Will's Questions Concerning Technology, but will likely have more history and less (but not none) computer science.
I have no plans to attend any (currently announced) VCU Open sites, but I would definitely be interested in playing this set sometime, whether it be at a site closer to me or online. I never got a chance to play Questions Concerning Technology and have specifically avoided looking at it in case I somehow got an opportunity to play it against others who also haven't seen it, so it'd be nice to play a similar set before it gets posted to the archive.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by vinteuil »

The promised side tournament announcement is here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17230.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Kilroy Was Here »

I'm writing an NFL mini-tournament (100 tossups) that should be done by the time this happens.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

Now that there is such a huge procession of potential side events in the works for this -- too many for one weekend to handle, frankly -- it makes sense for the organizers here and in Michigan to decide on a slate of, say, 3 events that they're planning on running so the other events can be told to delay until a latter date. The picking of a reasonable number of side events will also probably make it more likely that any of these events are actually completed as opposed to announced and neglected/left unfinished.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cheynem »

Unless VCU cannot get Sunday rooms (I know there's been issues with this I guess in the past, but Michigan certainly hasn't had any), three side events seems somewhat on the limiting side, especially if you're playing these events as shootouts. Last year we had two full length tournaments and three side events, so I'm pretty sure more than three are possible.

For organization sake, the side events proposed are:

Mike Bentley's Consumer Thing (which is apparently moved back?)
VICO ('thought")--only tossups
SHEIKH (history)--only tossups about 10 packets
A Science Thing--not officially announced yet and format a bit up in the air
Tricon--only tossups, unspecified number of packets
Bruce Arthur's proposed thing
Collin Parks' "NFL packet"

Am I missing anything? I would say that with the apparent postponement of Mike's event (which is sad, that sounded great), the premiere side events appear to be VICO and SHEIKH because they have acronyms. These are tossup only events that would presumably work as "one run on Saturday night, one run on Sunday" deal. Bruce's thing seemed a bit fuzzy in terms of details or intentions, so I'll let him weigh in on his goals. The Science Thing if packet submission bonuses definitely needs quite a bit of time; the organizers of that weren't sure about format or even if they wanted to run it at VCUO, so again that's up in the air. I would argue that Tricon, depending on how many packets there are (and Collin's packet), are quick enough that they could easily run on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon (and again, Tricon is the sort of thing that if you don't get to all the packets, whatever).

So something along the lines of (again, unless I'm missing a proposed set):

SATURDAY
VCU Open
VICO

SUNDAY
SHEIKH
Bruce Event or Science Event (or possibly both)

Throw in Tricon and other quick packets like Collin's stuff on late Saturday or Sunday as time permits, and that seem fairly doable without giving anyone short shrift. Thoughts? Obviously making some of the side events shootouts as opposed to full teams in rooms things saves time too. The key aspect is if it Bruce and/or the science people really do have a set they want to produce for VCUO.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Mike Bentley »

I'm not opposed to still running my tournament at VCU Open if there's demand / a slot for it, but if not then it will probably be done online or something. I guess it depends on whether Bruce's tournament is really happening or not. Although even then, fitting 3 tossup only tournaments into one day on Sunday could be a bit of a challenge.

I could personally do without Tricon (that was probably the most boring quizbowl experience I've ever had due to a combination of question length, question difficulty, dumb distribution and not playing it among a ton of elite players), but I'm sure some people are into that tournament.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Cheynem wrote:the premiere side events appear to be VICO and SHEIKH because they have acronyms
Man, I am so glad I spent five minutes coming up with that name now.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Excelsior (smack) »

Mike Bentley wrote:I'm not opposed to still running my tournament at VCU Open if there's demand / a slot for it, but if not then it will probably be done online or something. I guess it depends on whether Bruce's tournament is really happening or not. Although even then, fitting 3 tossup only tournaments into one day on Sunday could be a bit of a challenge.
This is the side event I most want to play. I really hope it does happan at VCUO.

I agree with Bentley that Tricon is just downright un-fun (in particular because some writers seem to think Tricon is an excuse for downright masturbatory question-writing), and would like to suggest that people wanting to take part in this particular exercise in sadism do so in IRC, or at least attach it to the very end of the weekend, after all non-Tricon events have been scheduled.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cheynem »

In case people haven't seen the announcement thread, my iteration of Tricon plans to have a more palatable distribution, length limit caps, and difficulty caps. However, yes, I'd be perfectly willing to run this after the other, non guerrilla side events, of course (or online). I agree Mike's event sounds pretty cool.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by vcuEvan »

Excelsior (smack) wrote:
Mike Bentley wrote:I'm not opposed to still running my tournament at VCU Open if there's demand / a slot for it, but if not then it will probably be done online or something. I guess it depends on whether Bruce's tournament is really happening or not. Although even then, fitting 3 tossup only tournaments into one day on Sunday could be a bit of a challenge.
This is the side event I most want to play. I really hope it does happan at VCUO.

I agree with Bentley that Tricon is just downright un-fun (in particular because some writers seem to think Tricon is an excuse for downright masturbatory question-writing), and would like to suggest that people wanting to take part in this particular exercise in sadism do so in IRC, or at least attach it to the very end of the weekend, after all non-Tricon events have been scheduled.
Hey at least the writers of Tricon actually bother writing their questions.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Excelsior (smack) »

vcuEvan wrote:Hey at least the writers of Tricon actually bother writing their questions.
Okay, sure? I don't see how me being a terrible question-writer is germane to a discussion of VCUO side-event scheduling.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by vcuEvan »

Excelsior (smack) wrote:
vcuEvan wrote:Hey at least the writers of Tricon actually bother writing their questions.
Okay, sure? I don't see how me being a terrible question-writer is germane to a discussion of VCUO side-event scheduling.
It's not. Even without the safeguards Mike is proposing though, I didn't find the difficulty of the past events to be that oppressive. (with the exception of a few packets like Auroni's from two years ago).
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

While each site of VCU Open may decide for itself what to run, as the VCU site's TD, I am willing to allow 4 or 5 events provided they are all tossup only, which is thus far the case. It is easy to do VCU Open then 1 tossup-only event on Saturday and 3 or 4 tossup-only events on Sunday, assuming tournament attendees cooperate. And assuming tournament writers keep the number of packets reasonable. Depending on the number of events, there might even still be time do the Watermelon Festival on Sunday, for those staying into Monday :)

With that in mind, there is a place for We Have Never Been Modern, Tricon, Science, SHEIKH, and VICO if their authors wish. No other tournaments will be considered at this time (at the VCU site).
Excelsior (smack) wrote:I agree with Bentley that Tricon is just downright un-fun (in particular because some writers seem to think Tricon is an excuse for downright masturbatory question-writing), and would like to suggest that people wanting to take part in this particular exercise in sadism do so in IRC, or at least attach it to the very end of the weekend, after all non-Tricon events have been scheduled.
Excuse me for not attaching the utmost weight to your opinion, o final arbiter of what is fun and what is unfun. Assuming Mike organizes Tricon, it will not be tacked on at the end at the VCU site.
Last edited by Cody on Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by jekbradbury »

ScoBo wrote:I never got a chance to play Questions Concerning Technology and have specifically avoided looking at it in case I somehow got an opportunity to play it against others who also haven't seen it
I was wondering if there was anyone else in that situation...I would be willing to play TQCT at any time in the next, like, five years
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

I'm going to scale back VCU's commitment to only 4 total side events, so as to have a reasonable Sunday schedule. If you are attending the VCU site, please rank 3 to 4 side events in order of preference on this form (must be signed in to Google). This collective ranking will be a determining factor in the slate of side events we offer and the scheduling of them (1 after VCUO, 3 on Sunday).
Cody Voight, VCU ’14.
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Brian McPeak
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Brian McPeak »

My plan is to have at least 8 packets of 24 tossups. If there are more submissions then we will have more but I'm fine with running an 8 round event and then letting people play the other packets at some other event or on IRC. Or it can wait until the next tournament with a strong field.
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vinteuil
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by vinteuil »

Will and I were planning on 8-10 packets.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

Cody wrote:I'm going to scale back VCU's commitment to only 4 total side events, so as to have a reasonable Sunday schedule. If you are attending the VCU site, please rank 3 to 4 side events in order of preference on this form (must be signed in to Google). This collective ranking will be a determining factor in the slate of side events we offer and the scheduling of them (1 after VCUO, 3 on Sunday).
Just a note that if you want your opinion weighed, please respond to this soon. I will stop counting responses after Friday, April 24, and will post the schedule of events soon after.
Last edited by Cody on Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cody Voight, VCU ’14.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cody »

The poll is closed. VCU's slate of side events will be as follows:

Saturday (after VCU Open): We Have Never Been Modern
Sunday: Tricon, SHEIKH, Science
approx. Sunday schedule:
7:45–10:45 AM: Tricon
11:00 AM–2:00 PM: SHEIKH
~1:40–2:15 PM: Lunch for those not involved in SHEIKH finals
2:15–4:30 PM: Science

usual caveats: the projected times are projected and will be adjusted once each tournament has determined a format. VCU's extent of involvement in these side events is providing rooms—all other responsibilities fall to the side event authors, though I will assist as requested (up to and including finding a TD or being TD if a side event author will not be at the VCU site). No allowances will be made for lateness once the schedule is firmly set (a few days before VCU Open).

I have added some rows for side events to the VCU sheet and will do so for other sites once they've determined their slate of events. Teams in the spreadsheet are not official registrations for side events unless noted otherwise by the TDs of the side events.
Cody Voight, VCU ’14.
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Cheynem
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Cheynem »

I'd hate to have my hastily arranged guerrilla tournament knock out VICO. Is this okay with people? (I ask because the Michigan site is probably not running Tricon anyway)
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Asterias Wrathbunny »

Do you expect there to be a mirror in the Northeast?
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Doga (Dog Yoga) »

vcpavao wrote:Do you expect there to be a mirror in the Northeast?
I would totally play this, and I'm pretty sure there's enough people around who would be interested.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by hydrocephalitic listlessness »

I'd play this as well.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

For selfish reasons, I'd personally prefer if the Northeast held a fall mirror - I'd be able to play if that happened.
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Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea wrote:For selfish reasons, I'd personally prefer if the Northeast held a fall mirror - I'd be able to play if that happened.
I suspect that it's pretty hard to mirror a summer open regionally once the school year is underway, as many people spend their summers in a different region than the one in which their school is located, thereby depressing the number of people able to play at each fall semester field.
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