Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

[Cheynem]

Waterloo should send us our mirror fees from MUT before hosting anything else.

[itsthatoneguy]

So it looks like the Ann Arbor site is (most likely*) a go if it is decided to host it here. If so, it will be hosted at the Temple Beth Emeth, which has several classrooms in the basement. It's located here. Parking is located on site and is also accessible by the Ann Arbor bus system, which can be used by people staying at the hotels where the shuttle from the airport drops off (see previous post). We tentatively have reserved the rooms on Saturday from 8 AM to 10 PM. Unfortunately, we can't reserve rooms until after 2 PM on Sunday because they will be in use until then.

*The synagogue hasn't gotten back to us about the exact pricing, so we may also look into reserving rooms at the University. If there is a great demand for Sunday events, then we will probably have go to the University.

[Cheynem]

I wouldn't be opposed to Sunday events (provided they materialize) at the university if that's feasible.

I encourage people who have proposed writing something to make specific threads or posts when they have finished or are near completion, so we can begin to fill out this schedule (I'm more than halfway done with my event, for instance).

[the third garrideb]

Waterloo should send us our mirror fees from MUT before hosting anything else.

I wasn't involved with running MUT last term (or the club, for that matter), so I'm not entirely certain what the hell happened with that. At the start of this term, the current president did send Gaurav the fees that were owed, so you guys should receive those soon.

[Cheynem]

Thanks!

[grapesmoker]

Sorry for not checking into this thread sooner. There seems to be a more-than-theoretical support for Pittsburgh as a site, so let me just say that I would be obviously thrilled for this to happen. Pittsburgh is within reasonable driving distance of a lot of different places (including Canada!), and you can reasonably fly here from MSP or what have you. I am also pretty certain that I can get rooms on the lovely CMU campus; if people would like to try and play in the Cathedral again, I can contact people at Pitt, but I'm not making any promises. I can't vouch for staff at the moment, but could try to rustle up various folks in the area.

If Pittsburgh is a serious candidate, I'd prefer to know sooner than later so I can do some coordination, both with regards to tournament hosting and my personal travel schedule.

[Skepticism and Animal Feed]

So I think the various strains of thought in this thread have somewhat united into two possible models for this tournament:

(1) a Midwest mirror (at Ann Arbor, maybe UIUC) and an East Coast mirror (likely at UMCP)
(2) a single site, likely Pittsburgh

I'm leaning towards (2), since I would like to see the strongest possible field, and since Pittsburgh is a pretty cool place to visit (no offense to his royal highness Prince George, but his namesake county pales in comparison). Then again, I can afford to randomly buy airline tickets to Pittsburgh, and somebody who is a current student possibly might not.

[JamesIV]

So I think the various strains of thought in this thread have somewhat united into two possible models for this tournament:

(1) a Midwest mirror (at Ann Arbor, maybe UIUC) and an East Coast mirror (likely at UMCP)
(2) a single site, likely Pittsburgh

I'm leaning towards (2), since I would like to see the strongest possible field, and since Pittsburgh is a pretty cool place to visit (no offense to his royal highness Prince George, but his namesake county pales in comparison). Then again, I can afford to randomly buy airline tickets to Pittsburgh, and somebody who is a current student possibly might not.

I agree with your summation, but, field considerations notwithstanding, I think option (1) is preferable, for this reason:

One thing to consider, though, is the large number of people with floor/couch space in this area vs. Pittsburgh, which when combined with the respective ratios of people who actually need to travel out of town means that the field is spending far less money on accommodations in DC than in Pittsburgh.

[grapesmoker]

I agree with your summation, but, field considerations notwithstanding, I think option (1) is preferable, for this reason:

One thing to consider, though, is the large number of people with floor/couch space in this area vs. Pittsburgh, which when combined with the respective ratios of people who actually need to travel out of town means that the field is spending far less money on accommodations in DC than in Pittsburgh.

It is true that lodging in Pittsburgh would likely involve more teams getting hotel rooms, rather than crashing on other quizbowlers' floors. The tradeoff is a larger and better field (assuming all the same people come to one site that would come to two).

[Cheynem]

I'd prefer the Michigan site 'cuz it's closer to me, but if we're doing this in Pitt, we should figure this out sooner or later so I can make flight reservations.

[Ukonvasara]

I'd prefer the Michigan site 'cuz it's closer to me, but if we're doing this in Pitt, we should figure this out sooner or later so I can make flight reservations.

Likewise. I'd also like to note my lack of sympathy for anyone bawling about the horrors of a five-hour drive.

[Sam]

I'd prefer the Michigan site 'cuz it's closer to me, but if we're doing this in Pitt, we should figure this out sooner or later so I can make flight reservations.

Likewise. I'd also like to note my lack of sympathy for anyone bawling about the horrors of a five-hour drive.

Well, there is something to be said for not paying $400 for plane tickets plus whatever a hotel room would cost so that we get an opportunity to play against people we would have seen two weeks earlier in Chicago.

[Mike Bentley]

Any interest in a west coast mirror?

[bt_green_warbler]

Possibly, depending on when and where.

[Habitat_Against_Humanity]

For me it's pretty much Ann Arbor or bust.

[grapesmoker]

Does anyone want to organize some sort of vote on this?

[Cheynem]

I will.

http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13172&start=0

[kdroge]

Given what the poll is looking like right now as well as Ashvin and my preferences, it seems like a two site field (one in Michigan, and one out east) is probably going to be our first choice. However, finding space here is proving to be a little more problematic than we thought. Edit: Theoretically, we should be able to get rooms at the University of Michigan assuming everything isn't booked (which I don't envision being the case).

[Tanay]

I feel like a West Coast mirror could exist without compromising the luster and caliber of the other two sites. Barring any objections, I'll look into having Berkeley host this group of events, although I can't guarantee that it would happen in August and not early September.

[Cheynem]

There was a lot of speculation thrown around earlier in this thread about possible side events for August--now that things are moving closer, let's see where any of these stand. Here's an index of what has been proposed so far.

Kurtis' tournament--booked as main event at KABO
my film tournament--completed, hopefully on as KABO side event
Will Butler's tech tournament--either complete or soon to be complete, hopefully on as KABO side event
Connor and Shan's music tournament--sounds like this is more or less complete
Fred's pop music tournament--he indicated to me this was probably not likely
Nolan's trash music questions--?
Nick Conder's current events set--?
Eliza and Melanie's bad trash set--?
Ike's myth set--?
Bayou a Drank--I've been talking with Ryan and he thinks they could get 8-9 packets done by then if that's feasible as a Sunday event
David Seal's experimental thingamabob--?

No Longer an Option
Brian McNamara's trash tournament--I think this is the project where he is working with David Seal and thus later in the year

One year at VCU Open Sunday we just blew through a lot of smaller side events after the Sunday event was finished (along with playing other side events on Saturday). I hope some of these sets end up written because I guarantee even if it's just like at someone's hotel afterwards or at Bryan Berend's pad, they'll find an opportunity to be played.

[List of Fighting Spirit characters]

Did Ben talk to you about mirroring YMIR at KABO? I believed he wanted it to be run either at KABO or CO (or maybe both).

[Cheynem]

He didn't--that's an option too I guess, although I'm not sure how many of the attendees have played it already.

[Habitat_Against_Humanity]

Nolan's trash music questions--?

This is getting combined into the David and Brian tournament.

[List of Fighting Spirit characters]

He didn't--that's an option too I guess, although I'm not sure how many of the attendees have played it already.

Not many would have. Matt Jackson and Libo, I think, are the only staffers to have played in either NSC or NASAT.

[Christ, I Know]

He didn't--that's an option too I guess, although I'm not sure how many of the attendees have played it already.

Not many would have. Matt Jackson and Libo, I think, are the only staffers to have played in either NSC or NASAT.

Yeah, that would be correct.

[eliza.grames]

There was a lot of speculation thrown around earlier in this thread about possible side events for August--now that things are moving closer, let's see where any of these stand. Here's an index of what has been proposed so far.

Eliza and Melanie's bad trash set--?

We were planning to do this at MO and got Andrew's ok for that. There's a lot of trashy trash out there to enjoy though, so I'd be down for writing two versions of it.

[Sulawesi Myzomela]

Nick Conder's current events set--?

While there's an outside chance this would be available for use by early August, it would take a small miracle and is extremely unlikely. Work and other writing commitments have put me behind schedule, and I'd like to have some time to edit the set after it's finished. It will definitely be ready by the time the regular season rolls around, and I'll put up a formal announcement once I'm more than halfway done with it.