New Team At Stetson University!

[lukejf01]

Hello, Quiz Bowl community! We recently started a team here at Stetson University in Central Florida, and while we are still getting the hang of being an official team, I'd like to start getting involved in the forums and learning as much about the workings of Quiz Bowl as possible. Are there any active members of this forum from Florida? I'd like to start getting in contact with local teams for advice or information on local events. Thanks in advance!

[ValenciaQBowl]

Hi, Luke--

I'm coach at Valencia College, about an hour south of you. Seminole State also has a team, though it's a little less active than we are. UF, FSU, and UCF are really the only engaged four-year programs going in the state right now, though USF had been heavily involved until recently.

If you and your teammates feel like coming all the way to Valencia's West Campus (1800 S. Kirkman Rd, Orlando, 32810) on a Monday or Wednesday between 1-5 pm, you're welcome to pop into our practices. You can contact me at cborglum at valenciacollege dot edu for more info. Good luck!

[lukejf01]

Thanks for the info! And Valencia isn't that far away; I've lived in Lake County for 10 years, so I'm used to making the 45 minute trip down I-4 to do anything. I'll email you about attending one of your practices for sure.

[lukejf01]

As an update, Stetson's Quiz Bowl team is now officially recognized as an organization on campus and will have funding next semester! We plan on attending a few tournaments or events in Florida during the Spring to learn the ropes and such, but finding the specific who, when, and what details on a tournament is difficult with the dates being so far in the future. Any information on contacts or past events would be great! Thanks in advance.

[bt_green_warbler]

NAQT Sectionals is at UF on February 4th.

[ValenciaQBowl]

One thing you may want to consider, Luke, is hosting a mirror of some tournament to add to your club's funds (you keep the tournament fee you charge minus the mirror fee due to the person(s) generating the tournament) and perhaps provide an opportunity for a house team to play. One option might be ACF Regionals, set for February 18, as I don't think there's been a Florida host announced yet. I could certainly help with providing readers and tournament planning.

Meantime, check your e-mail for an invitation I sent you for an end-of-term packet reading (with food!) at Valencia's Winter Park Campus on Friday.

[lukejf01]

Thanks so much for all your help! I've tried to keep up with replying. How do you go about hosting a mirror event?

[ValenciaQBowl]

Find a spring tournament in the Announcements section that falls on a weekend that's good for your program and the college. Contact the person who is in charge of said tournament (that info will be in the tournament announcement). They'll likely agree, and you'll be responsible for paying them a mirror fee, a set amount per team at your site that you need to share with the tournament originator (this is usually between $15-30/team, I think). Then advertise your tournament on this site in the Announcements section and make direct contact with teams in your region to encourage them to come. Charge a fair rate with discounts (follow the models in the Announcements section, but usually around $100 or so with discounts for buzzers and long travel distances). Then you can keep the difference between the mirror fee and what you charge to help fund your program.

There's a whole different set of instructions for running a tournament, but we can talk about that if and when you set up a mirror.