Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Old college threads.
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Cheynem »

Waterloo should send us our mirror fees from MUT before hosting anything else.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
itsthatoneguy
Rikku
Posts: 264
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:36 pm

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Bryan Berend
Detroit Catholic Central '09
Michigan '13
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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).
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
the third garrideb
Wakka
Posts: 101
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 4:49 pm
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by the third garrideb »

Cheynem wrote: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.
Huma Zafar
University of Waterloo alumna
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Cheynem »

Thanks!
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Skepticism and Animal Feed
Auron
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:47 pm
Location: Arlington, VA

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Bruce
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
User avatar
JamesIV
Lulu
Posts: 89
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:21 am
Location: New Haven, CT

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by JamesIV »

Skepticism and Animal Feed wrote: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:
DumbJaques wrote: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.
Spencer J. Weinreich
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Class of 2011
Yale University, Class of 2015
University of Oxford, Class of 2017
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by grapesmoker »

JamesIV wrote:I agree with your summation, but, field considerations notwithstanding, I think option (1) is preferable, for this reason:
DumbJaques wrote: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).
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
Auks Ran Ova
Forums Staff: Chief Administrator
Posts: 4295
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:28 pm
Location: Minneapolis
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

Cheynem wrote: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.
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
User avatar
Sam
Rikku
Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:35 am

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Sam »

Ukonvasara wrote:
Cheynem wrote: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.
Sam Bailey
Minnesota '21
Chicago '13
User avatar
Mike Bentley
Sin
Posts: 6461
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Mike Bentley »

Any interest in a west coast mirror?
Mike Bentley
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
User avatar
Important Bird Area
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 6113
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:33 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Important Bird Area »

Possibly, depending on when and where.
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF

"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
User avatar
Habitat_Against_Humanity
Rikku
Posts: 476
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:51 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Habitat_Against_Humanity »

For me it's pretty much Ann Arbor or bust.
Rachel
UChicago 09
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by grapesmoker »

Does anyone want to organize some sort of vote on this?
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Cheynem »

Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
kdroge
Wakka
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:22 am

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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).
Kurtis Droge
East Lansing 08, Michigan 12, Louisville 17
Tanay
Rikku
Posts: 427
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:05 pm

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Tanay
ex-Berkeley, ex-Bellarmine
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
i never see pigeons in wheeling
Rikku
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:57 am

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by i never see pigeons in wheeling »

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).
Ankit
Cal '16
Bellarmine College Preparatory '12
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by 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.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
Habitat_Against_Humanity
Rikku
Posts: 476
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:51 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Habitat_Against_Humanity »

Cheynem wrote: Nolan's trash music questions--?
This is getting combined into the David and Brian tournament.
Rachel
UChicago 09
User avatar
i never see pigeons in wheeling
Rikku
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:57 am

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by i never see pigeons in wheeling »

Cheynem wrote: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.
Ankit
Cal '16
Bellarmine College Preparatory '12
Urech hydantoin synthesis
Tidus
Posts: 525
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:35 pm

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Urech hydantoin synthesis »

List of Fighting Spirit characters wrote:
Cheynem wrote: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.
Ben Zhang

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell '23
Columbia University '18
Ladue Horton Watkins HS '14
eliza.grames
Wakka
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:43 pm

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by eliza.grames »

Cheynem wrote: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.
Eliza Grames
University of Minnesota '13
University of Connecticut '21
Rococo A Go Go
Auron
Posts: 2248
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:08 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Taking VCU Open's Spot in August

Post by Rococo A Go Go »

Cheynem wrote: 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.
Nicholas C
KQBA member
Locked