Page 1 of 2

ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:48 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
So with no really feasible dates in the fall, enthusiasm for T-Party waned and then died this past fall among the members of the Harvard club. Then Matt made a post containing this bit of personal inspiration:
Matt Weiner wrote:I think it is possible to write a tournament that conforms to the objectively correct principles of good quizbowl (academic distribution, solid clue selection and ordering, tossups of 5 or more lines, bonuses that are interesting, consistent, and written in complete sentences) but is also written such that it moves the buzz distribution up by a notch or two. By this I mean that instead of writing a 9 to 12 line tossup where you expect the best teams to buzz by line 4 or 5 and the decent teams to buzz by the end, you write a slightly shorter tossup where you expect top teams to buzz in the first 2.5 lines, teams that are going to go around .500 to buzz before FTP consistently, and only the bottom of the field to have to wait for the giveaway.
Also, then Cardinal Classic was canceled for the spring. These things combined to make me want to write part of a packet-submission tournament that adheres to these principles. Other people agreed with this sentiment and signed on to the project definitely or tentatively. So here goes:

QUESTIONS

This set will feature at least fifteen packets unless something goes terribly wrong. It will contain packets of at least twenty powermarked tossups and twenty bonuses. The tossups will obey a strict length cap: no tossup will feature any words on the seventh line, and ideally most tossups will not be six full lines. Good teams should, consequently, be able to expect to buzz early on tossups. People who have committed to working on this project include Rob Carson and Bernadette Spencer; I imagine Dallas will tell me fairly soon for sure if they're in, and Mike Cheyne is being asked as we speak if he'd like to edit the old man distribution. (A serious breakdown of what each of us is working on will appear here when appropriate.) (UPDATE: Mike Cheyne is secured.)

We're going to try to playtest these pretty extensively (early and often, as they say, but since packet-submission tournaments never seem to allow for "early" maybe we'll just playtest the editors packets a WHOLE lot), so if you don't think you'd want to play this event (which targets the ever-nebulous "regular" difficulty, but will have a buzz distribution less shaded towards the end than most contemporary "regular" difficulty events), feel free to volunteer to contribute in that way!

MIRRORS

My personal coffers are empty because coffee, my debit card learned this morning, ain't cheap. Therefore, we're looking for mirrors across the country! Specific regions we're interested in, and sites that will be hosting in that region, follow:

California Stanford
Pacific Northwest
Texas
Florida
Southeast Furman (with Southside cameos)
Mid-Atlantic VCU
Upper Midwest University of Minnesota
Northeast Harvard
East Midwest (OH, PA, KY) Centre College
West Mideast (Egypt)
East Canada
... anyone else!

PACKET SUBMISSION DETAILS

We want packets. We don't (here's the part where I say "don't" again, but somehow you miss it both times) want packets to come in the week before the tournament. That is quite unpleasant! You wouldn't want me to start coming up with particularly horrifying things to compare it to, now would you? In a submitted packet, we'd like to see:

5/5 literature (1/1 American, 1/1 British, 1/1 European, 1/1 World, 1/1 additional of any category)
5/5 history (1/1 American, 3/3 European [of which one question is on British history and one is on ancient history], 1/1 World)
5/5 science (1/1 physics, 1/1 chemistry, 1/1 biology, 1/1 other science [math, CS, earth science, astrophysics; don't do two of the same], 1/1 additional of any category or difficult-to-categorize topics)
3/3 RMP (1/1 mythology, 1/1 religion, 1/1 philosophy; try to ensure that your mythology is about dudes and deeds and your religion is about worship)
3/3 fine arts (1/1 painting, 1/1 non-opera music, 1/1 other arts [opera, architecture, sculpture, dance, photography, film, jazz, questions about Bob Dylan if you are Chris White; please do one vis and one aud])
2/2 social science (at least one question must be geography; no more than 1/1 can be geography)
1/1 trash
24/24 total

Here's the submission schedule, based off the date we imagine most mirrors will take place, 2/13:

12/20: -$50 (-$75 for teams that don't have to submit by ACF guidelines) -- if you gift-wrap your packet and mail it to one of us, you are discounted whatever that would cost you because it would make me SO HAPPY
1/3: -$25 (-$50 for teams that don't have to submit by ACF guidelines)
1/17: $0 (-$25 for teams that don't have to submit by ACF guidelines)
1/24: +$25
1/31: +$50
2/7: +$100
After 2/7, we'll grant twenty-four hour extensions one at a time; each one will cost $10.

Here's something that is a little unclear sometimes: when does this amorphous blob we call "12/20" end? This is particularly difficult because of time zones. So here it is: if your packet isn't in one of our hands by 4:00am Central time on the night of the deadline day (so your clock would, technically, read 4:00am 12/21, for example), then you have missed the deadline. There won't be leniency here because leniency gets exploited. End of story.

DO I HAVE TO SUBMIT A PACKET? As per ACF guidelines, if your teams has one or more players on it who's played a tournament before September of 2008, then you have to submit a packet.

CODA OF SOME KIND

Let one of us know if you're interested in hosting a mirror, submitting a packet, playtesting, or some sort of other relevant thing. I'm [email protected]; Rob is [email protected].

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:01 pm
by Pilgrim
Things that would be good to know:
- Target difficulty. Will this be 5.5 line tossups on regular difficulty answer selection, or will this be 5.5 line tossups on Andy Watkins answer selection?
- When will this set be available for play, and what period would you like potential mirrors to be in?

Also, Rob Carson heading an initiative for questions with a six line cap? Consider my mind blown.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:03 pm
by Auks Ran Ova
Pilgrim wrote:Also, Rob Carson heading an initiative for questions with a six line cap? Consider my mind blown.
I'm perfectly capable of writing to a limit when I want to!

EDIT: also, my contact information: cars0090 at umn dot edu. I'll be posting an announcement for the UMN site shortly.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:11 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Pilgrim wrote:Things that would be good to know:
- Target difficulty. Will this be 5.5 line tossups on regular difficulty answer selection, or will this be 5.5 line tossups on Andy Watkins answer selection?
- When will this set be available for play, and what period would you like potential mirrors to be in?
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Also, then Cardinal Classic was canceled for the spring.
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:this event (which targets the ever-nebulous "regular" difficulty, but will have a buzz distribution less shaded towards the end than most contemporary "regular" difficulty events)
The answer selection will be "regular difficulty" answer selection, to whatever extent that is a defineable set, or perhaps a subset thereof--this event isn't going to be used to expand anyone's canon. There will also be some creatively chosen answer lines which should allow good, academic clues to come in to some subjects without distorting the buzz distribution; I'm thinking of a few questions in the 32/0 science I've chosen already, none of the answers to which involve anyone's name.

As I implied up top, certainly the Harvard site will be on 2/13, and I would be surprised if the Minnesota site were different, in large part due to the packet submission schedule. I'd be tickled, of course, if someone wanted to host on some other date, but the set would have to get done, which would require people to turn in packets on time (or at least sometime). So I can't guarantee a large set being ready by anytime before 2/13, but I can certainly guarantee after that date!

EDIT: yeah, having talked to Rob about this, unless something craaaaaazy happens, there's no reason we'd want mirrors before 2/13. We'll let you know if we get a glut of quality packets for Christmas or something, but my breath is not held.

We'd also like to say that we want to open up question discussion by Sunday, March 7. So if you want to host a mirror after that date, it's going to have to be on the honor system (which is far easier, presumably, if you're in a region that doesn't have a lot of people on the forums; either way, take that into consideration if you're thinking about dates). We really do want this set to get some traction in areas that don't have a lot of Quizbowl Persons, though! The tossups will not be long and they will be on accessible answer selection (I promise!), so it should be an attractive mid-difficulty introductory product.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:27 pm
by Cheynem
For those of you potentially horrified by my involvement with this, rest assured I will attempt to put aside my crazy answer ideas on colonial-era poetry, T.B. Thorpe stories, and operations of Otto Skorzeny to seriously produce some accessible, quality questions. I can't promise that I won't attempt to sneak some '60s TV, NES games, and Broadway into the trash distro though.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:03 pm
by nobthehobbit
First, what's the rest of the fee guide (ie, how much is the base fee, what are the discounts for buzzers, moderators, distance, etc)?

As for late packets, if I were ever to edit a tournament, nothing would make me happier than to be able to give every single team the largest packet discount I had on offer. And happy editors produce better sets than unhappy editors.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:05 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
nobthehobbit wrote:First, what's the rest of the fee guide (ie, how much is the base fee, what are the discounts for buzzers, moderators, distance, etc)?

As for late packets, if I were ever to edit a tournament, nothing would make me happier than to be able to give every single team the largest packet discount I had on offer. And happy editors produce better sets than unhappy editors.
Base fees and site-specific discounts are to be determined by site, but we'd be happy to recommend a $100 base fee, $5 for buzzers, $10 for moderators, etc.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:26 am
by Mechanical Beasts
In keeping with the theme of having good teams buzzing early, we have decided that these tossups will be powermarked. Hosts can count the powers as ten points just like a normal tossup if they're not a fan, but we'd encourage hosts to keep track of them because they quantify the central question of this set's success.

I will use this post to keep track of packet promises and received packets.

Promised packets:
Penn (possibly two)
(UMN2)

Received packets:
Adam Liem et al
Carleton
Yale
Brandeis
UIUC B
Eden Prairie
Dunbar
UIUC A
(UMN)

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:38 pm
by Auks Ran Ova
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:In keeping with the theme of having good teams buzzing early, we have decided that these tossups will be powermarked.
As such, the visual length of tossups on the page may vary. Rest assured that prior to adding the power-bolding, all tossups will be a maximum of six lines (size 10 TNR, 1" margins, etc.).

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:59 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
I have written eight fantastic tossups for this tournament. GET EXCITED.

More importantly, I want to mention that I haven't heard mirror inquiries for any region save Centre College's; if you want to host this tournament and make gobs of money, feel free to!

Also, Harvard's mirror will now be 2/27 to avoid a conflict with a HCB social event that needs the long weekend more than a one-day tournament does. Given that this would conflict with the CCCT, but there are no CCs that compete in the northeast, I'm thinking this will not be such a problem.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:57 pm
by Rococo A Go Go
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote: My personal coffers are empty because coffee, my debit card learned this morning, ain't cheap.
I hear ya man.
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote: East Midwest (OH, PA, KY) Centre College
This makes me happy. Now I just need to convince the other few people at WKU that I know are interested in quizbowl to come to Danville with me in February.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:06 am
by Mechanical Beasts
Another thing: I wanted to elucidate a policy on open teams that we want to recommend that our hosts adopt.

We believe that open teams are neither inherently discordant in terms of school-based team dynamics nor inherently unfair to the rest of the field, with one reservation: the presence of superteams. Superteams are only really a productive addition to hard tournaments in the mold of Chicago Open; moreover, collegiate superteams aren't really going to find this set satisfying.

That said, if you're a high school student, there's no reason to feel obligated to either haul your teammates who don't really want to be there along or else play solo. These questions aren't for every high school student, and they're not meant to be. So it's totally cool to play with students from other high schools. And generally speaking, if you're an average college player, no competitive balance will be ruined if you play with some average players from other schools. So hosts: try to eyeball whether a prospective open team would be too strong for your field--depending on what you want, maybe that's "would clear the field guaranteed" or "would be a lock for the top bracket." And if they don't meet that kind of criteria, feel free to say no. But in the vast majority of cases, please feel comfortable saying yes.

Of course, as hosts you are free to do whatever you want; we just think that this policy holds truest to the spirit of the event.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:59 am
by Auks Ran Ova
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Another thing: I wanted to elucidate a policy on open teams that we want to recommend that our hosts adopt.

We believe that open teams are neither inherently discordant in terms of school-based team dynamics nor inherently unfair to the rest of the field, with one reservation: the presence of superteams. Superteams are only really a productive addition to hard tournaments in the mold of Chicago Open; moreover, collegiate superteams aren't really going to find this set satisfying.

That said, if you're a high school student, there's no reason to feel obligated to either haul your teammates who don't really want to be there along or else play solo. These questions aren't for every high school student, and they're not meant to be. So it's totally cool to play with students from other high schools. And generally speaking, if you're an average college player, no competitive balance will be ruined if you play with some average players from other schools. So hosts: try to eyeball whether a prospective open team would be too strong for your field--depending on what you want, maybe that's "would clear the field guaranteed" or "would be a lock for the top bracket." And if they don't meet that kind of criteria, feel free to say no. But in the vast majority of cases, please feel comfortable saying yes.

Of course, as hosts you are free to do whatever you want; we just think that this policy holds truest to the spirit of the event.
If hosts have questions about whether any particular open team is field-appropriate, they should feel free to email Andy or I (and, in fact, are encouraged to do so regardless).

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:55 pm
by Duncan Idaho
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:In keeping with the theme of having good teams buzzing early, we have decided that these tossups will be powermarked.
Will power marks be added by the editors or should packet writers add the marks?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:53 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Ben Cole wrote:
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:In keeping with the theme of having good teams buzzing early, we have decided that these tossups will be powermarked.
Will power marks be added by the editors or should packet writers add the marks?
I'll let Rob give the final verdict on this, but I certainly don't mind submitted powermarks--that said, unless you've written a tossup I think is perfect, I'm going to be moving things around, and that will probably necessitate me changing the powermarking. So I guess there's not much reason for you to powermark tossups.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:01 pm
by Duncan Idaho
Thanks. Could you please list Furman in the mirror list as representing the SE?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:46 pm
by Auks Ran Ova
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:
Ben Cole wrote:
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:In keeping with the theme of having good teams buzzing early, we have decided that these tossups will be powermarked.
Will power marks be added by the editors or should packet writers add the marks?
I'll let Rob give the final verdict on this, but I certainly don't mind submitted powermarks--that said, unless you've written a tossup I think is perfect, I'm going to be moving things around, and that will probably necessitate me changing the powermarking. So I guess there's not much reason for you to powermark tossups.
Yeah, please don't powermark your submissions. I'll probably just screw around with them anyway. :smile:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:42 pm
by aestheteboy
When's the Centre mirror?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:44 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
aestheteboy wrote:When's the Centre mirror?
I think they plan on doing it on the 2/13 weekend.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:21 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
A healthy seven and a half hours or so remain until the 4:00am Central packet deadline. Keep my winter break rocking, everyone, and send us some packets!

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:30 am
by Mechanical Beasts
Making the -$50/-$75 deadline so far tonight:

Adam Liem et al.
Carleton A
Yale A

Making the -$25/-$50 deadline:

Illinois
Brandeis (Hannah Kirsch)

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:00 am
by Matt Weiner
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Making the -$50/-$75 deadline so far tonight:

Adam Liem et al.
Carleton A
Yale A

I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of the science in these packets and the frightening degree to which it doesn't repeat the eight packets worth of science i've already written. The good kind of frightening!
I'm sure Adam Liem, Carleton, and Yale appreciate the hints you've given them towards the contents of the editors' packets which other teams do not get to share.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:35 am
by Irreligion in Bangladesh
Matt Weiner wrote:
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Making the -$50/-$75 deadline so far tonight:

Adam Liem et al.
Carleton A
Yale A

I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of the science in these packets and the frightening degree to which it doesn't repeat the eight packets worth of science i've already written. The good kind of frightening!
I'm sure Adam Liem, Carleton, and Yale appreciate the hints you've given them towards the contents of the editors' packets which other teams do not get to share.
What, that they aren't going to be answering questions on their science answer selections? I think they already knew that!

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:49 am
by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)
Since I take it you've never participated in a packet submission event, you must not know that it is routine for people to submit topics on overlapping topics that the editors may have already written on, and that the editor then has to choose which packet to keep that question in. Thus, if you know that the editors didn't also write on the same topics as you, you get a slight advantage in knowing that your material was not a repeat and will not be cut in favor of a question by the editor.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:29 pm
by Irreligion in Bangladesh
Jeremy Gibbs Free Energy wrote:Since I take it you've never participated in a packet submission event, you must not know that it is routine for people to submit topics on overlapping topics that the editors may have already written on, and that the editor then has to choose which packet to keep that question in. Thus, if you know that the editors didn't also write on the same topics as you, you get a slight advantage in knowing that your material was not a repeat and will not be cut in favor of a question by the editor.
It seems to me - and I'm going to hazard this with "I haven't slept in 24 hours" along with your correct "I haven't participated in a packet sub event yet" - that if a submitted packet and some editors packet both have a question on something, whichever question is included should be put in the submitted packet. That way, a team doesn't find themselves in a (potentially not-at-all noteworthy) position of questioning whether a question in the editors packet is actually on their topic. But, as I type this very post, it's occurring to me that if this happens more than a handful of times, it's infeasible to actually do.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:31 pm
by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)
It's also possible for 2 teams to do this.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:14 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Matt Weiner wrote:
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Making the -$50/-$75 deadline so far tonight:

Adam Liem et al.
Carleton A
Yale A

I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of the science in these packets and the frightening degree to which it doesn't repeat the eight packets worth of science i've already written. The good kind of frightening!
I'm sure Adam Liem, Carleton, and Yale appreciate the hints you've given them towards the contents of the editors' packets which other teams do not get to share.
This isn't actually a substantial effect, unless I'm gravely misunderstanding something: they have information that the 15+ other packets of the tournament will largely (but not entirely, of course) contain material other than what they submitted. This is no new news. They know that the questions I have written already, which are currently organized into eight editors packets but that could change at any moment, largely (but not entirely, of course) contain material other than what they submitted. Even this weak assurance is subject to change; what if late submitter X writes a far better tossup on [subject] than early submitter Y did, and I keep the latter? This cannot give a team a meaningful competitive advantage over a team that merely knows that the questions it's playing are probably not too similar to the questions it submitted.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:18 pm
by Captain Sinico
Please stop releasing any information about your editors' packets contents, however unimportant you deem it (you're wrong about how important it potentially is, incidentally.) Doubly please stop doing so in a way that preferentially benefits some teams more than others. Triple please stop defending the release of that information.

Sincerely,
MaS

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:11 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Certainly will; I just look forward to later determining how much of a difference this could actually make.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:21 pm
by Captain Sinico
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Certainly will; I just look forward to later determining how much of a difference this could actually make.
It's pretty simple, Andy. Haven't you ever been listening to a question and thought "Hey, maybe it's [whatever...]" but then discarded that answer because it already came up? Or haven't you ever thought "This is either [answer A] or [answer B] and [answer A] already came up, so..." and gotten points for B? I know I have, frequently, and would consider myself at a not insignificant advantage over a version of myself that had no memory of what had already come up.
So, the point is, what you're doing is not fair and potentially swings 5/5 science in your editors packets for each team you mentioned. Your guess is as good as mine as to how probable it is that that actually swings any given question, but that doesn't argue much for you because it really means that the only bound you can fairly place on the effect is the upper one, which would be "I just gave away 5/5 each to 3 teams." Also, it means even less because the size of an unfair effect is irrelevant when it's so easy to be completely fair and there's no reason not to.

MaS

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:05 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Yeah, I'm familiar with that phenomenon, but I see the possibility of that ever happening, given the most information any of those teams could glean from that statement, astronomically low (unless they contain players so crazy that they would narrow down questions to two totally unrelated things somehow and eliminate one (with low confidence even at that point)).

I'm drawing on information that only I have to reach this conclusion, I know, and that's irritating to everyone involved. But let me assure you that the actual tournament will be affected in any way unless the real quizbowl players on those three teams are replaced by walking counterexamples.

I certainly don't expect I'll make similar remarks again, but not because I think I've compromised the integrity of the tournament--because, rather, I don't expect similar remarks will be safe to make again. Of course, post-tournament it'll be interesting to discuss the original submissions and the editor's packets and the edited versions of the packets, and what these three teams might have inferred; I would be interested if there are inferences teams could draw that I did not anticipate.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:25 pm
by Captain Sinico
Okay, but again, even if your estimate is "astronomically low," you have no grounds to act as though that were the case, I strongly disagree with your estimate, and there's no reason to insert even a small unfair effect when it's easy to insert none. If you need a hint: the right move here is to say "I'm sorry" and move on, not continue this... whatever this is.

MaS

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:33 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
I'm sorry for any compromising effect my statements have on the outcome of tournaments played on this set, then.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:58 pm
by Skepticism and Animal Feed
So I'm editing this now too.

Start boning up on your battles from the Kuruc-Labanc wars, kids.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:10 pm
by naturalistic phallacy
Hey, hey, hey. We've received the first few packets and are eagerly awaiting some more!

We are also still seeking mirrors in the following regions, so email Andy, Rob, and/or me to discuss:
Florida
Texas
Pacific Northwest
California (potentially both Northern and Southern mirrors depending on how the Pacific Northwest Mirror pans out)
Eastern Canada, perhaps

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:00 pm
by Charbroil
Are you guys also looking for a Midwest mirror somewhat farther west than Ohio?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:44 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Charbroil wrote:Are you guys also looking for a Midwest mirror somewhat farther west than Ohio?
There's the Kentucky mirror (Centre College in Danville); St. Louis is pretty close to Kentucky. (Or to Illinois, and I'd think that UMN has first claim on UIUC/Chicago, etc.) So I'll say no for now, but that's of course subject to change.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:48 pm
by 49-Mile Scenic Drive
Might there be a possibility of another Southeastern area mirror in TN, GA, or AL? This would be something my team would probably be interested in attending but due to funding cuts it has become even more impossible for us to make a trip to South Carolina.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:53 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Mark wrote:Might there be a possibility of another Southeastern area mirror in TN, GA, or AL? This would be something my team would probably be interested in attending but due to funding cuts it has become even more impossible for us to make a trip to South Carolina.
Yeah; interest in a Florida-area mirror is essentially a way of phrasing interest in a deeper-South mirror that wouldn't overlap excessively with Southside/Furman's potential field--you guys will know better than I will what a safe call is.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:10 pm
by 49-Mile Scenic Drive
Yeah a Florida mirror might be more feasible pending which area of Florida it were held in and whether our coach will take us. We'd love to have attend this tournament as it would serve as a great warm-up for CCCT

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:20 am
by Mechanical Beasts
Still excited to hear from additional mirrors. In the meantime, the -$25 deadline is less than twenty-six hours away!

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:11 am
by Mike Bentley
If any other school in the Pacific Northwest wants to host this tournament, UW would bring a few teams to it.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:27 am
by Mechanical Beasts
Bentley Like Beckham wrote:If any other school in the Pacific Northwest wants to host this tournament, UW would bring a few teams to it.
This, this is good news.

Packets in so far by the -$25 deadline: Brandeis (Hannah Kirsch solo)

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:03 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
And that's all we got in last night. One other note:
Whig's Boson wrote:So I'm editing this now too.

Start boning up on your battles from the Kuruc-Labanc wars, kids.
We're really excited to have Bruce on board, as this was in large part his idea way back when. Thanks, Bruce.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:13 pm
by Cheynem
I've also finally gotten off my duff and written 2/1 for this and picked out answers for the American history questions.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:42 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
We received two regular deadline packets, both from high schools (Eden Prairie and Dunbar). This is great news; I look forward to seeing a lot of college packets flow in soon.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:43 pm
by Important Bird Area
Any word on other mirrors of this event?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:54 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
bt_green_warbler wrote:Any word on other mirrors of this event?
Nobody on the west coast has expressed enthusiasm. If Stanford's interested in hosting, they're welcome to; if they want to call it CC for kicks, that's fine, too. There's a chance of a UK mirror at either Oxford or Cambridge, more likely the former, but Peter hasn't gotten back to me. We're still interested in a mirror in Florida or Texas or Canada, or in any region that can convince me it won't drain an existing mirror too much.

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:05 pm
by Mechanical Beasts
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:
bt_green_warbler wrote:Any word on other mirrors of this event?
Nobody on the west coast has expressed enthusiasm. If Stanford's interested in hosting, they're welcome to; if they want to call it CC for kicks, that's fine, too. There's a chance of a UK mirror at either Oxford or Cambridge, more likely the former, but Peter hasn't gotten back to me. We're still interested in a mirror in Florida or Texas or Canada, or in any region that can convince me it won't drain an existing mirror too much.
A few hours ago, I chanted "a million dollars is welcome to fall into my lap"; no luck. However, Stanford has asked to host this tournament and Rob and I have said okay. This, my friends on the west coast, is Good News.

They'll be putting up an announcement soon; I expect; talk of a nominal discount for writing (that wouldn't apply to sites that existed, like, before today) is being ironed out as we speak.

ALSO: Get your packets in, people. The +$25 deadline is this coming weekend!

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: T-Party

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:13 am
by Mike Bentley
Do you know when Stanford's mirror is going to be?