Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Tell your tales of bygone days and rank historical things here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Gautam
Auron
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:28 pm
Location: Zone of Avoidance
Contact:

Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Gautam »

I was wondering if the quizbowl-osphere had thought of making a list of the best tournament directors in the game. These are guys who put on tournaments we like playing, and our memories of tournaments are definitely coloured by the fruits of the hard work they put into making sure things run efficiently.

Here are people I thought should make the list (this is not an exhaustive list):

Dennis Jang: Dennis is efficient as hell in getting things done. I first realized this during Gaddis 2008, with the way he set up schedules and organized other things for the event.

Evan Silberman: The guy seems to know what goes into running tournaments. I remember Evan saying something to the effect of "I can just sit here right now and feel this tournament flow" and it pretty much ran smoothly for the next couple of days!

R. Hentzel: I've played several tournaments run by R. now, and they've all been very efficiently run. He's able to recruit good moderators all the time and make tournaments run very smoothly.

Andrew Hart: He ran GINVIT 2008 (which was a 36 team thing in the PACE NSC format) pretty efficiently. Other tournaments he ran the two ACF Falls (2007 and 08), the past two MUTs, etc. have also been good experiences.

What do the rest of you think?
Gautam - ACF
Currently tending to the 'quizbowl hobo' persuasion.
User avatar
Skepticism and Animal Feed
Auron
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:47 pm
Location: Arlington, VA

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

Kyle Haddad-Fonda was probably the most gifted TD I have ever seen.
Bruce
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Cheynem »

Gautam himself is a solid tournament director and organizer, even taking the time to give teams addresses of places they can eat lunch at.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
AKKOLADE
Sin
Posts: 15783
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 8:08 am

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by AKKOLADE »

My two post-high school tournaments were run by Matt Weiner, and both went well.
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
User avatar
Whiter Hydra
Auron
Posts: 1418
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:46 pm
Location: Fairfax, VA
Contact:

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Whiter Hydra »

FredMorlan wrote:My two post-high school tournaments were run by Matt Weiner, and both went well.
Yeah, anyone who can run a 10-round tournament and finish by 2:30 knows what he's doing.
Harry White
TJHSST '09, Virginia Tech '13

Owner of Tournament Database Search and Quizbowl Schedule Generator
Will run stats for food
The Atom Strikes!
Tidus
Posts: 612
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:05 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by The Atom Strikes! »

Chris Romero is a scarily efficient tournament director. I would actually also have to nominate my high school coach, Bill Tressler, who ran every event smoothly, was able to come up with card systems and bracket designs for most every situation, and always would have the stats for the tournament up in timely fashion.
Henry Gorman, Wilmington Charter '09, Rice '13, PhD History Vanderbilt '1X
User avatar
Cheynem
Sin
Posts: 7220
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 11:19 am
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Cheynem »

I'm not actually sure who gets the credit, but every tournament I've been to at the University of Illinois has been well run.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota

"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
User avatar
millionwaves
Auron
Posts: 1360
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:35 pm
Location: Urbana, Illinois
Contact:

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by millionwaves »

Cheynem wrote:I'm not actually sure who gets the credit, but every tournament I've been to at the University of Illinois has been well run.
We tend to rotate directors, but Sorice has taught all of us everything any of us ever knew about this.
Trygve Meade
Illinois, ACF

Above the Star-Apple Kingdom
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

millionwaves wrote:
Cheynem wrote:I'm not actually sure who gets the credit, but every tournament I've been to at the University of Illinois has been well run.
We tend to rotate directors, but Sorice has taught all of us everything any of us ever knew about this.
On that note, I'll say that Donald Taylor has learned greatly. He does stats for a tournament, you know they're right, they're done quickly, and they're posted quickly.
Brad Fischer
Head Editor, IHSA State Series
IHSSBCA Chair

Winnebago HS ('06)
Northern Illinois University ('10)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-12)
Coach, Keith Country Day School (2012-16)
User avatar
Maxwell Sniffingwell
Auron
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:22 pm
Location: Des Moines, IA

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

This is a bit of a favorite son vote, but I'd nominate Tom Egan as the best in the business in Illinois.
Greg Peterson

Northwestern University '18
Lawrence University '11
Maine South HS '07

"a decent player" - Mike Cheyne
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by dtaylor4 »

millionwaves wrote:
Cheynem wrote:I'm not actually sure who gets the credit, but every tournament I've been to at the University of Illinois has been well run.
We tend to rotate directors, but Sorice has taught all of us everything any of us ever knew about this.
This. I've learned greatly from Sorice, and from actually doing stats for lots of tournaments and running tournaments.

Now if I could only teach scorekeepers using paper how to add correctly...
User avatar
JohnAndSlation
Wakka
Posts: 165
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:41 pm
Location: Park Ridge, IL

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by JohnAndSlation »

cornfused wrote:This is a bit of a favorite son vote, but I'd nominate Tom Egan as the best in the business in Illinois.
My thoughts exactly, Greg.
Brigette Demke, ex-Maine South
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

I'll get in on the Tom Egan love, using Decemberist 3 as the case study. Even adding bouncebacks to the bonuses, they started the final by 2:45, a full 2 hours before my two incarnations. He got together one of the finest moderating crews I've heard of for that, got Donald to come up and do stats, the list goes on...
Brad Fischer
Head Editor, IHSA State Series
IHSSBCA Chair

Winnebago HS ('06)
Northern Illinois University ('10)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-12)
Coach, Keith Country Day School (2012-16)
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by dtaylor4 »

In general, any HS coach who has the forethought to call on experience college people to help staff tournaments knows what he/she is doing.
User avatar
DumbJaques
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 3109
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 6:21 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by DumbJaques »

Chris Romero is a scarily efficient tournament director.
Certainly so for those who try to steal questions by sneaking through windows.
Chris Ray
OSU
University of Chicago, 2016
University of Maryland, 2014
ACF, PACE
User avatar
ClemsonQB
Tidus
Posts: 511
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:12 pm
Location: Clemson, SC

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by ClemsonQB »

I have to acknowledge Mr. Barry and Mr. Huff, as they have both run tournaments with 100+ teams very smoothly.
George Stevens

Dorman High School 2008
Clemson University 2012
Nick
Wakka
Posts: 185
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:41 pm

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by Nick »

ClemsonQB wrote:I have to acknowledge Mr. Barry and Mr. Huff, as they have both run tournaments with 100+ teams very smoothly.
George beat me to it, but yes, this is very true. I dont know how these tournaments dont erupt into chaos every year.
Nick
User avatar
KGeee
Wakka
Posts: 127
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:23 am
Location: Choctaw, OK

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by KGeee »

Angelo from Tulsa/now the Greater NW
Kyle Gregory
Langston University '09
UALR Law '12
University of Oklahoma College of Law Visiting Student 2011-2012
User avatar
fluffy4102
Wakka
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:59 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by fluffy4102 »

The Atom Strikes! wrote:Chris Romero is a scarily efficient tournament director.
Save two moderator-caused disasters, all of the tournaments that I have attended run by Chris have ended before 5.
Zach Yeung
St. John's '08
Rice University '12
Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Political Science
User avatar
LucasBrown
Lulu
Posts: 86
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:34 pm

Re: Good Tournament Directors/Organizers?

Post by LucasBrown »

The (current) UCLA folks, especially Ian Drayer, have earned a good measure of TD respect on the SoCal circuit.
Lucas Brown
Rancho Bernardo 2011
Caltech 2015

Every day is finals day.
"If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." --Michelangelo Buonarroti
Post Reply