List places you'd like to see the 2011 HSNCT

[kayli]

Just an idea: Would it be possible to actually have cities bid for the HSNCT? Last year, it brought 1002 players+192 (or more) coaches. That's a lot of people who will be spending money and running around doing stuff. If NAQT could somehow get in touch with the Chambers of Commerce of different locations and have them bid for HSNCT to be in there city, it'd be great because we could discount how much it costs to stay in the hotel or how much it costs to rent enough conference rooms or something like that. This would sorta solve the problem of rotating locations without worrying too much about money.

[sir negsalot]

Seattle would be great!!!!!!!!!!

[sir negsalot]

Actually, Vegas is also a good site, it has the cheapest hotels and flights.

[Important Bird Area]

We seriously considered a Vegas site for 2010.

The two major drawbacks:

1. No public transit, so everyone has to rent cars, offsetting the savings on hotels and airfare.

2. Much more of the field would have to fly (essentially, everyone except for southern California and the handful of Nevada/Utah teams).

[btressler]

1. No public transit, so everyone has to rent cars, offsetting the savings on hotels and airfare.

Really?

Granted, this was in 1999, but I seem to recall going downtown via a bus.

[Important Bird Area]

1. No public transit, so everyone has to rent cars, offsetting the savings on hotels and airfare.

Really?

Granted, this was in 1999, but I seem to recall going downtown via a bus.

At least, this was true of the trip from the airport to the sites we were considering.

[at your pleasure]

1. No public transit, so everyone has to rent cars, offsetting the savings on hotels and airfare.

Really?

Granted, this was in 1999, but I seem to recall going downtown via a bus.

At least, this was true of the trip from the airport to the sites we were considering.

Also, wouldn't renting enough rooms for HSNCT in downtown Vegas be heinously expensive?

[kayli]

Pensacola needs the tourism .

[Angry Babies in Love]

1. No public transit, so everyone has to rent cars, offsetting the savings on hotels and airfare.

Really?

Granted, this was in 1999, but I seem to recall going downtown via a bus.

At least, this was true of the trip from the airport to the sites we were considering.

Also, wouldn't renting enough rooms for HSNCT in downtown Vegas be heinously expensive?

As would downtown Chicago. This is why cities have periphery. Also downtown Vegas is probably not too bad, it's the Strip that would be expensive.

[the return of AHAN]

Eh, the hotels in Vegas are begging for people to come out, even offering free nights in certain hotels on certain dates. The opening of the "City Center" complex on the south strip added even MORE rooms to the Vegas inventory. FWIW, the weekend of HSNCT is also the opening weekend of the World Series of Poker, which may or may not swell the number of tourists in town.

[David Riley]

Hmm....I wonder how many nervous administrators there would be if they found out a national tournament was held in Vegas...

[Dresden_The_BIG_JERK]

Hmm....I wonder how many nervous administrators there would be if they found out a national tournament was held in Vegas...

I'm thinking all of them.

The real question is how many students would attempt to pull off a "Rusty" from Vegas Vacation?

[gack1224]

Hmm....I wonder how many nervous administrators there would be if they found out a national tournament was held in Vegas...

I'm thinking all of them.

I disagree. Two years ago, the National Forensics League held their national tournament there so I think Las Vegas is a sort of legitimate place given the availability of hotel/convention space. But I would think some other places are just as good and tend to fit better in terms of transportation, as Jeff said.

[kayli]

ISEF was held in Reno last year. It's even trashier than Vegas!

[Dresden_The_BIG_JERK]

Hmm....I wonder how many nervous administrators there would be if they found out a national tournament was held in Vegas...

I'm thinking all of them.

I disagree. Two years ago, the National Forensics League held their national tournament there so I think Las Vegas is a sort of legitimate place given the availability of hotel/convention space.

I'm not saying that kids wouldn't be allowed to go because of it, and granted I think you would much rather send your quizbowl team to Vegas than, say, your basketball team, but I still think there would be some anxiety among the administration. It's just way to easy to get into a million kinds of trouble in Vegas for them to sleep 100% easily.

[Wackford Squeers]

Hey, if you host it in Vegas, you could keep the set closed for mirrors. Because you know what they say; what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

[Joe Romersa]

Hey, if you host it in Vegas, you could keep the set closed for mirrors. Because you know what they say; what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

http://instantrimshot.com/

[kayli]

So, any possibility for my bidding site option?

[Important Bird Area]

Just an idea: Would it be possible to actually have cities bid for the HSNCT? Last year, it brought 1002 players+192 (or more) coaches. That's a lot of people who will be spending money and running around doing stuff. If NAQT could somehow get in touch with the Chambers of Commerce of different locations and have them bid for HSNCT to be in there city, it'd be great because we could discount how much it costs to stay in the hotel or how much it costs to rent enough conference rooms or something like that. This would sorta solve the problem of rotating locations without worrying too much about money.

You mean this one? It doesn't really make sense for the bids to come from the city level, because the financial benefit is strongly concentrated on one particular hotel. And we regularly get bids from hotels in various cities the way it is right now... we've just never seen a non-Chicago site beneficial enough to justify moving the tournament away from O'Hare.

[jagluski]

Hmm....I wonder how many nervous administrators there would be if they found out a national tournament was held in Vegas...

I'm thinking all of them.

I disagree. Two years ago, the National Forensics League held their national tournament there so I think Las Vegas is a sort of legitimate place given the availability of hotel/convention space. But I would think some other places are just as good and tend to fit better in terms of transportation, as Jeff said.

One additional advantage of Chicago (over a place like Las Vegas) is the availability of local staff, helping to reduce NAQT's costs in running the tournament, which correspondingly keeps entry fees lower than they would be without local staff. This isn't to say that Chicago is the only place to run this tournament, but it is something to keep in mind when considering alternate locations.

[Susan]

Hey--I've split the Vegas japery to another thread, but any further serious talk about possible sites for the 2011 HSNCT should continue here.

[almond joy]

I think it should stay in Chicago. My school is about 2 hours away by bus, so it is convenient for us. Besides, we get no funding from our school, so we cannot afford registration, plane tickets, hotel, and food. That's just me though.

[Golran]

There was something similar I saw regarding the Georgia state championship (I think) where it was downstate despite it being inconvenient for a number of teams. Something similar probably should happen for the HSNCT in order to give teams in various regions the advantages of not having to take a plane trip to the tournament or drive long, overnight trips. A central location is good, but not all of quizbowl is located in Illinois. Probably a good location would be somewhere in Washington D.C. or even Manhattan if you could find someplace with low enough prices, but give another major region (the mid-atlantic) the advantage of location. Even Boston might be good; you could draw a bunch of college staffers there I would think. I would love it if HSNCT was in LA, but it's not a good location for most people, and would not draw the same field it currently does, plus not that many southern california teams are present on the national circuit.

[ryandillon]

Detroit would be a nice, friendly place to see the HSNCT.

[David Riley]

SAY ??

[AKKOLADE]

THIS TOURNAMENT SHOULD BE IN PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA THAT IS THE BEST POSSIBLE PLACE CLEARLY

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

THIS TOURNAMENT SHOULD BE IN PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA THAT IS THE BEST POSSIBLE PLACE CLEARLY

YOUR ARE WRONG DOVER DELAWARE CLEARLY HAS AT LEAST A COUPLE PLACES TO HOST THIS WE HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY AND CASINO

[AKKOLADE]

PFFT WE HAVE A DIRT RACING TRACK AND AT LEAST ONE DAIRY QUEEN

i'm honestly not sure if the second is still open or not

[Rococo A Go Go]

Bowling Green only has one Dairy Queen but since we have like 5 Sonics we make up for it and should hold HSNCT at the Holiday Inn here.

[Nine-Tenths Ideas]

My pick is Moravian Falls, North Carolina- it has one stoplight, and despite the fact this joke has already been made way too many times, that makes it hilarious!

[David Riley]

Hmm, how would school administrators feel about a location with easy access to a casino?

[Unicolored Jay]

Detroit would be a nice, friendly place to see the HSNCT.

Nah, how about Cleveland?

[nobthehobbit]

While we're on this "hyping the big city nearest to which you leave" kick, let me just say that the Pacific Northwest (well, Vancouver or Seattle, anyway) is beautiful in June as long as it's not raining.

And Vancouver gets more daylight than Seattle.

[BGSO]

While we're on this "hyping the big city nearest to which you leave" kick, let me just say that the Pacific Northwest (well, Vancouver or Seattle, anyway) is beautiful in June even though it's raining all the time.

And Vancouver gets more daylight than Seattle.

Fixed

[Mike Bentley]

While we're on this "hyping the big city nearest to which you leave" kick, let me just say that the Pacific Northwest (well, Vancouver or Seattle, anyway) is beautiful in June even though it's raining all the time.

And Vancouver gets more daylight than Seattle.

Fixed

Have you actually been to Seattle or Vancouver before?

The notion of hosting the HSNCT in the region is absurd, but it's a nice place to be in the summer (I think we had like 30+ sunny days in a row last summer in Seattle).

[BGSO]

Yes, once, it rained the whole time.

[Ben Dillon]

I think it's high time we took this tourney international. The reasons are numerous: (1) equality in airfare for all teams, so it doesn't favor teams like mine who just have to travel 90 miles to Chicago; (2) hotel space in the US is at a premium, but other countries would be glad to have us; (3) obtaining passports in advance of college is a good thing for high schoolers; (4) no obnoxious spectators for the "home" teams; (5) teams are tired of seeing the same sights; etc. etc.

I nominate Tehran. The expense would be minimal, the weather is warmish at this time of year, and, most importantly, the surrounding area is highly pro-American.

Seriously, though, I think NAQT should find four good sites across the country (Chicago is good) and rotate every four years.

[Edward Elric]

Detroit would be a nice, friendly place to see the HSNCT.

Nah, how about Cleveland?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY

[Unicolored Jay]

Detroit would be a nice, friendly place to see the HSNCT.

Nah, how about Cleveland?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY

I've seen that video already, but the second one mentions "We're not Detroit!". So I just wanted to say that. Nothing against Detroit at all; I've never been there.

Yes, I was kidding.

[Rococo A Go Go]

If my limited knowledge of Pacific Northwest weather patterns is correct, then it's actually pretty dry in the summertime. It just rains nearly every day for the rest of the year.

[Tanay]

Detroit would be a nice, friendly place to see the HSNCT.

Oakland, anyone?

[nobthehobbit]

If my limited knowledge of Pacific Northwest weather patterns is correct, then it's actually pretty dry in the summertime. It just rains nearly every day for the rest of the year.

Yeah, it was actually not that bad this "winter". Maybe this summer will be milder than usual... last year it was hitting what I wouldn't be surprised were record highs for the area (I think it hit 40 degrees one day).

But yeah, late May/early June often isn't that bad.

[kayli]

Florida has some of the best summer weather. Beaches (best are in Pensacola), giant hotels, tourist traps... Hey, totally viable location!

But really, I like the idea of having four locations that NAQT cycles through every year. Maybe a San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, St. Louis rotation.

[at your pleasure]

Florida has some of the best summer weather. Beaches (best are in Pensacola), giant hotels, tourist traps... Hey, totally viable location!

But really, I like the idea of having four locations that NAQT cycles through every year. Maybe a San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, St. Louis rotation.

As has been said time and again, there are probably not enough teams on the West Coast to justify majorly inconviencencing eastern teams with as San Franciscon Location. Swap SF for Atlanta, and this does make some sense-locations good for Mid-Atlantic(and such New England teams as exist), Southeast, upper Midwest(a Chicago site could I suppose be switched with Minneapolis-St. Paul which may or may not be equally viable), and lower Midwest-ish.

[Golran]

I really like the idea of rotating nationals locations, since I see nationals as like a reward for a lot of teams at the end of the year for a successful season, and holding it in the same city might make it less special for the teams that make it multiple consecutive years.

[kayli]

Teams continue to exist in the West. There's probably a couple of teams out there that can't go to nationals normally because of the distance. Aside from that, we should try to bring good quizbowl into newer regions not just have nationals in the same area every year because it happens to be closest to the perennial best teams. Having a nationals out West once every 4 years doesn't sound like such a terrible inconvenience.

[Golran]

Maybe a rotation like
1)Northeast/Midatlantic (NY/NJ/MA/PA/DE/MD etc?)
2)Upper Midwest
3)Lower Midwest
4)Southeast (GA/FL/SC etc)
5)Region of lower concentration(like CA/AZ/WA/NV/TX/ID/HI? [who wouldn't want to go to Hawaii?]/other random regions that don's fit well into other classifications)
While teams do exist in the west, they're not in as high concentrations as the other major regions, and should not warrant the hosting every four years.

[at your pleasure]

Maybe a rotation like
1)Northeast/Midatlantic (NY/NJ/MA/PA/DE/MD etc?)
2)Upper Midwest
3)Lower Midwest
4)Southeast (GA/FL/SC etc)
5)Region of lower concentration(like CA/AZ/WA/NV/TX/ID/HI? [who wouldn't want to go to Hawaii?]/other random regions that don's fit well into other classifications)
While teams do exist in the west, they're not in as high concentrations as the other major regions, and should not warrant the hosting every four years.

This is intersesting, but we'd need to figure out how to divide up the regions, especially the Upper and Lower midwest. A western host could perhaps become a pernament fifth when there are enough teams in the west to warrant the inconveinence to everyone else, but that may not happen until the Great Quizbowl Desert is shrunk.

[Important Bird Area]

Unofficially:

1. The Great Quizbowl Desert is an unavoidable fact of population density.

2. The number of sites that are potential hosts is fairly limited, so it's certainly more productive to talk about specific cities (like the proposal for a Chicago/Atlanta/DC/St. Louis rotation) than to speculate about the boundary between the Upper and Lower Midwest.

[kayli]

Are there a lot of teams in the St. Louis region? I know there are a good number in Kentucky and Tennessee so maybe we should have on in Memphis (mmm barbecue), Knoxville, or Nashville?