2018 PACE NSC: June 2-3, Reston

[slothslothsloth]

The Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence is proud to announce that the 2018 National Scholastic Championship (NSC) will be held at the Hyatt Regency Reston on June 2-3, 2018.

The Hyatt Regency Reston has been the site of the 2015 NSC, as well as numerous quizbowl national championships. PACE looks forward to continuing our partnership to bring teams a high-quality tournament in the NSC tradition.

The tournament will be directed by Ryan Rosenberg, and the set will be head edited by Rob Carson.

More details can be found on the PACE website about the tournament, qualification guidelines, and how to register once qualified.

Registration opens on November 1 for all qualified teams. The tournament field has historically filled up to the cap of 96 teams, so we encourage teams to start the registration process as early as possible.

We look forward to seeing you in Reston!

[Deviant Insider]

Happy new year! We remind qualified teams to register soon if they have not already. We now have 42 teams registered, so we are close to half full.

Wildcard bids are now open for teams who have not qualified through qualifier tournaments. To submit a wildcard bid, email PACE’s Wild Card Coordinator, Ian Drayer, at wildcard@pace-nsc.org with the following: team name, contact information, and a summary of the team’s accomplishments throughout the year.

[Mike Bentley]

Happy new year! We remind qualified teams to register soon if they have not already. We now have 42 teams registered, so we are close to half full.

One point of clarification: these are teams that have filled out the registration form. Teams are not guaranteed in the field a spot until they get their deposit in.

[Deviant Insider]

As of now, we have identified 264 qualified teams, had 62 teams fill out the form to express interest, and received deposits from 31 teams. We expect all of those numbers to increase significantly over the next month. We are not at the point where teams need to send in their deposit today to get a spot in the field, but we will get there in the next month or two. If your team has not yet decided whether or not to play NSC, it's something you should figure out soon. If your teams wants to play NSC, you should figure out how to get the deposit in.

[Deviant Insider]

As of now, we have identified 349 qualified teams, had 70 teams fill out the form to express interest, and received deposits from 33 teams. If your team has not received an invitation but wants to play the NSC, send an email to wildcard@pace-nsc.org. You can either request a wildcard spot or, if you think that your team qualified but is not on our list, explain why you think your team already qualified.

Also, we have added a tournament description to our Tournament Announcement so that teams have more information about NSC.

[cat]

Small thing: the 'whether your team has qualified' hyperlink on that page links to http://www.pace-nsc.org/2018-nsc-qualified-teams/, which doesn't exist, instead of http://www.pace-nsc.org/2018-nsc-qualifying-teams/.

[Deviant Insider]

Thanks for the heads up. That is now fixed.

The past NSCs link is also currently wrong and will be fixed soon.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

How long does PACE usually take to make decisions about tournament certification? I submitted the form for the Auburn Invitational Tournament (http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20694) before Christmas, and I never heard anything back about whether or not we're a PACE qualifier.

[Thiccasso's Guernthicca]

How long does PACE usually take to make decisions about tournament certification? I submitted the form for the Auburn Invitational Tournament (http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20694) before Christmas, and I never heard anything back about whether or not we're a PACE qualifier.

Where can one find this form? The website said that there was no need for a form, as the certifiers would just look through the forums to find qualifiable tournaments, although I may be wrong.

[Mike Bentley]

How long does PACE usually take to make decisions about tournament certification? I submitted the form for the Auburn Invitational Tournament (http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20694) before Christmas, and I never heard anything back about whether or not we're a PACE qualifier.

Where can one find this form? The website said that there was no need for a form, as the certifiers would just look through the forums to find qualifiable tournaments, although I may be wrong.

I go through the tournament certifications about every week or two. If you haven't heard back, send me an e-mail and I'll take a look at what happened.

Tournaments that are posted to the HSQuizbowl Tournament DB should also get a mail to start the process. If you've posted one and haven't received it, let me know and I'll make sure you receive it.

[Deviant Insider]

As of now, we have identified 383 qualified teams, had 75 teams fill out the form to express interest, and received deposits from 41 teams.

[UlyssesInvictus]

I've created a running list of declared and/or putative side events here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20995&p=341469#p341469

This is not official, and I don't claim to be speaking for NSC in any way/shape/or form. It's just to help organize information.

I don't remember what PACE's official policy on side-events is, but it might be helpful for someone to dig that up again as well.

[Geriatric trauma]

I don't remember what PACE's official policy on side-events is, but it might be helpful for someone to dig that up again as well.

PACE's current side event policy is:

1) PACE does not officially organize or sanction side events.
2) NSC staffers cannot volunteer PACE-provided hotel rooms for use at side events. PACE-provided hotel rooms are intended as sleeping spaces, and they must remain available as such for NSC staffers.
3) Team-provided buzzers are also not generally available for use at side events, since they are locked away overnight.
4) People other than core control room staff are welcome to play in side events.

[Mike Bentley]

We're now up to 90 teams having filled out the first step of registration and 46 teams having secured a spot by sending in a deposit. If you haven't filled out the registration form and sent your deposit it in yet, you should do so soon to make sure that you have a spot in the tournament.

Also a reminder that the early payment deadline is coming up on March 1st.

[Joshua Rutsky]

I went to the Reston web site to try to reserve hotel rooms, and have gotten a "nothing available" response. Does PACE have a block of rooms reserved, and if so, what is the procedure for getting them? Should I be looking for another hotel in the immediate area (which there does not appear to be on first glance)?

[Aaron's Rod]

I went to the Reston web site to try to reserve hotel rooms, and have gotten a "nothing available" response. Does PACE have a block of rooms reserved, and if so, what is the procedure for getting them? Should I be looking for another hotel in the immediate area (which there does not appear to be on first glance)?

PACE does have a block of rooms available. There are details on the registration page on our website, but our direct link is https://aws.passkey.com/go/PACE2018. I just tested it out and it seems to be in working order.

[Mike Bentley]

80 teams have now sent in a deposit, leaving only 16 slots available.

[Mike Bentley]

We are down to one open slot pending any drops. There will be a wait list after that.

[Mike Bentley]

And now we're full.

We have not plans to expand the field, but in previous years there have been a couple of teams that have dropped after the field filled up. Thus, we expect (but cannot guarantee) that at least a few of the teams on the waitlist will make it in. Teams still need to send in the deposit and/or registration fee to secure a spot on the waitlist, but we won't deposit it (or will refund it in case of Paypal) until the team gets a spot in the field.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at treasurer@pace-nsc.org.