ONQBA 2011-2012

[djcarter]

The ONQBA (Ontario Quiz Bowl Association) is an organisation founded to promote quizbowl in Ontario to students of secondary schools, colleges, and universities. This thread should contain all discussions pertinent to the organisation and execution of ONQBA's internal structure and external events.

Elections must take place for the ONQBA executive, elected from the ONQBA membership. Membership requirements include staffing at least one Ontario tournament and voting in at least one ONQBA procedure. There are four positions available for a minimum of three members. These positions and their responsibilities are outlined below:

President: The President is the primary executive for fulfilling the purpose of the ONQBA. President is the official spokesperson for the ONQBA in external communication – including newsletters – and presides over Association meetings. The President may assist in the duties of other executive officers.

Candidates:
Ben Smith

Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for maintaining documents and records of the ONQBA, including, but not limited to: this constitution, minutes of meetings, including results of votes, newsletters and publicity, tournament results, and honours.

Candidates:
Britney Castleman

Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining the financial transactions of the ONQBA, including but not limited to: maintaining an association bank account, if applicable, keeping records of financial transactions, and keeping records of the assets of the association.

Candidates:
Brian McNamara
Jj Li

Webmaster: The Webmaster is responsible for maintaining an Internet presence for the ONQBA. Duties include the maintenance of: an organizational email address and website, a presence on social media websites, and address lists for electronic distribution of notices and publicity.

Candidates:
Geoffry Song
Patrick Liao
Jj Li

If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please notify me, Daniel Carter, via PM or e-mail (which should be attached to my profile). I will update the "field" of candidates here. You may nominate yourself or others with their permission. You may run for any number of positions, but may only hold a maximum of 2, with the exception of President who must hold only that post. All nominations for positions must be in by July 1st. Voting for candidates will then commence with a secret ballot shortly after that date. Whichever candidate receives the plurality of the votes will be elected to that position.

If there are any questions about the nomination and voting procedures, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to the success of ONQBA in the coming years!

[Fado Alexandrino]

I nominate Geoffry Song (goffrieATgmailDOTcom) for webmaster.
He came 5th at the CCC stage two this year and probably would do a good job.

[the third garrideb]

Who exactly will be allowed to vote in this election? Does the "having staffed an Ontario tournament" (within some timeframe?) requirement to be a voting member apply currently? Will it just be whoever's been added to the Facebook group? (Sorry if this was made clear somewhere else and I couldn't find it.)

He came 5th at the CCC stage two

Never mind that what place anyone finished at the CCC is irrelevant to almost anything (even jobs that actually require programming). Not saying anything against Geoffry--whom I haven't met--, but just that I hope more important things will be considered when choosing someone to represent and communicate on behalf of the ONQBA. (Spoken as someone not interested in running for the position, I should maybe add.)

[bsmith]

Who exactly will be allowed to vote in this election? Does the "having staffed an Ontario tournament" (within some timeframe?) requirement to be a voting member apply currently? Will it just be whoever's been added to the Facebook group? (Sorry if this was made clear somewhere else and I couldn't find it.)

Based on the charter: Members are "expected to" staff tournaments in each year that they are members, but there is no current requirement based on what was done in the past (otherwise, it would be difficult for a lot of people to become members). In addition, the executive can exempt individual members from this requirement if there was significant difficulty in fulfilling it.

For this first "start-up" vote, anyone who has good intentions of helping out in the high school circuit can vote, with the ballot acting as a membership recruitment drive.

[the third garrideb]

Okay, cool. That makes sense.

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

Who exactly will be allowed to vote in this election? Does the "having staffed an Ontario tournament" (within some timeframe?) requirement to be a voting member apply currently? Will it just be whoever's been added to the Facebook group? (Sorry if this was made clear somewhere else and I couldn't find it.)

For this first "start-up" vote, anyone who has good intentions of helping out in the high school circuit can vote, with the ballot acting as a membership recruitment drive.

Yeah, one proposed amendment to the constitution should state that membership in the Facebook group does not constitute membership in the ONQBA, only interest in that organization's activities.

[Camelopardalis]

Who exactly will be allowed to vote in this election? Does the "having staffed an Ontario tournament" (within some timeframe?) requirement to be a voting member apply currently? Will it just be whoever's been added to the Facebook group? (Sorry if this was made clear somewhere else and I couldn't find it.)

For this first "start-up" vote, anyone who has good intentions of helping out in the high school circuit can vote, with the ballot acting as a membership recruitment drive.

Yeah, one proposed amendment to the constitution should state that membership in the Facebook group does not constitute membership in the ONQBA, only interest in that organization's activities.

As far as I know, the secretary is responsible for keeping and maintaining the official list of members, so I think it's already pretty explicitly separate from Facebook. If the "you need to staff a tournament" rule is ambiguous, then yeah I agree, perhaps some clarification ought to be included.

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

Who exactly will be allowed to vote in this election? Does the "having staffed an Ontario tournament" (within some timeframe?) requirement to be a voting member apply currently? Will it just be whoever's been added to the Facebook group? (Sorry if this was made clear somewhere else and I couldn't find it.)

For this first "start-up" vote, anyone who has good intentions of helping out in the high school circuit can vote, with the ballot acting as a membership recruitment drive.

Yeah, one proposed amendment to the constitution should state that membership in the Facebook group does not constitute membership in the ONQBA, only interest in that organization's activities.

As far as I know, the secretary is responsible for keeping and maintaining the official list of members, so I think it's already pretty explicitly separate from Facebook. If the "you need to staff a tournament" rule is ambiguous, then yeah I agree, perhaps some clarification ought to be included.

Yes but seeing as the Facebook is called "Ontario Quizbowl Association (ONQBA)" and not something like "People interested in the activities of the Ontario Quizbowl Association (ONQBA)," I think that for someone who hasn't read the constitution, it might be easy to conflate membership in the FB group with actual membership in the ONQBA.

[the third garrideb]

Yes but seeing as the Facebook is called "Ontario Quizbowl Association (ONQBA)" and not something like "People interested in the activities of the Ontario Quizbowl Association (ONQBA)," I think that for someone who hasn't read the constitution, it might be easy to conflate membership in the FB group with actual membership in the ONQBA.

I question the wisdom of amending the constitution to aid those who have not read the constitution.

No, but I think the constitution is pretty clear as it is; it was just the initial vote that I wanted some clarification on.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

As an interloper, all this discussion about things like whether or not you should make an amendment to your constitution just to make it clear that people in your facebook group aren't necessarily members is not really a very productive way to get the organization off the ground. Bureaucracy is a really minimal part of MOQBA. We have a constitution which is basically only there to make sure we have a leader and a treasurer, but we essentially don't make use of offices beyond that, and only keep the constitution to make sure we use the proper protocols to do things like vote in a new president or expel members in the most dire of circumstances. There are much better things to worry about than how your Facebook group looks, and I would say you should make your constitution just the minimum that you need to make sure you have an organization that won't fly apart at the drop of a hat, set up a private discussion forum somewhere, and then all jump headfirst into actually planning your events for next season.

[djcarter]

As the positions for President and Secretary are unopposed, unless either Ben or Britney object, they will take up those positions effective Friday July 15th.

For the positions of Treasurer and Webmaster, voting can now commence, ending Friday July 15th. To vote, send me a private message on HSQB, an e-mail, or Facebook message specifying the name of the candidate for whom you are voting, as well as the position. Any ONQBA members have one vote for each position, which may not be used for themselves.

If there are any questions about this procedure, please let me know!

[Windows ME]

As the positions for President and Secretary are unopposed, unless either Ben or Britney object, they will take up those positions effective Friday July 15th.

For the positions of Treasurer and Webmaster, voting can now commence, ending Friday July 15th. To vote, send me a private message on HSQB, an e-mail, or Facebook message specifying the name of the candidate for whom you are voting, as well as the position. Any ONQBA members have one vote for each position, which may not be used for themselves.

If there are any questions about this procedure, please let me know!

Random suggestion, but how bout getting people to post short blurbs? As it stands, I really have no way of distinguishing between any of the candidates.

[Bartleby]

I will cross-post this on the Facebook group:

Hey all, if you're reading this, you're interested in the future of Quiz Bowl in Ontario! My name is Brian McNamara, and I am a candidate for the position of Treasurer in the newly-formed ONQBA. If you attended the Ontario Provincial Championships, you might have met me already! I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself, and why I feel that I merit your support for the position for which I am running. I am entering my third year of studies at the University of Western Ontario, and I am majoring in history and French. I got my start in academic competition in high school, where I played Reach for the Top. I also participated in the initial Toronto Winter Invitational in 2009. When I came to Western, I joined the Quiz Bowl team, and have attended numerous tournaments with them, including this past year's ICT. Starting in the fall, I will be assuming the position of President of Western's Quiz Bowl team.

I am probably a more moderate individual when it comes to Quiz Bowl; that is to say that while I believe that Quiz Bowl is a markedly superior format to Reach, I also believe that the two can co-exist, provided people recognize that they are entirely separate things. I recognize that the chasm between the two groups has been largely expanded by Reach, and I feel as though this organization's constitution does an excellent job of differentiating between the two in a non-hostile fashion. That being said, I firmly believe that Quiz Bowl is the future for Ontario, and that's why I'm interested in pursuing a guiding role within this organization. I plan to spread Quiz Bowl to London in the upcoming year, starting with an October mirror of the Fall Novice Tournament. I would also like to see Quiz Bowl spread further into Ontario, and I plan to advocate on behalf of the game within the province. We have an excellent hotbed of Quiz Bowl in Ottawa, and some smaller pockets around the province in places like Guelph, Hamilton, and Toronto. This is another reason I believe that I am well-suited for this position; my election would provide for some geographical diversity within the ONQBA. I believe that differing perspectives are valuable and that I would both be able to support the successful tactics that people like Ben Smith and Britney Castleman have used to spread the game, while also adding my own new ideas. No matter what happens, I plan to take an active and lively role in the ONQBA for this and future years. I hope I can count on your support for my campaign; more importantly, I hope that together we can all support the future of Quiz Bowl in Ontario!

[bsmith]

Any ONQBA members have one vote for each position, which may not be used for themselves.

You should be able to vote for yourself, unless you mean that a member submitting a ballot can't throw their own name on at the last minute.

With me as president, pending the approval of the incoming executive, the ONQBA will:

-make an agreement with the Guelph club to take over organization of the provincial tournament
-offer discounts at provincials for schools that hosted a certified tournament, which will hopefully be an incentive for more tournaments
-certify any academic tournament that has already been certified by PACE and/or NAQT and has an ONQBA member in its staff (as a check to make sure the tournament isn't an organizational disaster). Any events that don't meet these criteria will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
-have a website and quarterly newsletter ready for the upcoming school year, which will advertise tournaments, profile university clubs and list ONQBA decisions, amongst other things
-continue school-targeted (ie: mailings) and student-targeted (ie: Facebook) outreach
-use any surplus end-of-year funds to support Ontario teams attending national tournaments in the US (with the hope that one day, that support will go to a NASAT team)

Out of respect for the election process, I won't start anything early, but once the results are in, expect the executive to get the ball rolling for getting things done before summer's over.

[djcarter]

Any ONQBA members have one vote for each position, which may not be used for themselves.

You should be able to vote for yourself, unless you mean that a member submitting a ballot can't throw their own name on at the last minute.

I figured that all candidates, having been nominated, would in fact vote for themselves. That would cancel out all their votes anyway, thus rendering a vote for themselves a moot point, unless there's some logic I'm missing here.

Additionally, the short blurb idea is excellent, should've thought of that!

[LadyTerra]

I shall also post this on FB, but I’d like to withdraw my name as a Webmaster Candidate, because I think Patrick would continue doing a great job. Thanks to whoever nominated me though! ^^”

So, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Junlan Li, though better known on the Quizbowl circuits as Jj (and before anyone asks, it’s a shortening of my Chinese nickname). If you’ve ever attended a Lisgar tournament, you’ll recognize me as the small Asian girl who was running around telling you where to go, or collecting the money, or delivering packets and last minute instructions. I’ll be matriculating to both University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University in the fall for Math and Business respectively, but I’ve been a Lisgar Reach player since 2008, playing on both Provincial and National teams, an A-line Lisgar QB player for two years, competing at both NSC and HSNCT, and Lisgar’s co-head for the past year. Lisgar has been especially active in hosting high school and Open tournaments over the past few years, a trend which I was instrumental in starting with the Lisgar Open in 2008.

So why me? Well, I was a high school tournament director for high school tournaments, so I recognize the nervousness, the anxiety, and the hurdles a high school student faces when tasked with organizing such a large event. I’ll be able to answer the questions they have and share experiences I’ve had. I plan, in the following year, to support Quizbowl in Ontario through encouraging the University of Waterloo to host tournaments (Brian we need to talk about the Fall Novice Tournament, because I was hoping to host one in Waterloo), working closely with Waterloo Collegiate Institute to help them host tournaments, and providing support to other high school teams who would like to be brave and host their own tournaments. As treasurer, I would like to see more long-term support go towards teams going to NSC and HSNCT, because after two years of playing QB, I know how prohibitive the cost can be. I’d also like to have financial incentives to host more tournaments, and more higher-level tournaments, so that teams that get to NSC and HSNCT are well-prepared with lots of tournament experience.

In short, I would like to bring my experiences to the table to turn Ontario into the trivia powerhouse I know it can be. Thanks for reading!

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

So, without any further ado, here's my candidate statement for webmaster.

I'm Patrick Liao and I'm running for the position of Webmaster in the ONQBA. You might've seen me when I did Div. I stats for Ottawa's SCT this year or at ANGST last year. This long spiel here will show you avid quizbowl players and why I am suited for Webmaster.

As the outgoing Captain of the Lisgar team, I've been heavily involved in Ontario trivia. I've played quizbowl at both the high school level (2010 Provincials, 2010 HSNCT, 2011 NSC, etc.) and at the collegiate level (THUNDER @ UOttawa, ANGST, etc.) and have helped to direct numerous tournaments at Lisgar (2010 Fall Novice) as well as edit our tournaments (BLASTOISE).

I've also played Reach for the Top for the last four years, and – like many others – feel that quizbowl is the vastly superior format. Quizbowl and Reach seem to just be so fundamentally different in terms of academic content, format, and overall quality that they are worlds apart. However, Reach is firmly embedded in the Canadian psyche. Its high registration costs is prohibitive to teams joining quizbowl. Players and coaches used to the familiar short and snappy Reach questions can be against what they perceive as a “long and boring” format.

When high school quizbowl was brought to Canada via the first Ottawa Quizbowl in 2005, it was in a dark age. Only a handful of schools played, mostly in the Ottawa region. In the last couple of years however, this has begun to change. There were Toronto Winter Invitationals in 2009 and 2010. Both Lisgar and Bell High School in Ottawa hosted their own quizbowl tournaments (NAQT sets, Fall Novice, BLASTOISE). There has been a provincial championship for the last two years at Guelph. This quizbowl renaissance (but technically without the "re") was only possible because of public outreach efforts by our community.

All in all, the ONQBA can only make gains in its market by increased public awareness of the superior qualities of quizbowl– of which we are all aware – and in this day and age, a key tool will be the internet. Through websites, email lists, and social networking, the ONQBA can win the hearts and minds of those involved in the Ontario High School trivia circuit and establish a firm foothold.

I think that I am a good fit for the position of Webmaster of the ONQBA because I have maintained the Facebook group for Ontario High School Trivia, which evolved in May of this year from an Ottawa High School trivia group which I started in Setember 2010. When the ONQBA was born, I also started and diligently maintained the Facebook Group and the Facebook Page for that, and continue to do so. I also frequent the HSQB boards on a semi-regular basis, so I am more or less up-to-date on the latest quizbowl news. Thus although I will be studying at the University of Pennsylvania (and playing quizbowl there), I think I can still make a good webmaster for all of these reasons.

So vote for me, and let's spread quizbowl in Ontario together.

Tl;dr: I've done quizbowl for all of high school, and I've done a good job of doing quizbowl social networking stuff on Facebook since last September.

[goffrie]

Hallo. I'm Geoff Song, going into grade 12 at Lisgar CI, and I'd like to be the Webmaster of ONQBA.
While I may not be the best at trivia games, I have attended many tournaments (the 2011 Guelph provincial and 2011 Atlanta HSNCT being the more recent ones, as well as many local tournaments like BLASTOISE). Mostly, though, I think that I'm qualified for this position because of the technical side of it. Mentioned before was my CCC ranking, but what's much more important is that I have experience running quite a few web sites, such as hosting the site for my KoL clan, which I wrote myself (not that I would be opposed to using existing infrastructure!). I think that I could create and maintain, a useful web site for ONQBA. I don't currently follow Quizbowl news, but as Webmaster I'll keep myself up to date.
Having said that, I won't ask you to vote for me, but instead to decide honestly who you think is the better choice, and to vote for him.

User was reminded to enable a signature --Mgmt.

[BritneyC]

Hey Everyone!
Sorry I have been AWOL for the last two weeks...I have been at my new job in the wilderness of camp. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Britney Castleman (Britney Elizabeth for those who have me on Facebook). I have just completed my 4 year undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa where I was President of the Trivia Club for the last two years. It was a very important administrative position that involved plenty of organization and planning (booking rooms, writing questions for fundraiser tournaments, scheduling practice times, setting up clubs tables, etc) which I believe has prepared me well for the position of Secretary of the ONQBA. Admittedly I am not the best quizbowl/ reach player (and I will be the first to admit it), but most likely you will have encountered me at multiple tournaments in the last 4 years in the form of a reader/scorekeeper. I played Reach for the Top all four year of high school as well, so I suppose you could say that I have been quite involved in the trivia circuit for about 8 years. I am super passionate about Quizbowl (as you may have guessed) and would love to help spread it amongst more high schools within Ontario...*I* certainly had never heard of Quizbowl attending high school in Kingston.
That's all folks! If you have any additional questions - fire away :)

[djcarter]

On behalf of ONQBA, I would like to announce the executive for the coming year (and onwards):

President: Ben Smith
Secretary: Britney Castleman
Treasurer: Brian McNamara
Webmaster: Patrick Liao

Thank you to those who ran and to those who voted! Here's to a successful future of ONQBA!

[Camelopardalis]

Any word on results?

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

Any word on results?

Right above your post:

On behalf of ONQBA, I would like to announce the executive for the coming year (and onwards):

President: Ben Smith
Secretary: Britney Castleman
Treasurer: Brian McNamara
Webmaster: Patrick Liao

Thank you to those who ran and to those who voted! Here's to a successful future of ONQBA!

[Camelopardalis]

Any word on results?

Right above your post:

How on earth did I miss that? Anyway, congratulations to our new exec, I'm sure they'll do a great job. Also, a huge thank you to Daniel for serving as election officer!

[bsmith]

Thank you to those members who voted.

Our primary tasks are to have a website and newsletter ready for the upcoming school year. If you are planning a high school tournament, we invite you to contact us so we can advertise it (and certify it, when applicable). Hosts from other provinces/states are welcome to have their tournament on the future site and newsletter if they feel that Ontario schools would be interested.

For now, communication with the ONQBA can be done directly through me (ben_smith_85 -AT- yahoo.ca) or however the other executives wish to be contacted, but we hope to have email addresses for executives set up in the near future.

[Bartleby]

You can reach me at the e-mail address listed in my profile. If you are having problems clicking that link, it's bmcnama -AT- uwo -DOT- ca.

Congratulations to the other executive members; I look forward to working with you!

[Important Bird Area]

How on earth did I miss that?

It was queued awaiting moderation.

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

I can be contacted at patarDOTknightDOTwikiATgmailDOTcom or on Facebook. I also reply to messages using the private message function of this website.

[Camelopardalis]

So even though concrete planning surely hasn't happened by this point, I'm curious - what high school tournament(s) does your school have planned this year?

Jj said something about a Waterloo tournament, and I assume Ottawa will continue to host the oldest high school quizbowl tournament in Canada, the OQT. Any others? BOKCHOI II? A continuance of using quizbowl format at the Lisgar Invitational? Is someone from Toronto interested in reviving the Toronto Winter Invitational? At Guelph, we will likely be hosting Provincials (well ONQBA will be hosting/organizing/running the show with our help), though this is still under discussion.

Also, which locations will ONQBA be targeting for potential hosts of high school tournaments this year? I realize it's early, just wondering what ideas everyone has at this point.

[Bartleby]

So even though concrete planning surely hasn't happened by this point, I'm curious - what high school tournament(s) does your school have planned this year?

Jj said something about a Waterloo tournament, and I assume Ottawa will continue to host the oldest high school quizbowl tournament in Canada, the OQT. Any others? BOKCHOI II? A continuance of using quizbowl format at the Lisgar Invitational? Is someone from Toronto interested in reviving the Toronto Winter Invitational? At Guelph, we will likely be hosting Provincials (well ONQBA will be hosting/organizing/running the show with our help), though this is still under discussion.

Also, which locations will ONQBA be targeting for potential hosts of high school tournaments this year? I realize it's early, just wondering what ideas everyone has at this point.

This isn't strictly ONQBA, but I intend to host at least one tournament at Western (and hopefully more, as long as the first one goes well).

[bsmith]

Ottawa will continue to host the oldest high school quizbowl tournament in Canada, the OQT.

I will nag the current Ottawa crew to make sure it happens. November 19 seems the most logical choice, so that conflict with ACF Fall (Nov 5) and Buffalo's tournament (Nov 12) is reduced. I am encouraging them to use an IS set rather than an A set, as a heads-up to any other potential fall hosts out there: between Buffalo and Ottawa, there won't be much availability for fall NAQT IS sets (though A sets will probably still be fine in less established Ontario regions). There are, of course, plenty of other HS tournament sets out there that can be used/mirrored.

At Guelph, we will likely be hosting Provincials (well ONQBA will be hosting/organizing/running the show with our help), though this is still under discussion.

Transfer of provincials' rights is still being negotiated, but for now, I will float a tentative date of March 24 (full week after Ontario March Break; one week before ICT) for Provincials. There will be a financial incentive for attending teams that hosted a tournament during the year, and we can probably arrange something if your scheduled tournament occurs after March 24.

Also, which locations will ONQBA be targeting for potential hosts of high school tournaments this year? I realize it's early, just wondering what ideas everyone has at this point.

Likely cities will be Ottawa, Toronto, Guelph/K-W, and London (with possibly multiple tournaments in each city). Potential cities are Hamilton, Kingston, and North Bay/Sudbury. The publicity drive at the start of the school year will give us a clearer picture of which sites are viable.

[Camelopardalis]

Also, which locations will ONQBA be targeting for potential hosts of high school tournaments this year? I realize it's early, just wondering what ideas everyone has at this point.

Toronto...Hamilton

Man, I would really like to see that. Those are possibly the best non-Ottawa locations for tournaments, and it would be great to expand into some larger population centres.

McMaster hosts tournaments all the time, it would be great if one of those was a high school tournament. Also, both of the Toronto Winter Invitationals were huge successes, it would be nice to see that revived by some Toronto people.

[BritneyC]

I can be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected]. I am currently working at a summer camp in the middle of the forest and have virtually no internet access for weeks at a time (until August 27th anyways). I can be contacted via text message on my cell. Message me if you do not have my number and would like it. Thanks!

User was reminded to set up a signature.

[bsmith]

If you are hosting (or thinking about hosting) a high school tournament in Ontario this year and would like your tournament to appear in the pre-season newsletter we will be mailing to schools across the province, please let me know by August 31. A tentative date, name, and contact info would be sufficient.

The newsletter will also include tournaments just outside Ontario's borders for the benefit of teams that can travel.

[the third garrideb]

If you are hosting (or thinking about hosting) a high school tournament in Ontario this year and would like your tournament to appear in the pre-season newsletter we will be mailing to schools across the province, please let me know by August 31. A tentative date, name, and contact info would be sufficient.

The newsletter will also include tournaments just outside Ontario's borders for the benefit of teams that can travel.

Waterloo has been thinking about hosting a couple of highschool events next year: a Fall Novice mirror sometime in the fall (likely October) and possibly an IS-A set in the winter (likely February). More concrete dates/info should be available within a week or two of the start of term.

The contact email for now would be [email protected].

[Fado Alexandrino]

Lisgar's Fall novice tournament will on the 22th of October, not officially confirmed date, but I got the bid approved.

Contact me (joesu235ATgmailDOTcom) or the teacher/advisor/coach Ruth Crabtree at ruth_crabtreeAThotmailDOTcom

[bsmith]

On behalf of the ONQBA, I'd like to welcome Ontario quizbowlers to the new school year. I have several things to announce:

Contacting the ONQBA

The ONQBA now has a website, www.onqba.ca. The website will have, amongst other things, a list of upcoming tournaments, our tournament certification procedure, tournament results, and information on our provincial tournament.

The executive, announced earlier, may be contacted by email:

• • President (Ben Smith): president -AT- onqba.ca
  • Secretary (Britney Castleman): secretary -AT- onqba.ca
  • Treasurer (Brian McNamara): treasurer -AT- onqba.ca
  • Webmaster (Patrick Liao): webmaster -AT- onqba.ca

The ONQBA also has a Facebook page.

The ONQBA newsletter, Bonus Points

The ONQBA will be published a newsletter, Bonus Points four times per year. Issues will be sent as PDFs to subscribers, while past issues will be kept at the newsletter archive page. Responses and submissions to future newsletters are welcome. For submissions or subscription to the newsletter, send an email to bonuspoints -AT- onqba.ca. The first issue, being mailed to schools across Ontario, is available here (PDF).

Ontario Provincials

The ONQBA will be hosting a provincial tournament this year, taking organizational duties from the host of the past two years, Guelph. If our bid to NAQT is successful, it will be titled the "2012 NAQT Ontario Provincial Championship", and it is expected to be held at the University of Guelph on March 24, 2012. Full fee structure may still change; it will be announced along with the proper tournament announcement once all details are settled. Nevertheless, the following discounts related to participation in ONQBA-certified tournaments will be applied:

• -$50 for hosting an ONQBA-certified tournament during the 2011-12 year
  -$15 for attending at least two ONQBA-certified events (excluding provincials itself) during the 2011-12 year
  -$10 for winning an ONQBA-certified event prior to provincials
  -$5 for finishing in the top 15% (rounded up) of an ONQBA-certified event prior to provincials

Note that a school may claim a maximum of one of the above discounts (ie: highest total discount is $50).

ONQBA tournament certification

Quizbowl tournaments in Ontario (and, if applicable, nearby states) are welcome to seek certification from the ONQBA. Certification comes with the benefits related to provincials, mentioned earlier, and the ONQBA will assist in publicity and organization as much as the host desires. Certification is not mandatory, and there will be no negative repercussions if you host a tournament independently of the ONQBA (beyond missing out on benefits listed earlier). At a minimum, ONQBA-certified tournaments must have:

• • at least one Ontario team in attendance
  • at least one ONQBA member on staff (to solve problems that arise, amongst other things)
  • questions from a reputable source. HSAPQ, NAQT, and housewrites/collaborations that receive approval from PACE will be accepted. Other sources that don't fall under that scope may be considered as well

The ONQBA may contact hosts about certification; hosts are also welcome to request certification by emailing president -AT- onqba.ca. Certifications are approved by vote of the executive. For the fall semester, the following tournaments have already been certified:

• • Lisgar's Fall Novice mirror (Oct 22)
  • Buffalo's Bull Bowl (Nov 12; pending any participation of Ontario teams)
  • Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament VII (Nov 19)

Tentative tournaments in Waterloo, London, and Michigan will be considered once details are known.

Assisting new tournaments

The ONQBA invites schools anywhere in Ontario to host, and assistance will gladly be offered. The ONQBA is especially interested in hosts in the Greater Toronto Area, the Niagara Peninsula, Kingston, and Sudbury/North Bay (for the latter two cities, I can act as the ONQBA staff member). Feedback from the September mail-outs will help judge suitable locations for new tournaments, but if you can book rooms and attract at least four teams, you can host a tournament. If desired, the ONQBA can secure an appropriate source of questions, provide publicity, and publish results.

To conclude, if you have any questions or comments for the ONQBA, contact us via the means listed above. We're here to help.

Good luck to the teams in Ontario!

[bsmith]

Queen's would like to have a tournament in January and UToronto is planning one for late November (19/26/Dec 3). They are expected to cater to the Kingston area and GTA, respectively, though all visiting teams are welcome. I will provide more details as they get settled.

Separately, the overdue announcement for Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament VII will be made once the club has resolved a room reservation conflict for November 19.

[bsmith]

Ridley College wants to host a tournament for teams in the St. Catharines area (the coach is the Niagara Reach coordinator, so some teams are on board). It is scheduled for November 30, which is a Wednesday; I haven't got a reply to see if that date is set in stone, but it may have to do with room reservations.

Is anyone with quizbowl experience able to get to Ridley College? Contact me at president -at- onqba.ca (or post here) if you can help out. I may be able to get there, but St. Catharines in the middle of the week would be quite a stretch.

[bsmith]

Ridley College wants to host a tournament for teams in the St. Catharines area (the coach is the Niagara Reach coordinator, so some teams are on board). It is scheduled for November 30, which is a Wednesday; I haven't got a reply to see if that date is set in stone, but it may have to do with room reservations.

Is anyone with quizbowl experience able to get to Ridley College? Contact me at president -at- onqba.ca (or post here) if you can help out. I may be able to get there, but St. Catharines in the middle of the week would be quite a stretch.

This is going to be an 8-team, 7-round tournament during school hours. It looks like I will be going unless there are sudden changes on my end. If I'm going, I will be overnighting in Burlington, so if anyone can read and get to Hamilton or McMaster for 8:30 that day, I can drive them to and from St. Catharines.

[Fado Alexandrino]

Lisgar will be hosting the Early Autumn Collegiate Novice for High School students Dec. 17.

HSQB post
http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewto ... =1&t=12398

FB event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228337033899391

[bsmith]

Thanks to all the teams and hosts that participated in a relatively busy autumn in Ontario! We had six tournaments in four cities, featuring 50 teams from 18 different schools.

With the results of the last tournament of the season (Lisgar over Woburn at Lisgar today), the autumn wrap-up issue of the newsletter Bonus Points can now be found on the ONQBA's newsletters page.

If you are planning any events for the winter/spring, be sure to let us know! There will be Provincials, along with local events at Queen's and Lisgar in February.