ACF Nationals 2011: April 16-17, UPitt - Registration closed

[grapesmoker]

Attention quizbowl community,

As head editor, I am pleased to announce that ACF Nationals will take place on April 16 and 17, at a location to be determined in the relatively near future. The tournament will be edited by myself, Susan Ferrari, and Jonathan Magin. This is only a date claim for the moment, but please watch this thread for information regarding bids and any other logistics, as well as packet submission. All of this will be coming in the next few days.

[grapesmoker]

You can now bid to host ACF Nationals 2011 using this form. We are looking to receive as many bids as possible from many different institutions. Completing the bid form should take about 30 minutes of your time. Please provide as much of the requested information as you can; the more we know, the better we will be able to make our decision. If you have any questions or concerns about the bidding process, feel free to contact me at grapesmoker@gmail.com.

We look forward to receiving your bids. We would like to make our decision by the end of September, so please don't put off making a bid if you think you're going to do so.

[Charbroil]

...ACF Nationals will take place on April 16 and 17, at a location to be determined in the relatively near future...

Any news on a location?

[grapesmoker]

...ACF Nationals will take place on April 16 and 17, at a location to be determined in the relatively near future...

Any news on a location?

I'm in contact with a number of potential hosts. I am still trying to collect information relative to at least two more sites, but I'm happy with what I have so far. I was hoping to have enough information to put before the other editors so we could make a decision and I'm working on getting that to happen.

[grapesmoker]

I am very pleased to announce that 2011 ACF Nationals will be hosted on the weekend of April 16 and 17 at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA. We will be updating this thread with logistical details in the coming weeks, and as always you may email me directly with any questions. I will be serving as the co-TD together with Brian Sisco of Pitt.

I encourage all of you to get started on your packets at the earliest possible opportunity. We will be posting a fee schedule in the coming week; you should pay special attention to it because it will be substantially different from the fee schedules of other ACF tournaments, both "regular season," and past nationals.

We hope to see all of you in Pittsburgh come April.

[grapesmoker]

Registration for 2011 ACF Nationals is now open. We ask that every team use this form to register for the tournament. Please do not email the editors or the tournament directors with your registration! We will only consider you registered if you fill out the registration form; using the form helps us aggregate information. Please keep in mind that each team must fill out this form. That means that if your club is bringing multiple teams, each team must register separately. In the end, we will aggregate the fees on a per-club basis, but we need you to register separately so we get an accurate count. If your roster changes significantly, we ask that you re-register, and your new information will supercede whatever old information we have.

[grapesmoker]

I would also like to ask anyone who is planning to staff Nationals (including the editors) to fill out this form. Again, please feel free to email me with any questions, but if you're planning to come, please fill out the form. It makes it easier to plan if you do that.

[Charbroil]

Just out of curiosity, who else bid to host this? Why was UPitt chosen over those locations?

[grapesmoker]

Just out of curiosity, who else bid to host this? Why was UPitt chosen over those locations?

We had two bids altogether, and Pitt was chosen because we felt we could run a better, cheaper (for the teams) tournament there.

[Charbroil]

Just out of curiosity, who else bid to host this? Why was UPitt chosen over those locations?

We had two bids altogether, and Pitt was chosen because we felt we could run a better, cheaper (for the teams) tournament there.

If you don't mind my asking, where was the other bid?

[grapesmoker]

If you don't mind my asking, where was the other bid?

The other bid was Penn.

[grapesmoker]

What follows is the fee schedule and packet requirements for ACF Nationals 2011. Please, please, please: read and take to heart all of this information. It's here because it's important; we, the editors, believe that changes will allow us to provide you with a better, more enjoyable tournament.

This year, ACF had a vote to change the fee schedule. The changes amount to a raising of the base fee, a change to the submission schedule, the elimination of the high school discount, and the elimination of special exemptions from writing currently granted to high school teams. Actually, the latter two changes apply to all ACF tournaments henceforth. All other requirements (as detailed here) remain in force.

Fee schedule:
Base fee: $220
-$100 discount*: January 23
-$50 discount: February 6
-$25 discount: February 20
No penalty: March 6
+$25 penalty: March 13
+$50 penalty: March 20

NOTE: The deadlines have moved up! The last deadline is one full month prior to the tournament. We are doing this because in the past, entirely too many teams have been content to submit packets as late as several days before the tournament. It should be obvious to all concerned that this is unacceptable. Extensions will be handed out sparingly; while we are sympathetic to extennuating circumstances, if your only excuse appears to be that you were too much of a slacker to get it done, you may find yourself on the outside looking in come April. Currently, the choice to accept any packets beyond the +$50 deadline is entirely at the discretion of the editors. I want the following to be perfectly clear:

No packets will be accepted later than two weeks before the tournament!

I don't know how to make this any clearer. After the $50 deadline, you will owe us $10/day; if you cannot turn in a packet more than two weeks in advance of ACF Nationals, you will not be playing ACF Nationals. This is a hard and fast deadline and there will be no exceptions.

*: The astute reader will have noted the presence of an extra discount! How exciting! Let me tell you about that. The idea is that if you submit a high-quality packet by the January 23 deadline, you will receive a full $100 off your entry fee! How awesome is that?! (ANSWER: really awesome) The quality of the packet will be judged solely by the editors, primarily according to the amount of work we would have to do to bring the packet up to our high standards. This decision will be beyond appeal, and we will likely not have very much time to offer packet critiques because we'll be too busy editing. I tried this scheme this year with Chicago Open, and it worked plausibly well, so there's that extra incentive for you to get your packet in early. Even if you do not receive the $100 discount because your packet requires too much work, you will still receive the $50 discount, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by submitting early.

This announcement comes with ample time for everyone to start writing their Nationals packets and submit them as early as possible. We want to give you every opportunity to save money on this fantastic event and save us the trouble of having to edit a bunch of packets at the last minute. You should avail yourself of this chance posthaste.

All packets should be sent to acf.nationals.2011@gmail.com. You may direct any inquries to myself at grapesmoker@gmail.com, or post them in this thread. Start writing!

edit: regardless of what you may see on the official ACF website, the schedule and requirements posted here are authoritative. Of course, we expect all packets to conform to the ACF writing guidelines. Keep in mind that ACF Nationals does not have trash; if you submit any trash questions, they will simply be sent back.

[Frater Taciturnus]

If you don't mind my asking, where was the other bid?

The other bid was Penn.

That would have been fun.

[grapesmoker]

That would have been fun.

Basically, the number of teams that would have been inconvenienced didn't really depend on the site. In light of that, other metrics had to be used to break the degeneracy.

[Charbroil]

...the elimination of the high school discount, and the elimination of special exemptions from writing currently granted to high school teams. Actually, the latter two changes apply to all ACF tournaments henceforth. All other requirements (as detailed here) remain in force.

May I ask what the reasoning behind this was? Will ACF be making some sort of official announcement to this effect? That seems like it would be a good idea, at the very least, so that high school teams not interested in reading about ACF Nationals will know.

[grapesmoker]

...the elimination of the high school discount, and the elimination of special exemptions from writing currently granted to high school teams. Actually, the latter two changes apply to all ACF tournaments henceforth. All other requirements (as detailed here) remain in force.

May I ask what the reasoning behind this was? Will ACF be making some sort of official announcement to this effect? That seems like it would be a good idea, at the very least, so that high school teams not interested in reading about ACF Nationals will know.

You may consider this the official announcement. I'll probably post another thread in the high school forum on this topic. I'm not going to continue using this thread to discuss administrative ACF stuff, though. If you have questions, either email me or start another thread, and keep this one for things related to Nationals.

[grapesmoker]

I would like to remind all of you that the early early deadline for awesome packets that we don't have to edit at all is coming up THIS SUNDAY. For all practical purposes, THIS SUNDAY ends when I wake up on Monday morning and check my email. I look forward to receiving all manner of awesomeness from you all. And please don't forget to register using the Google form.

[Susan]

I'd like to add that a key factor in producing an awesome packet that we barely have to edit at all is following the distribution when you write it. For example, your ten science questions must contain 1/1 bio, 1/1 physics, and 1/1 chemistry. They should contain one question on math or computer science, one question on any other minor science topic, and 1/1 on any science topic (including more bio/physics/chem, if you would like, or questions that cover multiple fields of science if you can contrive such a thing). They should not contain more than one question on any minor science topic (including math and comp sci). Furthermore, you should vary your questions so that you don't write multiple questions on the same subtopic (i.e. only one of your chemistry questions can be on a topic from physical chemistry). We received several packets last year that had three anatomy questions, or 1/1 math, or no chemistry questions; all of these forced us to replace submitted questions that, in some cases, were basically okay but badly distributed, and that makes everyone sad. I'm not sure what the motive for skipping parts of the distribution was, but if it's fear of writing [unknown topic] because you don't know anything about it, please give it your best shot--even an inexpertly written not-ready-for-prime-time question can contain some good ideas that can be used by an editor (and also you may learn something).

I've chosen science as my example, but this obviously should hold true for all categories. The packet distribution contains detailed subdistributions for every category (though please remember that ACF Nats does not have trash questions).

[grapesmoker]

I wholeheartedly endorse the above statement. Do what Susan says, or there will be trouble.

[Charbroil]

Could we get a running update of packet submissions and team updates? Thanks!

[grapesmoker]

Could we get a running update of packet submissions and team updates? Thanks!

You'll get that when a) teams actually register, and b) they actually submit packets. I know what I'm doing.

[grapesmoker]

I am going to be using this post to track the packet submissions.

The following teams have submitted packets for the Jan. 23 deadline:

VCU A
VCU B

The following teams have submitted packets for the Feb. 6 deadline:

UCSD

The following teams have submitted packets for the Feb. 20 deadline:

Harvard
Toronto A
Michigan A

The following teams have submitted packets for the Mar. 6 deadline:

Yale A
Minnesota A
UCLA
Rice

The following teams have submitted packets for the Mar. 13 deadline:

ASU

The following teams have submitted packets for the Mar. 20 deadline:

Chicago A
Chicago B
Chicago C
Ohio State
Illinois B
Brown
Carleton
Berkeley
Virginia

The following teams have submitted packets on Mar. 23:

Columbia

The following teams have submitted packets on Mar. 24:

Illinois A

The following teams have submitted packets on Mar. 27:

Maryland

The following teams have submitted packets on Apr. 1:

State College
Carnegie Mellon

The teams that have registered so far:
1. WUSTL A
2. UCSD
3. Harvard A
4. Michigan A
5. Toronto A
6. Berkeley
7. Illinois A
8. Illinois B
9. Arizona State University
10. VCU A
11. Minnesota
12. Rice
13. UCLA
14. South Carolina
15. University of Virginia
16. Yale
17. Ohio State
18. Michigan B
19. Chicago A
20. Chicago B
21. Chicago C
22. George Mason
23. Carleton College
24. Columbia
25. Brown University
26. State College A
27. Maryland A
28. Carnegie Mellon

[grapesmoker]

This is a reminder that the February 6 deadline for receiving the $50 discount on your Nationals packet is fast approaching. So far we've received a number of solid packets and would love to see more in our mailbox this weekend.

edit: that deadline is today. By which I mean, if your packet comes in before I check my email tomorrow morning, it will be considered to have been submitted by the deadline.

[grapesmoker]

The deadline to receive $25 off your ACF Nationals entry fee is this Sunday, February 20th. That's not three days from now, and I only have the three packets listed so far. On the one hand, I think I speak for Susan and Jonathan when I say that we will enjoy shoveling gobs of your money into comically large sacks with dollar signs painted on them. On the other hand, we'd like to give you a good tournament and we can't do that if we get 20 packets at the last deadline. So write your questions.

[grapesmoker]

One week left until the no-penalty deadline for ACF Nationals packets.

[grapesmoker]

This is a reminder that the no-penalty deadline for submitting an ACF Nationals packet is this Sunday. As always, that means before I check my email on Monday morning. I note that there are a number of teams of whose attendance I am fairly certain but who have not submitted packets yet. If you are one such team (I suspect you know who you are) and I don't see a packet from you on Monday morning, you'll be hearing from me. I want to emphasize that we will be sticking to the submission rules outlined in the initial post; to wit, packets submitted after the $50 penalty deadline will be accepted only at the discretion of the editors, and packets submitted later than two weeks before the tournament will not be accepted at all. We kid you not.

[grapesmoker]

A further reminder: ACF Nationals is a trash-free tournament. Do not submit trash questions! We'll just tell you to replace them. Also, don't forget to vary your answer choices across categories and subcategories in terms of time, place, subject, etc.

[grapesmoker]

The post which tracks the packets submitted now also contains a list of teams that have registered for the tournament. I invite everyone to ponder the significance of the intersection of those two sets.

[Charbroil]

The post which tracks the packets submitted now also contains a list of teams that have registered for the tournament. I invite everyone to ponder the significance of the intersection of those two sets.

We're only going to have one team.

[grapesmoker]

The post which tracks the packets submitted now also contains a list of teams that have registered for the tournament. I invite everyone to ponder the significance of the intersection of those two sets.

We're only going to have one team.

I assume that would be WUSTL A?

[grapesmoker]

Thanks to the teams that just submitted packets. The post which tracks this information has been updated. I would like to remind everyone to please, please, please register your team using the registration form linked to in the announcement. This is especially important if you are a team that is not required to write, as otherwise we will have no way of knowing that you are attending this tournament. Even if you are required to write and have submitted a packet, please register if you have not done so. We're asking you to do this so we can do useful things like consolidate all the team information in one place and have the contact info for all of you if we need to get in touch with you for some reason.

[Cheynem]

Just to clarify, we are only going to have one team despite the "A" appellation.

[Charbroil]

The post which tracks the packets submitted now also contains a list of teams that have registered for the tournament. I invite everyone to ponder the significance of the intersection of those two sets.

We're only going to have one team.

I assume that would be WUSTL A?

For seeding purposes, it's probably just going to be me and freshmen, so I'm not sure if you want to consider us "WUSTL A." However, for naming purposes, I guess it would be WUSTL A or just WUSTL. Is that what you're referring to?

[grapesmoker]

For seeding purposes, it's probably just going to be me and freshmen, so I'm not sure if you want to consider us "WUSTL A." However, for naming purposes, I guess it would be WUSTL A or just WUSTL. Is that what you're referring to?

Since that team will be exempt from writing, why don't you figure out who is on what team or whatever and register that team when you figure it out? That would make life simple for everyone.

[grapesmoker]

I already emailed a lot of teams about this, but I just want to make a public reminder: no packets will be accepted later than two weeks before the tournament. That's Saturday, April 2nd. If it's not in my inbox by then, you won't be playing Nationals.

[grapesmoker]

Good morning, sports fans! As I'm sure you are well aware, the deadline to submit a packet and only pay a $25 penalty is approaching this Sunday. A number of you have already received an email from me expressing my displeasure at your packet lateness. That displeasure will only increase if you miss this next deadline! So get to work. I expect a veritable packet bonanza in my mailbox on Monday morning.

[grapesmoker]

It's another Friday morning, and you know what that means! That's right, another reminder to get your damn packets in already. The March 20th deadline is just around the corner, and after that things really get expensive because it's going to cost you $10/day for every day after that. And of course if you miss the April 2 deadline, you're out of the tournament altogether. I'm already mentally envisioning the diamond-encrusted house I'll be building for myself with all your late fees, and every day that you go past the March 20th deadline, that house adds features. So yeah, get your packets written and submitted.

[grapesmoker]

The expected bonanza did not fail to materialize but was not as large as it should have been. Some of you are holding out on me, and I don't appreciate that.

[grapesmoker]

There is just over a week remaining before the final deadline to turn in packets for ACF Nationals. I'm glad to say that the majority of teams have turned in their packets at this point. There are only a few packets outstanding and I hope to see them in my inbox quite soon. I don't anticipate any new registrations, so if everyone who owes a packet submits one, ACF Nationals will have 28 teams.

edit: Just in case it's not clear, the registration will formally close on April 2nd.

[Mechanical Beasts]

I don't anticipate any new registrations, so if everyone who owes a packet submits one, ACF Nationals will have 28 teams.

Would we be doing four seven team brackets into some kind of 8/6 split, or what?

[grapesmoker]

I don't anticipate any new registrations, so if everyone who owes a packet submits one, ACF Nationals will have 28 teams.

Would we be doing four seven team brackets into some kind of 8/6 split, or what?

Something like that. The exact schedule will of course be contingent on the final field, but the plan is to try and get you guys something like 20 games. Right now the plan with 28 teams actually includes 2 instances of rebracketing, i.e. 7 team brackets with RR, then two tiers of 14 teams each with two brackets within each tier (so the top 14 teams are in tier 1 and the next 14 teams are in tier 2). Then the top 4 teams in both tier 1 brackets go into the top bracket, and so on down in some kind of reasonable split. The idea here is to give teams more matches against other teams that are closer to them in strength.

[grapesmoker]

Unfortunately, it appears that every room in every university building in Pittsburgh appears to have been booked for something called the Spring Carnival. As a consequence, ACF Nationals no longer has a home and I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel the tournament. My deepest apologies to everyone.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

I thought that you could still play as long as you dressed up like a Juggalo? I already wrote my 1/1 magnets!

[Mechanical Beasts]

Unfortunately, it appears that every room in every university building in Pittsburgh appears to have been booked for something called the Spring Carnival. As a consequence, ACF Nationals no longer has a home and I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel the tournament. My deepest apologies to everyone.

I see you're celebrating April Fool's in Newfoundland this year?

[grapesmoker]

Unfortunately, it appears that every room in every university building in Pittsburgh appears to have been booked for something called the Spring Carnival. As a consequence, ACF Nationals no longer has a home and I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel the tournament. My deepest apologies to everyone.

I see you're celebrating April Fool's in Newfoundland this year?

It's an annual CMU thing.

[grapesmoker]

As it is now April 2nd, registration for ACF Nationals is now formally closed.