Search found 756 matches

by cchiego
Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
Replies: 48
Views: 21115

Re: QBWiki Addition Suggestions

Thanks to Jonah, I've gone ahead and set up a notability guidelines talk page on QBWiki that I hope in the next few weeks we can turn into a standard for notability and start pruning/deleting articles. Contributions and comments (in addition to those already mentioned on this thread) are welcome; I ...
by cchiego
Wed Dec 09, 2020 5:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
Replies: 48
Views: 21115

Re: QBWiki Addition Suggestions

A recent post on the r/quizbowl subreddit brought me to revive this topic. I think individual player pages should, with very few exceptions, be deleted. Many of them could have small parts (2-3 sentences, max) rolled into team or organization pages. There are just too many individual players to keep...
by cchiego
Wed Nov 25, 2020 6:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Bowl is back
Replies: 9
Views: 6169

Re: College Bowl is back

I've been hoping ever since I played at UGA that there could be some kind of college football/quizbowl crossover (the SEC Network needs 10 AM on a Sunday morning material after all) and any kind of televised quizbowl-ish event has the potential to be good for quizbowl. College Bowl, despite the many...
by cchiego
Wed Oct 28, 2020 5:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Expanding Online Quizbowl and Improving the Online Tournament Experience
Replies: 3
Views: 2000

Re: Expanding Online Quizbowl and Improving the Online Tournament Experience

Having sent a lot of emails (to both established teams and less established teams), there seems to be a few things restricting teams from joining online. 1. A lot of teams only have school issued chrome-books for computers to use, which generally cannot be used for discord tournaments. This and sti...
by cchiego
Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:13 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Expanding Online Quizbowl and Improving the Online Tournament Experience
Replies: 3
Views: 2000

Expanding Online Quizbowl and Improving the Online Tournament Experience

[Note: What follows applies mostly to the HS and MS level as the College level seems to have been somewhat less affected by these issues] So far, the demand for online quizbowl seems to be high (and, encouragingly, the guides to online quizbowl from NAQT and PACE are both well-done and detailed), bu...
by cchiego
Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:04 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48480

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

If the quizbowl community as a whole had matched the kind of effort that they put into "getting schools that don't play quizbowl / that play CHIP bowl or certamen or whatever to play pyramidal quizbowl" and focused it on "addressing pervasive cultural and systemic barriers that disco...
by cchiego
Wed Jul 15, 2020 2:39 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48480

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

Though I agree that requiring a school-sanctioned adult would make it easier to deal with misconduct on the part of the players, I also believe there should be exceptions for teams whose state organizations have oppressive regulations concerning the playing of quizbowl. For example, I know that Kan...
by cchiego
Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:08 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48480

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

I get the concerns here about the limitations that such restrictions would impose. School admins and coaches refusing to facilitate their schools' attendance at quizbowl tournaments is one of the many baffling things about the state of education in America and it's absolutely unfair for the students...
by cchiego
Sat Jul 11, 2020 4:02 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: General Misconduct Discussion (TW: sexual harassment)
Replies: 39
Views: 23313

Re: [TW: Sexual Harassment] Harassment in the THAT Online Quizbowl Discord

I'd strongly encourage all outreach e-mails to schools to include information about the misconduct form and codes of conduct for quiz bowl. The PACE newsletter right now does not contain a link to the misconduct form as far as I can tell. If we want programs that might not be very plugged into the ...
by cchiego
Wed Jun 10, 2020 2:08 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Online Quizbowl in the West
Replies: 12
Views: 4623

Re: The Online Quizbowl in the West

This sounds reasonable and a good idea for building up a Western circuit. Can this also then be accompanied by attempts by whomever is awarded official hosting privileges to reach out to schools such as: Reed, Whitman, Pacific, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Lewis and Clark, Occidental, Mills, St. Mary's, Po...
by cchiego
Wed May 27, 2020 2:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!
Replies: 9
Views: 3419

Re: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!

I guess the main question here is why is the Long Island QuizBowl Association trying to do a major national outreach effort. I understand that in the current online tournament situation LIQBA's events may be some of the best opportunities out there for teams to play quizbowl for the forseeable futur...
by cchiego
Thu Apr 30, 2020 9:42 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits
Replies: 15
Views: 4524

Re: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits

According to the latest Colorado Knowledge Bowl board minutes , there may also be a new non-pyramidal question writing company in town: E. Ken and Casey spoke with the directors of Minnesota and Washington KB re: question sources – These directors are likely to use Question Authorities after the dis...
by cchiego
Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:31 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits
Replies: 15
Views: 4524

Re: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits

Unfortunately, I just discovered this disappointing news : Academic Hallmarks to continue under new management April 2020 After nearly 40 years, the original Academic Hallmarks' shepherds of the Great Auk have become too long in the beak to continue. Happily, a search throughout the land yielded off...
by cchiego
Thu Apr 16, 2020 4:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Punishment for cheating in online quizbowl
Replies: 7
Views: 3638

Re: Punishment for cheating in online quizbowl

How are you determining if someone cheated or not? This to me is the bigger problem--there are very, very few admitted cheating cases out there, but lots of "suspected" ones. What's the standard of evidence that will be used to determine if there was cheating or not? Would something akin ...
by cchiego
Mon Apr 13, 2020 4:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 147177

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

One question: Is there a list somewhere of all people who are known/suspected to have cheated? Based on the posts in this thread, it's highly implied that there are (many?) other suspected cheaters out there. Are all these people receiving the same kind of intense statistical and social scrutiny as ...
by cchiego
Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 147177

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

Reinforcing a sense of (potential) public shame (that any cheaters should feel), without making any potentially-tenuous specific allegations, and allowing any potential current malefactors to quietly mend their ways, is about the best we can hope for, or failing that at least seems relatively unobj...
by cchiego
Sun Mar 29, 2020 8:15 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Problem of the West
Replies: 9
Views: 4113

Re: The Problem of the West

Distance: This is the most obvious one. Colleges are just further apart out west, so a student needs to be more committed before they're willing to attend a tournament. This makes it significantly harder to retain people and grow clubs. Transportation: Similar to, but distinct from the distance iss...
by cchiego
Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Expanding the Collegiate Circuit
Replies: 2
Views: 1648

Re: Expanding the Collegiate Circuit

This, along with Matt Mitchell's recent post (which has some Western-US-specific notes, but a lot of similar issues about expanding to new schools in general), is a great step forward though it's notable that such proposals seem to not generate as much enthusiastic discussion as other topics. [EFT-o...
by cchiego
Sun Mar 22, 2020 8:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54220

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

The Issue: Building Up More Competitive College Teams Karthik's post really hits at the key underlying issue here, which is what happens to people who don't go to schools with strong, well-established quizbowl programs like Berkeley, Columbia, Chicago, Maryland, Michigan, Penn, Stanford, UVA, Yale,...
by cchiego
Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:01 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Joint Quizbowl Project
Replies: 26
Views: 8967

Re: Joint Quizbowl Project

I am thrilled that Reinstein has announced this and hope to see multiple projects come out of it. As far as outreach goes, I actually think right now would be an excellent time to lay the groundwork for outreach in various regions over the summer and into the Fall; you can make lists of schools, gat...
by cchiego
Fri Mar 06, 2020 1:14 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: 5th of March Incident
Replies: 13
Views: 9811

Re: 5th of March Incident

Bruce has it. I'd love to see what the quizbowl community could do by coming together for something similar every year--it could be writing a novice or a themed mini-tournament, it could be a coordinated outreach push, it could be a mass mentorship (virtual) meetup, or it could be upgrading various ...
by cchiego
Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:22 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Basic Steps Towards Quizbowl Professionalization for Tournaments: Cut the Acronyms and Pseudonyms
Replies: 7
Views: 4784

Re: Basic Steps Towards Quizbowl Professionalization for Tournaments: Cut the Acronyms and Pseudonyms

as I've heard some people suggest, is calling for like hyper professionalism in which all staffers must wear blazers and khakis Note too that the "dress code" (which I would say means nice jeans and such are fine) was the lowest priority here, mostly in terms of "don't look like you ...
by cchiego
Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Basic Steps Towards Quizbowl Professionalization for Tournaments: Cut the Acronyms and Pseudonyms
Replies: 7
Views: 4784

Basic Steps Towards Quizbowl Professionalization for Tournaments: Cut the Acronyms and Pseudonyms

Quizbowl has come a long way in the past decade or so, but still could generally use a bit more professionalism in terms of selling the activity to outsiders (and thus securing more funding/more interest) and avoiding the perception of being a weird, insiders-only activity. There are a few basic ste...
by cchiego
Sat Feb 22, 2020 1:05 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Getting people to take over running a club
Replies: 1
Views: 3247

Re: Getting people to take over running a club

Some assorted thoughts that, while they won't necessarily ensure as orderly of a leadership transition as you'd ideally like, might help keep the club alive in the future if you don't find someone willing to take over as the club leader: You want to "seed" the club before you leave with al...
by cchiego
Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ideal Host Cities for a Nationals Event
Replies: 10
Views: 5155

Re: Ideal Host Cities for a Nationals Event

The best thing that quizbowlers on the West Coast who want national tournaments out there can do is work to develop more quizbowl teams and staff on the West Coast. There are 50-60 million people between CA, OR, WA, NV, and AZ and, despite some recent successful outreach efforts, there is a ton of u...
by cchiego
Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:37 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cross-Post: NAQT Timing Discussion
Replies: 37
Views: 9521

Re: Cross-Post: NAQT Timing Discussion

Is it really true that NAQT timing rules are commonly used in high school? I would have thought not; at any rate it wasn't the case in my local circuit when I worked at local tournaments. Oh yes, it is. While it varies somewhat depending on the host, I know in PA at least Manheim Township's tournam...
by cchiego
Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:49 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits
Replies: 15
Views: 4524

Re: Introducing pyramidal quiz bowl to Knowledge Bowl circuits

Reinstein is correct. I've also changed my mind over the years about the effectiveness of discussing pyramidal questions in an opening email and agree that a focus instead on professionalism and a better experience overall would work better. Once you've struck up a conversation (or ideally met in-pe...
by cchiego
Fri Jan 03, 2020 8:36 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State, 2017 Edition
Replies: 30
Views: 25350

Re: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State, 2017 Edition

Yes, I am planning a new data-intensive version of these rankings that I hope will be illustrative of the considerable challenges remaining in terms of outreach yet will also recognize those states that have made significant improvements recently in various areas (if possible, I'm looking to add rur...
by cchiego
Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:17 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Teams Traveling Long Distances to Dominate New/Emerging Circuit Tournaments
Replies: 7
Views: 4256

Re: Teams Traveling Long Distances to Dominate New/Emerging Circuit Tournaments

I can (and will) only speak from my own experience with this, but when we started up the Hoover Invitational, we pulled local teams exclusively. By the fourth or fifth year, however, two things were clear - one, that we had a tournament where one or two local teams would be dominant, and everyone e...
by cchiego
Sun Nov 24, 2019 11:13 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Teams Traveling Long Distances to Dominate New/Emerging Circuit Tournaments
Replies: 7
Views: 4256

Teams Traveling Long Distances to Dominate New/Emerging Circuit Tournaments

If a team drives 5+ hours to an off-the-typical-circuit tournament to have their A and B teams basically annihilate all the local competition (and it was pretty obvious from the get-go that they would do so), why, exactly, travel to that tournament in the first place? To be clear, I don't mean an av...
by cchiego
Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: CATT XV @ Chattahoochee High School (11/9/19 - WAIT)
Replies: 9
Views: 5091

Re: CATT XV @ Chattahoochee High School (11/9/19 - WAIT)

Edited per the request of the TDs; simply see here for some general advice on tournament formatting, especially avoiding rebrackets at a time other than lunch. Also, a general point that seeking to be a PACE qualifier may not always be ideal for all tournaments.
by cchiego
Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:31 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?
Replies: 14
Views: 7808

Re: Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?

This seal has been through some drubbings. I came in as a complete novice to Quizbowl last year (didn't offer it in Central Washington) and my game reflected that. I had a lot of rounds where I didn't have a chance to buzz on, not to mention correctly answering, any questions. Had we not had Thatch...
by cchiego
Mon Oct 28, 2019 4:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?
Replies: 14
Views: 7808

Re: Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?

College Quizbowl is not the only activity where the really good teams are significantly better than the brand new teams. There are a ton of activities that fit that pattern, and most are healthier than college quizbowl (though from my perch in 2010, it sure looks like college quizbowl is much healt...
by cchiego
Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:09 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?
Replies: 14
Views: 7808

Should Baby Seals Smile While Being Clubbed? Or: Why Should Newer Teams Stick Around College Quizbowl?

Should baby seals smile and accept their clubbings at quizbowl tournaments? Is it necessary for new teams, teams from remote circuits, or teams at less-wealthy/less-selective colleges that go to college tournaments that claim to be "designed to serve as an introduction to college quizbowl"...
by cchiego
Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:04 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What's the State of the College Game?
Replies: 12
Views: 7275

Re: What's the State of the College Game?

First, more established members of the quizbowl community should reach out to new teams' leadership and strike up a relationship so that you can check in and help them overcome obstacles like organizational or funding issues. This would also be useful in planning for leadership transitions and for ...
by cchiego
Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What's the State of the College Game?
Replies: 12
Views: 7275

Re: What's the State of the College Game?

This is a broader point, but outreach at the HS level and college level cannot be seen in isolation from each other. It's incumbent on college teams to do outreach and host HS events to build up a pipeline of new players. College teams should be especially interested in doing outreach to a broader r...
by cchiego
Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Early Fall Tournament (EFT) at Boise State on 10/19/19
Replies: 7
Views: 4696

Re: Early Fall Tournament (EFT) at Boise State on 10/19/19

Is there anything that the rest of quizbowl can do to help ensure that the flagship state universities of three Western states have more than just 1-member quizbowl teams in the future? It's great that there is at least one dedicated player at these schools, but it seems like there's the danger that...
by cchiego
Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:24 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Enlighten me on the North Jersey circuit
Replies: 10
Views: 4466

Re: Enlighten me on the North Jersey circuit

There are some other good posts about the recent state of NJ quizbowl as a whole in this thread . I'm sure past/current NJ coaches and players have more info too to add to some of the questions here. -- Does NORJAC still exist? Does it still pull a lot of teams? Is there any chance there’s a list of...
by cchiego
Mon Sep 23, 2019 4:00 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty
Replies: 35
Views: 17894

Re: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty

Mike's post is quite thoughtful. I agree that there's always the worry that people will like super-easy questions and never want to move beyond that. I'm well-aware that there's a history of people/teams who should know better playing far too easy questions. That always needs to be taken into consid...
by cchiego
Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:17 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty
Replies: 35
Views: 17894

Re: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty

Just so I can understand what happened-- When you say 5-30%, do you mean 5-30% of individuals or 5-30% of times you read those questions to a group of 10 or however many students? Also, was there any explanation of what pyramidality is and the importance of sticking with a question when you don't k...
by cchiego
Sun Sep 22, 2019 2:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty
Replies: 35
Views: 17894

Re: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty

I do question Chris' assertion that the sample NAQT packet is outrageously hard for MSers. Some of the questions he singled out as unreasonably difficult were a tossup on the constellation Orion, a tossup on Switzerland's geography (i.e., the Alps, the Matterhorn, Zurich), and Cain from the Bible. ...
by cchiego
Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty
Replies: 35
Views: 17894

Rethinking Middle School/Novice Difficulty

Quizbowl should be in every school in the country or, at the very least, as many schools as those that currently have debate, Model UN, drama, or chess clubs (which is a pretty high percentage!). But it's not going to get there if the easiest questions that are out there are a very high cliff to cli...
by cchiego
Fri Aug 23, 2019 11:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Strangest Misconceptions about Quizbowl
Replies: 0
Views: 5164

Strangest Misconceptions about Quizbowl

Quizbowlers around the country have probably encountered people who aren't very familiar with quizbowl. These people may have some interesting ideas about what quizbowl is. I'll start with two: After a long email exchange about the merits of pyramidal questions, a very frustrated administrator told ...
by cchiego
Sat Aug 10, 2019 4:28 pm
Forum: New Collegiate Teams
Topic: Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams
Replies: 7
Views: 11314

Re: Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams

The added issue of starting a team at a small college is that very few people have quiz bowl experience, and are thus more likely to struggle in categories like literature, fine arts, RMPSS, etc., even at the Fall and (especially) EFT difficulty levels. Many players on my team have been discouraged...
by cchiego
Sun Jul 28, 2019 12:16 am
Forum: New Collegiate Teams
Topic: Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams
Replies: 7
Views: 11314

Re: Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams

For point 2, I am assuming what you are suggesting is add and space out more "introductory" type tournaments....I'm curious as to how many introductory type tournaments you think the schedule should have and when they should be. Yes, there should be more introductory/DII-type events. I go...
by cchiego
Sat Jul 27, 2019 11:36 pm
Forum: New Collegiate Teams
Topic: Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams
Replies: 7
Views: 11314

Logistical Barriers to Starting Successful Collegiate Quizbowl Teams

Given that I will be teaching this year at a school that does not currently have an active quizbowl team (though there's a good chance that will change soon!) and is in very close proximity to a number of other colleges and universities that also lack active teams, I've been thinking through some of...
by cchiego
Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:31 pm
Forum: New Collegiate Teams
Topic: Restarting the Mississippi State Quiz Bowl Team
Replies: 5
Views: 9735

Re: Restarting the Mississippi State Quiz Bowl Team

Great to see Mississippi State is restarting! I played against the late 2000s iteration of the team (I think they were mostly Madison Central alumni) and they were a good group of folks who were fun to have at events. Some responses to each of your questions: 1. About what number of teams should be ...
by cchiego
Mon May 06, 2019 1:33 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media
Replies: 26
Views: 16435

Re: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media

I could liveblog the tournament from my laptop and provide instant commentary. If wanted, I could even do interviews and such before and after matches... I could use the liveblog as a way to keep friends, family, teachers, principals, teammates, etc. in touch during the tournament. Each round, I'd ...
by cchiego
Sun May 05, 2019 4:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media
Replies: 26
Views: 16435

Re: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media

In light of the SSNCT, a few additional, specific comments about social media during nationals. First, the good: NAQT did a great job of providing lots of material. There were tons of pictures and tweets from the site as well as some good interviews with teams and coaches. The raw material was solid...
by cchiego
Thu May 02, 2019 12:42 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media
Replies: 26
Views: 16435

Re: NAQT, Outreach, and Social Media

I'm very glad that NAQT posted this. PR is definitely a place where collaboration between NAQT and the community is essential. I'm also thrilled to hear that there will be major improvements in the video/audio recorded at tournaments this year and hope that this continues in the future. Some specifi...