Charity Tournament Possibility

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SoLegit12
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Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by SoLegit12 »

Dear fellow members of the quizbowl community,

I know the concept of a charity tournament has come up, but has been blemished.
I really like the idea of our community coming together, spreading both knowledge and charity, all in one day.
Maybe this money could go to Pakistani relief efforts, the Red Cross, or whatever. That can be decided later.

This is mostly an interest check, as I want to see who would help edit, write, and mirror this tournament.
Nick "Nick" Neuteufel
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Scott
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Scott »

I would be willing to write some music and/or lit for it.
Or anything else that would be helpful.
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ryandillon
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by ryandillon »

Yeah if you need anyone to edit/write lit let me know. I'm sure I could chip in.
Ryan Dillon

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Kahloon
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Kahloon »

I can write and/or edit science, lit, RMP, or almost anything else.
Idrees Kahloon
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Faiyad »

I can try to write/edit a few Science tossups/bonuses as well.

Nick, you can contact me at fmannan93[AT]gmail[DOT]com.
Faiyad Mannan,
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Rococo A Go Go »

I'd be willing to write some history questions for this.

Edit: And if you include current events in the distribution, I could write questions there too.
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by WSchneider »

I'd be willing to contribute some questions as well
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Charbroil »

On a more limited level, have you ever considered just mirroring an existing event for charity? That would take much less work and be much simpler, especially given that there are quite a few housewrites out there which are still underused.
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SoLegit12
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by SoLegit12 »

Charbroil wrote:On a more limited level, have you ever considered just mirroring an existing event for charity? That would take much less work and be much simpler, especially given that there are quite a few housewrites out there which are still underused.
1) Work is not the most important thing
2) That means less money would go to charity
3) I had an idea of offering this set to places with bad quizbowl for free to spread good quizbowl.
Nick "Nick" Neuteufel
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Frater Taciturnus
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Frater Taciturnus »

SoLegit12 wrote:
Charbroil wrote:On a more limited level, have you ever considered just mirroring an existing event for charity? That would take much less work and be much simpler, especially given that there are quite a few housewrites out there which are still underused.
1) Work is not the most important thing
2) That means less money would go to charity
3) I had an idea of offering this set to places with bad quizbowl for free to spread good quizbowl.

There are multiple sets which are available totally without mirror fees including BATE.
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Charbroil »

SoLegit12 wrote:3) I had an idea of offering this set to places with bad quizbowl for free to spread good quizbowl.
Just to note, the Fall Novice Tournament sounds great for this (even if it isn't free), and you could always ask if a mirror with proceeds going to charity could receive some discount.
Charles Hang
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AlphaQuizBowler
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by AlphaQuizBowler »

This is a question I had the last time a Charity Tournament was discussed: what money is going to go to charity? Because I think it's an amazing idea if you want to write a set, charge maybe $10 per team mirror fee, and donate that money to charity. But if you are expecting teams to host this tournament and donate the entry fees to charity, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. The main (if not only) reason that teams host tournaments is to raise money to play quiz bowl, and with teams already generally low in funds due to the economy, I think you'd have a hard time finding any takers for that option. In my opinion, the money that most high school quiz bowl tournaments make already goes to a good cause: the furthering education of high school students through their participation in quiz bowl.

I'm all for supporting charitable causes, but I just want to point out that quiz bowl teams don't just amass wealth for no reason: they make money to play quiz bowl.
William
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by mkanu »

Perhaps this need not be done at the school level. What if this were run at a national tournament as a side event? I could be practice for teams prior to the actual tournament.
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dtaylor4
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by dtaylor4 »

mkanu wrote:Perhaps this need not be done at the school level. What if this were run at a national tournament as a side event? I could be practice for teams prior to the actual tournament.
What national? Logistically, this would be a nightmare.
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Matt Weiner
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Matt Weiner »

AlphaQuizBowler wrote:This is a question I had the last time a Charity Tournament was discussed: what money is going to go to charity? Because I think it's an amazing idea if you want to write a set, charge maybe $10 per team mirror fee, and donate that money to charity. But if you are expecting teams to host this tournament and donate the entry fees to charity, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. The main (if not only) reason that teams host tournaments is to raise money to play quiz bowl, and with teams already generally low in funds due to the economy, I think you'd have a hard time finding any takers for that option. In my opinion, the money that most high school quiz bowl tournaments make already goes to a good cause: the furthering education of high school students through their participation in quiz bowl.

I'm all for supporting charitable causes, but I just want to point out that quiz bowl teams don't just amass wealth for no reason: they make money to play quiz bowl.
I agree with this. There are plenty of entities within quizbowl that badly need money, including schools from underfunded districts that are being denied the opportunity to play by economic circumstances. Setting a precedent for a certain percentage of the quizbowl calendar and quizbowl economy to be directed outwards into what will surely be a not-very-significant $500 donation to earthquake relief or whatever seems like it could really backfire. If people really need to put some sort of good works on their college apps by doing an event like this, at least donate the money to those who need it within the high school quizbowl community.
Matt Weiner
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Mechanical Beasts
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

Matt's right; I felt comfortable taking Amit's charity writers under the Fall Novice auspices precisely because I think it's reasonable to construe "not charging mirror fees so that hosts can make it cheaper to play the tournament" (or "not charging mirror fees so that an underfunded team can get some money together") as a productive act of charity.
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SoLegit12
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by SoLegit12 »

I think that quizbowl for quizbowl's sake is a good idea. I like the idea of all mirror fees to go to charity. But I also think a somewhat small percentage of the other entry fees should go to underfunded teams/districts. I just put Pakistan because I was thinking about that idea that day, but I left the charity spot open on purpose. The thing though is, where would this go?

My initial thought is to start like a foundation or group or whatever to distribute the money to teams that apply and show need. The group could be run by an elected board or whatever to decide where the money would go after this/other charity tournaments would go to. I think a concrete group would be more accountable and more comforting than telling teams that "this money will go to underserved quizbowl teams."

Thoughts?

George/Berry/whatever you want to be called: I also wanted more people to learn to write questions and contribute to a full-fledged charity effort. But mirroring an already-free tournament would be great too. I also just enjoy writing questions.
Nick "Nick" Neuteufel
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dtaylor4
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by dtaylor4 »

SoLegit12 wrote:I think that quizbowl for quizbowl's sake is a good idea. I like the idea of all mirror fees to go to charity. But I also think a somewhat small percentage of the other entry fees should go to underfunded teams/districts. I just put Pakistan because I was thinking about that idea that day, but I left the charity spot open on purpose. The thing though is, where would this go?

My initial thought is to start like a foundation or group or whatever to distribute the money to teams that apply and show need. The group could be run by an elected board or whatever to decide where the money would go after this/other charity tournaments would go to. I think a concrete group would be more accountable and more comforting than telling teams that "this money will go to underserved quizbowl teams."

Thoughts?

George/Berry/whatever you want to be called: I also wanted more people to learn to write questions and contribute to a full-fledged charity effort. But mirroring an already-free tournament would be great too. I also just enjoy writing questions.
A quizbowl charity already exists: Matt's Buzzers. Every December, it holds a random drawing, and two teams are given grants to be put towards buying a buzzer set.
SoLegit12
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by SoLegit12 »

I meant a charity to coordinate with Matt's Buzzers, not just for buzzers, but funding for travel or financially helping them experience the greatness of good quizbowl.
Nick "Nick" Neuteufel
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TheDoctor
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Re: Charity Tournament Possibility

Post by TheDoctor »

The Scholastic Community Outreach Program does something like this, though it's currently only for Illinois. SCOP runs free workshops for new teams, provides study sheets, and works with tournaments to offer discounts to participating novice schools. We're working this year on raising money to expand our efforts, and we hope to begin subsidizing new tournaments that offer discounts to novice schools in the next couple of years.

If you end up going this route and creating a quiz bowl-oriented charity, please drop me an e-mail (strey [dot] k [dot] a [at] gmail [dot] com). I'd love to hear your ideas, and I really think we'll be able to help each other and the community.
Kristin Strey
SCOP
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Head Coach, Thurgood Marshall School (Rockford) (2022-)
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