The Quizbowl Resource Center

After some planning over the internet, the first episode of the High School Quizbowl Podcast (or Up Late with Eric Xu, courtesy of Nate Weiser and my early bedtime) has been recorded tonight and should be uploaded as soon as Alston does some editing on it! The talking members of this podcast were Pat Leblanc of High Tech, Nate Weiser of LASA, Eric Xu of Western Albemarle, Hidehiro Anto of Menlo, and Alston Boyd of Bloomington, with Sameen Belal contributing in the chat. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the podcast format, only about 5 or 6 people will be able to be on this podcast at a time. However, I do want to have some community involvement in this project, so I will be contacting more people for specific episodes on specific topics, trying to create the best product for the most informative listening! Feedback is appreciated, hope the community enjoys!

If you want someone to key in on Ohio/West Virginia/ west PA, let me know.

Here is the first edition of the podcast! Some trouble was run into when editing this, but this should be fixed for next episode. I will be asking some people knowledgeable to make guest appearances on episodes depending on the focus of the episode, but let me know what everyone thinks! The first one is midseason review for basically all of it, but this will be diversified in future uploads.

Edit: removed link; podcast apparently inadvertently revealed private information

Apologies for the unedited part, that has been taken care of now and the podcast can be found here! Comments are very very welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/xkcdlover1/high- ... -podcast-1

Einhard wrote:Apologies for the unedited part, that has been taken care of now and the podcast can be found here! Comments are very very welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/xkcdlover1/high- ... -podcast-1

Very informative and thorough, I think you pegged us right on.

Einhard wrote:Apologies for the unedited part, that has been taken care of now and the podcast can be found here! Comments are very very welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/xkcdlover1/high- ... -podcast-1

Pretty neat! However, listening to your first section, it sounds like you guys will probably need a SoCal specialist in the future. Admittedly, we're a very isolated circuit (as everybody likes to remind us), so the brevity of the section was a bit expected.

If you have room for another contributor next time around, I can probably provide some very detailed commentary on the west coast (particularly SoCal, of course).

Einhard wrote:Apologies for the unedited part, that has been taken care of now and the podcast can be found here! Comments are very very welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/xkcdlover1/high- ... -podcast-1

I think this podcast is a great idea! Do you know what topics you'll talk about in future episodes?

Maybe discussing how to study in general or more specific topics such as improving bonus conversion could be beneficial to the community.

Possible topics that we have considered include things like studying, running a circuit, and several others. A discussion of studying techniques is likely to make up our next podcast. We have some other ideas in the works as well, but we don't want to spoil everything yet!

This Urn Is So Grecian wrote:Possible topics that we have considered include things like studying, running a circuit, and several others. A discussion of studying techniques is likely to make up our next podcast. We have some other ideas in the works as well, but we don't want to spoil everything yet!

This above! As I've told other people, the nature of the podcast means that only around 5 to 6 people can be on one episode at one time, and although every person in the community has his or her unique take on the community, all of which is viable and interesting, it's impossible to have everyone on at once without chaos ensuing. The podcast I was envisioning would have a unique set of guests every podcast, and every member of the podcast would be able to contribute to the theme of the podcast in their own way.

Although I will be inviting people to be on the podcast myself, I hope that there won't be talk of "exclusiveness" and a "Quizbowl elite" or anything nonsensical like that in the podcast. The people invited to be on the podcast will be people who have proven themselves to be capable of providing good information regarding the topic at hand. I don't mean to exclude anyone from the community at all, this podcast is intended to provide an interesting and informative discussion about Quizbowl in general around the country.

The next podcast will most likely be in two or three weeks in all likelihood, after the guests are lined up. Studying techniques will indeed be the topic, after a brief summary of all the regions and a more in-depth analysis of some areas not covered in the last podcast, such as SoCal and the South.

I'm very happy to see the positive reception that the podcast has received in the community and hope to be able to provide more content in the future!

Edit: Quick word about length. I've gotten word from some that the podcast is too long (100 minutes is quite a lot), and while people can skip around to listen to bits that they want to hear, the podcast will probably be reduced to something like an hour in the future.

Einhard wrote:Edit: Quick word about length. I've gotten word from some that the podcast is too long (100 minutes is quite a lot), and while people can skip around to listen to bits that they want to hear, the podcast will probably be reduced to something like an hour in the future.

Perhaps include a written index with each episode of subjects discussed.

One thing I like about Sound cloud is that you can add comments/tags to specific times in the recording, so that could be used to mark which teams/topics/regions are being introduced at which time.

Christ, I Know wrote:One thing I like about Sound cloud is that you can add comments/tags to specific times in the recording, so that could be used to mark which teams/topics/regions are being introduced at which time.

Grams's Go-Go Boots wrote:Perhaps include a written index with each episode of subjects discussed.

Noted and done! I will probably learn some more about soundcloud before the next episode; if there's anywhere else that this podcast can/should be posted, I'm open to getting more exposure for it to people who maybe don't frequent the forums as much.

If there is a future podcast section about "The South" I wouldn't mind talking about the NC circuit

This podcast was great! I really enjoyed listening.
I'm not surprised that Ithaca got skipped when talking about the Northeast circuit, because not many people know who we are. I don't know if you're going to do any more reviews of teams, but if you do, I can give you a bit of information about us (and any NY/NJ/PA teams).

I would also be interested in providing some information on the Southern quiz bowl teams.

One thing I'd very much like to see in the future is examining generalist v. specialist situations.

EBAcademicTeam wrote:One thing I'd very much like to see in the future is examining generalist v. specialist situations.

This. Also, I could definitely talk about the PA circuit if needed.

msbg360 wrote:If there is a future podcast section about "The South" I wouldn't mind talking about the NC circuit

And likewise, I could cover Kentucky in depth.

The 2nd episode of "Up Late with Eric Xu" has been posted, and now, it has a website! Hooray! http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/ The length of the podcast has been cut down to an hour, and although the first half of this podcast is regional overviews, we will be doing less of that in the next two podcasts and focusing more on the discussion, which happens in the 2nd half. Comments on the website, on the forums, or on the souncloud file would all be appreciated greatly!

The link to Episode 1 on the website is currently 404ing fyi

I really enjoyed the discussion on theory. Some really good analyses there. I also enjoyed listening to the tips, some of which I want to implement now to my study routine. Well done, Eric and crew

Lots of noises.

Edit: did someone... kick a baby?!

One of next podcast's goals as far as techincal aspects go will be to cut down on some of the background noises that can still be heard in the podcast (babies crying, Facebook and Google Hangouts noises, typing, etc.) I will also probably be changing the website on which the podcast is hosted on, since I wasn't aware of SoundCloud's 2 hour limit. While there might be other websites online that will let the podcast be hosted for free or for less than SoundCloud, if anyone has any space that they want the podcast to be hosted on, PM me please!

I would like to see discussions on each specialty (how to study them and some common problems and topics), starting with the big 3 and moving towards the smaller specialities.

samus149 wrote:I would like to see discussions on each specialty (how to study them and some common problems and topics), starting with the big 3 and moving towards the smaller specialities.

Consider this done! Maybe not immediately, but I will be thinking about which podcast lineup to use for this and discussing this in the future. Ideas are very welcome, keep them coming! The podcast is mainly intended to reflect the wishes of the community.

Due to Soundcloud limitations, I have migrated to putting the audio onto Yourlisten.com. http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/ The website will still have the links to all the podcasts, so be sure to check them out from there!

I'd personally like to see some tips for History Bowl/History Bee. I remember getting destroyed by Eric Xu last year in Rd 5 of JV History Bee last year(you probably don't remember me at all), so any help on history would be much appreciated!

Hey! I like Quizbowl, and am dying to relive my high school years, so if you ever need me as a SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER for a topic of your choosing, let me know!

Nirav tells me that you guys would like to have someone talk about Georgia, and since he doesn't seem to have the time to do it, I could give it a try.

At some point (read: after our high school US Nationals) let me know if you'd want me to be a guest speaker on the topic of quizbowl outside North America.

I'd like to hear one on recruiting, keeping members and how teams do practices... Although I guess that has less to do with playing quizbowl and more with keeping a team together.

In the next episode, I hope to hear about your observations of the teams in the Texas Invitational.

JHuh33 wrote:In the next episode, I hope to hear about your observations of the teams in the Texas Invitational.

Already got it! The next episode should be released sometime tomorrow.

I just wanted to say that these podcasts are great, and I hope they can help me become improve as a player. So keep them coming!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... podcast-3/

Podcast #3 is up! This iteration features talk about studying techniques for various subjects after the regional review, be sure to check it out!

Einhard wrote:http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... podcast-3/

Podcast #3 is up! This iteration features talk about studying techniques for various subjects after the regional review, be sure to check it out!

'

Would be nice to see further breakdowns in the tracklist for the 20 minute regional reviews, so we can skip to the regions we want to hear about.

Masked Canadian History Bandit wrote:

Einhard wrote:http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... podcast-3/

Podcast #3 is up! This iteration features talk about studying techniques for various subjects after the regional review, be sure to check it out!

'

Would be nice to see further breakdowns in the tracklist for the 20 minute regional reviews, so we can skip to the regions we want to hear about.

I did those for the first few podcasts and this one wasn't done due to my being needed at a students vs. faculty fundraising event in the morning. In the future, I'll make sure to break that down as well!

Also, as far as content goes, I appreciate the suggestions very much and hope they keep coming in to me! (Facebook, PM, email, reply in this thread, etc). If anybody here wants to publicize the podcast by putting it on their website, maybe like PACE or hsquizbowl.org or the SoCal Quizbowl website or anything like that, feel free! This is for the community and I won't make any money off of it or anything, so just post it wherever you think people want to see it.

Fourth podcast is up! http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... podcast-4/. Monstrous problems with YourListen actually accepting it, but it's finally there. Lots of discussion in this one after regional reviews, including talks on coaching, tournament habits, and note taking in games. The discussion is worth watching even if not a high school quizbowl player!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... ed-morlan/

Something a little bit special this time! In this special "episode" of about 20 minutes, I interview Fred Morlan about rankings and general Quizbowl things. It's a great interview, so make sure to check out all the cool stuff Fred has to say!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... -5-part-1/

Seeing as nationals season is a week away, I thought it'd be a good idea to spend Episode 5 talking all about the top 50 and their strengths and weaknesses leading up to the 3 nationals coming up soon! Episode 5 will be broken up into 5 parts, with one part coming out every day from today until Thursday. Each part will focus on 10 teams, starting from 50-41 and working up to the top 10. Hope everyone enjoys!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... -5-part-2/

Part 2 with teams ranked 40-31 here!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... -5-part-3/

3 out of 5. 30-21 this time, getting close to the top 10! Considering there may not be a blog post this year, this is the closest thing that'll come to it!

http://yourlisten.com/xkcdlover/podcast-5-20-11

After this one, one left to go! Teams 20-11 are getting really strong, so make sure you listen to it before nationals to get an idea of who you should fear in your bracket!

Fun fact, initially, I apparently uploaded some random electronic dance music instead of the podcast... This has since been fixed!

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... -5-part-5/

Final part of the massive Episode 5. Lots of discussion in this one, but if you care anything about high school Quizbowl, it's definitely worth a listen. Comments and suggestions to me are always appreciated!

To respond to a couple things from the 20-11 segment:

1) A team not playing tournaments at full strength with my rankings would result in that team being ranked lower than it would otherwise be, not higher. They would have depressed PPBs, hurting their placement.

2) I'm not sure how PACE's format will "screw you" if you lose at the "wrong time."

If you are referring to Carbondale, I was under the impression that most of the aPPBs that got them high in the first place were with their full team, and what I was trying to say is that since they haven't played together much they may not be as good.

http://quizbowlpodcast.wordpress.com/20 ... ve-madden/

Interview with Dave Madden, for all your Dave Madden related inquiries and needs!

I can provide some information on the South as well as study strategies (general and more specific)!