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HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:39 am
by AGoodMan
Hello everyone,

On behalf of the Harvard Quiz Bowl team, I am excited to announce the main site for the 13th annual Harvard Fall Tournament, on November 10th, 2018.

Logistics:
The tournament will be held in four buildings in the Tercentenary Theatre, which is located right next to Harvard Yard. We recommend using the MBTA Red Line to get to the tournament, since parking options are limited in Harvard Square and the traffic can be quite unpredictable. We are aiming to start the first round at 9:00 AM and having most rounds finish by 6:00 PM at the latest (teams in finals or tiebreakers may need to stay until 6:30 PM). There will be preliminary and playoff rounds, with re-bracketing in between. A lunch break will take place when most convenient, and teams will have access to a variety of food options in Harvard Square. Parking is admittedly difficult in Cambridge, but this is probably the best option.

I, Jonathan Suh, am the tournament director, and I can be reached at either [email protected].

Registration:
The field size is hard-capped at 32 teams. The field has filled up to capacity relatively quickly in previous years, so act swiftly if you want to guarantee your spot at HFT. We will have a first-come, first-served waitlist if there are more teams than our field size. Finally, team sizes will be capped at six players.

To register, email me at [email protected] or post in this thread. Please include "HFT Registration" in the email subject, and specify the number of teams and any relevant discounts. Registrations are not complete until I respond in some fashion saying so!

Fees:
Tournament fees/discounts are the following:
+$90 per attending team
-$5 per working buzzer system (must have power cord and 8 functional buzzers, maximum three buzzer systems per organization)
-$10 per experienced scorekeeper (must be familiar with quiz bowl rules/scoring)
-$20 per experienced moderator (must be familiar with quiz bowl rules/scoring, and have good pronunciation, speed, and reading skills)

All discounts are applied per organization, and the minimum average fee for any team in an organization is $60. We reserve the right to revoke discounts for violations in good faith, and the right to charge additional penalties for egregious and blatant violations. Teams dropping out after 9:00 PM EST on November 9th will still be responsible for the entirety of the fee, even if no longer attending (we will make exceptions for valid medical, weather, and other emergencies at our discretion). As stated last year, we will try to be understanding, and this policy will not punish teams uncertain of their initial field, but it is unfair to our program and other teams attending to drop without any fair warning.

We will accept cash and checks made out to "Harvard College Bowl" on the day of the tournament. Invoices will be provided upon request.

Set Details:
Details for HFT XIII can be found here.

Final Comments:
We will do our utmost to ensure that the tournament will be run much more smoothly than last year's tournament. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions relating to the tournament! If you're coming from out-of-town, I'll be more than happy to provide suggestions relating to food, transportation, things to do, etc.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:42 am
by AGoodMan
Field (Team/Buzzers/Moderators/Scorekeepers):
Lexington (3/1/0/0)
Belmont (2/1/0/0)
Phillips Academy (2/2/0/0)
Boston Latin (2/2/1/1)
Plymouth, NH (1/1/1/0)
Wilton, CT (1/0/0/0)
Hunter, NY (2/0/0/0)
AMSA (2/2/1/0)
Hanover, NH (2/3/0/0)
Glasgow, KY (1/0/0/0)
Greens Farms Academy, CT (1/1/1/0)
Kellenberg, NY (2/3/0/1)
DCC, MI (2/1/0/0)
Millburn, NJ (1/1/0/0)
*pseudonym (1/0/0/0)
TOTAL (25/18/4/2)

Waitlist:

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 1:11 am
by jonpin
AGoodMan wrote:Final Comments:
We will do our utmost to ensure that the tournament will be run much more smoothly than last year's tournament. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions relating to the tournament! If you're coming from out-of-town, I'll be more than happy to provide suggestions relating to food, transportation, things to do, etc.
Seeing that Harvard/MIT's November math tournament and Harvard's mock trial event are also scheduled for the same day again, I hope that sometime in the fall you will touch base with the people responsible for those events, to make sure you're not all planning to use the same building, as you were last year.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:14 am
by AGoodMan
jonpin wrote:
AGoodMan wrote:Final Comments:
We will do our utmost to ensure that the tournament will be run much more smoothly than last year's tournament. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions relating to the tournament! If you're coming from out-of-town, I'll be more than happy to provide suggestions relating to food, transportation, things to do, etc.
Seeing that Harvard/MIT's November math tournament and Harvard's mock trial event are also scheduled for the same day again, I hope that sometime in the fall you will touch base with the people responsible for those events, to make sure you're not all planning to use the same building, as you were last year.
You're absolutely right, and I've been in contact with Mock Trial, HMMT, and the school building representatives since April. Our current plan is to use four different buildings all located within Tercentenary Theater (Sever, Robinson, Emerson, Boylston). This is similar to last year, except this time I have made sure that one of the buildings will NOT be locked up on the morning of the tournament. November just happens to be a busy month for on-campus clubs that hold a high school audience. The week before (11/3) is SAT, the week after (11/17) is Harvard-Yale (and it's in Boston this year, so campus will be crazy hectic), and the week after that is Thanksgiving break.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 6:28 pm
by AGoodMan
We're currently at 16 teams. Please keep the registrations coming!

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:08 am
by AGoodMan
We've reached the initial cap of 24 teams and have increased the field size to 32 teams.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:37 am
by Scottietodd
Glasgow High School (Kentucky) would like to reserve a spot. No discounts.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 12:12 am
by AGoodMan
There are only 5 spots left for the tournament, as we will not expand to 36 as in previous years. This decision is made from a logistical and quality control perspective.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:59 am
by AGoodMan
32 teams have registered. Any teams that now express interest will be put on a waitlist.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:33 am
by AGoodMan
AGoodMan wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:59 am 32 teams have registered. Any teams that now express interest will be put on a waitlist.
We've had one team drop, so this means there is a spot open in the field. We will give priority to a team from a school not already in the field over an additional team from the existing field.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:54 am
by AGoodMan
AGoodMan wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:33 am
AGoodMan wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:59 am 32 teams have registered. Any teams that now express interest will be put on a waitlist.
We've had one team drop, so this means there is a spot open in the field. We will give priority to a team from a school not already in the field over an additional team from the existing field.
The field has filled back up.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:00 pm
by AGoodMan
I almost forgot to mention this, but HFT has been certified by PACE as a platinum qualifier, meaning the top 25% of the field (rounded up to the nearest integer of top 8 teams) will qualify for PACE nationals (NSC) in Washington DC.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 1:01 pm
by AGoodMan
AGoodMan wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:33 am
AGoodMan wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:59 am 32 teams have registered. Any teams that now express interest will be put on a waitlist.
We've had one team drop, so this means there is a spot open in the field. We will give priority to a team from a school not already in the field over an additional team from the existing field.
We've had one spot open up in the field once more, and we will once again give priority to a school not already in the field over an additional team from the existing field.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:22 pm
by AGoodMan
After a few field fluctuations, we're now at 28 teams. Any teams that express interest will be put on a waitlist, but we're prepared to go up to 30 teams.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:49 pm
by AGoodMan
AGoodMan wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:22 pm After a few field fluctuations, we're now at 28 teams. Any teams that express interest will be put on a waitlist, but we're prepared to go up to 30 teams.
We're now at 27 teams. We definitely need at least one more team in the field. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:13 am
by AGoodMan
Thanks to everyone who came to play and staff. DCC A went undefeated, followed by Lexington A, Hunter A, and Greens Farms Academy. Neg5 stats can be found here. SQBS stats will go up soon.

We hope to get a private discussion forum set up soon. We encourage all teams who played the set to give feedback there.

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 11:04 am
by nsheidlower1
Congratulations to all teams! Here is the New York Quiz Bowl Alliance's recap for HFT XIII.

https://www.nyqballiance.org/blog/harva ... -main-site

Re: HFT XIII at Harvard (11/10/18)

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:05 am
by AGoodMan
AGoodMan wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:13 am Thanks to everyone who came to play and staff. DCC A went undefeated, followed by Lexington A, Hunter A, and Greens Farms Academy. Neg5 stats can be found here. SQBS stats will go up soon.

We hope to get a private discussion forum set up soon. We encourage all teams who played the set to give feedback there.
SQBS stats are still coming.

The private forum has been created. For those who are not familiar with them, go to User Control Panel -> Usergroups -> Select "2018 HFT Discussion" -> Click "Submit". I'll be monitoring requests periodically.