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ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thread

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:06 am
by grapesmoker
This thread is now the main thread for information about ACF Nationals. There has been some fragmentation in the way information about Nationals is organized, being distributed as it is across several threads and posts. Therefore, we've decided to consolidate everything into this thread. What follows is the original announcement, followed by additional information about packets, logistics, and so on. For any new information about Nationals, please watch this thread and not any other.

ACF Nationals this year will be held at the University of Michigan in colorful Ann Arbor, MI. The tournament will be held on the weekend of Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, 2015.

The tournament will most likely convene and be entirely held within the Mason/Angell/Haven complex of buildings on the Central Campus. Full details about buildings used will be made available shortly, but this is where most UM tournaments are held.

All teams will need to check in by 8:00 AM on Saturday the 18th and be prepared to play until at least 7:00 PM. We will finish from 8 AM to about 2 PM on Sunday the 19th.

Ryan Westbrook will be the head editor of this tournament, assisted by Rob Carson, Ike Jose, and Billy Busse. Jerry Vinokurov will be Tournament Director. Nationals will once again be a fully staffed, efficiently run tournament with a sensible format that remembers to award the Undergraduate and Division II trophies.

There are many affordable hotels in the area, including within walking distance. On-street parking is sometimes available and there is a pay garage close to the tournament site. Detroit Metropolitan Airport is about thirty miles east of Ann Arbor and is the recommended airport for those flying in. There is a bus route from the airport to the town that you can plan to use if not renting a car, and there are also taxi services.

Feel free to post here if you need any more specific travel advice from Michigan residents. Post here or e-mail Jerry Vinokurov at [email protected] with tournament operation inquiries. We’re looking forward to a healthy field and a great event.

There will be a web-based registration system opening shortly which you should use instead once it becomes available.

Packet submission, eligibility, and fee schedule:

Information on who is eligible to play ACF tournaments and details regarding packet submission can be found at the ACF Packet Submission Guidelines.

This tournament will use the qualification system announced and discussed earlier in this thread. The packet deadlines have been adjusted such that everyone will know where they stand with regards to qualification before the first deadline arrives. The issue of submitting speculative packes is now moot.

Fee schedule:

Base fee: $260
-$100 discount:February 1
-$50 discount: February 15
-$25 discount: March 1
No penalty:March 15
+$25 penalty: March 29
+$50 penalty: April 5

After the $50 deadline, you will owe the editors an additional $10/day up until the point when they choose to drop you from the tournament. If you are required to submit a packet and you do not do so by April 5, you risk either being dropped from the field or charged a lot of money, at the discretion of the editors; the only way to be sure to avoid this is to get your packet in by April 5.

If your team brings (fully pays for/does not claim any reimbursement from the tournament for) a qualified moderator, you will receive a $100 discount. Qualified moderators are people who can properly complete an ACF Nationals round in thirty minutes. I, Jerry Vinokurov, will be the sole judge of who is qualified, both prior to and during the tournament, and will not award the discount if your staffer fails to meet this requirement. You may, theoretically, claim this discount as many times as possible until your fee reaches $0.

This year, ACF will continue the $50 dollar discount for teams who write at least 20/20 that doesn’t need any major editing and submit their packet by the no penalty deadline. By major editing, we mean things like having to change many of the clues and/or answerlines and having to fix many grammatical errors.

We would much rather give out lots of hefty discounts for excellent early packets than rake in money for late ones, so please take advantage of them.

There is a field cap of 44 teams for this tournament, and the qualification system is in place. After auto-qualifiers are determined, teams will be offered spots in the tournament in the order of their A-value. If every team who played ACF Regionals, and thus has an A-value, is offered a spot in the Nationals field and there are still fewer than 44 teams registered, then any team eligible to play ACF will be allowed to fill the remaining spots on a first-come, first-served basis. Any team who is required to write a packet under the packet submission deadlines must do so to in order to play and will be subject to the above fee schedule, regardless of how or when the team enters the field.

Please stay in touch with me or other ACF members if we are trying to verify your attendance at this event.

Dropping of teams who do not communicate about their registration or packet will be done without remorse -- this is a separate issue from late packets and comes down to the possibility that some other team may wish to take your spot and we need to recruit adequate staff and plan a schedule for the event. If we send you an e-mail asking if the team you said was "interested" two months ago is actually coming, and you ignore the e-mail and tell us nothing for several days on end, we may have to assume you are not coming and forfeit your spot in the field. Make sure you give valid contact information when you register and check it on at least a weekly basis.

Distribution:

5/5 Literature: This includes 1/1 American, 1/1 British, 1/1 European, 1/1 World, and 1/1 Other (which can include any of the preceding categories). Please vary your questions by time, place, and genre (for instance, please don’t submit 5/5 on French literature or 5/5 poetry).

5/5 History: This includes 1/1 American, 2/2 European, 1/1 World, and 1/1 Other (which can include any of the preceding categories). Please make sure that your questions aren’t all from the same time period or place and aren’t all one type of history (for instance, try not to submit 5/5 political history or 5/5 military history).

5/5 Science: This includes 1/1 Biology, 1/1 Chemistry, 1/1 Physics, 1 math or computer science, 1 astronomy, Earth science, or other science, and 1/1 other science (see below)

3/3 Arts: This includes 1/1 Painting, 1/1 Classical Music, and 1/1 Other (including Architecture, Sculpture, Opera, Jazz, Ballet/Dance, Art Film, and Photography). Please vary your questions by time, place, and genre.

3/3 RMP: This includes 1/1 Religion, 1/1 Mythology, and 1/1 Philosophy. Please do not write both religion questions on the same religion or both mythology questions on the same myth system.

1/1 Social Science: This includes Psychology, Economics, Anthropology, Sociology, Linguistics, and Social Criticism. Please write your tossup and bonus on different areas of social science.

1/1 Geography/Current Events: These questions should be about different parts of the world. Geography questions that incorporate cultural and environmental clues instead of purely discussing physical features are particularly welcome.

1/1 Other Academic: This includes questions from every preceding category, as well as answers that don’t quite fit into any of the preceding categories.

Keep in mind that ACF Nationals does not have trash; if you submit any trash questions, they will simply be sent back.

To reiterate, please vary the distribution of your questions. In past years, we had teams submit packets with both chemistry questions about the same narrow area, to present one example, and it would prevent many headaches if you make sure your questions are reasonably distributed. Also, please remember that while the goal of ACF Nationals is to determine the best team in the nation, writing primarily about extremely difficult topics is not the best way to achieve this, so please try to keep your fellow players in mind while choosing your answer lines.

All packets should be sent to Ryan Westbrook's retro hipster email address, [email protected]. If you have any questions about packet writing, you can send them to that email address also.

edited to fix name of tournament director

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:07 am
by No Rules Westbrook
I have received the following packets for the early deadline of February 1st, 2015:
Ottawa
VCU A
Harvard
Minnesota
WUSTL
Illinois A
McGill
Penn A
Penn B
UCF
Rice
Berkeley A
Dartmouth

Received by second deadline of February 15 2015:
Penn C
Waterloo
William & Mary
Washington

Received by third deadline of March 1, 2015:
Toronto

Received by the deadline of March 15, 2015:
Berkeley B
Liberty
McMaster
Michigan
Stanford B
Alberta
Kenyon
Stanford A
Chicago A
UCSD

Received by deadline of March 29, 2015:
Michigan B
Columbia
MIT A
MIT B

Received by final deadline of April 5, 2015:
Chicago B
Notre Dame A
NYU
Northwestern
South Carolina
Oxford
Maryland
Ohio State

One Day Late After Final Deadline (+$10):
Rutgers
Yale
Virginia

Please let me know if you're not on this list, and you believe you submitted a packet by these deadlines.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:08 am
by touchpack
I've consulted with the other editors, and we've decided to change the science distribution required for submitted packets to the standard ACF distribution, which I have copy-pasted below. This means that rather than requiring that teams submit 2/2 other science, they are only required to submit 1/1 other science, and the remaining 1/1 can be on any science topic. Please do not combine clues from different subdisciplines for your questions on "any science." To clarify what I mean by that, questions that straddle the line between say, chemistry and physics (many thermodynamics questions do this), or physics and astronomy (many astrophysics questions do this), are ok. However, questions like say, a common link on the letter Kappa using clues from the Kappa mechanism in variable stars, Kappa chains in immunoglobulins, and the fact that Kappa represents the dielectric constant are NOT ok for "any science."

Note that teams that have written and/or submitted 2/2 other science for their packet are still writing within the constraints of the new distribution--they have simply chosen to write their "1/1 any science" on additional other science.

Here is the standard ACF distribution, and the new science distribution we'd like to see in submitted packets:

Science 5/5

Biology 1/1
Chemistry 1/1
Physics 1/1
Math or computer science: 1 question
Astronomy, earth science/geology, or other science not covered above: 1 question
Any science: 1/1 (you can write a math question here if you wrote computer science above, or earth science here if you wrote astronomy above, but don’t write a second question on any of the “minor” fields. You can also just write more biology, chemistry, or physics here.)

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:09 am
by t-bar
The following teams have officially registered (48):
Alberta
Berkeley A
Berkeley B
Carleton University
Chicago A
Chicago B
Chicago C
Columbia
Detroit Catholic Central HS
Harvard
Illinois
Kenyon
Liberty
Maryland
McGill
McMaster
Michigan A
Michigan B
Minnesota
MIT A
MIT B
Northwestern
Notre Dame A
Notre Dame B
NYU
Ohio State
Ottawa
Oxford
Penn A
Penn B
Penn C
Rice
RIT
Rutgers
South Carolina
Stanford A
Stanford B
UCF
UCLA
UCSD A
UCSD B
VCU
Virginia
Washington
Waterloo
William & Mary
WUSTL
Yale

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:37 am
by grapesmoker
Because there is sometimes confusion on this matter, the only logistical discounts that apply for Nationals are the discounts for buzzers (-$5) and staff (-$100 for moderators capable of finishing an ACF Nationals round in half an hour). The travel discount does not apply to Nationals, nor do laptop discounts, as Nationals will have printed packets, the way it does every year. Hopefully this clears things up.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:40 pm
by Adventure Temple Trail
Dear folks,

As was stated in the other thread, I am now coordinating staff for ACF Nationals through my personal inbox at REDACTED.

If you have committed to staff ACF Nationals 2015 and any of the following applies to you:
  • You contacted ACF personnel with your intention to staff but did not receive a response,
  • You contacted ACF personnel with your intention to staff and proposed travel plans, but did not get those plans approved,
  • You contacted ACF personnel with your intention to staff and proposed travel plans which were approved, but have not received information on reimbursement,
  • You contacted ACF personnel with your intention to staff, proposed travel plans which were approved, have information on reimbursement, and are good to go,
Or if any of the following applies to you:
  • You would like to staff ACF Nationals but haven't said so yet,
  • You are interested in staffing ACF Nationals but need information on reimbursement or advice on travel options before you can commit,
please contact me ASAP at REDACTED. We will begin sorting through that information as soon as we can over the next few days. The most important thing is that we need all that information in one place (namely, my inbox) so we can reconstruct it and move forward with plans for the tournament. Due to personnel changes, all communications about staffing received before March 5, 2015 are NULL AND VOID unless we receive them a second time in by inbox -- this is because there is no way for us to access any information sent to Matt Weiner on or prior to that date.

Emails to this effect should have "ACF Nationals 2015 Staffing" [verbatim] in their subject line. Thank you.

Also over the next few days, ACF will be soliciting trusted staff via a form sent out by email, in order to ascertain what our numbers are and what we expect we will still need.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:51 pm
by AKKOLADE
grapesmoker wrote:I, Matt Weiner, will be the sole judge of who is qualified, both prior to and during the tournament, and will not award the discount if your staffer fails to meet this requirement.
This whole situation just gets odder and odder.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 2:46 pm
by grapesmoker
Dr. Loki Skylizard, Thoracic Surgeon wrote:
grapesmoker wrote:I, Matt Weiner, will be the sole judge of who is qualified, both prior to and during the tournament, and will not award the discount if your staffer fails to meet this requirement.
This whole situation just gets odder and odder.
but really have you ever seen them together in one room

oh wait i guess you have

NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:05 pm
by jonpin
grapesmoker wrote:
Dr. Loki Skylizard, Thoracic Surgeon wrote:
grapesmoker wrote:I, Matt Weiner, will be the sole judge of who is qualified, both prior to and during the tournament, and will not award the discount if your staffer fails to meet this requirement.
This whole situation just gets odder and odder.
but really have you ever seen them together in one room

oh wait i guess you have

NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG
Ha! I caught the old name and changed it in the fifth paragraph, but didn't see it further down.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:48 pm
by grapesmoker
Attention please! There are currently 50 teams signed up for ACF Nationals. Hooray! At this time, we are going to have to cap the field at that precise number. Through the magic known as "outsourcing the scheduling to Jon Pinyan" we have come up with a workable schedule for 50 teams and have contingency plans in place for drops. I hope we have not inconvenienced anyone by doing this, as the number of registrants seems unlikely to change.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:15 pm
by theMoMA
50 teams! This is an awesome and amazing day for ACF and college quizbowl at large.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:17 pm
by Ras superfamily
grapesmoker wrote:Through the magic known as "outsourcing the scheduling to Jon Pinyan" we have come up with a workable schedule for 50 teams
Out of curiosity, what does that magical schedule look like?

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 1:37 pm
by grapesmoker
Ras superfamily wrote:
grapesmoker wrote:Through the magic known as "outsourcing the scheduling to Jon Pinyan" we have come up with a workable schedule for 50 teams
Out of curiosity, what does that magical schedule look like?
I think we're going to keep that under wraps for the moment. We're trying to optimize for fairness of schedule and also giving you as much quizbowl for your money is possible, and I think the schedule Jon came up with does that.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:20 pm
by jonpin
Though the exact schedule will depend (of course) on the exact number of teams, my goal in crafting the schedule is to try to ensure all teams play 17 games if possible (some may play 16 due to uneven groups), that the tournament as a whole is of a length similar to recent ACF Nationals, and that all teams get a final rank. I believe formats have been derived for 50 teams (and the numbers slightly below that) which satisfy all those goals.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 11:15 pm
by Ike
Attentional all packet subbers: Some of you guys are giving me a headache.

I made a post earlier in which I asked you to submit actual philosophy and not social science or apparently some other "thought" as philosophy. But, insofar, three packets in this deadline have failed to follow this guideline! Expect an irate email! You know how to PM me, email me or email Westbrook, so I don't know why teams can't figure out what is philosophy and what isn't.

In conclusion: Do not think you can get away with not submitting 1/1 philosophy!

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:15 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
Just popping in to say that there's still somewhere in the neighborhood of 21 Teams who have yet to submit their packet. Hopefully, we get a very high percentage of those by the upcoming Sunday deadline.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:38 pm
by adosreme
I was talking with the Toronto team at practice tonight, and they told me that they sent you an email stating that they could no longer attend due to conflicts with exam period but did not receive acknowledgement that you were aware of that. If someone on the logistics team could confirm this with Meghan Torchia, we would appreciate that very much.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:23 pm
by t-bar
adosreme wrote:I was talking with the Toronto team at practice tonight, and they told me that they sent you an email stating that they could no longer attend due to conflicts with exam period but did not receive acknowledgement that you were aware of that. If someone on the logistics team could confirm this with Meghan Torchia, we would appreciate that very much.
This has been resolved. If any other teams have questions or communications regarding their registration, please CC me at [email protected] as well. Thanks!

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:56 pm
by minusfive
t-bar wrote:The following teams have officially registered and paid (0):
Could we get an updated list of teams that have paid please? To the best of my knowledge, my team's payment was made some time ago now.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 11:59 am
by No Rules Westbrook
Has anyone in the last three days tried to send me a packet? If so, I haven't received any. As most of QB knows, my inbox was apparently hacked and it's been acting wonky lately (I've tried sending myself messages and they don't appear).
CORRECTION - I've received packets from Columbia, MIT A, and MIT B in my gmail account. Sorry.

Therefore, it's probably a good idea to send your packets to my other address: [email protected]


I always shoot you an email right back saying that I've received the packet, so if you don't get one within at least a day, let me know.


I know that ICT was this weekend, so it wouldn't surprise me if noone really did send a packet. But, for the love of Pete, get those packets in, folks! It's almost Hammer Time (tm)! I'll give you credit for yesterday's deadline if you submit in the next 24 hours.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:10 pm
by naan/steak-holding toll
Would it be too much to ask for there to be a serious effort to record at least one match of every round of this year's ACF Nationals? I'm pretty sure there's more people than just me who want to hear the ACF Nationals set get played out - especially in the top bracket playoffs - and listen to the questions in a context other than practice, but who won't be able to attend the tournament. Also, as brought up before, there's not enough video of college quizbowl out there, and recording nationals, while definitely not the best sample of "typical" college quizbowl fare, is better than nothing.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:33 pm
by fleurdelivre
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea wrote:Would it be too much to ask for there to be a serious effort to record at least one match of every round of this year's ACF Nationals? I'm pretty sure there's more people than just me who want to hear the ACF Nationals set get play out - especially in the top bracket playoffs - and listen to the questions in a context other than practice, but who won't be able to attend the tournament. Also, as brought up before, there's not enough video of college quizbowl out there, and recording nationals - while definitely not the best sample of "typical" college quizbowl fare, is better than nothing.
Happy to [request players' permission and] record in my room. It'll just be an iPhone, nothing fancy, but it'd be something.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:47 pm
by i never see pigeons in wheeling
There could be a video camera on a tripod set up in just one room and recording for the entire day of competition, with post-editing removing the breaks. That way, no one will have to set up something between each and every round.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:44 pm
by Mike Bentley
I am planning on recording the matches I moderate, although no promises on a quick turnaround on getting those uploaded.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:59 pm
by grapesmoker
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea wrote:Would it be too much to ask for there to be a serious effort to record at least one match of every round of this year's ACF Nationals? I'm pretty sure there's more people than just me who want to hear the ACF Nationals set get play out - especially in the top bracket playoffs - and listen to the questions in a context other than practice, but who won't be able to attend the tournament. Also, as brought up before, there's not enough video of college quizbowl out there, and recording nationals - while definitely not the best sample of "typical" college quizbowl fare, is better than nothing.
I will have my camera and will record as many matches as is logistically plausible.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:47 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
Yeah, I actually think it's a fantastic idea to have one room at Nats (and other important events) always be video recorded. That's something that maybe we can make a point of emphasis going forward. It's not like it would take a ton of effort.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:44 pm
by minusfive
I think recording games is a great idea. But also, this thing I said:
minusfive wrote:
t-bar wrote:The following teams have officially registered and paid (0):
Could we get an updated list of teams that have paid please? To the best of my knowledge, my team's payment was made some time ago now.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:01 pm
by t-bar
minusfive wrote:I think recording games is a great idea. But also, this thing I said:
minusfive wrote:
t-bar wrote:The following teams have officially registered and paid (0):
Could we get an updated list of teams that have paid please? To the best of my knowledge, my team's payment was made some time ago now.
Ottawa's payment has been received. However, since most teams don't pay until the tournament itself, I've just removed this section from the listing. Apologies for any confusion.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 9:54 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
Be aware that, if I do not have your packet by tomorrow, I absolutely will charge your team $10 per day thereafter. Please get those packets in, if you're required to submit one.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:03 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
NOTICE: If you're an experienced quizbowl team playing this tournament and I don't see your packet in my inbox by the time I wake up tomorrow, I'm upping the daily fee to an extra $30/day. Your unreasonable procrastination is preventing the orderly completion of this tournament.

(This notice does not apply to Oxford, Rutgers, or South Carolina)

Double addendum: If you submit some slapdash questions as a result of this notice just to get your packet in, I'll email you back asking you to rewrite them and continue charging my usurious daily fee.

CLARIFICATION: This post also does not apply to any teams not required to submit. Sorry for confusion.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:34 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
One more post on packets:

My recent email snafu has led me not to see a couple of packets that I received yesterday. I've now fully updated the list of packets received. Please ensure that I've included you in the appropriate spot.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 6:29 pm
by minusfive
I appreciate that everyone is likely busy on matters of more moment, but I had a couple questions:

1) I understand that a 50-team schedule (which was a beauty to behold) had been worked out. Now that there are 2 less teams, can we get a peek at the schedule, please?
2) Will there be prizes? For whom and, what?

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:49 pm
by grapesmoker
minusfive wrote:I appreciate that everyone is likely busy on matters of more moment, but I had a couple questions:

1) I understand that a 50-team schedule (which was a beauty to behold) had been worked out. Now that there are 2 less teams, can we get a peek at the schedule, please?
We are still working out the final details of a 48-team schedule which I assure you is no less beautiful for having two fewer teams.
2) Will there be prizes? For whom and, what?
There will be trophies for the top 3 overall teams, top 3 undergrad-eligible teams, and top 2 DII teams. There will also be books for the top scorers.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:33 pm
by jonpin
Here's your schedule:
Saturday, you will show up and play a shitload of quiz bowl. At some point, you will take a short break to eat lunch and then return to play a shitload more quiz bowl.
Sunday, you will return to play a little more quiz bowl.

The big picture idea here is that you should expect to play a significant number of games of quiz bowl next weekend.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:47 pm
by ryanrosenberg
jonpin wrote:The big picture idea here is that you should expect to play a significant number of games of quiz bowl next weekend.
noooo but 48 is such a nice number for single elim

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:57 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
I'm pleased to announce that I have received packets from all teams required to submit, and all 48 teams have confirmed their attendance at Nationals.

I anticipate we will be releasing a schedule soon.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:27 pm
by grapesmoker
Hello Nationals attendees,

At this point you should have all received an invoice from me detailing what you owe us for Nationals. If you have not received such an invoice, contact me right away at [email protected]. Please come prepared with check or cash to pay us. If you have any questions, get in touch with me.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:37 am
by grapesmoker
Hi everyone,

We're happy to announce the schedule for 2015 ACF Nationals. Thanks to Jon Pinyan for all his hard work in constructing this schedule.

Schedule format

The 48 teams in the field will be seeded and divided into four preliminary brackets of 12 teams each. Each team will play 11 preliminary games against every other team in its preliminary bracket across the first 12 rounds of Saturday. In each bracket, there will be six rounds of gameplay in which all (12) teams are playing and six rounds of gameplay in which two teams go on bye (and 10 are playing). Two brackets will have their bye-containing rounds during rounds 1 through 6, and the others will have their two-teams-on-bye rounds during rounds 7 through 12.

During Round 13, ties will be broken to determine what playoff bracket teams advance to. Ties between teams destined for the same bracket will not be broken. For clarity, a two-way tie for finishing third, fifth, seventh, ninth, or eleventh; or any three-way tie (except for a three-way tie for 1st) will be played off. Teams not involved in tiebreakers may not watch tiebreaker games in Round 13 and teams who play those matches may not discuss question content from those matches for the remainder of Saturday gameplay.

The top three (3) teams in each bracket will advance to a championship playoff round-robin of twelve (12) teams, in which the games they played already against other playoff-advancing teams will carry over, but no other games will. They will play for 9 more crossover games over the rest of Saturday night and Sunday morning. Of those, at least Rounds 14 and 15 (but possibly more) will be played on Saturday, and the rest will be played straight through on Sunday morning, with a short break preceding the Finals.

Below that, the next-best two (2) teams in each bracket will advance to lower playoff flights for a set of 6 crossover games Saturday night and Sunday morning. The only game that will carry over for these teams is the game against the other team which made the same playoff flight. (The bottom bracket will be a set of 4 teams playing a double round robin within itself.) These games will finish before the top 12 teams are done; teams that finish their Sunday schedule in the lower brackets are then free to go or spectate for games in the top bracket so long as they do not cause any disturbances and only enter/leave game rooms at appropriate times between matches.

In total, teams in the top bracket will play 20 rounds (plus potential tiebreakers) over the course of Saturday and Sunday. Teams not in the top bracket will play 17 rounds.

Finals

The same format rules for past years are in effect. All games for trophies will be played off (e.g. for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place overall, and other trophies as specified below.) The standard ACF-format finals procedure will hold for Overall (E.g.: If a team is 2 or more games ahead of the whole field they win outright. If a team is 1 game ahead of the next-highest competitor there will be an advantaged final; if two teams are tied in record at the top there will be a one-game, winner-take-all final; if three teams are tied in record at the top they will be seeded based on playoff points per game (over 9 playoff games plus the 2 carry-over results) for a two-game, three-team series in which 3 plays 2 for the right to play 1 for the title.)

For Undergraduate and Division II, if an eligible team is ahead by 8 spots it wins outright; otherwise an advantaged final occurs with the team of the better overall record having the advantage. The 3rd place trophy in Undergraduate will be awarded automatically to the eligible team with the next-best overall record in sequence doing down the final order of finish; a tiebreaker game for the trophy will be held only if two teams are tied in the overall order of finish. In Division II, if a team wins the DII title outright, the second place trophy will be awarded to the DII team with the next best record.

In exception to the above, if one Undergraduate or Division II team makes the overall finals series of the tournament, they win the Undergraduate or Division II title outright.

We expect the Undergraduate and Overall finals series, plus any play-in games required to determine the teams playing in same, to begin on Sunday afternoon at 1 PM. Finals gameplay and the subsequent awards ceremony could then last until 3 PM, depending on the number of teams involved and their records. All teams who do not make the Undergraduate or Overall finals are allowed and encouraged to watch either. The finals will be followed immediately by a short awards ceremony / presentation of trophies to teams and individual all-stars. (If a team clears the field again and no Overall finals needs to be played, as was the case in 2014, the 2nd Place Game(s), or the remaining placement game(s) for the highest overall spot left undetermined in the top bracket, will be played on-stage before the awards ceremony begins.)

The Undergraduate and Division II finals, if necessary, will be run immediately after the round in which the highest-ranking Division II team has finished its last playoff game rather than in tandem with the other final matches.

Expected timeline of events
(Note that this is an average-case-scenario projection, and not a binding commitment that things won't happen slightly slower or faster)

Teams should arrive at Angell Hall Auditorium A (there are four large auditoria in the building complex where ACF Nationals is being held; make sure you are going into the Auditorium labeled "A," not B, C, or D) for team registration and buzzer-handoffs at 7:45 AM; we will then process teams for the next half hour. The opening meeting will start at 8:15 AM sharp.
The goal is to have a quick opening meeting and get teams out and headed to their game rooms by 8:30 AM for round 1.

Saturday
7:45-8:15 AM: Team Registration (Angell Hall Auditorium A)
8:15-8:30 AM: Opening Meeting (Angell Hall Auditorium A)
8:45AM-1 PM: Rounds 1 through 6 (Prelims 1-6)
until 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00PM-6:15 PM: Rounds 7 through 12 (Prelims 7-12)
6:15PM-7:15PM: Round 13 (Tiebreakers) and handout of playoff seeds
7:15PM-8:30PM: Rounds 14 and 15 (Playoffs 1-2 for all teams)

Sunday
8:00 AM-10:30 AM: Rounds 16 through 19 (Playoffs 3-6 for all teams)
10:30AM-12:15 PM: Rounds 20 through 22 (Playoffs 7-9 for top bracket); DII finals if necessary
until 1PM: Break, buzzer return, and determination of finals participants
1PM: Overall finals series (Angell Hall Auditorium A) in tandem with UG finals series (elsewhere), followed immediately by Awards Ceremony

Note: This is a very long schedule. That said, we expect that teams signed up for ACF Nationals because they love playing quizbowl. We believe that this schedule is the best way to get teams the most quizbowl for their money, and the best way showcase as much of the editors' (and submitting teams') hard work as we can. We realistically expect that gameplay on Saturday could last until 8:30 or 9 PM. Teams should make note of this fact and prepare themselves for a long day of many games. Each team will have at least two built-in breaks in play during the day (for a bye and lunch) and most will have three (as only a few teams will be playing tiebreakers), so there should be ample opportunities for downtime/recharging for those who need it. Additionally, other things that teams can do to make this schedule run as seamlessly and efficiently as it can for all involved include:

avoid making excess commentary between questions,
bring snacks / get extra food for mid-afternoon as needed,
Most importantly: show up on time on BOTH mornings and to EVERY checkpoint where new seeds/tiebreakers/placement games are being determined.

In the interests of making sure the tournament moves along at a steady clip, I will, in my capacity as TD, instruct moderators to start reading matches at the time when you are expected to be in your room for the morning and post-lunch rounds. The tournament site is almost literally across the street from a large number of restaurants, so there is not excuse not to be able to get food and return in time for the games. If a round begins before a team has returned, they may return and sit down at any in between a tossup/bonus cycle (e.g. after a bonus has been finished or a tossup has gone dead). This may be harsh, but we need to keep things moving, so please don't tempt fate by showing up 15 minutes late after lunch and expecting us to wait up for you.

Thank you all for your patience, as we needed to take our time to figure out these details for our final field and staff numbers. Safe travels, and see you in Ann Arbor on the 18th.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:17 pm
by Fado Alexandrino
Google maps shows several parking structures close to campus. Which one of these are recommended, or will on-street parking probably be available?

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:29 pm
by Cheynem
In my experience, on-street parking is not particularly easy in Ann Arbor.

On Sundays, the parking ramps are free, so you should definitely plan on doing that.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:02 pm
by No Rules Westbrook
The parking structure on Maynard Street between Liberty and William is the one to shoot for.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:46 pm
by minusfive
I see one at 500 Thompson; is that to be avoided, or simply not preferable?

Also, regarding the (very) late afternoon pause; is that a dinner break, or are we going right through?

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:48 pm
by Adventure Temple Trail
minusfive wrote:I see one at 500 Thompson; is that to be avoided, or simply not preferable?

Also, regarding the (very) late afternoon pause; is that a dinner break, or are we going right through?
Teams will be instructed to remain in their Round 12 game rooms except when necessary for bathroom trips and such, and should absolutely not leave the building while tiebreakers are being run. As Jerry suggested above, it may be good planning to bring along (or get during the lunch break) a snack for early evening.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 12:14 am
by Beast Mode
No Rules Westbrook wrote:The parking structure on Maynard Street between Liberty and William is the one to shoot for.
minusfive wrote:I see one at 500 Thompson; is that to be avoided, or simply not preferable?
Avoided, as that one requires a UM parking permit 6 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Saturday, according to this page. (It's listed as 508 Thompson.) Similarly, the structure on Thayer requires a UM permit 6 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Saturday. I'll second Ryan's recommendation that you park in the Maynard Street structure (which, incidentally, also has a Thompson Street entrance).

EDIT: Added Ryan's quote.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:20 am
by Adventure Temple Trail
No Rules Westbrook wrote:The parking structure on Maynard Street between Liberty and William is the one to shoot for.
An update: From what I can tell, the "Liberty Parking Structure" is this thing, and it costs $3 flat-rate for Saturday and nothing for Sunday. It is closer to the tournament than everywhere else, so park there rather than other places. Remember, when traveling to the tournament, to budget in the time it will take to find the space and park in it, as well as the time it will take to walk from said space to the auditorium. Teams hoping to arrive at the start of the registration period at 7:45 AM (which should be all of them) should leave from their lodgings in time to be parked at 7:30.

One additional note: There are two major entrances to the building complex where Angell and Mason are; one is on the west side facing S State Street; the other is on the east side facing an expanse of grass and walking paths known as "the Diag." Please enter the building from the Diag side -- it is quite unlikely that the other entrance will be open at the hour of registration. A sprightly Michigan team member will be at or near the Diag-side door and willing to help guide you to Angell Auditorium A, where the team check-in and opening meeting will be. (Independent staff have their own instructions on where to go in the morning by email.)

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:41 pm
by O Fortuna
Matthew J wrote:
No Rules Westbrook wrote:The parking structure on Maynard Street between Liberty and William is the one to shoot for.
An update: From what I can tell, the "Liberty Parking Structure" is this thing, and it costs $3 flat-rate for Saturday and nothing for Sunday. It is closer to the tournament than everywhere else, so park there rather than other places.
I think "this thing" is actually the Maynard St. Parking Structure (mentioned here), which costs $1.20 per hour.

The Liberty Square Parking Structure (according to the same link) is just a little bit north of that at 510 E. Washington St. and as you said, costs a $3 flat-rate.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:45 am
by Senator_Jay
Definitely looking forward to this weekend! Hopefully it's not too hard to find some parking...

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:47 am
by Adventure Temple Trail
O Fortuna wrote:
Matthew J wrote:
No Rules Westbrook wrote:The parking structure on Maynard Street between Liberty and William is the one to shoot for.
An update: From what I can tell, the "Liberty Parking Structure" is this thing, and it costs $3 flat-rate for Saturday and nothing for Sunday. It is closer to the tournament than everywhere else, so park there rather than other places.
I think "this thing" is actually the Maynard St. Parking Structure (mentioned here), which costs $1.20 per hour.

The Liberty Square Parking Structure (according to the same link) is just a little bit north of that at 510 E. Washington St. and as you said, costs a $3 flat-rate.
This correction is correct.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 10:36 am
by Blackboard Monitor Vimes
Stats will be periodically updated here; Andrew Feist and I are aiming to merge and post every other round. Please feel free to PM me with corrections, especially if you know the last names and/or class years of the players who were not on submitted rosters and thus currently have incomplete names.

Re: ACF Nationals - Ann Arbor, MI, 04/18-19/2015 - main thre

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:01 am
by Blackboard Monitor Vimes
The Laughing Cavalier wrote:Stats will be periodically updated here; Andrew Feist and I are aiming to merge and post every other round. Please feel free to PM me with corrections, especially if you know the last names and/or class years of the players who were not on submitted rosters and thus currently have incomplete names.
I will fix the fact that the games are duplicated at the next merge and also start inputting packet names.