Gauging interest for late spring Oxbridge mirror in NYC

[armitage]

I've talked to some people about potentially organizing an Oxford or Cambridge mirror in NYC in the last two weeks of March, or in April avoiding either national. I think this could be a self-running tournament if we can find enough staff and the field isn't too large; it could also be staffed using bye teams like ECSO was in 2010. Would anyone else be interested?

[Evan Lynch]

As far as the current status of the Cambridge set goes:

The British history and literature are essentially finished, in case there's a wish to start Americanising this set. It would also be mostly playable unamericanised - that's the approach we take with everything regular and above in the UK, and it usually works out fine. The American history has progressed somewhat less, so we would be able to coordinate with any Americanisers to write questions that can be adjusted quite easily for both audiences, without causing any balance issues in the set.

The set will consist of 14 packets of 24/24 (powermarked), is intended to reflect regular difficulty, and we'd be happy to offer it for a mirror fee of, say, $25 per team.

[gyre and gimble]

As far as the current status of the Cambridge set goes:

The British history and literature are essentially finished, in case there's a wish to start Americanising this set. It would also be mostly playable unamericanised - that's the approach we take with everything regular and above in the UK, and it usually works out fine. The American history has progressed somewhat less, so we would be able to coordinate with any Americanisers to write questions that can be adjusted quite easily for both audiences, without causing any balance issues in the set.

The set will consist of 14 packets of 24/24 (powermarked), is intended to reflect regular difficulty, and we'd be happy to offer it for a mirror fee of, say, $25 per team.

Might I recommend 16 packets of 21/21? It's the same number of questions, except they would all get used. (Assuming you're not planning to have 24 tossup rounds.)

[Ewan MacAulay]

As far as the current status of the Cambridge set goes:

The British history and literature are essentially finished, in case there's a wish to start Americanising this set. It would also be mostly playable unamericanised - that's the approach we take with everything regular and above in the UK, and it usually works out fine. The American history has progressed somewhat less, so we would be able to coordinate with any Americanisers to write questions that can be adjusted quite easily for both audiences, without causing any balance issues in the set.

The set will consist of 14 packets of 24/24 (powermarked), is intended to reflect regular difficulty, and we'd be happy to offer it for a mirror fee of, say, $25 per team.

Might I recommend 16 packets of 21/21? It's the same number of questions, except they would all get used. (Assuming you're not planning to have 24 tossup rounds.)

We're going for the same format as last year's MO, with all 24 5-line tossups being played in a game (or a timed format, whichever), with the extra space mostly going in geo, CE, and general knowledge. We're mavericks like that.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

I would probably travel to NYC to play this!

[csheep]

I'd be interested in playing this.

[Judson Laipply]

I've talked to some people about potentially organizing an Oxford or Cambridge mirror in NYC in the last two weeks of March, or in April avoiding either national. I think this could be a self-running tournament if we can find enough staff and the field isn't too large; it could also be staffed using bye teams like ECSO was in 2010. Would anyone else be interested?

I would be interested in playing this as long as the resemblance to 2010 ECSO doesn't go any further than bye teams staffing.

EDIT: Would prefer between or post-nationals (April 15 or 29)

[armitage]

Things are starting to get organized. Please fill out this form so we can figure out the date and set to use, and I can make the results into a team formation spreadsheet later. Thanks!

[csheep]

Are there any significant differences between the Oxford and Cambridge sets?

[Red Panda Cub]

Are there any significant differences between the Oxford and Cambridge sets?

The Oxford one has been entirely written and already used for a tournament, while the Cambridge won't be used for its first mirror for about a month.

Edit: Oxford one is 20/20 with 6 line TUs, Cambridge is 24/24 with 5 line TUs and distributed kind of like last year's MO.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

As an old person, I don't get to play normal NAQT tournaments, so the opportunity to play something that imitates NAQT is exciting. I also like powers, and I take it that the Cambridge set has powers.

[Evan Lynch]

As an old person, I don't get to play normal NAQT tournaments, so the opportunity to play something that imitates NAQT is exciting. I also like powers, and I take it that the Cambridge set has powers.

Yes, the set will be powermarked.

[grapesmoker]

I would also likely play this.

[gyre and gimble]

Might I recommend 16 packets of 21/21? It's the same number of questions, except they would all get used. (Assuming you're not planning to have 24 tossup rounds.)

We're going for the same format as last year's MO, with all 24 5-line tossups being played in a game (or a timed format, whichever), with the extra space mostly going in geo, CE, and general knowledge. We're mavericks like that.

Sounds good. I didn't realize that these questions would be short, so never mind my recommendation.

[armitage]

It looks like the preference is for Oxford Open, and on 3/25/17, so we'll go with that. The site will most likely be NYU, with the exact location pending. Since we're planning to run it with bye teams staffing, the field cap is 9 teams, for now.
Apologies to anyone who picked 4/1; I didn't see that Princeton had claimed it for Eisenhower Memorial Tournament.

I've shared a team formation spreadsheet with everyone who filled out the poll. Shoot me an email/PM if you want access.

edit: Regarding fees, the plan is to charge something slightly above the mirror fee so we can pay the writers and give some nominal compensation to the non-team readers.

[Edward Lansdale]

I would like to play this.

[grapesmoker]

Hey, maybe this should be formally announced soon and teams should form.