ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Old college threads.

Date preference?

March 28
2
6%
April 11
10
29%
April 18
1
3%
after ACF Nationals
21
62%
 
Total votes: 34

User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by grapesmoker »

I am pleased to announce the first annual Regularly Occurring Brown Open Tournament: The Tournament of Infinite Justice. It is slated to take place on a yet-to-be-determined date in the spring of 2009. I have been looking at the last weekend of March as a possible time to run this event and would like to hear what people would prefer. I've added April 11 as another option, although that is Passover so that might be inconvenient for some people, and also an April 18 and "after ACF Nationals" options. Earlier than that would not work because of spring breaks and such. Anyway, please vote in the poll so I can figure out how fast I have to write stuff.

With that in mind, here are the details:

What it is?

ROBOT will be a masters' tournament written by me. I will be assisted on chemistry and biology by Susan Ferrari, Gautam Kandlikar, and Arnav Moudgil. The difficulty of the tournament will range from hard to quite hard to "I can't believe that's seriously a tossup answer." I am not kidding about this, so take that into account when you decide to attend. Obviously, there will be no packet submission requirements for this event, though if you feel like writing a freelance packet, I would certainly not turn you down.

I plan to have 15 rounds of tossups and bonuses, using the standard ACF distribution. Entry is open to everyone and anyone.

Where it be?

The current plan is to run the event at Brown. However, if the field would be substantially better somewhere else, I am open to relocating the tournament. I would prefer not to do this, but if people just flat out don't want to come to Providence in the spring (Providence is beautiful in March!) then I guess it might take place somewhere else.

How many monies?

It'll cost your team $120 to play. There will be buzzer and staff discounts.

Can I mirror it?

Sure, why not? Get in touch with me.

Again, if you are interested in this event, please vote for a date in the poll.
Last edited by grapesmoker on Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

I understand that this would reasonably attract a slightly different field from, say, HI, since it's exclusively post-Nationals difficulty, whereas HI will only get that hard in playoffs, if I guess at all, but I'd rather this tournament not be held on the 11th if only so I can play it and get destroyed on it.

EDIT: substantive reason, so that other people who want to play HI at Harvard can too
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

everyday847 wrote:I understand that this would reasonably attract a slightly different field from, say, HI, since it's exclusively post-Nationals difficulty, whereas HI will only get that hard in playoffs, if I guess at all, but I'd rather this tournament not be held on the 11th if only so I can play it and get destroyed on it.

EDIT: substantive reason, so that other people who want to play HI at Harvard can too
Ok, I didn't realize that HI was going to be on that date. Looks like April 11 is off the table then.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
Susan
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 1812
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:43 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Susan »

Jerry wrote:ROBOT will be a masters' tournament written by me. I will be assisted on chemistry and biology by Susan Ferrari, Gautam Kandlikar, and Arnav Moudgil.
?
Susan
UChicago alum (AB 2003, PhD 2009)
Member emerita, ACF
User avatar
BuzzerZen
Auron
Posts: 1517
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Arlington, VA/Hampshire College

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by BuzzerZen »

myamphigory wrote:
Jerry wrote:ROBOT will be a masters' tournament written by me. I will be assisted on chemistry and biology by Susan Ferrari, Gautam Kandlikar, and Arnav Moudgil.
?
He probably got you to agree to it while you weren't paying attention.
Evan Silberman
Hampshire College 07F

How are you actually reading one of my posts?
Susan
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 1812
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:43 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Susan »

BuzzerZen wrote:
myamphigory wrote:
Jerry wrote:ROBOT will be a masters' tournament written by me. I will be assisted on chemistry and biology by Susan Ferrari, Gautam Kandlikar, and Arnav Moudgil.
?
He probably got you to agree to it while you weren't paying attention.
Entirely possible.
Susan
UChicago alum (AB 2003, PhD 2009)
Member emerita, ACF
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

myamphigory wrote:
Jerry wrote:ROBOT will be a masters' tournament written by me. I will be assisted on chemistry and biology by Susan Ferrari, Gautam Kandlikar, and Arnav Moudgil.
?
Sorry if I'm wrong about this; I thought I had an email from you offering to help. If this is wrong, I will of course remove your name.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
Susan
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 1812
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:43 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Susan »

It's quite possible; I'm very forgetful. Anyway, I am provisionally still down for this barring any sort of work-related disaster that prevents me from doing any frivolous things, and providing that my being abroad for some part of March doesn't pose a huge problem.
Susan
UChicago alum (AB 2003, PhD 2009)
Member emerita, ACF
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

Hey, so, I would also like to say that April 11 is now back in consideration. The idea is that the tournament would be part of a weekend extravaganza of quizbowl that would take place at Harvard. HI would be on Saturday and ROBOT would be on Sunday, so if you vote for April 11, that's what you'd be voting for.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

/me revotes
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

everyday847 wrote:/me revotes
This poll allows you to change your vote if you want.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

So it does.

Note that I am supporting ROBOT being held with HI as a TD for the latter, too. We'd love this.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
BuzzerZen
Auron
Posts: 1517
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Arlington, VA/Hampshire College

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by BuzzerZen »

grapesmoker wrote:Hey, so, I would also like to say that April 11 is now back in consideration. The idea is that the tournament would be part of a weekend extravaganza of quizbowl that would take place at Harvard. HI would be on Saturday and ROBOT would be on Sunday, so if you vote for April 11, that's what you'd be voting for.
Are there side-events planned for HI aside from Fine Arts?
Evan Silberman
Hampshire College 07F

How are you actually reading one of my posts?
Magister Ludi
Tidus
Posts: 677
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:57 am
Location: Washington DC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Magister Ludi »

No, the arts is the only side event as of now. I'd be interested to hear from teams/individuals who would be flying if they would prefer both events to be amalgamated.
Ted Gioia - Harvard '12
Editor ACF, PACE
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

In general, we like hearing from teams because it makes us feel good, and also because it's nice to know how many rooms we need to reserve. That was a problem when apparently our biggest ever field for HFT was not big enough, and we'd long ago made room reservations we couldn't successfully expand. So the earlier we hear a peep from you, the better, so we know that we'll have four teams/twelve teams/two hundred teams.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
ClemsonQB
Tidus
Posts: 511
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:12 pm
Location: Clemson, SC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by ClemsonQB »

I think it would be possible for Clemson to budget both tournaments if it was held at one location.
George Stevens

Dorman High School 2008
Clemson University 2012
User avatar
Mike Bentley
Sin
Posts: 6461
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mike Bentley »

Magister Ludi wrote:No, the arts is the only side event as of now. I'd be interested to hear from teams/individuals who would be flying if they would prefer both events to be amalgamated.
I would be more likely to come if this was a combined event rather than events on different weekends.

Depending on how many rounds HI ends up having, I'm a little concerned about the timing of the fine arts tournament. As MO and the past two CO's have demonstrated, running a long main tournament and then running a side tournament makes things go really late. Maybe the fine arts tournament could be split up over the two days? It's also possible to run the tournament on Friday night, which might work out a little better than at CO if it's possible to get affordable lodging closer to Harvard than to the University of Chicago. This solves people staying up late and having to leave early on Sunday to catch flights, but raises the additional problem of making people more tired for Saturday's tournament, mandating that people driving to the event leave very early on Friday, and causing problems for people whose flights get in late or are delayed.
Mike Bentley
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

Bentley Like Beckham wrote:affordable lodging close to Harvard
hahahahahaha

So yeah, there's lodging. There's cheap stuff two dollars (and twenty minutes) away on the T, and maybe stuff in range of the MIT shuttles, but I don't know much about that--I'll do some research. For the moment I refuse to touch group rate stuff, since the hotels in the area are run by some kind of devils. That said, my common room has a high enough ceiling that if I built perfect shelves I could provide thirty quizbowlers a place to stay. Note: this would be unpleasant. Also require zero gravity.

On a more serious note, I'll think about travel logistics later; you're right about the potential for fuckups with timing. Preliminarily, I'd say either of two things would work. First, running arts Friday night, HI / first half of ROBOT Saturday, second half Sunday, or HI / arts Saturday-latelatenight, ROBOT Sunday. This would depend on whether people want to fly out Sunday late night or fly in Friday afternoon. That'll require a separate poll, and a later one.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
Skepticism and Animal Feed
Auron
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:47 pm
Location: Arlington, VA

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

There are a number of significant differences between UChicago and Harvard when it comes to lodging and transportation:

First, there are multiple hotels on the Harvard campus. I wouldn't categorize any of them as "affordable" in the sense that a Super 8 Motel is affordable, but richer teams like Chicago could certainly afford to stay in a hotel that's closer to Sever Hall than most Harvard dorms are.

Second, the Harvard campus is directly served by Boston's light-rail system (the "T"). UChicago is notably not directly served by the L, making transportation from other parts of Boston to Harvard far easier, faster, and less dependent on traffic than transportation to UChicago from other parts of Chicago.

Third, Boston is a much smaller city than Chicago in terms of both physical size and population. There are fewer people to get in your way during the transit process and distances between Harvard, downtown Boston, the airport, and areas of Boston where lodging is cheap are far less than equivalent distances in Chicago.

So in comparison to CO Weekend, transit and lodging issues for April 11 HI/ROBOT super weekend of quizbowl insanity should be far lesser.
Bruce
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

It'd be wonderful to assemble a super field for these tournaments, particularly midwestern teams that might otherwise choose to come to a mirror in said region. ROBOT will ideally run, after all, on a great field.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
Sir Thopas
Auron
Posts: 1330
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Hunter, NYC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Sir Thopas »

I would love to show up for HI, read arts, then play ROBOT the next day.

I don't think I'll be able to convince my team to come with me to both this and ACF nats. Any takers for a freelance team? Although I guess we don't need to decide this early.

EDIT: I'll be gunning for 5 PPB.
Guy Tabachnick
Hunter '09
Brown '13

http://memoryofthisimpertinence.blogspot.com/
User avatar
Eärendil
Wakka
Posts: 138
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:56 am
Location: Queenstown, New Zealand

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Eärendil »

I'd prefer March 28th myself, since that's still Spring Break for me and I'd love to actually fly out and staff this thing.
Arnav // Stanford University
vandyhawk
Tidus
Posts: 555
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 3:42 am
Location: Seattle

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by vandyhawk »

As Jerry noted, April 11 is Passover, but what hasn't been noted is that April 12 is Easter too. Perhaps a weekend featuring major religious holidays for two different groups well-represented in quizbowl isn't the greatest idea. Then again, there are certainly a decent number of qb people in "other" categories or who likely don't care enough to still play. If I were planing to come, I'd vote for a different weekend though.
Matt Keller
Vanderbilt (alum)
ACF editor (emeritus)
NAQT editor (emeritus)
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

vandyhawk wrote:As Jerry noted, April 11 is Passover, but what hasn't been noted is that April 12 is Easter too. Perhaps a weekend featuring major religious holidays for two different groups well-represented in quizbowl isn't the greatest idea. Then again, there are certainly a decent number of qb people in "other" categories or who likely don't care enough to still play. If I were planing to come, I'd vote for a different weekend though.
Good point, Matt. Let me ask this: is there a sizable population that would come on one of the dates prior to ACF Nationals that would not come afterwards? Chicago's JS Mill tournament got a nice field despite being after Nats, so I'm wondering if there are great objections to this plan. The post-Nats votes still outnumber the others, so unless something changes dramatically I find myself leaning towards a post-Nats date.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

Silly me for not thinking about holidays with respect to HI, either. Post-Nats would be fine with me, certainly.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
Matt Weiner
Sin
Posts: 8145
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2003 8:34 pm
Location: Richmond, VA

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Matt Weiner »

grapesmoker wrote:Good point, Matt. Let me ask this: is there a sizable population that would come on one of the dates prior to ACF Nationals that would not come afterwards? Chicago's JS Mill tournament got a nice field despite being after Nats, so I'm wondering if there are great objections to this plan. The post-Nats votes still outnumber the others, so unless something changes dramatically I find myself leaning towards a post-Nats date.
I personally will probably come to both HI and BrownR regardless of when they are. However, I would also like to take VCU people or other interested Richmonders with me. It's already looking unlikely that they can come to HI since it's in the middle of two heavy time-sucking trips to NAQT and ACF Nationals as well as the end-of-semester craziness, and Easter may be a dealbreaker as well. If the Brown tournament were a separate event run in mid-May after the early-schedule schools get out, or in early June after HS nationals, that would greatly improve the chances of you getting more participation from this area. Additionally, separating the tournaments would enable you to run side events on Sunday morning at a relaxed and well-rested pace, rather than engaging in the folly-laden practice of cramming them in on Saturday night or Sunday night because you're running two regular tournaments in the same weekend.
Matt Weiner
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
User avatar
theMoMA
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 5993
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:00 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by theMoMA »

I know that we'd be much more likely to travel if these events were at the same time, and I'm inclined to think that we'd be most willing to do so if they were both after nationals. Despite the one of the biggest and best Chicago Opens ever, there was still high demand for another summer open at VCU in August. I'm thinking that having a late May/early June summer open might be the best plan, since a lot of people are already traveling towards the end of their school years.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
User avatar
BuzzerZen
Auron
Posts: 1517
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Arlington, VA/Hampshire College

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by BuzzerZen »

theMoMA wrote:we'd be most willing to do so if they were both after nationals.
But that would make "Harvard International" make less sense! Simply can't be done.

Incidentally, as one of the contributors to the HI fine arts set, I'd be happier if that set were run during the daytime on Sunday after HI rather than squeezed into the evening. For whatever that's worth. I'm down on late-night side events.
Evan Silberman
Hampshire College 07F

How are you actually reading one of my posts?
User avatar
Theory Of The Leisure Flask
Yuna
Posts: 761
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:04 am
Location: Brooklyn

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Theory Of The Leisure Flask »

If there was a post-ACF Nats weekend of Harvard International/ROBOT, I'd try to come. I especially want to play the fine arts, but family (and likely workload as well) takes precedence on Easter.
Chris White
Bloomfield HS (New Jersey) '01, Swarthmore College '05, University of Pennsylvania '10. Still writes questions occasionally.
User avatar
Mike Bentley
Sin
Posts: 6461
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mike Bentley »

theMoMA wrote:I know that we'd be much more likely to travel if these events were at the same time, and I'm inclined to think that we'd be most willing to do so if they were both after nationals. Despite the one of the biggest and best Chicago Opens ever, there was still high demand for another summer open at VCU in August. I'm thinking that having a late May/early June summer open might be the best plan, since a lot of people are already traveling towards the end of their school years.
Yeah I'd kind of like this tournament to be in the May/June range as well.
Mike Bentley
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
User avatar
Auroni
Auron
Posts: 3145
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:23 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Auroni »

Bentley Like Beckham wrote:
theMoMA wrote:I know that we'd be much more likely to travel if these events were at the same time, and I'm inclined to think that we'd be most willing to do so if they were both after nationals. Despite the one of the biggest and best Chicago Opens ever, there was still high demand for another summer open at VCU in August. I'm thinking that having a late May/early June summer open might be the best plan, since a lot of people are already traveling towards the end of their school years.
Yeah I'd kind of like this tournament to be in the May/June range as well.
this does sound much better...
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

Many people coming to a thing is better than few, so consider this an official notice that we'll be considering moving our date.

Issues will include convincing people to staff, particularly with finals / if June, campus being literally empty and me having nowhere to live, but we could surely work something out.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

Pursuant to Andy's post, I'd like to also say that ROBOT will take place in the May/June timeslot. I'll work with Harvard to come up with a date that allows us to combine the two events.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Sir Thopas
Auron
Posts: 1330
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Hunter, NYC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Sir Thopas »

If I may put a selfish word in, I think mid-June would work best for me. After APs and HS nationals, before my graduation in late June. But I'll come regardless, as long as it's not scheduled against PACE or (probably) HSNCT.
Guy Tabachnick
Hunter '09
Brown '13

http://memoryofthisimpertinence.blogspot.com/
User avatar
Terrible Shorts Depot
Yuna
Posts: 760
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:05 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Terrible Shorts Depot »

I second Guy's point. I'd prefer mid to late June (as opposed to May or early June), just because I want to be done with high school before I jaunt off for weekends of quiz bowl goodness.
Charlie Rosenthal
Shady Side Academy '09
Carleton College '13
University of Pennsylvania '18
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

i am extremely likely to have my presence outright required in Pittsburgh during the last week of June, and possibly the week before that, but we'll see how that goes. A date around the 13th or 20th could be pretty feasible, as long as I have somewhere to stay in Cambridge and, oh yeah, magical staffers.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
grapesmoker
Sin
Posts: 6345
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by grapesmoker »

After discussing the situation with Matt and others, I've been convinced that holding ROBOT in DC after PACE would be the right thing to do. So I would like to tentatively say that ROBOT will take place on May 24, 2009, after the completion of PACE NSC. I hope everyone takes advantage of this arrangement to come read at PACE and also play ROBOT. If a moderator could change the date to this, that would be great.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

I think you can just edit your first post to do that, but yeah. If they'll have me at NSC to moderate, I'll play this even if I have to play it solo.
Andrew Watkins
User avatar
Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)
Chairman of Anti-Music Mafia Committee
Posts: 5647
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:46 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (sometime in the spring)

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

I'm so there.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs

"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
User avatar
Sir Thopas
Auron
Posts: 1330
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Hunter, NYC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Sir Thopas »

BEST WEEKEND EVER
Guy Tabachnick
Hunter '09
Brown '13

http://memoryofthisimpertinence.blogspot.com/
User avatar
Lapego1
Tidus
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun May 02, 2004 8:06 pm
Location: Richmond, VA/Philadelphia, PA

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Lapego1 »

This is a good thing. I will play.
Mehdi Razvi
Maggie Walker Gov. School '07
University of Pennsylvania '11

"A goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid."
-James D. Watson (1928-)
User avatar
Auroni
Auron
Posts: 3145
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:23 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Auroni »

yeah, I've got plans to play this if they'll let me read at PACE.
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
User avatar
Mike Bentley
Sin
Posts: 6461
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Mike Bentley »

I will play in this tournament.
Mike Bentley
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
User avatar
Auks Ran Ova
Forums Staff: Chief Administrator
Posts: 4295
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:28 pm
Location: Minneapolis
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

Yeah I'll play, assuming I am indeed at PACE.
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
User avatar
Skepticism and Animal Feed
Auron
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:47 pm
Location: Arlington, VA

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

As miffed as I am that this is no longer linked with HI (and that, therefore, HI's field will likely significantly decrease), it's pretty easy and cheap for me to get to the DC area, so I will play this if there's no conflict with my summer job that weekend.
Bruce
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
User avatar
millionwaves
Auron
Posts: 1360
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:35 pm
Location: Urbana, Illinois
Contact:

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by millionwaves »

I'll probably be here and interested in playing.
Trygve Meade
Illinois, ACF

Above the Star-Apple Kingdom
User avatar
Mechanical Beasts
Banned Cheater
Posts: 5673
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

Whig's Boson wrote:(and that, therefore, HI's field will likely significantly decrease)
Easy solution: still come to HI, lovers of hard quizbowl! We hope not to disappoint!
Andrew Watkins
Magister Ludi
Tidus
Posts: 677
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:57 am
Location: Washington DC

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Magister Ludi »

Of course I will play this, but I am wondering how teams are being decided? I know Jerry dislikes the draft system, so is there some other system we will be using to pick teams?
Ted Gioia - Harvard '12
Editor ACF, PACE
Susan
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 1812
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:43 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by Susan »

Jerry is going to design an eHarmony-style website to choose the ideal teams from the pool of players who will be attending.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ROBOT I (Washington DC, 5/24/09)

Post by dtaylor4 »

myamphigory wrote:Jerry is going to design an eHarmony-style website to choose the ideal teams from the pool of players who will be attending.
Wouldn't this grant Jerry the power to also prevent people from playing?
Locked