ACF Fall Ontario Site at McMaster

[Senator_Jay]

Hooray! After a couple months of uncertainty all over the place, I can finally say with confidence that McMaster University will be hosting ACF Fall for Ontario, on October 31, 2009. I'm sorry for any confusion, but things are getting sorted out at the moment, and I've gotten the go-ahead to have the tournament. The difference this year, due to the circumstances, is that what I'm gathering from Gautam Kandlikar (editor-in-chief), is that we shouldn't need to worry about packets. If you've already written one, please do submit it, but otherwise, we shall be using packets submitted from elsewhere. I'll have details about entry costs soon, as without packet-submission I'm sure the fees will be different. Anyways, so keep Oct. 31 open for a nice autumn sojourn to Hamilton, ON. I've managed to procure enough rooms that we should be able to host about 16 teams, provided the school doesn't screw us over at all (which hasn't happened yet...). Again, I'm sorry for the confusion and whatnot, but hopefully things are good now. Let me know if you've got any questions, and I'll try to answer when I can. Thanks!

Jay Misuk
Captain, Vice-President
McMaster Quizbowl[/b][/size]

[wexs883198215]

Is this meant to be posted in the high school section?

[now moved to its rightful place --the mgmt]

[Gautam]

Please give me a day to figure out how packet-submission is going to work out. Since this site was announced so late, we'll have to come up with some alternative schedule for discounts/penalties.

[maxis7]

That's great news about a McMaster mirror. Toronto will have one team for sure, likely more.

[Quantum Mushroom Billiard Hat]

If Chicago's current 3-team cap stands, we will be sending a team or two. Obviously, this is very tentative.

[MahoningQuizBowler]

Speaking for Youngstown State, I am interested...I will try to find out at practice tomorrow if anyone else is AND has passports.

[Camelopardalis]

Guelph will be bringing multiple teams to this. I'd expect 3-4, but this date falls in the middle of midterms, so I will have to confirm next week. We will be bringing 0-2 moderators and 0-2 buzzer systems. Looking forward to it!

[MahoningQuizBowler]

Any updates? From YSU, there are more than enough interested, but not nearly enough with passports...still working on it.

[women, fire and dangerous things]

We've confirmed that Western is sending one team, one buzzer system, and one moderator to this.

[Senator_Jay]

Well, here's a slight update...we've got interest from Guelph, Waterloo, Toronto, Western, YSU, and McMaster so far. I think we'll end up having about 10ish teams, which isn't bad. I'm still waiting to hear back from Gautam about packets and fees and stuff; I would suggest at this point that if you have made a pack, you'll most likely need to submit it, and if you have time to make one (if you're not a new team), please try to. Otherwise, for this tournament, being that it is on Halloween day, COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED, and there will be candy provided. Anyways, I'll be back hopefully with more info soon!

[MicroEStudent]

Unfortunately, due to schedule conflicts, RIT will be unable to send a team.

[MahoningQuizBowler]

Unfortunately, the only other player who had committed to come with me has withdrawn, and I'm not going to play solo. YSU is out. Sorry.

[Senator_Jay]

Ok, so, the packet requirement for this site has been waived. However, 2 things: you may still submit a packet by Oct. 24 in order to receive a $25 discount, but, if you are just entering the tournament because of the non-packet submission and NOT because of Mac's proximity to your school, than you CANNOT participate in the tournament. So, if you're a Canadian school or one within a close enough area to Hamilton that Hamilton would be the closest site to attend, then you can come and take advantage of the non-packet submission, but if you're not then you can't. Again, if you have any questions, email me at [email protected]. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in a week!

Jay

[at your pleasure]

Ok, so, the packet requirement for this site has been waived. However, 2 things: you may still submit a packet by Oct. 24 in order to receive a $25 discount, but, if you are just entering the tournament because of the non-packet submission and NOT because of Mac's proximity to your school, than you CANNOT participate in the tournament. So, if you're a Canadian school or one within a close enough area to Hamilton that Hamilton would be the closest site to attend, then you can come and take advantage of the non-packet submission, but if you're not then you can't. Again, if you have any questions, email me at [email protected]. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in a week!

Jay

Out of curiosity, does this apply to teams that would not have to submit a packet anyways?

[Senator_Jay]

No, if you would not be submitting a pack anyways (ie, you're a new club) then the restriction wouldn't apply.

[bmcke]

Can I come staff this?

[Quantum Mushroom Billiard Hat]

Michigan will in fact have a team here. Do you need our buzzers, or should we send them to Chicago?

[Senator_Jay]

Brendan, you can come moderate; and Michigan, if you're coming, then yes, a buzzer would be helpful. We have 3 sets of our own, but only one is working 100%.

Also, this is the call for a final confirmation: I'd like final numbers by Thurs., Oct. 29, and as of right now, we've got 10-13 teams semi-confirmed, with 7 buzzers, and about 10-13 moderators. Let me know, and we'll see you on Sat.!

[Camelopardalis]

Really sorry, but it looks like midterms and Halloween have cut in to our roster a bit. We'll have at least two teams for sure (but also probably no more than this). We can't seem to find the buzzer system we've been using, and we haven't ordered our new one yet, so it also appears as though we won't be able to bring buzzers. I'll also ask Andy if he's able to moderate this weekend.

[women, fire and dangerous things]

I can confirm one team, one buzzer, and one moderator (though it looks like there's a bunch already) from Western.

[goblue16]

Michigan will be bringing one set of buzzers. If someone from McMaster could provide some information about the tournament it would be awesome, such as when registration begins, what building the tournament is being held in, and where good parking is.

[maxis7]

Toronto will bring one team and one buzzer

[Camelopardalis]

Guelph will be bringing 2 teams and 1 moderator.

[Senator_Jay]

Ok, so, Thurs. night has arrived. Right now, we've got 2 McMaster teams, I'll assume 2 from Guelph, 3 from Waterloo, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Western, and 1 from UofT. That puts us at 10, which we can bump up to 12 if need be, I'm sure. Anyways, we'll be meeting on the 2nd floor of the student centre (MUSC), where VETO and last year's ACF Fall both were. I'm going to say that teams should start arriving by 8:45 for a hopefully 9:15ish start time, and given the number of teams, we'll divvy it up into 2 brackets and then have a playoff at the end in order to minimize time. Remember to wear costumes, and we'll be seeing you on Sat.!

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Ok, so, Thurs. night has arrived. Right now, we've got 2 McMaster teams, I'll assume 2 from Guelph, 3 from Waterloo, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Western, and 1 from UofT. That puts us at 10, which we can bump up to 12 if need be, I'm sure. Anyways, we'll be meeting on the 2nd floor of the student centre (MUSC), where VETO and last year's ACF Fall both were. I'm going to say that teams should start arriving by 8:45 for a hopefully 9:15ish start time, and given the number of teams, we'll divvy it up into 2 brackets and then have a playoff at the end in order to minimize time. Remember to wear costumes, and we'll be seeing you on Sat.!

How would this get everyone at least 11 games to play? What's wrong with just running a round robin and then some playoff rounds (also, what are you going to do about teams that submitted packets needing byes? It seems to me you should aim for 11 teams, not 12).

[maxis7]

what are you going to do about teams that submitted packets needing byes?

I don't think byes will be an issue since none of the teams attending this site wrote any packets

[OntarioQuizzer]

Ok, so, Thurs. night has arrived. Right now, we've got 2 McMaster teams, I'll assume 2 from Guelph, 3 from Waterloo, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Western, and 1 from UofT. That puts us at 10, which we can bump up to 12 if need be, I'm sure. Anyways, we'll be meeting on the 2nd floor of the student centre (MUSC), where VETO and last year's ACF Fall both were. I'm going to say that teams should start arriving by 8:45 for a hopefully 9:15ish start time, and given the number of teams, we'll divvy it up into 2 brackets and then have a playoff at the end in order to minimize time. Remember to wear costumes, and we'll be seeing you on Sat.!

How would this get everyone at least 11 games to play? What's wrong with just running a round robin and then some playoff rounds (also, what are you going to do about teams that submitted packets needing byes? It seems to me you should aim for 11 teams, not 12).

I'm agreeing with Charlie on this one; we should have a round-robin.

[bsmith]

Jay,

Last year on Oct 28 I sent you an Excel file that gave a schedule template for all possibilities from 7 to 14 teams. You should follow it again this year. 10 teams is round-robin followed by 4/3/3 split (12 rounds). 11 teams is round-robin (11 rounds).

[Senator_Jay]

Ok, well no worries then. Yes, Ben, I remember receiving that; hopefully I still have it saved somewhere. I have no problem with us having any format of tournament, so long as it works. But yeah, 10 or 11 teams is what to expect, so I'll do up schedules for both just in case.

[OntarioQuizzer]

Quick results:

Toronto 12-0
Michigan 10-2

Props to McMaster for another excellently-run event.

[Quantum Mushroom Billiard Hat]

Many thanks to McMaster for a very well-run tournament. Everything ran really smoothly, and there were no significant delays between rounds. Getting though 12 rounds that efficiently is very impressive.

[maxis7]

Yeah, great work by MacMaster in the organization of this tournament. Thanks for an enjoyable experience.

[OntarioQuizzer]

Stats can be found here: http://www.andysthoughts.com/ACF2009/AC ... dings.html

[Senator_Jay]

Thanks again to everyone who came out and helped, I'm glad everyone had a good time. Also, many thanks to Andy for his help with the statkeeping, as well as offering his website to offer stats for the tournament!

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks to Jay and the whole McMaster club for a great tournament. Things moved along very quickly (it's not often you finish 12 rounds before 5), the reading was great, and the venue was also good. It was definitely one of the most enjoyable tournaments I've been to in the past year, and thanks also to the editing staff for this tournament for producing what I thought was a very enjoyable and accessible set.

[Camelopardalis]

Oh, and a small nitpicky thing about the stats - our game against McMaster A in the first round was actually 355-145, not 230-145, as listed. I think the error is in the bonus conversion, where it says we had 105 BPts/13 BHrd, though we actually had 230 BPts/13 BHrd. I'm pretty sure it puts our bonus conversion around 17.5, or a few notches above McMaster A's, which presumably would mean that the top bracket should have been Toronto, Michigan, Waterloo A and Guelph A, but it's not a big deal. Thanks again for a great tournament!