QuAC II at UPenn in Phila., PA (11/21/09)

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:17 pm

Hey everyone. This is the announcement for the Quaker Academic Competition II at the University of Pennsylvania to be held on November 21, 2009. We will be using HSAPQ set 10 (switch to 9), which is an ACF-style set (rounds of 20 tossups with 3-part bonuses). The current field cap is 32 teams, with a maximum of 3 teams allowed per school. We will expand as long as enough staff is available. Please get your registations in soon to be guaranteed a spot in the field.

The registration form and invitation has been mailed to everyone on my list. Either return that form or send number of teams, number of buzzers, contact e-mail, and contact cell number to [email protected]. If you need an official form for invoice purposes, you should e-mail me. Otherwise checks the morning of the tournament should be made out in my name--"Mehdi Razvi"--so that they can reach the appropriate destinations in good time.

Registration fees/discounts per school:
$70 for first team
$50 each for subsequent teams
-$10 per functional buzzer system

Travel Discounts:
-$10 for 200-500 miles (-$10)
-$20 for 500-700 miles (-$20)
-$30 >700 miles (-$30)

Min. fee per school: $30

Location: Will be updated when confirmed, but the opening meeting will likely again be held in Cohen Hall 17, with games taking place in Williams Hall. A searchable map can be found here: http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/map.php. Directions/parking info etc. will be e-mailed out as tournament date draws near.

Confirmed Field (as of 11/20/09):
Bloomfield (2 teams, 1 buzzer)
Caesar Rodney (2 teams, 1 buzzer)
Detroit Catholic Central (1 team, 1 buzzer)
Half Hollow Hills West (2 teams, 2 buzzers)
Hunter (1 team, 2 buzzers)
Kellenberg (3 teams, 4 buzzers)
Millburn (2 teams, 2 buzzers)
Moorestown Friends (2 teams, 0 buzzers)
Moravian (2 teams, 0 buzzers)
Mt. Pleasant (2 teams, 0 buzzers)
Octorara (1 teams, 0 buzzers)
Pennridge (2 teams, 1 buzzer)
St. Anselm's (1 team, 0 buzzers)
State College (2 teams, 1 buzzer)
St. Joseph's (3 teams, 2 buzzers)
TJHSST (2 teams, 1 buzzers)
Wilmington Charter (4 teams, 2 buzzers)
Woodbridge (1 team, 0 buzzers)
Total: 35 teams, 20 buzzers

The following teams have expressed interest at some point and should send in official registrations to be considered part of the field:
Expressing interest:
Stuyvesant (2 teams)

Down and out in Quintana Roo · Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:21 pm

Cool. Hopefully we'll be there with 1-2 teams.

I also hope that more tournaments aren't just going to defer to HSAPQ packets... there are only so many of them available.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:14 pm

My students have been waiting for this posting all summer, given the quality of the field last year, and this seems to be an excellent date. So, that said, Saint Joseph's is quite interested in bringing TWO TEAMS.

btressler · Post by **btressler** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:55 pm

Put Charter down for 3 teams, and like 3 on the waiting list.

I am happy to help in whatever capacity you need.

BroNi · Post by **BroNi** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:16 pm

2 teams, 3 buzzers, 1 moderator

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:48 pm

Mehdi,

Fred Morlan has just emailed all on his regional tournament notification list that QuAC IS scheduled for the 21st of November. Is he correct---is this date now SET IN STONE, or are you still waiting to determine the degree of interest in both your Tournament and the tentatively announced date before you make the 21st official? I ask just to avoid any possible confusion for those receiving Fred's updates.

Thanks.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:13 am

Mehdi,

A follow up question as well: Do you know what HSAPQ Set you will be using? I ask because SET # 8 is apparently going to be used at the September 26th Maryland Fall Tournament and this might cause some conflicts with QuAC, and thus some hesitation or delay in registering for schools that are attracted to both tournaments. Perhaps you could contact HSAPQ to help remove the possible confusion this could create? Or perhaps you already know the Set # you will be using?

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:52 am

To briefly address above questions, I think we'll go ahead and proceed with this date, and Shawn assured me HSAPQ #10 would be available for this tournament and is not in conflict with any other tournaments in the area at the moment.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:31 am

Mehdi,

Thanks for the swift response about the HSAPQ Set # 10---I am sure this helps all who wish to go to both Maryland in September and U Penn in November to realize that there is no conflict between the tournaments. And, thank you as well for your confirmation of the 21st of November as a FIRM date. I am sure this will help everyone interested in QuAC to make a quicker decision.

Sacapuntas · Post by **Sacapuntas** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:16 pm

We're very interested in this tournament--I forget why we couldn't go last year.

Tentatively, we'll bring two teams.

The Infanta · Post by **The Infanta** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:54 pm

I'm nearby, so I'm happy to offer my services as a reader/scorekeeper.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:03 am

The Infanta wrote:I'm nearby, so I'm happy to offer my services as a reader/scorekeeper.

Cool! Drop me an e-mail at [email protected] with your contact info, and I'll keep you updated. We can definitely use you. I'll try to send invites out via e-mail this week and thereafter consider registration officially open.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:00 pm

How exactly should I register? Sorry, I'm representing a team that's new to this forum, but we're extremly interested in attending with 2, maybe 3 teams. Also, when I tried to send an email to the above link, it failed. It said it was an illegal host or domain name. Did anyone else have this problem? And, will the tournament cost the same price as last year? Thanks.

lagazzaladra · Post by **lagazzaladra** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:11 pm

TJ's expressing interest (most likely two teams and two buzzers).

at your pleasure · Post by **at your pleasure** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:20 pm

Bob-I think it's the REMOVETHISTEXT. If you copy and paste the adress into a email's adress bar and remove that REMOVETHISTEXT it should work.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:41 pm

Wow... well, I guess actually reading the address may have helped... either way, the hole in my common sense has become very apparent all of a sudden. Thanks, though.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:48 pm

Mehdi,

Is registration OFFICIALLY open yet? If so, are there any specifics those contemplating coming need to know? Just curious.

Commandant1424 · Post by **Commandant1424** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:11 pm

Bloomfield will be there on the 21st, two teams and one buzzer set.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:27 pm

Sorry I've been mostly negligent about this, but I'll put out an invitation today and tomorrow. Also, look for an update in the initial post reflecting field, location, etc. very soon!

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:39 am

Assuming you really do intend to run this tournament, and assuming your registration fees are within reason, please know that Saint Joe's would love to register THREE TEAMS---we've added one since our previous post if this is OK--- and we'll bring 2 buzzers. And I will moderate if you wish.

lchen · Post by **lchen** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:30 pm

Hunter is expressing interest, probably with one team and two buzzers.

The King's Flight to the Scots · Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:33 pm

St. Anselm's will probably bring one team to this.

wexs883198215 · Post by **wexs883198215** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:30 pm

WJ is expressing tentative interest as well. Likely for one team and one buzzer system.

Down and out in Quintana Roo · Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:03 pm

We should have at least 2 teams for this. I hope more, but i guess i can't claim that many (ideally i could bring 5). And we'll have buzzers... and i would love to moderate like last year.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:52 pm

Hey folks,
I was having trouble locating my most updated contact list, but I sent out the invitation to a (potentially) more primitive one today. If you've given me a lukewarm registration by e-mail already, I'll contact you individually and keep a spot for you in the field for one week. You should submit a registration form during this time to guarantee your team a spot. Only those submitting registration forms will be considered part of the field. If you're mailing the form, you should e-mail me as well to let me know when you've sent it.

If you didn't receive a copy of the invitation/registration and would like one, please e-mail [email protected] (please remove the text) and I'll be happy to send you one. I'll be updating the initial post with more info today.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:06 pm

I've updated my initial post, so that should have all of what you need to know at this point. Thanks to a slurry of registrations I've received over the last few days, the field is already over half-full, so please send in your registrations ASAP if you wish to be guaranteed a spot. This should either consist of an e-mail to [email protected] with ALL of the requested info or a completed registration form. No one posting here or sending me partial info will be considered registered until an e-mail is sent.

I've included an "expressed interest" category, but that doesn't really mean much except that those people should send me the info needed for registration to become part of the field. I get the sense that people are just putting 3 teams on their forms so that they can hit the maximum so as not to exclude anyone. Hence, I anticipate most teams from any waitlist that arises will be able to get into the field in less than a month's time, once those numbers firm up. (however, being a part of the waitlist requires sending an official registration as well, so please do that!)

TheKingInYellow · Post by **TheKingInYellow** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:08 pm

State College will probably come, with 2 teams

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Just bumping to say that we're like 6 teams away from hitting our current field cap. There's a decent chance the field will be expanded, but you should e-mail me right away if you wish to be guaranteed a spot.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:11 am

Just another thread bump. We're quite close to capacity, so send me the requested info soon. I estimate the field will be filled in the next day or so.

Down and out in Quintana Roo · Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:19 am

Once again, looks like an amazing field. Can't wait to see the competition in person. Remember that i'll gladly help out to moderate. Good luck getting everything ready. A shame we still have to wait 5 weeks for this!

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:37 pm

Looks like, as I thought, we've reached our field cap with about a month to go. In the next few weeks, there will likely be a flux of teams in and out of the field, so teams are still encouraged to continue registering to be added to the waitlist. Again, you should still e-mail me with either a registration form or the required info (#teams, #buzzers, contact name, contact e-mail, contact cell #) to be added to the waitlist; teams will be let off the waitlist in order of registration, so it would be more advantageous to register sooner rather than later.

yellow7206 · Post by **yellow7206** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:38 am

Sorry, we have decided not to attend.

Longfellow MS.

Iamrebel · Post by **Iamrebel** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:40 pm

Stuyvesant is interested and will be sending two teams with one buzzer system.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:42 pm

Iamrebel wrote:Stuyvesant is interested and will be sending two teams with one buzzer system.

Good to hear you're interested but please e-mail me the requested info to be added to the waitlist.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:53 pm

Given the number of teams on the wait list/interested list, any chance the field will be expanded?

Down and out in Quintana Roo · Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:52 pm

Edward Powers wrote:Given the number of teams on the wait list/interested list, any chance the field will be expanded?

Yeah i'm wondering why the field wasn't expanded as well. You really can't get more than 16 rooms? You're going to have lots of volunteers to moderate, or coaches that would gladly accept it to allow more teams to play.

Regardless, i'm sure this will be run well, and we'll see you in a few weeks.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:04 pm

We're fine on rooms, but I am only concerned about volunteers (particularly given how last year went) as I haven't fleshed out a concrete list of how many we'll have. I'll try to do this soon and let you all know what's up.

wexs883198215 · Post by **wexs883198215** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:34 am

Aargh. Should've posted this earlier, but our coach has an obligation as a judge at a physics competition of some sort and won't be able to take us, so I guess you can take us off the interested list.
Sorry about that.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:26 pm

Hey all,
I just sent out an e-mail to those registered and on the waitlist. The gist of it was that you should e-mail me ASAP if your status of teams or buzzers changes so that I can inform waitlisted teams of their status in a timely manner. I am in the process of compiling a list of people available to staff--hopefully we'll hit our target numbers but in case we do not, I just wanted to account for the willing coaches that have previous moderating experience (besides the ones who have already graciously stepped forward) so that they could help out if we need them. Hence if any coaches or parents fall into this category that are not from Caesar Rodney, Kellenberg, DCC, St. Joseph's, or Wilmington Charter, do let me know. I would try my best to relieve you in the afternoon.
Thanks,
Mehdi

The King's Flight to the Scots · Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:50 pm

Will you be using powers at this tournament?

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:47 pm

Journey to the Planets wrote:Will you be using powers at this tournament?

Probably.

Algeria · Post by **Algeria** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:21 pm

Hey, just checking, but is this tournament definitely using HSAPQ set #10, or some other numbered HSAPQ set? That seems to be the set Gonzaga/St. Anselm's February tournament is using. (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7910#p159799)

The King's Flight to the Scots · Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:25 pm

Algeria wrote:Hey, just checking, but is this tournament definitely using HSAPQ set #10, or some other numbered HSAPQ set? That seems to be the set Gonzaga/St. Anselm's February tournament is using. (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7910#p159799)

I think they're using set 9, the one you guys were supposed to get. No one's updated anything, though.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:09 pm

I've been going under the assumption we're switched to #9, but I'll verify with Shawn. I'll post here if I hear otherwise.

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:37 pm

Just a quick announcement that we're pretty close to being able to expand the field and I should know by the end of the weekend whether we have the staff to or not. If there are any experienced moderators in the area that can help out and I haven't been in touch with you, we could probably use you. As a bonus, you get free lunch (!) and I'd be glad to reimburse your transportation costs up to $20 (!!). E-mail [email protected] if interested.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:29 am

Any news on the format for the day, or on field expansion?

Lapego1 · Post by **Lapego1** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:56 pm

I've noted the field expansion in the opening post--we have 36 teams. Hopefully, we'll stay at this number, in which case we'll have a prelim round robin with 6 brackets of 6 (5 rounds). I know the typical playoff format would then be to take the top ranked team from each bracket and move them into playoff bracket 1, second team to bracket 2, etc. and do another round robin in the 6 playoff brackets to get a final ranking for teams. However, I may change things up a little in the top 2 brackets for playoffs (while leaving the remaining playoff brackets as normal) as the former format I think leaves determining the ultimate winner to much too chance in my initial bracketing (which is surely fallible), and there are several good teams in the field that should probably get a chance to play each other--we may do something similar to last year in that case (scramble the top 2 teams from each prelim bracket into two brackets of 6; round robin there; then teams are ranked and you play your counterpart in the other bracket). This would give a total of 11 rounds for the top 12 teams and 10 rounds for everyone else.

Of course, this is all assuming we stay at 36...(I'm hoping some number of Charter teams are on standby

). I'm sending out an e-mail this evening sometime to cement everything up.

btressler · Post by **btressler** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:46 pm

We like the top 12 idea.

Charter D can be on standby, but our registration check is already cut.

Edward Powers · Post by **Edward Powers** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:07 pm

Precisely because the preliminary seedings for brackets can be fallible, as you suggest, we also like the Top 12 idea, assuming of course that none of the three 2nd place teams placed within each of the two 6 six team championship brackets is paired with the first place team from its preliminary bracket.

Down and out in Quintana Roo · Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:40 pm

Edward Powers wrote:Precisely because the preliminary seedings for brackets can be fallible, as you suggest, we also like the Top 12 idea, assuming of course that none of the three 2nd place teams placed within each of the two 6 six team championship brackets is paired with the first place team from its preliminary bracket.

Yeah, please do this. Include as many "good" teams in the "finals" as you can so all can have a chance, since the field is so skilled.