Antrobus63 wrote:I'm not concerned about everybody clambering to get into the afternoon session. If it happens, great--you could simply cut off the migration once you get what you need--but unless NAQT offers people a tangible inducement, why would they move?
In terms of competitiveness (i.e., ignoring factors like tourism), it's to their advantage to do so, because (unless so many do it that the afternoon session becomes the tough one, which we do not expect to happen), they will get a slightly easier schedule by moving to the less-concentrated afternoon session. It's also to NAQT's advantage, since we want balanced sessions, and to the advantage of the remaining morning-session teams (since a strong team moving out leaves a less strong group behind) The only teams who are negatively affected are the teams already in the afternoon session, but they're not being asked to do anything.
Antrobus63 wrote:I figure that if the first 100 teams had preferred the afternoon session, they would have already picked it.
We are now giving them more information than they had when they made the decision. Some won't have the flexibility or their minds won't be changed. Some may. (And, indeed, some have.)
Antrobus63 wrote:So, if these 100 teams are "guaranteed" the slot they picked—and most top teams preferred the morning—what is their inducement to move? NAQT's e-mail says that switching to the afternoon "would likely be to your team's advantage" which implies that the afternoon session will somehow be less competitive.
If we put everyone who requested the morning session in the morning session, and put everyone who requested the afternoon session in the afternoon session, using requests as of this moment and the field as of this moment, then the morning session would contain more highly ranked teams and the afternoon session would therefore be "less competitive."
Antrobus63 wrote:Jeff's post says that the sessions will be "balanced to the best of our ability."
It's true!
Antrobus63 wrote:But if that's the case... exactly how would switching from our preferred time slot be to our advantage? If most of the top-rated teams refuse to budge from the morning, what then?
Then the sessions will be a bit unbalanced. We promised that the first 100 session requests would be fulfilled no matter what, and they will be. As of the current set of requests, doing so would make the sessions a bit unbalanced.
Antrobus63 wrote:That’s why I suggest the financial incentive. NAQT figured that the new system would result in a balanced field, but it hasn’t, so it seems fair that NAQT offer a tangible benefit (not related to competitiveness) to even things out.
I don't think this follows, and in any event, we do not currently have any plans to offer financial, tangible, or other benefits beyond pointing out the fact that we're inviting teams to make a choice that would help themselves.