ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

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ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by ramblinwreck »

The Georgia Tech and Columbia Quiz Bowl Teams cordially invite you to play IKEA (In-Depth Knowledge, Excellent Answerlines), a tournament for the 2020-2021 season. The target difficulty of this set will be roughly that of 2013 DRAGOON and 2016 Terrapin - somewhat harder than EFT of recent vintage, while meaningfully easier than 2018-20 Regionals. This set will be head edited by Will Alston and subject editors include:

Will Alston: Head Editor; Auditory Arts, Social Science, Philosophy, Modern World/OAC, Literature
Hari Parameswaran: History, Visual Arts, Geography
Billy Busse: Science
Gerhardt Hinkle: Beliefs

The set will contain 14 packets of 20 powermarked tossups and 20 bonuses.

The distribution for this set will be as follows:

4/4 Literature - Divided on a set-wide basis as follows:
18/18 Long Fiction - 2 or 3 questions per packet
14/14 Poetry (Including Epic) - 2 questions per packet
10/10 Drama 1 or 2 questions per packet
7/7 Short Fiction - 1 question per packet
7/7 Non-Fiction and Miscellaneous - 1 question per packet

4/4 History - Divided on a per-packet basis:
1/1 US
1/1 Europe
1/1 Post 500 CE World
0.5/0.5 Ancient and Archaeology
0.5/0.5 Commonwealth, Historiography, and Misc.

4/4 Science - Divided on a per-packet basis:
1/1 Biology
1/1 Chemistry, Astronomy, and Earth Science (about ⅔ chemistry)
1/1 Physics, P-Chem, and Astrophysics
0.5/0.5 Pure Math and Computer Science
0.5/0.5 Applied Science, Engineering, and Data Science

3/3 Arts - Divided on a per-packet basis:
1/1 Painting and Sculpture
1/1 Classical and Opera
1/1 Other Arts

2/2 Beliefs - “Religion” and “Myth” as categories have been scrapped and re-sorted:
1/1 Texts, Stories, and Scripture
1/1 Practice

3/3 Other - Divided on a set-wide basis:
14/14 Social Science - 2 per packet
10/10 Philosophy - 1 or 2 per packet
10/10 Modern World/CE and Other Academic - 1 or 2 per packet
8/8 Geography - 1 or 2 per packet

The mirror fee for this tournament will be $45 per team. House teams also merit mirror fees.


We are looking for the following online regional mirrors:

Britain/Europe - Open
Britain/Europe - Closed
Canada (excluding BC)
Northeast (NY and everything to the east and north) -> Columbia
Mid-Atlantic (NJ, PA, MD, DE, WV, VA)
Southeast (KY, TN, NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, FL) -> Georgia Tech
Midwest (MN, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH) - note Iowa is excluded
West Coast (WA, OR, CA, AZ, British Columbia)
Lower Midwest, Texas, and Rockies (everything between West Coast and SE/Midwest)

Please contact me at [email protected] (and CC [email protected]) if you are interested in mirroring this tournament.
Last edited by ramblinwreck on Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:43 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Carlos Be »

ramblinwreck wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:01 pm invite you to play IKEA
Will the questions be packetized already, or will hosts have to assemble them?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Bosa of York »

Since you're explicitly putting physical chemistry in with physics, will biochemistry/"bio-y" chemistry be placed in the biology distribution (ie where it isn't crowding out "core chemistry" in the reduced chemistry distribution)?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by ramblinwreck »

a named reaction wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:45 pm Since you're explicitly putting physical chemistry in with physics, will biochemistry/"bio-y" chemistry be placed in the biology distribution (ie where it isn't crowding out "core chemistry" in the reduced chemistry distribution)?
It will be put in chemistry.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Good Goblin Housekeeping »

In a similar vein, how does this set distinguish astronomy and astrophysics? Seems a bit arbitrary as currently set up (not that the way people have historically chosen if something in the vein of a "physical chem topic" goes in chem or phys isn't, but if the set's explicitly labeling them as such)
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by touchpack »

Re: the concerns about the science distribution, the issue here is it's not really a per-packet distribution, it's a per-tournament distribution. Basically, there will be somewhat less than 1/1 chemistry and 1/1 physics, in order to make room for applied science topics. Don't get too concerned about the details about the borders--the answer to your questions about "what's the line between X and Y" is "The editors will make decisions somewhat arbitrarily (because, indeed, the *entire concept* of a "category" is arbitrary) in order to ensure that the tournament asks about a variety of content from various scientific disciplines."
a named reaction wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:45 pm Since you're explicitly putting physical chemistry in with physics, will biochemistry/"bio-y" chemistry be placed in the biology distribution (ie where it isn't crowding out "core chemistry" in the reduced chemistry distribution)?
No, Biology will remain at 1/1, reflecting both how people engage with the subject in real life, (just look at some of the recent "Chemistry" Nobels) and the size of its quizbowl canon (certainly larger than both chemistry and physics).
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by VSCOelasticity »

Given the reduced physics distribution, will physics questions that are more commonly encountered in engineering clases, e.g. fluid dynamics amd continuum mechanics, still be placed in the physics distribution?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

This tournament is progressing remarkably quickly and is about 30% written so far (though not necessarily edited that much). We plan to complete most of it in the summer and may be hosting a playtest tournament well in advance of our planned mirror date. Stay tuned!
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

(this post is now obsolete - see below for new official Ikea Marketing Material)
Last edited by naan/steak-holding toll on Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

In light of recent discussion, we are strongly encouraging hosts - especially more experienced ones - to run this event with steals ("bouncebacks"). The flagship sites at Columbia and GA Tech will be using them.

We have adhered strictly to an 800 character limit to tossups and 650 character limit to bonuses in writing this set (barely longer than PACE) and strongly believe this will be feasible.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Zealots of Stockholm »

naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 8:57 pm In light of recent discussion, we are strongly encouraging hosts - especially more experienced ones - to run this event with steals ("bouncebacks"). The flagship sites at Columbia and GA Tech will be using them.

We have adhered strictly to an 800 character limit to tossups and 650 character limit to bonuses in writing this set (barely longer than PACE) and strongly believe this will be feasible.
While I respect the good people at Georgia Tech's commitment to hosting lots of tournaments (and appreciate it!), I am not looking forward to how long this tournament will take, or to potentially playing fewer rounds due to the use of bouncebacks. Tournaments regularly end in the 5-6 PM range already, even though Tech elects to start earlier than most other tournament hosts (usually 8:30 instead of 9:00).

I also hope that this is not interpreted as me saying that Tech is a "bad" tournament host by any means-- I enjoy playing tournaments at Tech, I just personally don't enjoy the idea of a tournament that (in my eyes) is guaranteed to last until 7 or 8 PM.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by CPiGuy »

As someone strongly opposed to the use of bouncebacks, I welcome the experimentation.

If they are used and, as I suspect will happen, they suck and are widely derided, then the issue will be decided and we won't have to have another four years of arguments about whether college quizbowl can use bouncebacks.

If they are used and work well, then I am wrong, and quizbowl has more formats to choose from. This is also a good outcome!
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Cody »

I encourage hosts using bouncebacks to adopt and use the relevant sections of the PACE ruleset. Bounceback replacement & protest resolution, in particular, are quite different when bouncebacks are in play – and hosts are likely to have zero experience with such issues. A primer and any relevant materials should be issued to and discussed with hosts. (For example, this protest swing worksheet we used at PACE NSC 2019.)
Zealots of Stockholm wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 10:16 pm
naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 8:57 pm In light of recent discussion, we are strongly encouraging hosts - especially more experienced ones - to run this event with steals ("bouncebacks"). The flagship sites at Columbia and GA Tech will be using them.

We have adhered strictly to an 800 character limit to tossups and 650 character limit to bonuses in writing this set (barely longer than PACE) and strongly believe this will be feasible.
While I respect the good people at Georgia Tech's commitment to hosting lots of tournaments (and appreciate it!), I am not looking forward to how long this tournament will take, or to potentially playing fewer rounds due to the use of bouncebacks. Tournaments regularly end in the 5-6 PM range already, even though Tech elects to start earlier than most other tournament hosts (usually 8:30 instead of 9:00).

I also hope that this is not interpreted as me saying that Tech is a "bad" tournament host by any means-- I enjoy playing tournaments at Tech, I just personally don't enjoy the idea of a tournament that (in my eyes) is guaranteed to last until 7 or 8 PM.
Bouncebacks will probably only add ~30 minutes to the tournament, assuming it is a normal number of rounds, and no major snafus occur. (On the other hand, snafus are a perennial problem when dealing with untrained readers and bouncebacks.)
Last edited by Cody on Thu Jun 18, 2020 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Here Comes Rusev Day »

It didn't say in the initial announcement but I presume this tournament is not open. Will this tournament have an open playtest mirror over the Discord or Zoom?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Cody wrote:Bouncebacks will probably only add ~30 minutes to the tournament, assuming it is a normal number of rounds, and no major snafus occur. (On the other hand, snafus are a perennial problem when dealing with untrained readers and bouncebacks.)
I think Cody is right on this - my experience with PACE is that bouncebacks are almost always either answered immediately or just passed.
Here Comes Rusev Day wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 2:52 pm It didn't say in the initial announcement but I presume this tournament is not open. Will this tournament have an open playtest mirror over the Discord or Zoom?
Yes, there will definitely be an open Discord playtest some time between September and November. Expect an announcement within the next month or so, when we're ready.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

In light of the movement of Penn Bowl to the Spring semester and rapid progress on this tournament (we're past 50% completion) we will be planning to run this tournament via a series of online, closed regional mirrors in mid to late October, with some schedule flexibility. We are further planning to hold one or more, non-playtest online open mirrors from mid to late September, up to early October. We are in discussions to commission a Briticization of this tournament as well.

Active college players will not be allowed to play online open mirrors unless they petition for an exception - you can PM me if you wish to do so. High schoolers wishing to play on a chimera team should play an open mirror; if they play closed mirrors, they must play with their school team.

The price of all coordinated online mirrors of this set will be $80 per team, with discounts of $20 available for new teams, with the latter defined using the ACF criteria. We will plan to pay regional tournament coordinators $10 per team at their regional tournament and moderators $40 for the day for their services. Schools which run mirrors are free to set their own fees, but must pay the mirror fee to the IKEA team.

If you are interested in being a tournament regional coordinator, please email myself (william [dot] t [dot] alston [at] gmail [dot] com) and Tejas (tsantanam [at] gatech [dot] edu). Your responsibilities will be as follows:
  • Reaching out to teams in your region, including new teams (we will also be conducting efforts along this line)
  • Recruiting moderators (these can be from any source)
  • Collecting payment information from each team in a spreadsheet
  • Determining the best date and time for a regional mirror
  • Working with the other regional coordinators
  • Managing the tournament Discord server (we will provide you with a template server, equipped with bots to assign roles)
  • Ensuring timely posting of stats (we will provide you with a scorekeeping system)
  • Serving as TD on the day of the tournament
All moderators and regional coordinators MUST be able to accept online payments, with no exceptions.

Julia Tong and Tejas Santanam will be serving as coordinators for the Northeast and Southeast mirrors of this tournament, respectively.

We will allow for some flexibility as to which regional sites teams attend and will discuss further details with coordinator volunteers. We hope to publish a finalized list of open mirrors soon and shall publish a standard protocol / handbook for online mirrors of IKEA.

Given the concerns of the speed of online tournaments, we do not currently plan to use bouncebacks for these events, but we will allow tournament coordinators to make this decision for their own sites.

Payment format requirements will be established and strictly adhered to, given severe past difficulties dealing with school administrative reimbursement processes. We will publish these at a later date.
Last edited by naan/steak-holding toll on Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:01 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2021)

Post by vinteuil »

Was the post topic supposed to be modified to "Fall 2020" or (as it stands currently) "Fall 2021"?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2021)

Post by ramblinwreck »

vinteuil wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:17 pm Was the post topic supposed to be modified to "Fall 2020" or (as it stands currently) "Fall 2021"?
Fall 2020. My apologies. Thanks for pointing that out!
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Updated Marketing Material

Image
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Mike Bentley »

To be clear, will there will be an open playtest, or is your intention that anyone interested in that play the regular online open mirror?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Mike Bentley wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 1:17 pm To be clear, will there will be an open playtest, or is your intention that anyone interested in that play the regular online open mirror?
We are play testing extensively in private and anticipate having a fully prepared product for the online open mirrors, so best to think of it as a regular open. These opens will be held before the closed mirrors to allow prospective moderators to play first (we will likely provide in house staff for the non British ones).
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by atooloftheboss »

naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:29 pm Updated Marketing Material

Image
according to adobe.com the price for an annual subscription to Ps is 119.99 USD. the median weekly earnings for those aged 35-44 was estimated 1,080 USD as per BLS data.

walston im begging u stop devoting the vast majority of your income to GNC and fix this please ill venmo u you sick fuck just fix it
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

atooloftheboss wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:08 pm according to adobe.com the price for an annual subscription to Ps is 119.99 USD. the median weekly earnings for those aged 35-44 was estimated 1,080 USD as per BLS data.

walston im begging u stop devoting the vast majority of your income to GNC and fix this please ill venmo u you sick fuck just fix it
i like my ms paint tyvm

and no, I don't do supplements, just 5-6 days workout a week. cool-down walks are good for carding!
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

Post by Zealots of Stockholm »

I'm happy to see this tournament shifted to the fall and look forward to playing it!
naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:10 pm Given the concerns of the speed of online tournaments, we do not currently plan to use bouncebacks for these events, but we will allow tournament coordinators to make this decision for their own sites.
you absolutely LOVE to see it
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by BenWeiner27 »

atooloftheboss wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:08 pm
naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:29 pm Updated Marketing Material

Image
according to adobe.com the price for an annual subscription to Ps is 119.99 USD. the median weekly earnings for those aged 35-44 was estimated 1,080 USD as per BLS data.

walston im begging u stop devoting the vast majority of your income to GNC and fix this please ill venmo u you sick fuck just fix it
You don't even need Photoshop. This was done in Powerpoint in 10-15 minutes. Image

Edit: the embedded image doesnt seem to work so here is the link.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Stinkweed Imp »

or just use this one
Image
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

BenWeiner27 wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 7:54 pm
You don't even need Photoshop. This was done in Powerpoint in 10-15 minutes. Image

Edit: the embedded image doesnt seem to work so here is the link.
unfortunately I'm allergic to PowerPoint because I spend about 10-15 hours a week on it already

but this is absolutely lovely, appreciate all the content folks!

(as a note, actually executing on graphics is not particularly hard - it's figuring out the layout that you want that is more important)
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by buffaloz1331 »

Stinkweed Imp wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:46 am or just use this one
Image
Ok but is the Allen wrench included
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

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Stinkweed Imp wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:46 am or just use this one
Image
I have to make this post to make a point on how happy I am seeing this image.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

We will be updating the list of regional mirror sites tonight. US regional mirror sites will be defined by state; we have tried to optimize these regions to reflect desires for relatively balanced field sizes, teams' competitive desires, traditional attendance patterns, and a few individual teams' desires to play in more or less competitive fields. That said, if your university/college is in a given state, you are expected to attend the associated regional mirror unless you petition for an exception with good reason.

We hope that this system will allow the maintenance of traditional circuits, while potentially allowing teams from smaller circuits which might have to travel very long distances to get to know other players from smaller circuits (or a nearby large one, depending on how things play out).

I will maintain a list of approved exceptions below:
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by ramblinwreck »

The OP has been updated with the regional mirrors we are seeking. If you are interested in being a tournament regional coordinator, please email Will (william [dot] t [dot] alston [at] gmail [dot] com) and myself (tsantanam [at] gatech [dot] edu).
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

A further clarification - you do NOT need to be a member of a college quizbowl club to coordinate a mirror. In fact, we prefer if you are not one, in order to maximize the number of college teams and players who can play. Experienced moderators who participate in the online open mirrors, as well as other folks who have run online tournaments, are ideal candidates for tournament coordinators.

TCs who serve as mods will also be eligible to receive the $40 payment for mods in addition to the per-team fee.

However, we are open to allowing clubs which need money to serve as coordinators; in this case, schools are expected to set their own prices and run the mirrors themselves. We will still provide Code of Conduct documentation and pre-set-up Discord servers for all hosts.
Last edited by naan/steak-holding toll on Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by vathreya »

What's the logic behind including Idaho along with the "Mountain" circuit? Idaho teams (such as Boise State) play just as often, if not more, at UW and West-Coast sites, than at "Mountain" tournament sites. Teams from Washington and Oregon also attend tournaments in Idaho somewhat often. Considering this, I think consideration should be given as to whether or not Idaho should be included along with the West Coast teams.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

vathreya wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:41 pm What's the logic behind including Idaho along with the "Mountain" circuit? Idaho teams (such as Boise State) play just as often, if not more, at UW and West-Coast sites, than at "Mountain" tournament sites. Teams from Washington and Oregon also attend tournaments in Idaho somewhat often. Considering this, I think consideration should be given as to whether or not Idaho should be included along with the West Coast teams.
My logic was based on some posts I've read previously from Rocky Mountain area players that it's hard for them to get tournaments where, say, Idaho, BYU, Colorado, etc. are all together, and that it's easier for Idaho teams to drive to Washington than to reach some of those places. Idaho is also on Mountain Time, whereas the West Coast is on Pacific Time. My hope is that the large swath of area covered by the Lower Midwest, Texas, and Rocky Mountains will create a large field for a bunch of circuits which are not used to such due to geographic constraints.

By contrast, I included Arizona (also Mountain Time) in West Coast because I don't know of any instances where Arizona players really go too far outside Arizona / SoCal or try to do so and so that grouping made sense to me.

Idaho teams, much as any other teams, can feel free to petition for an exception to this policy.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Subotai the Valiant, Final Dog of War »

By contrast, I included Arizona (also Mountain Time) in West Coast because I don't know of any instances where Arizona players really go too far outside Arizona / SoCal or try to do so and so that grouping made sense to me.
If this is being run before Daylight Savings ends, as intended, most of Arizona is actually in the same time zone as SoCal, which makes this make even more sense.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

A further clarification - colleges which host this tournament will be granted an automatic exemption to the ban on enrolled college players participating in the open. Such schools which are granted hosting privileges are strongly encouraged to play the open mirrors!

British Columbia will be counted as "West Coast" for the purposes of this tournament.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Updated a bit on the pricing structure: schools who run mirrors of this set are free to set their own prices, but must pay us the $45 mirror fee per team. Events run by independent TCs will use the TC and moderator payment model outlined above, with $10/team to the TC and $40 per day to moderators.

Sorry for adding confusion to already confusing times.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Per some concerns raised, we will be creating a central Google Form and non-editable spreadsheet for all teams to register and provide contact information, number of teams they plan on bringing, method of payment (check/PayPal/Venmo/etc.) invoice requirements etc. This will be along the lines of the ACF model. My apologies for not having this earlier - expect this to be up shortly.

Thank you all for your patience and we welcome continuing feedback to provide a low-cost, high-quality online quizbowl experience for teams this fall.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by tiwonge »

naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:49 pm
vathreya wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:41 pm What's the logic behind including Idaho along with the "Mountain" circuit? Idaho teams (such as Boise State) play just as often, if not more, at UW and West-Coast sites, than at "Mountain" tournament sites. Teams from Washington and Oregon also attend tournaments in Idaho somewhat often. Considering this, I think consideration should be given as to whether or not Idaho should be included along with the West Coast teams.
My logic was based on some posts I've read previously from Rocky Mountain area players that it's hard for them to get tournaments where, say, Idaho, BYU, Colorado, etc. are all together, and that it's easier for Idaho teams to drive to Washington than to reach some of those places. Idaho is also on Mountain Time, whereas the West Coast is on Pacific Time. My hope is that the large swath of area covered by the Lower Midwest, Texas, and Rocky Mountains will create a large field for a bunch of circuits which are not used to such due to geographic constraints.

By contrast, I included Arizona (also Mountain Time) in West Coast because I don't know of any instances where Arizona players really go too far outside Arizona / SoCal or try to do so and so that grouping made sense to me.

Idaho teams, much as any other teams, can feel free to petition for an exception to this policy.
The northern portion of Idaho (including the University of Idaho) is on Pacific time, just FYI.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Based on discussions with people experienced in moderating online tournaments and the use of them to catch cheating, cameras/webcams will have to be turned on by all players participating at all mirrors of this tournament during their games. If a player is not able to turn their camera on, they will be required to leave the match unless the other team agrees to allow them to play.

Reasonable exceptions will be made for financial constraints if a player has an inadequate computer; players should petition the Tournament Coordinator prior to playing to receive such an exception. Please note that anomalous performances across several rounds without a camera on will be immediately regarded with intense suspicion.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

As an addendum to the above, players can and should petition the TD in advance if they anticipate having connection issues and being unable to use a camera. The TD will email post a list of all players with granted exceptions at the beginning of the tournament. Players who have issues during the tournament must ask their opponents' permission to play without a camera. We strongly encourage sportsmanlike behavior in granting permission in such circumstances.

All anomalous non-camera performances will be heavily scrutinized.

Players are expected to play in a quiet environment if possible. If the only areas available to you with a quiet environment (due to quarantine or other circumstances) have poor internet, you may want to consider purchasing and using an ethernet cable if possible, which can usually be acquired for a low price - Amazon Basics has one for $6.27.
Last edited by naan/steak-holding toll on Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Cody »

naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:47 pmPlayers are expected to play in a quiet environment if possible. If the only areas available to you with a quiet environment (due to quarantine or other circumstances) have poor internet, I strongly suggest purchasing and using an ethernet cable, which can usually be acquired for a low price - Amazon Basics has one for $6.27.
Connection stability and speed is a complex issue that can hardly be reduced to "buy an ethernet cable". Few laptops even have an RJ45 port (gaming laptops being the major exception), many homes / many apartments / some dorms are not fully wired, etc. (Indeed, my "quiet environment" is my home office which does not have an ethernet port in the room.) Like, yes, part of planning for a tournament is evaluating your internet connection -- and if the problem is that your WiFi connection is poor then an ethernet cable + ethernet-to-USB adapter may be the solution. But it's kind of patronizing to say "you can fix this issue for the low, low price of $6.27" when that does not begin to capture the cost or scope of the proper solutions.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Mike Bentley »

Cody wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:05 pm
naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:47 pmPlayers are expected to play in a quiet environment if possible. If the only areas available to you with a quiet environment (due to quarantine or other circumstances) have poor internet, I strongly suggest purchasing and using an ethernet cable, which can usually be acquired for a low price - Amazon Basics has one for $6.27.
Connection stability and speed is a complex issue that can hardly be reduced to "buy an ethernet cable". Few laptops even have an RJ45 port (gaming laptops being the major exception), many homes / many apartments / some dorms are not fully wired, etc. (Indeed, my "quiet environment" is my home office which does not have an ethernet port in the room.) Like, yes, part of planning for a tournament is evaluating your internet connection -- and if the problem is that your WiFi connection is poor then an ethernet cable + ethernet-to-USB adapter may be the solution. But it's kind of patronizing to say "you can fix this issue for the low, low price of $6.27" when that does not begin to capture the cost or scope of the proper solutions.
Yeah I agree that this issue is more complex than Will's presenting it. That being said, getting an ethernet connection for playing online tournaments is a good idea if it's logistically possible for you. Almost all laptops that lack a port will have a converter available (of course, this does add to the expense). Just from a self-interested perspective, an ethernet connection is likely going to reduce latency a bit and thus may win you an extra buzzer race or two.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Mike Bentley wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:24 pm
Cody wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:05 pm
naan/steak-holding toll wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:47 pmPlayers are expected to play in a quiet environment if possible. If the only areas available to you with a quiet environment (due to quarantine or other circumstances) have poor internet, I strongly suggest purchasing and using an ethernet cable, which can usually be acquired for a low price - Amazon Basics has one for $6.27.
Connection stability and speed is a complex issue that can hardly be reduced to "buy an ethernet cable". Few laptops even have an RJ45 port (gaming laptops being the major exception), many homes / many apartments / some dorms are not fully wired, etc. (Indeed, my "quiet environment" is my home office which does not have an ethernet port in the room.) Like, yes, part of planning for a tournament is evaluating your internet connection -- and if the problem is that your WiFi connection is poor then an ethernet cable + ethernet-to-USB adapter may be the solution. But it's kind of patronizing to say "you can fix this issue for the low, low price of $6.27" when that does not begin to capture the cost or scope of the proper solutions.
Yeah I agree that this issue is more complex than Will's presenting it. That being said, getting an ethernet connection for playing online tournaments is a good idea if it's logistically possible for you. Almost all laptops that lack a port will have a converter available (of course, this does add to the expense). Just from a self-interested perspective, an ethernet connection is likely going to reduce latency a bit and thus may win you an extra buzzer race or two.
Perhaps my wording was a bit strong - but I agree with the general sentiment that "this is an option that may help you". I've edited the phrasing accordingly.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

A centralized form with registrations for all sites can now be viewed here.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

We are still seeking a school or independent TC who is interested in running a Midwest mirror of this tournament! Please contact me privately if you would be interested in hosting one. A reminder that schools can and should feel free to set their own fee structure when hosting (provided they pay the mirror fee of $45). Thank you!
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

As a note, there is a discussion forum for the set! We'd love to get some feedback on what we did and didn't do well.
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by Carlos Be »

Will there be a second open mirror of IKEA and/or a closed mirror for teams who couldn't play at their regional site?
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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

Carlos Be wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 2:21 am Will there be a second open mirror of IKEA and/or a closed mirror for teams who couldn't play at their regional site?
I'd like there to be one - unfortunately my schedule is incredibly packed right now and I'm not sure I'll be able to organize such. If someone would like to serve as TC for such a site (under terms outlined in this thread, with the same payments etc.) please don't hesitate to reach out.
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