Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Old college threads.
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meebles127
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Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

I'll do this again this year. More details will come in the fall.
Last edited by meebles127 on Sat Dec 10, 2022 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Em Gunter
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Krik? Krik?! KRIIIIK!!!
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by Krik? Krik?! KRIIIIK!!! »

Is this still a plan? I'd love to help organize, and I have a packet idea.
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by meebles127 »

Krik? Krik?! KRIIIIK!!! wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 5:34 pm Is this still a plan? I'd love to help organize, and I have a packet idea.
I forgot this existed until just now, haha. Yes, it's still a plan and I would love some help this year. Please reach out to me through a method of your choice (preferably not mail).
Em Gunter
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Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by dni »

Is there a form like last year where we can express interest in writing a packet and/or see what others have planned? 👀
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by meebles127 »

I haven't started on this yet, I'm going to get some stuff together today/tomorrow and will move on from there. Expect something by Wednesday?
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by meebles127 »

I'm hoping to have something out by Wednesday night. Sorry for the delay, my life after the shooting on grounds at UVA has been chaotic and we unfortunately had to put our cat down last week. Expect something soon.
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by meebles127 »

I'll be writing festivus information during my flight home tomorrow. I'll post it from the air or on the ground dependent on wifi status
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Re: Festivus 2022

Post by meebles127 »

Festivus will take place on December 23, 2022, beginning at some time of my choosing yet to be determined.

The form to submit your intent to write a packet is available here. Please get your intent to submit a packet filed by EOD Dec 20, just to make my life easier. This isn't a hard cap, just a strong suggestion. :-)

Packets that are variants of Eyes The Do Not See or that are audio in nature can be submitted, with the understanding that they will run at the end of the day or parallel to other events.

As in previous years, there will be a charitable aspect to this tournament. This year, we're returning to Partners in Health, in honor of Paul Farmer who unfortunately died suddenly this past February in Butaro, Rwanda while teaching students at the University of Global Health Equity. Paul is the reason that I'm not an engineer and why I'm so obnoxiously passionate about global health equity. His work opened my eyes to an entirely new way of thought about the world and this seems a fitting tribute.

This year, the donations will be split three ways between different branches/projects of Partners in Health.

The first third will be going towards Zanmi Lasante. Zanmi Lasante, a sister organization to PIH, has worked alongside the Haitian Ministry of Health for three decades to provide health care in two of the country’s most underprivileged and remote regions. I've chosen Zanmi Lasante due to the ongoing Cholera outbreak which has already claimed more than 250 lives and infected more than 10,000 people. Anyone who is familiar with Paul's work will know that he originally started working in Haiti in 1983 and continued to work there for nearly forty years. In 2013, after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Partners in Health opened the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, which is located in an extremely remote part of the country and currently serves at the primary care provider for ~185,000 people in Mirebalais and surrounding areas. In addition to providing primary care services, The Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais also works to fill the gap Haiti faces in terms of skilled healthcare professionals by training the next generation of Haitian nurses, medical students, and resident physicians. When Partners in Health opened their first clinic in Cange in 1987, Paul dreamed of opening a hospital in Mirebalais, a goal he was able to see come to fruition.

The next third will be going towards Partners in Health Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone was, as I'm sure y'all remember, hit extremely hard by the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic. PIH has worked in Sierra Leone since this outbreak, and has expanded its offerings and has significantly improved several sectors within the healthcare system. Through support from PIH, the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital was able to end the practice of chaining its mental health patients in 2019. Partners in Health has also helped drastically reduce the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone. In 2019, 1 in 17 women would die in childbirth or from pregnancy related complications. Today, the rate is 1 in 20 (that number could be slightly out of date). It is critical to note that women are not dying from conditions that women in the United States would ever die from. Patients are dying for lack of a blood transfusion, hypertension medication, or access to a clean OR. PIH has helped improve access in the Kono District at the Koidu Government Hospital and is currently in the process of construction a Maternal Center of Excellence. The MCOE will bring significantly increased access to tertiary maternal care and train the next generation of Sierra Leonean nurses, physicians, and students. This was another project extremely important to Paul, and Sierra Leone was the center of his final book published before his death.

The final third of donations will be directed to the University of Global Health Equity in Butaro, Rwanda. Partners in Health decided it wanted to build a medical school in Rwanda and built it in the region with the least access to healthcare. UGHE’s initial students earned master’s of science degrees in global health delivery, through a two-year program offered in Kigali and by remote work. The January 2019 inauguration of the Butaro campus not only has enabled students to earn the degree in one year, but also has transformed infrastructure, accessibility, and employment in the Butaro community. PIH-supported Butaro District Hospital is just two miles away and will serve as a teaching hospital for students. Additionally, all three districts PIH serves in Rwanda will provide unique research and training opportunities for students. In summer 2019, UGHE launched its medical degree program, welcoming 30 students to earn bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery, along with the master’s in global health delivery, over six and a half years of study. UGHE’s growth comes at a time of severe need for qualified health care workers across Africa. The World Health Organization estimates the continent will have a shortage of more than 6 million health care workers by 2030. The inaugural medical class of 2025 includes 20 women and 10 men, all from Rwanda, pursuing their education to take on health challenges, become leaders in the field, and ensure that Rwanda’s growth continues for generations to come. Paul's ultimate goal in life was to continue PIH's shared mission through a medical school where the next generation of global health leaders would be trained. Paul's death was extremely devastating to myself and just about anyone else who was ever influenced by his work. While tragic, I have found great comfort in knowing that Paul died doing what he loved most - teaching and caring for patients, in a country he loved dearly - Rwanda, at the University of Global Health Equity in Butaro, the institution he always dreamed of. It's the small things, I guess.

Sorry for the novel, please direct any further questions to me.
Em Gunter
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Intended packets can be viewed here, this isn't auto-updating, I'll check it probably once a day or so.
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by Asterias Wrathbunny »

Is there a reason people can't request time frames in which they're available on the 23rd? Many people have to work that day.
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Asterias Wrathbunny wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:37 am Is there a reason people can't request time frames in which they're available on the 23rd? Many people have to work that day.
Nope, I'll include that in the follow-up survey to writers in a week.
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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by Here Comes Rusev Day »

Looking forward to this. Will there be a packet on pack line defense?
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Here Comes Rusev Day wrote: Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:13 pm Looking forward to this. Will there be a packet on pack line defense?
Maybe if the Hoos reach #1 in the AP Poll.
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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

We're up to 20 intended submissions for Festivus this year. I'm staffing a tournament in Illinois this weekend so expect less updates to the list of registrations this weekend.
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

You have until tomorrow afternoon to submit your intent to write if you want it to be included in schedule feng shui. Expect a writers and players survey later today.
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by Frauny Von Smiley »

Due to work/travel/getting sick I’m only going to have around a half packet done for Festivus.
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Players (and writers who are playing) should fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/Dk18tcG8FpY2pZCV8

Writers should fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/NvCmpbqaN6t6hiK48

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/sKSUByAx
Em Gunter
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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

I'm making the schedule right now, it should be posted here in a few hours. It'll be posted here and in the Festivus Discord server. I will make every effort to ensure that time slots are not too short, though some of them might be a tad bit too long. I apologize if I severely overshoot on time length in any given packet.

I plan on starting at probably 8AM mountain tomorrow tomorrow, TBD.

WRITERS: Please ensure that your packet is done before the start of your event so it can be sent to other moderators (if applicable) of your event.

On the left side of the schedule, there is a listing of events, and on the right side, there is a moderator sign-up. Writers of their own packet get priority in which room they would like to read. If you are free during a portion of the day, please sign up to read in an additional room.

In order to enter into the room for your event please go to the #roles channel, and select the appropriate number. If you will be moderating an event, you will select the turtle emoji for that event. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may you have the @Mod Powers role if you will not be reading during that time slot. If you are caught doing this, you will be immediately banned unless it was a technical issue or some other mistake like you left to go get lunch, for example.

Furthermore, all players are required to be in only one room throughout the entire reading of an event, i.e. once the mod has started reading an event, you can't switch to another room. (You can obviously still switch rooms between different events, though). This is to prevent players from listening to one room that goes ahead of another, then switching rooms and exploiting the information they heard. Any player who does this once will be kicked and forced to sit out the round unless it's a technical issue, and anyone who does it twice will be banned from the rest of the event unless they successfully appeal to me.

Ejection Procedures:

  • Mods are allowed to kick people from rooms at any time - they should inform me if they do so and explain why they kicked a player from their room.
  • If a player is being obnoxious, suspected of cheating, etc. then any three players in a room may initiate a vote to kick them. The player will be kicked if a two-thirds majority of players, rounded down, votes to remove them; mods will not vote in these procedures. The mod should then report this to me.
Any player who is kicked twice will be banned.

Regarding cheating, I'm going to quote something that Will Alston said in April 2020:
Will Alston wrote:If you need to cheat to win an online charity packet to boost your ego, you're a fucking loser and should feel ashamed of yourself.
I will not be requiring you to use a camera; however, writers have the right to require a camera for you to play their packet, except in instances where you have prior permission. If you expect this to be an issue please reach out to me as soon as possible. If you are playing without a camera, and any allegations of cheating arise, you will be asked to turn it on. If you do not, you will be immediately ejected.

Finally, after the event is over, I will be collecting donations for various arms of Partners in Health in accordance with my Long Post above. If you are planning on making a donation through your own personal accounts and would like to stay true to the mission I've outlined, please reach out to me to have a conversation.

If there are any other questions please reach out to me.
Em Gunter
Club President, University of Virginia
Tournament Director, 2023 Chicago Open
Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

The schedule can be found here.
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Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

meebles127 wrote: Thu Dec 22, 2022 8:55 pm The schedule can be found here.
Please fill out your name on the right-hand side of the spreadsheet to indicate where you are reading. Writers get priority for room 1, with the exception of Tim's packet who is in need of someone to read because he is not available tomorrow.

If you're free during other time slots and want to read then, please put your name in a non-room 1 slot for that packet.
Em Gunter
Club President, University of Virginia
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Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Free Slots are intentional holes in the schedule where people may read impromptu packets they did not originally sign up for.
Em Gunter
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"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

So it appears there's a very strong chance I will not be around for the exact start of Festivus due to Acts of God. I'll try to get here ASAP, but if I am not here, plan to start at the originally stated time.
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Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

This is an edited version of a wrap-up message I posted in the Festivus server. I might have more thoughts later, but this is what I've got for now.

I slept less than two hours last night, so I'm going to go ahead and write/post this while I still have some level of coherent thought.

Thank you SO SO SO much to all the writers, readers, and players today. Without y'all, the tournament wouldn't have happened. I apologize for the delays this tournament suffered, if I organize Festivus again, I will try to be more proactive with scheduling.

A few specific thanks I'd like to give:

Thanks to Will Alston for giving me the chance to work on iCT with him nearly three years ago now. iCT catapulted me into quizbowl logistics and I've had countless quizbowl experiences I wouldn't have had if Will hadn't given me the chance in the early days of the pandemic. Thanks to JinAh Kim, Matt Weiner, Taylor Harvey, Anderson Wang, Jeremy Cummings, Brandon Jones, Joy An, Aidan Leahy, (and others I've probably missed) for reading rooms of packets that were not their own. Your kindness is not unappreciated. This event would not have happened in the capacity it did without your efforts. Thanks to Matt Jackson for suggesting the use of the score tracker bot. Thanks to Evan Nagler for helping me with Discord troubleshooting earlier this week to prepare for the tournament. Thanks to John Lawrence for checking in on me a few weeks ago; without your messages, Festivus probably wouldn't have happened. Thanks to Ryan Rosenberg for collecting packets. Thanks to the individual who wishes to remain anonymous who helped me write the schedule last night. I could frankly continue this list of thanks infinitely, but I will end this with one with a massive thanks to everyone who made this day possible. I know I found it enjoyable, as did others.

Most of y'all don't know that I was planning on quitting quizbowl this year before someone convinced me to stay for at least one more year. The reasons why are complicated and not worth discussing but it is events like Festivus, and seeing the way the community is able to rally together to create an enjoyable holiday event for one another's enjoyment - and a good cause - warms my heart.

This was frankly the hardest quizbowl event I have ever organized. I live across the street from where the mass shooting at UVA occurred last month. To say that things have been difficult since then is an understatement. I am broken, and I don't know if I'll ever "get over" what happened. In an attempt to heal and piece back whatever pieces of "normalcy" I may one day enjoy, I pushed through to organize Festivus again. While this Festivus was difficult to organize, I couldn't be more grateful for the distraction.

I don't know how much longer I'll be in quizbowl beyond this academic year - my life is beginning to get complicated with career and research ambitions, but I am so thankful for everyone that has made my time here a true joy. There's no way for me to encapsulate all the ways I am thankful for quizbowl, but please know that I am.

As stated earlier, I am collecting donations for 3 different arms of Partners in Health. I'll be sending out an email later with donation information, so please fill out that form I've linked. If you will be making a donation on behalf of this tournament on your own, please let me email me (vef2jj AT virginia DOT edu) with the amount so I can keep track of it. For those curious, last year, we raised over $3,000 for BeTheMatch in honor of Harris Bunker.
Em Gunter
Club President, University of Virginia
Tournament Director, 2023 Chicago Open
Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Festivus 2022 [23 December 2022]

Post by meebles127 »

Most Festivus packets have been submitted to the archives pending approval for upload. Thanks to Ryan Rosenberg and all the writers for making this an expedient process this year. https://hsquizbowl.org/db/questionsets/2889/
Em Gunter
Club President, University of Virginia
Tournament Director, 2023 Chicago Open
Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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