New York 2011

[Phenylethylamine]

The incentive didn't apply to helicopter b/c that was a pilot event, not a trial. ELI wasn't going to run it, until a coach who really wanted it to run stepped up and volunteered to supervise. Ditto for Egg-O-Naut, BTW - you really can't draft someone to stand outside all day in February, handling metal and water.

BTW, Phenyl, your know that your other event is pretty much guaranteed not to run?

Interesting. Yeah, we were all kind of entertained by the fact that Helicopter ran despite only one (two?) schools entering xD.

And yes, I know, they don't usually run Experimental at Regionals. Yet another reason I'm pretty screwed if they don't run Protein (I'm sure I'll find something else to pick up for Regionals, but Protein is my baby lol).

[RandomPerson]

The incentive didn't apply to helicopter b/c that was a pilot event, not a trial. ELI wasn't going to run it, until a coach who really wanted it to run stepped up and volunteered to supervise. Ditto for Egg-O-Naut, BTW - you really can't draft someone to stand outside all day in February, handling metal and water.

BTW, Phenyl, your know that your other event is pretty much guaranteed not to run?

Interesting. Yeah, we were all kind of entertained by the fact that Helicopter ran despite only one (two?) schools entering xD.

And yes, I know, they don't usually run Experimental at Regionals. Yet another reason I'm pretty screwed if they don't run Protein (I'm sure I'll find something else to pick up for Regionals, but Protein is my baby lol).

Nice thing about our regionals is they usually run every event.

Well except Egg-o-naut last year, that would have been entertaining in the dead of winter.

[paleonaps]

The incentive didn't apply to helicopter b/c that was a pilot event, not a trial. ELI wasn't going to run it, until a coach who really wanted it to run stepped up and volunteered to supervise. Ditto for Egg-O-Naut, BTW - you really can't draft someone to stand outside all day in February, handling metal and water.

BTW, Phenyl, your know that your other event is pretty much guaranteed not to run?

Interesting. Yeah, we were all kind of entertained by the fact that Helicopter ran despite only one (two?) schools entering xD.

And yes, I know, they don't usually run Experimental at Regionals. Yet another reason I'm pretty screwed if they don't run Protein (I'm sure I'll find something else to pick up for Regionals, but Protein is my baby lol).

Nice thing about our regionals is they usually run every event.

Well except Egg-o-naut last year, that would have been entertaining in the dead of winter.

In Syracuse, nonetheless.

[quizbowl]

i wonder why both regionals and states dont model the actual schedule off of the nationals schedule; it seems the fairest, and it would cause the least conflicts.

[Phenylethylamine]

i wonder why both regionals and states dont model the actual schedule off of the nationals schedule; it seems the fairest, and it would cause the least conflicts.

Regardless of the conflicts it would or wouldn't cause (for example, Protein and Experimental conflict on the tentative National schedule), you'd think that the state directors would want teams from their state to be the best prepared at Nationals. If we had a schedule based on the National one at States, whoever moved on to Nationals wouldn't have to change around their team and who was doing what event; people would be able to prepare for Nationals while preparing for States, because they'd be doing the same events at both; it would offer a massive advantage over the current system.

[quizbowl]

i wonder why both regionals and states dont model the actual schedule off of the nationals schedule; it seems the fairest, and it would cause the least conflicts.

Regardless of the conflicts it would or wouldn't cause (for example, Protein and Experimental conflict on the tentative National schedule), you'd think that the state directors would want teams from their state to be the best prepared at Nationals. If we had a schedule based on the National one at States, whoever moved on to Nationals wouldn't have to change around their team and who was doing what event; people would be able to prepare for Nationals while preparing for States, because they'd be doing the same events at both; it would offer a massive advantage over the current system.

Exactly. This way, whatever conflicts would occur at one would occur at the other, giving the team time to fix the problem.
They could probably still do some events Friday evening as well.

[Flavorflav]

The problem is that every venue has different spaces available, so a schedule that works nicely in one may not be possible in another. The general attitude seems to be that the number of teams advancing is such a small proportion of the whole organization that it is not worth the (possibly vain) effort to align the schedules.

[quizbowl]

The problem is that every venue has different spaces available, so a schedule that works nicely in one may not be possible in another. The general attitude seems to be that the number of teams advancing is such a small proportion of the whole organization that it is not worth the (possibly vain) effort to align the schedules.

At nationals, there are 60 teams, and therefore around 6 timeslots; usually around 50ish teams are at states, so it could work out well. if you take out the three events that happen usually friday night (last year was astro, experimental and protein) and the seven building events (sumo, mousetrap, heli, mission, towers, bottle rocket and maglev), that leaves 15 events, which can be spread out like at nationals. That way, there would be a max of three events per timeslot, and all conflicts would be relative to all teams, unlike last year (we were in the 1/3 set of ecology and dynamic conflict grr...). There would still be a time for the sumo-bot final rounds. It seems pretty plausible to me. So if anyone has any connection to the state director, if you think that this idea has any credibility, maybe you could pass it to him.

[Flavorflav]

The problem is that every venue has different spaces available, so a schedule that works nicely in one may not be possible in another. The general attitude seems to be that the number of teams advancing is such a small proportion of the whole organization that it is not worth the (possibly vain) effort to align the schedules.

At nationals, there are 60 teams, and therefore around 6 timeslots; usually around 50ish teams are at states, so it could work out well. if you take out the three events that happen usually friday night (last year was astro, experimental and protein) and the seven building events (sumo, mousetrap, heli, mission, towers, bottle rocket and maglev), that leaves 15 events, which can be spread out like at nationals. That way, there would be a max of three events per timeslot, and all conflicts would be relative to all teams, unlike last year (we were in the 1/3 set of ecology and dynamic conflict grr...). There would still be a time for the sumo-bot final rounds. It seems pretty plausible to me. So if anyone has any connection to the state director, if you think that this idea has any credibility, maybe you could pass it to him.

I'm pretty sure it has been brought up to him several times a year for many years - I've seen him address it several times myself, which is why I know the reasoning. He is not sympathetic.

[quizbowl]

who is the NY director anyway? and flavorflav, what school did you used to go to?