Poorly Run Event Stories

[CMS AC]

Hovercraft at NJ States.
When we got into the room, we were already 20-25 minutes late. They ran the event where the exams were first, then everyone tested the hovercraft one at a time. This led to both my partner and I being late to our events. Impound was obviously first thing in the morning, but they did not check for any dimensions. They just told us to leave it in the room and leave. At the actual competition, they did not measure specifications, and I probably could have gotten away with EVERY SINGLE RULE on the rules manual - I doubt a 50x50x50 cm hovercraft, without a dowel, no shielding, with 12 volt lipos would have been penalized. I even saw many teams without shielding, which should have been a immediate tier - they still let them run (Only reason I'm pretty paranoid about shielding is because I got a pretty nasty cut on my finger last year -_-). The track was on the floor with 2 long pieces of warped wood attached to the ground with painter's tape. It was 40 cm too short, so everyone was unable to start the hovercraft on a rail. It was very annoying for us because we designed our hovercraft to rail ride, and we obviously couldn't with the missing track. They also had only 15 penny rolls.

On the test portion, we finished within about 10 minutes, no binder needed. They were questions even a non-studier could easily do and finish. The test was also the same as last year, and still had the history portion of the test on it.

Overall, 2/10. At least the event was run.

[knottingpurple]

Hovercraft at NJ States.
When we got into the room, we were already 20-25 minutes late. They ran the event where the exams were first, then everyone tested the hovercraft one at a time. This led to both my partner and I being late to our events. Impound was obviously first thing in the morning, but they did not check for any dimensions. They just told us to leave it in the room and leave. At the actual competition, they did not measure specifications, and I probably could have gotten away with EVERY SINGLE RULE on the rules manual - I doubt a 50x50x50 cm hovercraft, without a dowel, no shielding, with 12 volt lipos would have been penalized. I even saw many teams without shielding, which should have been a immediate tier - they still let them run (Only reason I'm pretty paranoid about shielding is because I got a pretty nasty cut on my finger last year -_-). The track was on the floor with 2 long pieces of warped wood attached to the ground with painter's tape. It was 40 cm too short, so everyone was unable to start the hovercraft on a rail. It was very annoying for us because we designed our hovercraft to rail ride, and we obviously couldn't with the missing track. They also had only 15 penny rolls.

On the test portion, we finished within about 10 minutes, no binder needed. They were questions even a non-studier could easily do and finish. The test was also the same as last year, and still had the history portion of the test on it.

Overall, 2/10. At least the event was run.

I remember hearing about the history portion, I think one of our team members had done the test last year and remembered all the answers for that bit or something?

But honestly, it was probably still middle-quality for an NJ event, there were so many things at least as possible.

[CMS AC]

Questions were the same. The ES told us the history portion would be graded like 5 minutes into the test :\

[pb5754]

The ES told us the history portion would be graded like 5 minutes into the test :\

Elaborate?

[CMS AC]

So like we started the test, and then she was like "ohhhh yeahhh someone in a previous block said there's no history portion. So it's not graded."

lol

[pb5754]

So like we started the test, and then she was like "ohhhh yeahhh someone in a previous block said there's no history portion. So it's not graded."

lol

oh lol

[yxu08]

In ExDesign for regionals, EVERYONE had a sheet of score guide in front of them, even though the material list for the even didn't include the list. That meant I spent hours trying to memorize the list, and those who spent no effort on it had a free pass.

[linzhiyan]

Ha, lol. In regionals for fast facts, female scientists appeared in 2 of the 3 rounds neither my partner nor I studied it, so we just put down random people...

[pb5754]

Ha, lol. In regionals for fast facts, female scientists appeared in 2 of the 3 rounds neither my partner nor I studied it, so we just put down random people...

It doesn't make this a poorly run event just because you didn't study it...

[linzhiyan]

Ha, lol. In regionals for fast facts, female scientists appeared in 2 of the 3 rounds neither my partner nor I studied it, so we just put down random people...

It doesn't make this a poorly run event just because you didn't study it...

Not the part that I didn't study, but the part that it came up twice in that competition. I know that it's not in the rules, but I've always thought that categories shouldn't be repeating itself in one competition.