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Nooran008 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:59 am I just realized this forum existed and I have waaaaayyyyy too many stories from this season.
So, once in Orni, there was this one test that made me want to rip my hair out. Basically, the people running the event would not tell us when they would switch the slides, so me and my friend would be finishing up one station, only to realize that they were halfway through the other one. Also, during a vocab part, THEY DIDN'T NUMBER THE VOCAB ON THE SLIDE, BUT THEY NUMBERED IT ON THE ANSWER SHEET. That was super frustrating, because it ended up being from left to right, then go down to the next layer, but we thought it was going down, and then next list thingy. Also, according to the rules, you are not allowed to take things out of your binder. HOWEVER, THERE WERE TEAMS LITERALLY TAKING OUT THEIR ENTIRE BINDERS while me and my partner were trying to flip insanely fast when we didn't know something. We still somehow got 5th, but were one point off from forth. When we got the test back (bc this was an invy), apparantley my very clear letter D counted as an O, for some stupid reason, even though it was very clearly a D, while the Y team of our team had a ton wrong, which were marked right. This is the longest rant I've ever been on, and I am so mad, I just had to. So, have fun reading my rant about Orni

FYI, if the event wasn't in stations (ie you didn't physically move) you are allowed to remove material from your binder.

CPScienceDude wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:21 am

Nooran008 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:59 am I just realized this forum existed and I have waaaaayyyyy too many stories from this season.
So, once in Orni, there was this one test that made me want to rip my hair out. Basically, the people running the event would not tell us when they would switch the slides, so me and my friend would be finishing up one station, only to realize that they were halfway through the other one. Also, during a vocab part, THEY DIDN'T NUMBER THE VOCAB ON THE SLIDE, BUT THEY NUMBERED IT ON THE ANSWER SHEET. That was super frustrating, because it ended up being from left to right, then go down to the next layer, but we thought it was going down, and then next list thingy. Also, according to the rules, you are not allowed to take things out of your binder. HOWEVER, THERE WERE TEAMS LITERALLY TAKING OUT THEIR ENTIRE BINDERS while me and my partner were trying to flip insanely fast when we didn't know something. We still somehow got 5th, but were one point off from forth. When we got the test back (bc this was an invy), apparantley my very clear letter D counted as an O, for some stupid reason, even though it was very clearly a D, while the Y team of our team had a ton wrong, which were marked right. This is the longest rant I've ever been on, and I am so mad, I just had to. So, have fun reading my rant about Orni

FYI, if the event wasn't in stations (ie you didn't physically move) you are allowed to remove material from your binder.

I mean, if it qualifies, you could always post it in Poorly Run Event Stories (altho we generally like to see more activity in Awesomely Run Event Stories)

In a heredity test at an invitational, there was this mitosis diagram and we had to name the phase.
THE ANSWER WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DIAGRAM.
Heredity test AGAIN —> same test as previous year! I wish I saw the year before that’s test before I took it!
Heredity AGAIN —> the test was taken from a high school biology exam
Game On —> the guy said “don’t test anyone your cells.” Well, I guess he told us our theme early—

So it's not really a PRES, but it sort of fits here.

In normal years, we have a competition, all the ES are scurrying around trying to get the grading done, and then there's an award ceremony. Everyone gets clapped, and gets their moment to go up and collect their medal. With remote competitions, that doesn't happen. Nobody collects their medal in person, and they can't hear themselves being clapped. So why do tournaments all seem to like producing results as video presentations of someone reading out the results as though we were there in person? The whole purpose of doing that is to recognize the people / schools that medal. You're not doing that with a video, because you're not there, and they're not there. The awards video is just a very slow way of presenting part of the results.

Does anyone actually find awards videos worthwhile?

knightmoves wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:26 am So it's not really a PRES, but it sort of fits here.

In normal years, we have a competition, all the ES are scurrying around trying to get the grading done, and then there's an award ceremony. Everyone gets clapped, and gets their moment to go up and collect their medal. With remote competitions, that doesn't happen. Nobody collects their medal in person, and they can't hear themselves being clapped. So why do tournaments all seem to like producing results as video presentations of someone reading out the results as though we were there in person? The whole purpose of doing that is to recognize the people / schools that medal. You're not doing that with a video, because you're not there, and they're not there. The awards video is just a very slow way of presenting part of the results.

Does anyone actually find awards videos worthwhile?

The main reason why I enjoy awards ceremonies in general is the suspense they build up. I like the tension, the drawn-out introductions, and the small jolt I feel whenever one of my events is called. It gets me in a nervous state where, if I get a medal, I fist-pump and I'm more inclined to review my test to see the problems I got right, and if I don't get one, I'm eager to do research on the questions I missed. That anticipation is something that simply posting the scoresheet doesn't achieve. For me, I'd respond with, "That's it?" and probably forget about the graded tests altogether. That being said, the reasons why I like awards ceremonies don't relate to the crowd. I think they're the best way for me to get hyped up over my accomplishments as well as pay attention to how I could improve.

jimmy-bond wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:59 am The main reason why I enjoy awards ceremonies in general is the suspense they build up. I like the tension, the drawn-out introductions, and the small jolt I feel whenever one of my events is called. It gets me in a nervous state where, if I get a medal, I fist-pump and I'm more inclined to review my test to see the problems I got right, and if I don't get one, I'm eager to do research on the questions I missed. That anticipation is something that simply posting the scoresheet doesn't achieve. For me, I'd respond with, "That's it?" and probably forget about the graded tests altogether. That being said, the reasons why I like awards ceremonies don't relate to the crowd. I think they're the best way for me to get hyped up over my accomplishments as well as pay attention to how I could improve.

Fair enough. I don't get any of that hyped-up feeling from the video at all, so I'm interested that you do. For me, it's the collective effect of a room packed with people anticipating that builds the hype, and the responses of the teams when one of theirs wins something. Watching a video, even with our team gathered on zoom, just feels a bit stale. (Doing it on the day is a big part of the hype as well. It's hard to get hyped about a video that comes out a week after the fact.)

knightmoves wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:07 am

jimmy-bond wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:59 am The main reason why I enjoy awards ceremonies in general is the suspense they build up. I like the tension, the drawn-out introductions, and the small jolt I feel whenever one of my events is called. It gets me in a nervous state where, if I get a medal, I fist-pump and I'm more inclined to review my test to see the problems I got right, and if I don't get one, I'm eager to do research on the questions I missed. That anticipation is something that simply posting the scoresheet doesn't achieve. For me, I'd respond with, "That's it?" and probably forget about the graded tests altogether. That being said, the reasons why I like awards ceremonies don't relate to the crowd. I think they're the best way for me to get hyped up over my accomplishments as well as pay attention to how I could improve.

Fair enough. I don't get any of that hyped-up feeling from the video at all, so I'm interested that you do. For me, it's the collective effect of a room packed with people anticipating that builds the hype, and the responses of the teams when one of theirs wins something. Watching a video, even with our team gathered on zoom, just feels a bit stale. (Doing it on the day is a big part of the hype as well. It's hard to get hyped about a video that comes out a week after the fact.)

Why is this in the poorly run event stories thread? Also I think that I'm in the same boat with Jimmy. I think awards are nice just because I get the satisfaction of being like "go me" or "ope I suck" more than anything.

knightmoves wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:07 am

jimmy-bond wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:59 am The main reason why I enjoy awards ceremonies in general is the suspense they build up. I like the tension, the drawn-out introductions, and the small jolt I feel whenever one of my events is called. It gets me in a nervous state where, if I get a medal, I fist-pump and I'm more inclined to review my test to see the problems I got right, and if I don't get one, I'm eager to do research on the questions I missed. That anticipation is something that simply posting the scoresheet doesn't achieve. For me, I'd respond with, "That's it?" and probably forget about the graded tests altogether. That being said, the reasons why I like awards ceremonies don't relate to the crowd. I think they're the best way for me to get hyped up over my accomplishments as well as pay attention to how I could improve.

Fair enough. I don't get any of that hyped-up feeling from the video at all, so I'm interested that you do. For me, it's the collective effect of a room packed with people anticipating that builds the hype, and the responses of the teams when one of theirs wins something. Watching a video, even with our team gathered on zoom, just feels a bit stale. (Doing it on the day is a big part of the hype as well. It's hard to get hyped about a video that comes out a week after the fact.)

I'm not sure if this is a vent about pandemic SciOly, which if it is, I am not really sure belongs in this thread.

If this is intended as a "poorly run award story," that implies you think the tournament directors should do something else instead. Yes, awards videos are not nearly the same as a buzzing auditorium of excited kids. However, what alternative are you proposing? I hope you understand that it's not safe to hold in-person awards right now. Live zoom awards have been tried. They did not go well, and many people were unable to join the zoom once the participant number maxed out. As boring as an awards video is, it's still more suspenseful than checking a spreadsheet.
You have a right to complain about a sucky situation that is no one's fault. I don't consider this a bad decision on anyone's part.

Edit, before someone says I'm putting words in their mouth:

So why do tournaments all seem to like producing results as video presentations of someone reading out the results as though we were there in person? The whole purpose of doing that is to recognize the people / schools that medal. You're not doing that with a video, because you're not there

Yes, it is debatably effective. But what other option do they have? I get you want to go back to normal. We all do, and we're all allowed to be sad about it because it's a sad thing. I'm just bewildered as to what you think tournaments should be doing instead.

knightmoves wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:26 am So it's not really a PRES, but it sort of fits here.

In normal years, we have a competition, all the ES are scurrying around trying to get the grading done, and then there's an award ceremony. Everyone gets clapped, and gets their moment to go up and collect their medal. With remote competitions, that doesn't happen. Nobody collects their medal in person, and they can't hear themselves being clapped. So why do tournaments all seem to like producing results as video presentations of someone reading out the results as though we were there in person? The whole purpose of doing that is to recognize the people / schools that medal. You're not doing that with a video, because you're not there, and they're not there. The awards video is just a very slow way of presenting part of the results.

Does anyone actually find awards videos worthwhile?

The only issue I have with virtual awards is when tournaments have a 15 minute presentation or something before announcing medal winners. That really only worked for in person tournaments while test graders were grading, so there is no point in doing it now. Other than that, I have no problem with videos, it's the best we can do during these difficult times.

I suppose I shall list a few of my own.

For background I was on Jeffrey Trail from 2018-20 (main team 2019-20) and Northwood currently. You will notice that most of my complaints are Codebusters related.

Jeffrey Trail Invitational Anatomy 2020
Most of the test was written pretty well. It was an interesting format, being a slideshow presentation and all. My main gripe was with the proctors. Before the event, they stated that they would not mark off points based on spelling, as long as they understood what we were trying to say. However, there was a mistake on the answer key that spelled the muscle gracilis as "Gracilus". Believe it or not, they marked us off for spelling it correctly. We made some other mistakes, and this was probably not the difference between 2nd and 1st place, but it still bothered me quite a bit.

Kennedy Invitational Codebusters 2020
Codebusters was a trial event at this invitational. The proctors, being the nice people they were, said "Good luck" to one of the Kennedy teams before the event started. Then, I screwed up the timed question and got some of the words wrong, but they did not notice, so they gave me the points anyways.

Mira Loma Invitational Codebusters 2021
The proctor told us we solved the timed question correctly (at least according to my partner, not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure) when we didn't. The questions were short to the point that it was annoying to solve, and they didn't include any frequency tables. *FYI anyone who proctors Code, please include frequency tables* We got 7th and they gave out 6 medals places!

Golden Gate Invitational Codebusters 2021
Long story short, these people loved their erristos. Why do I do Codebusters again?

Golden Gate Invitational Anatomy and Physiology 2021
Not much wrong with it actually, only that it was a 245 question long test.

SoCal Regionals and States Codebusters 2021
This was the fault of the people who wrote these tests. There were a normal number of questions, but each question was long. At States, when someone asked about the lack of a frequency table, the proctor just remarked that they aren't necessary to solve and "if you need one you can draw it yourself". These included an entire verse from a Bo Burnham song. The most unforgivable part of the test were the BTS quotes. Needless to say, I'm excited for what next year's Codebusters brings

I just realized that my gripes were minor and less common than I originally thought. Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Looking forward to more complaining as time goes on