Awesomely Run Event Stories

[Name]

This was a long time ago lol but NYS matsci was pretty good. Very interesting lab by determining density of foam by dissolving it in ethyl acetate, and overall well balanced questions (only complaint is a bit heavy on chem over general questions) and sufficient length where we finished, but just barely

[PM2017]

Astronomy at SoCal States yesterday was a really good test. Not insanely difficult, not nowhere near being easy. (Could have focused a little bit more on binary systems but no real complaint)

[Entomology]

From yesterday:

Herpetology (1): Incredibly run event. All the specimens used during the station portion of the test were either live or preserved (!!), and the questions were pretty difficult and not things that one could have answered correctly simply by having a field guide or binder--you had to have a deep understanding of Herpetology. It was definitely a brutal and challenging test--my partner and I were scrambling to answer the questions in the allotted time. There was a good mix of ID questions, relevant herpetology trivia, anatomy, and miscellaneous questions. As an added bonus, the proctors were friendly and knew what they were doing, even when the station rotation was a little confusing:)

[terence.tan]

Immediate shout outs to BroNi and Gary Vorwald among some other amazing NYSSO event supervisors that I've had the pleasure to do their events . I'm sure plenty could have bad things to say about event makers from NY to CA, but there's definitely multiple fantastic ones!

Alright, guess need some more story-ish stuff. I'll start with Rocks and Minerals. Junior year, the year in general was pretty terrible because of busyness, but Vorwald makes...well, one of the most beautiful rocks tests. It had diamond to gold to all kinds of beryl, giant sized rocks...even if I wasn't the best, I think everyone has to appreciate such awesomeness.

As for BroNi, I only got to see him twice (one time was at invites too) in senior year for scrambler, and, while I got poked fun at a little, he ran it clearly well and quite efficiently (I think others on the scrambler forum can attest to this). Though, I guess that's expected of a nats supervisor .

One other story was with Astro. For many years NYS astro...well, was sub-par. I can explain that at length, but the awesome part was senior year, after 1 year of this new writer writing for states, he made a far better test than what I had sophomore year. It's of course my favorite event, so I appreciate when it's done justice.

Hoping other members from NYS get to see some of the best!

Brother Nigel is the best!

[Adi1008]

WIDI at TSO was run very, very well. The structure consisted of a "cage" made of marshmallows (looked like an "M" in the front and back planes and a square in the left and right planes) and toothpicks with a floating, upside down pentagonal pyramid and was quite challenging to build, especially since some of the spaces were quite small/fragile. The structure reminded me of the 2016 national WIDI structure (although slightly easier), perhaps because the people running the event were wearing 2016 nationals shirts!!! Another thing I liked was how well they managed all the rooms. The builders for even and odd teams had different rooms and the room on the schedule was different from the room the structures were in (so less chance of people being able to see the structure, whether accidentally or not). It was clearly run by incredibly competent people and it was a pleasure to compete in the event, just like last year.

Science Word also had some parts that were run very well. Physically handing the clue-giver the notecards with the words on them was something I had never seen before I think it's a nice touch because sometimes I forget the word I'm trying to get my partner to guess. While not all of the words were in perfect accordance with the rules, I do think that the way the event was actually run was very good.

[dxu46]

MO state rocks and minerals may have been the best Rocks and Minerals test I've ever taken, and that I will take. There were a fair amount of stations, with good information questions and very nice specimens to identify. It was an overall really great test, and a good test to end my Rocks and Minerals career, at least for two years. I would give it a 9.5/10 because the timing of stations could've been a little bit shorter (they were 4.5 minutes).

[CPScienceDude]

IN State Thermo B was amazing. It was well organized and was ran efficiently. The test was hard, yet fun. It was such a great experience. Bonus points because I got 4th, lol.
(The test was written and was ran by Pika, btw.)

[Froggie]

Thermo at West Lib was run extremely well. I think thermo is one of the hardest events to run because you have to keep the water at a certain temperature and put the correct amount of water in everyone’s beaker as fairly as possible, and on top of that you have to make sure that everyone’s device runs for exactly 25 mins (for div B).
At West Lib, the proctors had a couple tables set up at the front of the room with cards with team numbers on them and stopwatches for every team. Before anyone started the test, they had two proctors get water into two teams’ beakers using syringes. Another proctor started the timers for the two teams. After a minute, the next two teams received their water, a minute later the next two teams, and so on until everyone had received water. The test started only after everyone got their water and predictions. 25 minutes later, teams were called up to the front by twos as to not overcrowd the area. A minute later, the next two teams would be called up.
This way might not be the most efficient way to do this, but I think it’s the most fair and not confusing way to proctor the event.

[Crimesolver]

Since Adi1008 wished for it..

Socal regionals crime busters is the best ran event ever. It was consistently run by the same people in my three years of crime busters. These proctors truly know the rules and know how to answer every question the students ask. The tests are nice and crisp and follow the rules perfectly. They are on the easier side, but I still love them because it still takes me the whole 50 minutes for me to complete the test. Really great way to start the competition day

[JoeyC]

CPS WHY DID YOU RES?
EDIT: YOU KNOW WHAT? FOR ADI!!!
Fast Facts at state TX last year was pretty well run, the topics were legit, and some were outside expectations (in a good way of course, tho not for me cause I didn't memorize them )