Starting an Invitational

[Jehosaphat]

Hey, so I've recently had an idea about starting a new invite in my area, making it Division B only and having our C team write the tests as a way to further research and understand their events. I'm just looking to see if anybody has any tips or things I need to know before going headfirst into trying to organize one for next year.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

[aakoala]

Hey, so I've recently had an idea about starting a new invite in my area, making it Division B only and having our C team write the tests as a way to further research and understand their events. I'm just looking to see if anybody has any tips or things I need to know before going headfirst into trying to organize one for next year.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

I would suggest planning a LOT. Unorganized tournaments are less enjoyable for both the host and competitors. I’m in division b right now so I obviously don’t know anything about running a tournament, but I do know that high quality tests, well prepared tournament directors, and an exciting award ceremony (in person or not) make a very fun and enjoyable competition, regardless of how well I do.

P.S. I noticed you’re in Michigan and since I’ll be in division b next year again I might be able to go to your competition next year!

[Jehosaphat]

Hey, so I've recently had an idea about starting a new invite in my area, making it Division B only and having our C team write the tests as a way to further research and understand their events. I'm just looking to see if anybody has any tips or things I need to know before going headfirst into trying to organize one for next year.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

I would suggest planning a LOT. Unorganized tournaments are less enjoyable for both the host and competitors. I’m in division b right now so I obviously don’t know anything about running a tournament, but I do know that high quality tests, well prepared tournament directors, and an exciting award ceremony (in person or not) make a very fun and enjoyable competition, regardless of how well I do.

P.S. I noticed you’re in Michigan and since I’ll be in division b next year again I might be able to go to your competition next year!

Sweet! The plan is that we will start small, and slowly build out. The main reason I'm doing this is because I live by Grand Rapids, and our area invites have been struggling the past couple of years, so I wanted to make one that I can help last. Over by Detroit Science Olympiad is still super popular, but we're definitely having issues over here with getting new teams in.

[meierfra]

Hey, so I've recently had an idea about starting a new invite in my area, making it Division B only and having our C team write the tests as a way to further research and understand their events. I'm just looking to see if anybody has any tips or things I need to know before going headfirst into trying to organize one for next year.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

The first and one of the biggest things is getting building permission. In some districts, if you can get an administrator, like the superintendent or the principal on board, they can grant you permission. But in some districts, you have to ask each teacher if you can use their room. And then make sure the gyms are free. I've thought about doing a Div B invite here, but both gyms at the middle school are used the entire months of January and February by youth basketball.

The next thing is to take a hard look at your finances. I agree that starting small is a good plan. But you don't want to go into debt your first year. Some districts will charge you for the use of the building. Ours doesn't, but we pay more than $500 in custodian costs and that's when we do all the clean-up. It's just to have a custodian in the building all day.

If you still want to move forward, put together a team, and assign jobs. One person can't do it alone. Jobs (people can take more than one):
Create a website; it's the best way to make information available.
Advertise early; teams need to know your tournament exists when they're putting together their calendar for the year.
Executive; fill out the SOINC tournament form, be the contact person for coaches, be the face on tournament day.
Registration oversight; create the registration forms, take registration, keep track of who paid.
Two finance people; to watch all the money and doublecheck each other.
Test Oversight; to assign event supervisors and give final approval to all tests.
Schedule and self-scheduling
Scoremaster; decide what scoring program you're going to use
Tournament day troubleshooter; this person should also communicate with event supervisors ahead of time about who needs resources
in their room; sinks, hot plates, etc.
Food; will you order pizzas for the teams, will you have a snack stand or a lunch stand? If you have hot food (other than something like
pre-ordered pizzas), you have to have a cafeteria worker there (and pay them.)
Clean-up; put someone in charge but everyone has to clean up. If the rooms aren't clean and the desks back where they were, the
teachers won't let you do it again next year.

I'm sure there's more. but that's most of it. When are you planning on holding your tournament? If you want, you can DM me.

[Unome]

Seems I've been beaten to the punch on the specifics. Adding to the general advice - running an invitational is quite enjoyable, but just make sure you're ready for the time commitment.