This Blog has now moved to idebate.org/worlddebating - all future posts will be made there!

24 June 2010

Worlds Debate Forum

Greetings,

I'd like to share an idea with everyone. There are still many details to sort out, but basically we want to increase the value and impact of debate, by allocating time and resources, and bringing people together who are interested. Debate thrives in many shapes and forms and we want to represent as much as that as possible. This forum is open to debaters from the Worlds community and those outside our community who use or are interested in debate. Hopefully we can learn from each other and improve the impact of debate. 

We hope the forum will also be a place to focus on issues relevant to Worlds. There isn't enough time at Worlds to really discuss how to make it better, fairer, more diverse etc, and hopefully those issues can receive special attention at this forum.

All these and more explained below and on our website : http://botswanaworlds.com/worldsdebateforum

Cheers
Logan
Chief Instigator - Worlds Debate Forum

Worlds Debate Forum


Every year debaters and enthusiasts from far corners and dense centers of the world converge in one spot to compete, debate and celebrate their community. In the short period of time dedicated to determining champions, debaters also explore other challenges - like how to improve adjudication, how to develop debate, sharing methods to raise funds. There are also those who are use debate outside of tournaments - teachers, advocates, community workers, budding politicians; who look to improve what they do by interacting with other debaters.

Given there isn't even enough time during Worlds to fully discuss how to improve Worlds, there definitely isn't enough time to talk about how debate can improve the world we live in. Yet we should find the time, because it is important to ensure the WUDC keeps improving as a tournament and debate increases its relevance in society. This is the best time because we are all here, in one place.

A few interested people, with the cooperation of Botswana Worlds and IDEA, are organizing the Worlds Debate Forum. It will take place immediately after Botswana Worlds, from the 4th to 7th of January. It will be held at a hotel or resort close to the University of Botswana.

What we want to do

Create opportunities for people who want to do more debate and more than debate. The goal is not to run an academic conference and the emphasis is not on publications or journals. The idea is to make easy for people to share ideas, find other people who are interested in the same ideas. To dedicate time to solving problems and finding people who can help you solve problems.

The goals of this forum are

  • To bring together people of different backgrounds who are relevant to each other – for example NGOs using debate to teach and teachers who have used debate in similar environments, or 3 or 4 organizations with similar goals who can then put together a joint proposal for funding

  • To create opportunities for debaters to be exposed to other aspects of debate – for example how debate is being used by advocacy groups and civil society organizations, to increase the sharing of information and resources.

  • To dedicate time and resources towards improving debate as a competitive activity - for adjudicators to thrash out training guides and teaching philosophies, tabbers to run simulations and extrapolations, for us to share best practices and determine common guidelines. There isn't enough time to do this at Worlds, yet it's obvious there needs a space for this to ensure Worlds evolves.

  • To expose people doing debate work outside the WUDC community to the WUDC community – having the forum immediately after Worlds we hope will encourage debate educators, advocacy groups and potential funders to participate at least in the tail end of Worlds.

This forum is not meant to usurp the independence of regulating bodies of tournaments (the council of Worlds, EUDC, Australs, UADC for example) but a place to discuss and develop ideas. You can choose to represent your organization or yourself.

We do not plan to publish a formal journal or publication (at least at this stage) but we will publish online as much information as possible from the forum. This means all presentation materials, videos of presentations, meeting transcripts and publications and so on. We will also create a list of contact information of all participants and share it among attendees. We think this forum is amazing opportunity to build networks and we want to encourage that as much as possible.

Participation

Participation is open to whomever is interested. We will also be inviting people who don't usually attend Worlds but are relevant to debate – primarily educators & NGOs. We expect about 50 to 100 people to participate.

You can participate to

  1. Present Ideas – this means you are a presenter, much like at a conference. You should submit a brief overview of what you plan to present and if selected, will be given a slot to present it on the 5th of January. You should decide if your presentation best fits the Morning, Afternoon or Evening sessions. A full template and form that explains what we want will be published later.

  2. Organize a Meeting – these means you want to host a round-table discussion on a specific issue or problem. Meetings are more interactive than presentation. You should propose a topic for the meeting and very brief agenda.

  3. Share – you want to participate in presentations and meetings. There may be opportunities for you to organize your own meetings at the forum as well. When not presenting or running a meeting, you will be sharing.

How will we choose topics for Presentations and Meetings?
We are in the process of assembling a committee to help choose relevant topics. We will also be publishing a list of all topics and allow you to choose. Half of the topics will be chosen by popular vote and the other half by our selection committee

Will more than one presentation run simultaneously?
It really depends on how many presentations offers we have and on the availability of venues.

When do we need to submit topics for presentations or meetings?
We will be announcing a detailed deadline later, but we will start calling for submissions when registration opens (late July or early August), so start thinking about what you want to share

Registration

Registration will open soon and will be mostly on a first-come first-serve basis, although we want to ensure a diverse representation of individuals. Registration fee is 100 USD per person. This will cover accommodation (4th, 5th and 6th) and venue rental. We will try to cover some meals as well, but we are still negotiating with hotels. There will be no monies made from this event and all your registration fees will be spent on you.

We are currently in negotiations with Cresta Lodge Gaborone as a venue (http://www.southtravels.com/africa/botswana/crestalodgegaborone/index.html)

A tentative deadline for registration

  • Opens in late July or early August

  • Accepted participants announced in September

Brief Schedule

4th January

  • Evening registration and check in

  • Welcome drinks – mingle, get to know each other

5th January : Presentations day

(each presentation will be given 45 minutes and the goal is to have 4 presentations for each session)

  • Morning Session - Debate and Advocacy

    • How debate is being used to develop civil society, information on organizations currently doing this work and how others may be involved,

  • Afternoon Session - Debate and Education

    • How debate is used in the classroom, how debate is taught, evaluation etc

  • Evening Session - Debate and Competition

    • How to improve the WUDC and debate tournaments in general, tabbing, adjudicator testing etc

6th January : Meetings day

  • Participants will have the opportunity to engage in workshops and meetings, much smaller more interactive sessions. We will also try to make space for people to have their own meetings and discussions.

7th January

  • End (or people can stay longer)

Contact Us

This event is an idea and a test. There are just a few individuals behind it and a lot of it is a work in progress – so we really appreciate feedback and comments. This event is being run in cooperation with IDEA and organizers of Botswana Worlds, but is ultimately independent. If it runs well this year, we will ensure it was sustainable.

If you have comments or questions, you can direct them to loganimal@gmail.com

WODC Registration closes in 7 days‏

Dear all,
If you want to take part in the WODC and haven’t quite managed toget your team together, or collected the entrance fee (or asked for abursary), time is running out. There are now just seven short days until registration closes on the 1st July.

We’ve made quite a few technical changes to make your life easier this year. They include much simpler ways for you or your supporters to join the site, much simpler ways of contributing and a 2,000 character limit on each point – so your opponents wont create hugely long arguments for you to respond to. Plus we’ve got a snazzy Google Calendar that will tell you who’s competing when, and who’s wontoo.

This is not a competition for everyone. Only serious, smart and hard-working, debaters should apply. But if that sounds like you, whatare you waiting for? This is a competition like no other and yourchances to enter are running out fast.

Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me on wodc@debatewise.org

Thank you,
Dave

23 June 2010

Botswana Worlds 2011 Registration Update : 604 teams, 376 Adjudicators

Greetings,

I'm sending this on behalf of the registration team for Botswana Worlds.

Logan
CA - Botswana Worlds

Hello everyone,

We are very happy to report that registration went smoothly and was as competitive as previous worlds - we had 300 teams registered in 94 seconds. Registration is far from complete however - many teams have not verified and activated their accounts, and we also have a few cases of what seems like duplicate registrations and mis-entered information. Phase 1 is still open and teams and independent adjudicators may still register.

We have published the list of teams that have registered below. This information is also on our website. Important to note
- while the team cap is 352, we have put aside 52 teams to ensure one team from every nation that was present at the previous Worlds is also present here, and to make allowances for nations with poor internet access
- Status Approved means you fall within the 300 team cap, Partially Approved means at least 1 of your teams is outside the cap, Waiting means you are on the waiting list.
- Independent judges should send a CV and Cover Letter to adjudication@botswanaworlds.com

Activation of accounts
Quite of a few of you did not get your account activation emails, and your registration is only complete when your account is activated. This is important for us to ensure you email account and data is valid. The problem is either the email ended up in your spam folder (please check your spam folder, search all folders for an email from registration@botswanaworlds.com) or a mistake with the email address you entered during registration

What we would like you to do
  • Search your spam folder for this email and follow the instructions in them to activate your account.
  • If you checked your spam folder and still have not found your activation email, please look for your team name among the list of registered institutions, and email us from the email address you used to register, with all your account information (Institution name, Country, Representative information, representative phone numbers). We will then manually activate your account.
Duplicate information
There are quite a few cases of double or triple registrations. Some of these are the same person registering twice, and some of these appear to be two different people registering from the same institution. 

What we would like you to do
  • Check if anyone else has registered as your institution
  • If they have and this person is from your institution, resolve this with that person and withdraw one of the accounts. You can do this by sending an email to registration@botswanaworlds.com. Choose the account you want to cancel. You cannot have two representatives for one institution
  • If someone else is claiming to be from the same institution as you, also try to resolve this with that person. This is an internal issue with your institution and we have no power other than to enforce the constitution (ie if the registration from a legitimate institution and that person can defend themselves as a legitimate representative - student etc of that institution - then we accept the registration)
  • Registrations that appear to be similar but are not owned up as being similar will be referred to the Worlds Executive to investigate if they fulfill eligibility criteria of being two separate institutions
  • You cannot change the name of your institution. 
Questions
Can I change my Registration information now?
- Yes and no. You cannot increase the number of teams or transfer your spaces to another institution. You can reduce the number of teams and correct registration information - email address, phone number, etc.

When and how will I know if I get off the Wait list?
- We will be progressively updating the list. As duplicates are removed or if teams reduce the number of teams they have registered, more spaces will be made open. We will send you an email whenever your status changes
- We will be upgrading teams who qualify based on poor internet access or because their nation is not in the top 300. We will be making those changes within the next few days.
- We will send out a public announcement after any significant change in registration and update the registration list on our website at least once a day.
- Most of the upgrading from wait list happens during stage two when deposit payments are required.

What if I want to send more judges than allowed under N-1?
- They must register as independent adjudicators and apply to the adjudication team.

Thank you everyone for your cooperation, and we hope you are as excited about Phase 2 as we are.

Cheers
Registration Team, 
Botswana Worlds 2011

21 June 2010

Registration open for 2011 World Debating Championships.

Registration is open for the 2011 World Debating Championships. 

Spaces fill up quick so if you want to attend visit http://www.botswanaworlds.com/

20 June 2010

Botswana Worlds 2011 : One Day Until Registration Opens!

Are you excited? We are!

Just a quick reminder to ensure no one forgets. Registration opens at 8 GMT on the 21st of June, that is in 1 day and about 4 hours. If you're not sure what time that is, check the links provided below. 8GMT is also 10am Southern Africa.

We've put up a detailed registration guide, which you can download from the website or the link below. 

The registration link is http://register.botswanaworlds.com . A link will also be available on the front page on the website, just under the registration countdown clock.

If you have any questions, please read through the information on the website, and only if your answer is not there, email registration@botswanaworlds.com.

Good luck and see you in Botswana!

Cheers
Logan
Chief Adjudicator, Botswana Worlds
On behalf of the Registration Team and all the other excited people.