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2 July 2010

Amsterdam EUDC practical info, program, arrivals

Only 11 more days before Euros kicks off with a public debate with Moreno-Ocampo in the prestigious Rode Hoed on the Keizersgracht. If you want to be present at this event, please register at http://eudc.vuconnected.nl/publicevent .

This email gives a lot of practical information about Amsterdam EUDC, discussing the judges and debaters instructions, ESL applications, room assignments and what to pack for Euros. We will tell you more about our program, which can also be found on our website: http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=15. Lastly, you can find more information on Arrivals day at the end of this email.

If you have any questions about the contents of this email or any other thing concerning Euros, please contact us at info@amsterdameudc.org. We are looking forward to meeting you in a bit more than a week!

With kind regards,
Anne Valkering
Convener Amsterdam EUDC 2010


Practicalities

The judges instruction is online and so is the judging test. All judges should have received an invitation to the test. If not, please contact your delegate representative first and otherwise cateam@amsterdameudc.org. You can find a judging instruction on our website: http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=1380 . A debaters instruction will follow shortly, and will also be available on our website, in the participant section. We will notify you through Facebook once the instruction is online.

There are 240 people who have not told us when and where they will arrive in Amsterdam yet. This means that we do not know how many people we will need to pick up at any given time, which might mean that we have not factored in enough busses from Schiphol to the hotels. We really do not want to leave you stranded in Schiphol for an hour to wait on the next bus. But to prevent that from happening, so tell us when you are arriving at http://eudc.vuconnected.nl/ 

The deadline for applying for ESL status will be tonight. If you have not filled out the ESL section of your personal details form at http://eudc.vuconnected.nl by tonight, you will not be able to apply for ESL status during the tournament. There are six people who have not yet filled out that section of the registration form, they are from Koç University, MSAL, University of Split and Yeditepe University

We have sent out the hotel and room assignment emails to everyone. If you have not received the email, please check your spam folder. If this cannot be the explanation, please contact us at hotel@amsterdameudc.org for more information. If you would like to change something about your room assignment, please contact us at the email address above before July 2, i.e. tomorrow, as we will then be able to make some changes. We cannot guarantee that we can cater for all wishes, but we will do our best. If you contact us after July 2, we will not be able to make any changes between the hotels, and changes within the hotels will be hard as well.

If you are considering what to pack for Amsterdam Euros, please check our program, as it gives an indication of dress codes for all of the events at Euros. In general, most of our program sets no requirements whatsoever. We would like to ask you, however, to dress up smartly for the public event with Moreno-Ocampo and to wear black tie at the final. Do bring some party and clubbing clothes, as we will take you on tours of Amsterdam’s nightlife. Otherwise, it is probably wise to assume that the weather will change at some point during the tournament, as it usually does about every two days. Plan for cold as well as warm weather (we are currently in a heat wave) and definitely assume it will rain at least one day. Some days involve a bit of walking, so you might want to bring comfortable shoes as well. A large part of Amsterdam’s city centre consists of cobblestones that are not easy to master on high heels.


Program

We have published the full schedule for Amsterdam EUDC on our website: http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=15. It includes information about all the socials, as well as dress codes (when relevant).

The first official day of the tournament is Monday July 12, Arrivals Day, when we will pick you up from Schiphol and bring you to your hotels for registration. Please find more information about arrivals and the days before below. The start of the tournament will be the public event with Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. He will discuss the trade-off between peace and justice and why he chose the latter in the case of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army. We would like to ask you to dress smart for this special guest, who is making his first ever public appearance of this kind. The event starts at 8 pm in De Rode Hoed which has 450 seats available, so please register at http://eudc.vuconnected.nl/publicevent. There will be plenty of opportunity to relax and chat with old friends with a drink after the public event ends at 10 pm. If you could not make it to the public event, there is an alternative bar between De Rode Hoed and the Westermarkt, where our busses are leaving from: De Vergulde Gaper.

The tournament itself starts on Tuesday with four preliminary rounds at the Vrije Universiteit. Breakfast will be at the VU, and busses depart at 7:15 am to the university. At 9.00 am we will start the opening ceremony. At 9.45, we begin with round 1. It is therefore absolutely imperative that you do not miss the morning bus.


Arrivals Day

Pre-Arrivals: Some 150 people have indicated they are arriving one or more days before the 12th of July. We will not provide accommodation during the days before the 12th, although we can reserve a room for you in one of our hotels. We will not pick you up from Schiphol, but information on how to get to the hotels can be found on our website: http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=211 If you do not want to make use of our hotel, information on hostels and hotels for 25 Euros per person or less can be found on our website: http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=211 Please make sure to book a room before you leave, as most of these hotels will be fully booked in the middle of summer. We would like to invite all those who are already in town to join us in watching the World Cup final on Sunday the 11th. The location depends on whether the Netherlands will be in the final, and will be announced later.

Arrivals: We will have an information booth at Schiphol in the NS service desk, the national railway services. Just go to the main plaza (called Schiphol Plaza) and find the NS (a yellow and blue booth) and you will find us. We will direct you to the busses to the hotels. Busses start leaving from 9 am onwards, and end at 10 pm. If you are arriving before or after those times, we will organise alternative transportation. The busses will pass by both hotels and you can register at either one of the hotels. That’s all you need to do on Monday as there is no mandatory program. We will not provide you with lunch or dinner during Arrivals day.

If you are arriving at a different place than Schiphol, you can do one of two things: buy a train ticket to Schiphol for about € 3.80 and go to the main plaza: we will wait for you there and direct you to the busses. Trains to Schiphol run every 10 minutes and take about 15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station. Or you can travel to the hotel you were assigned to, with the information on our website http://www.amsterdameudc.org/?page_id=211, or taken from http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/

The Language Committee is chaired by Isa Loewe this year. ESL interviews will start on Sunday the 11th and continue on the 12th. You should receive an invitation for an interview before the start of the tournament. The interviews will take place in both hotels. The times on the schedule are still provisional, as they depend on when those of you who need to be interviewed arrive. There will be no interviews during the public debate, and anyone who was unable to do an interview on Monday can do an interview on Tuesday during lunch.

Pre-Council will take place from 6 to 8 in De Rode Hoed, the same location as the public event. Country representatives will be transported to the location by bus and we will provide you with dinner, as you will have no time to eat between Pre-Council and the public event. The agenda for Pre-Council and Council will be announced by the President of Council, Jens Fischer.

Amsterdam EUDC 2010
http://www.amsterdameudc.org/
info@amsterdameudc.org
Vendelstraat 2
1012 XX Amsterdam

1 July 2010

La Verne to host Worlds style training

The University of La Verne would like to invite you all to sunny southern California for a week of intense debate training followed by a uniquely formatted individuals tournament. This guarantees anyone who attends excellent instruction and guidance from some of the most experienced trainers in the country, and in fact the world. Between them, they have racked up 28 visits to the World Universities Debating Championships. In addition, the University of La Verne’s debate team promises to assist in any way possible including transportation to and from airports and, if necessary, from lodging to the school. Of course, they will also be providing assistance in their specialty, making sure that everyone has a great time outside of the training!

We are looking to make this event as accessible as possible to participants outside of the state of California, so we are only charging a $60 registration fee per individual or a $200 fee for any team with 4 or more participants (with no upwards limit), inclusive of the entire week of training and the tournament. Also, we have secured housing in the University’s dorms for $25 per person per night. We would ask that anyone interested will have registered by July 9th. For more information see attached.

Sincerely,
Josh Martin


Schedule:
July 19th : Arrival; Introductions; Beginning of training
July 20th – July 23rd : At least 5 Hours of training per day; Social events
July 24th : 4 Preliminary tournament rounds
July 25th : 1 preliminary round; Final Round; Departure

Main Trainers:
Ian Lising: 6 years as Chair of World Council
6 time World Grand Final Adjudicator
10 time Oxford International IV Final Adjudicator
Probably knows what he is doing

Justin Jones Rodriguez: 2000 World Grand Finalist
1999 Oxford International IV Finalist
2001 Breaking judge at Worlds

Josh Martin: Multiple time breaking Judge at Worlds / Oxford IV
Top Judge 2009 US National Championships
Top Speaker 2006 US National Championships
2007 US National Champion

Individuals Tournament:
The tournament will consist of 5 prelimary rounds, breaking straight to the final. This format is designed to accompany the training and highlight the chance to be exposed to different schools of thought and approaches to debate as theoretically everyone will be changing partners every round. Partners for the first round will be randomly assigned, and for every subsequent round power matching will be done based on team points and then within each room, partners will be reallocated based on speaker points. The highest two speakers will be paired together, then 3rd and 4th, etc. giving everyone the chance to work with individuals from different institutions, around their same skill and experience level, throughout the tournament. At the University of La Verne we have had the tradition of running a tournament in this format every year, and it has always been hugely successful.

Socials:
We have a team at La Verne that is almost (or maybe more) committed to having a good time as they are to debate. Add to that our being located in the middle of Southern California and you have the chance to take part in virtually any kind of social you can think of. We will be letting the participants choose what the socials can be, ranging from beach trips, clubbing, cultural downtown Los Angeles, or anything else you can suggest.

Registration:
For any other questions regarding the training or tournament feel free to contact Josh Martin at either jmartin@laverne.edu or 909) 263-1112. Registration should be finalized by July 9th.

30 June 2010

WODC Registration closing‏

There are only a couple of days left before registration closes forthe World Online Debating Championship and if you haven’t already signed-up you should do now.

To help you make up your mind here’s some feedback from lastyear’s participants:

“The WODC was been a huge learning experience for me and my team-mates. It teaches you to write better English, to be more organized, to work more collaboratively and most importantly, it teaches you how resilient you can be.” Mónica Tisminesky, Venezuela

“Thank you for the event you organised. It was exciting, thrilling and definitely a very enriching experience. Now we can confidently state that we know a lot more about nuclear weapons and prohibition ofdrugs.”. Georgi Manolov, Bulgaria

“I feel this tournament has improved my debating skills incredibly. I am able to think out more sophisticated arguments and make the whole case very coherent.” Nikita Pusnakovs, Latvia

“The combination of an amazing judge panel and worthy opponents made the WODC the best training and practice we received this summer” Korey Pace, USA

The skills you will pick up, experience you will gain and judging you’ll receive all make this competition well worth the investment of your time. So don’t leave it to the (very) last minute, email now and make sure your place is safe. dc@debatewise.org

29 June 2010

Hong Kong Debate Open 2010

Greetings!

On behalf of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) English Debate Team, I am very happy to announce the first-ever international BP tournament to be held in Hong Kong this October 2010.

Below are the 5 Good Reasons for you to come join us:

1. Good Dates: 23rd to 25th Oct 2010
Late October in Hong Kong is pleasantly cool at 20 Celsius. You arrive on 22nd Oct, debate 3 rounds on 23rd, party with old and new-found friends, debate 3 rounds on 24th Oct, more parties or shopping parties, and you end up in Round 7, gunning for the Quarters, Semi and Grand Final on 25th Oct. Then you leave, or party or go on to Macau for the North East Asian Open (NEAO) , which starts from 29th Oct.

2. Good Adjudication Core
Our Chief Adjudicator is Ms Sharmila Pramanand of Ateneo De Manila University, The Philippines (Grand Final Judge for Cork Worlds 2009 and Koc Worlds 2010, DCA for 1st UADC 2010, DCA for Auckland Australs 2010 and Seoul Australs 2011)

The DCAs are: Mr Thepparith Senamngern or "TJ" of Assumption University, Thailand (Convenor of Bangkok Worlds 2008, CA for 1st Asian BP 2009, CA for 1st UADC 2010), Mr Zhengbo of Peking University ( Director of Debate at Peking University, China, Grand Finalist Judge at the 1st Asian BP 2009, Breaking Judge at Koc Worlds 2010) and Mr Loke Wing Fatt (President of SAID)

3. Good Externalities
a) Low Registration Fee for Debaters/Adjudicators/Observers at: USD 25 per person
b) Cheap Hotel Accommodation 5 mins from HKPU and the famed Victoria Harbour:

The official HK-DO 2010 Hotel is the Bridal Tea House Hotel. Please check it out at this website: : http://www.hkchhotel.com/hotel-roomtypes.php

Each person, on a twin-sharing basis, will only have to pay HKD$180 or USD$22 per night.

You are free to arrange your own accommodation too.

c) Hong Kong is served by a number of safe, cheap budget airlines, is a shopping haven, does not need most people to get a visa to be there, is a hop to other getaway destinations, and, finally, is a safe, fun, cosmopolitan World City.

4. Good Start for the Hong Kong Debating Community
This is Hong Kong's first attempt at hosting an international debating event although it has, for the last decade, very strong debaters from its six active debating universities making their mark at the Australs and Worlds. Hong Kong high schools are also highly competitive at the Worlds Schools Debating Championships. Your participation will support the beginning of a new Asian debate hub which is waiting to be born.

For that modest reason, the Tournament Capacity is set at 60 teams.

Institution cap for each university is set at 3 teams.

The N minus 1 Rule will be enforced and the usual WUDC rules will apply at the HK-DO 2010.

5. Good Hands at the Deck
The HK-DO 2010 Organising Committee is led by the President of the English Debate Team of HKPU, Ms Jasmine Tam who will be the Convener. Below is the full list of the 11 key organisers:

Convener: Jasmine Tam
Deputy Convener: Phoebe So
Tournament Director: Crystal Kwong
Social Director: Giovani Cho
Finance Director: Chelsea Hopkins
Communications Directors: Alice Chen, Joyce Xiang
Accommodations Director: Anson Lam
IT Director: Josh Liang
Catering Director: Willa Wong
Promotion and Publication Director: Esther Chan
Advisor: Loke Wing Fatt

A website will be set up next month to provide more information and to receive your registration. Meanwhile, please write to the following email addresses if you have questions for the key organisers:

1. The email account of HKDO 2010 : hkdo2010@gmail.com
2. Convener: Jasmine Tam's email account: jasmine.tam.edt@gmail.com
3, Deputy Convener: Phoebe So's email account: phoebe.so.edt@gmail.com
4. Tournament Director: Crystal Kwong's email account: crystal.kwong.edt@gmail.com

Cheers

Loke Wing Fatt
Advisor, HK-DO 2010
President, SAID
Singapore