--- In quizbowl_at_y..., suds1000 <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> I am inclined to agree. I find it rather interesting that despite
> the presence of the many excellent teams in the Midwest and the
East
> and just two or three over on the West Coast, that NAQT has decided
> to put what I (and many others) feel is the most important
tournament
> of the year so far away from the major quizbowl scenes in the
> nation. Just curious why that is.
Sudheer --
The reason is quite simple actually. Of the various sites that bid,
we felt that UCLA/Caltech was going to be the best partner in running
a successful tournament. In particular, we looked at the number and
quality of the staff, the stability of the program, the available
hotel space, and the convenience of the tournament buildings.
The research that we did on travel costs showed that teams should be
able to acquire reasonably priced tickets to Los Angeles-area
airports from most places; certainly we will do everything that we
can to arrange discounts to ease the financial burden on teams
attending the tournament.
In any case, NAQT does not consider the proximity of excellent teams
when choosing the location of the ICT.
-- R. Robert Hentzel
President and Chief Technical Officer,
National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC