The 2007 NAQT ICT selection process

Robert Hentzel <*topquark_at_rhentzel.yahoo.invalid*> · Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:38:13 -0600

Players and Coaches --

NAQT has received a number of comments in the past week about the
selection process for the 2007 ICT.  Though NAQT hopes to respond to
each e-mail individually, I wanted to address some general concerns
and answer some common questions about the process.

NAQT's initial request for hosts produced very few responses, all of
which were eventually deemed unsuitable for the tournament (mostly for
cost-of-travel reasons) or, in the case of one school, withdrawn.
NAQT then approached Northwestern and Minnesota (and a few other
schools) to ask if they would be interested in hosting.  Both were
enthusiastic, but neither thought that they could provide the 25
required staff members.

Later, when further work hadn't brought any other potential hosts out
of the woodwork, the University of Chicago graciously volunteered to
provide additional staffing to make the Northwestern site work.  Based
on this offer, we returned to Northwestern and found them still
enthusiastic.

Unfortunately, due to timing, bad luck, and university policies, the
club's officers (after putting in a great deal of work) were unable to
find enough rooms in convenient buildings that could actually be
reserved on the chosen weekend (April 13-14).  NAQT decided that it
wasn't able to change the date of the tournament at that point in the
process.

After researching the local staff available in Minneapolis, NAQT then
approached Minnesota with a similar offer to reduce the number of
required staffers.  Minnesota was excited to host under those revised
conditions and quickly found the required number of rooms in very
convenient buildings and was able to reserve them.  As a result, the
2007 ICT is moving forward with the University of Minnesota as a host.

NAQT is happy with the final results of the process:  The ICT will
have good buildings, plentiful local staff, and an enthusiastic host
club.  Checking airline prices suggests that the average fare for NAQT
members coming from all over the country will be less than the average
for past ICTs; we think this is a good proxy for the average fare
faced by qualifying teams.  The choice also brings the ICT to a major
city that has never been within a ten hours' drive of the tournament.

That said, NAQT was not happy with the process.  The site should have
been selected months ago and communicated to teams when they were
first making their budgets.  We know that the late announcement has
inconvenienced teams, and we apologize for that to everybody who has
been affected.

-- R. Robert Hentzel
President and Chief Technical Officer,
National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC