There are two lessons I draw from my experience. First, NAQT already does have a very detailed vision in place, best expressed as a philosophy about how questions should be written and how tournaments should be run. The best questions and tournaments reward the player with the most (and most worthwhile) knowledge, in a manner that is interesting, enlightening and *fun*. I sense almost a mission in progress, to make the best possible questions and tournaments available to the greatest number of teams. Second, every act performed under the auspices of NAQT in effect tests that vision. Every time I write a question, the idea is that the question will appear in some packet set. Depending on the question, the fact that it has become part of the body of NAQT work has some impact on what NAQT is and how people view the NAQT product. Every decision an editor makes has a similar effect. In short, while the vision is largely already in place, it is the NAQT members (and writers) themselves who decide how the vision is executed. They decide by doing. Those who do the most for NAQT are the ones who have the greatest de facto ability to choose a course of action -- and that's how things should be in any meritocracy. Every NAQT member was originally someone on the quiz-bowl circuit who had a love for the game and a strong idea of how things should be done. As it happens, that description also fits some of NAQT's biggest critics and biggest apologists. Anyone who has both strong ideas about what NAQT should do and the will to bring your ideas to fruition, help NAQT reach its potential. Send your ideas; make your enthusiasm known. R. has already mentioned the "new writer packet" on the web site; the work done by NAQT also involves heavy doses of editing and marketing. I'll mention again that I speak only for myself, though I strongly suspect that there will always be room for people who work hard and work well. Sincerely, Matt Bruce [1] I do not recommend "pestering" as such. As with life itself, it is easy to be obsequious but far more effective to demonstrate how one can be of service and why one's skills are especially useful.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0: Sat 12 Feb 2022 12:30:42 AM EST EST