INVITATION: (note that the invite in an alternative format suitable for cutting and pasting appears below).

August 3, 2009

You and your debaters are cordially invited to come to play in Cambridge on October 31 through November 2, 2009. The festivities shall include beautiful fall foliage, great food by Sherry, and an abundance of high-quality competition. We hope that you will join us.

The tournament will feature eight preliminary rounds of two-person, switch-sides, cross-examination debate on the national topic in the standard 9-3-6 format. Elimination rounds will start with octafinals. Brackets will not be broken, sides will not be equalized.

The tournament is tightly scheduled to allow time for dinner and recreation. Courtesy demands, and we insist, that rounds start and be adjudicated punctually.

Each team must be accompanied by a qualified judge who must agree to decide all assigned debates within 165 minutes of the announced start time for the round, rendering a decision with one winner and one loser. Judges are obligated for only four rounds per team, and through the octafinals and one round beyond the elimination of the last team from their school. If you choose to hire your judges from the ranks of persons not currently coaching at your school, those hired judges must be approved in advance by the tournament director. This discretion will be employed solely to avoid unassignable judges who unduly degrade mutual preference judging.

Entry will be managed through the CSUF website. Harvard College will not commit to a final room list for some time. We have been lucky the last two years and were able to accommodate nearly everyone who wanted to attend. There is no guarantee that we can do as well this year, but we will try to host everyone who wants to come. However, in order to be fair, we are going to place all teams beyond the third team from a school on a waitlist until our room situation and entry demand become clearer. We will clear teams off the waitlist as fast as possible.

Fees for the tournament will be $50 per team plus $60 per person attending the tournament. The team charges will cover security and cleaning costs, hotel fees, and quality awards. The hospitality fee covers two lunches, three breakfasts, and the cocktail party/dinner and awards reception on Sunday night. (This adds an additional breakfast on Monday morning for everyone without raising the fee from last year.) We will have one 55 passenger bus running each morning. There will be a $10 per person charge for the bus. The evidence shuttle on Saturday morning and Sunday evening will continue to operate free of charge.

We are delighted to announce that we will be using a new hotel this year, the Holiday Inn Somerville. This property is closer to Harvard, has ample double-double sleeping rooms, eight function rooms for the octafinals, a ballroom large enough to accommodate the Sunday night party, and a great indoor swimming pool and hot tub. Rooms are available for $129.00 for up to four people per room. This rate includes free parking and free Internet in the rooms and public spaces. Bus service runs from the hotel directly to Harvard Square for easy transport back and forth during the day. Hotel rooms are difficult to come by in Cambridge at this time of the year. The cut-off date is September 30, 2009 and the hotel has not agreed to hold rooms past this date, so please make your reservations in a timely manner. If you have overbooked rooms, please first check with other tournament participants as to whether someone else can use the room(s). If you will not be using the rooms, please let the hotel know that as soon as possible so that they have an opportunity to sell them. You may make your reservations through a special web link: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/advancedsearch?whichtype=room&roomResult=none&hotelCode=bossv&quickRes=city&_GPC=hdg&checkInDate=30&checkOutMonthYear=102009&checkInMonthYear=092009&checkOutDate=03&_requestid=1067487
You can also contact the hotel directly at 617-628-1000. If you have any questions or concerns with your reservations, feel free to contact Gary Orswell the sales manager through his email: gary.orswell@phg.net.

We look forward to seeing all of you next month in the Southland, and to hosting you in Cambridge this fall.

Sherry Hall & Dallas Perkins

August 3, 2009 You and your debaters are cordially invited to come to play in Cambridge on October 31 through November 2, 2009. The festivities shall include beautiful fall foliage, great food by Sherry, and an abundance of high-quality competition. We hope that you will join us. The tournament will feature eight preliminary rounds of two-person, switch-sides, cross-examination debate on the national topic in the standard 9-3-6 format. Elimination rounds will start with octafinals. Brackets will not be broken, sides will not be equalized. The tournament is tightly scheduled to allow time for dinner and recreation. Courtesy demands, and we insist, that rounds start and be adjudicated punctually. Each team must be accompanied by a qualified judge who must agree to decide all assigned debates within 165 minutes of the announced start time for the round, rendering a decision with one winner and one loser. Judges are obligated for only four rounds per team, and through the octafinals and one round beyond the elimination of the last team from their school. If you choose to hire your judges from the ranks of persons not currently coaching at your school, those hired judges must be approved in advance by the tournament director. This discretion will be employed solely to avoid unassignable judges who unduly degrade mutual preference judging. Entry will be managed through the CSUF website. Harvard College will not commit to a final room list for some time. We have been lucky the last two years and were able to accommodate nearly everyone who wanted to attend. There is no guarantee that we can do as well this year, but we will try to host everyone who wants to come. However, in order to be fair, we are going to place all teams beyond the third team from a school on a waitlist until our room situation and entry demand become clearer. We will clear teams off the waitlist as fast as possible. Fees for the tournament will be $50 per team plus $60 per person attending the tournament. The team charges will cover security and cleaning costs, hotel fees, and quality awards. The hospitality fee covers two lunches, three breakfasts, and the cocktail party/dinner and awards reception on Sunday night. (This adds an additional breakfast on Monday morning for everyone without raising the fee from last year.) We will have one 55 passenger bus running each morning. There will be a $10 per person charge for the bus. The evidence shuttle on Saturday morning and Sunday evening will continue to operate free of charge. We are delighted to announce that we will be using a new hotel this year, the Holiday Inn Somerville. This property is closer to Harvard, has ample double-double sleeping rooms, eight function rooms for the octafinals, a ballroom large enough to accommodate the Sunday night party, and a great indoor swimming pool and hot tub. Rooms are available for $129.00 for up to four people per room. This rate includes free parking and free Internet in the rooms and public spaces. Bus service runs from the hotel directly to Harvard Square for easy transport back and forth during the day. Hotel rooms are difficult to come by in Cambridge at this time of the year. The cut-off date is September 30, 2009 and the hotel has not agreed to hold rooms past this date, so please make your reservations in a timely manner. If you have overbooked rooms, please first check with other tournament participants as to whether someone else can use the room(s). If you will not be using the rooms, please let the hotel know that as soon as possible so that they have an opportunity to sell them. You may make your reservations through a special web link: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/advancedsearch?whichtype=room&roomResult=none&hotelCode=bossv&quickRes=city&_GPC=hdg&checkInDate=30&checkOutMonthYear=102009&checkInMonthYear=092009&checkOutDate=03&_requestid=1067487 You can also contact the hotel directly at 617-628-1000. If you have any questions or concerns with your reservations, feel free to contact Gary Orswell the sales manager through his email: gary.orswell@phg.net. We look forward to seeing all of you next month in the Southland, and to hosting you in Cambridge this fall. Sherry Hall & Dallas Perkins