US Nationals 2010

[cubeninjaIV]

because there are alot of koii cubers in small comps nationals would be crazy
i think it should be public

 

[Tyson]

I would personally like to see nationals 2010, wherever it is, more of an event atmosphere. This time around, the entire focus was only about the competition itself. There wasn't enough focus on the rest of the weekend. There was no reasonably close "official" hotel, and a lot of people didn't even stay at one of the near-by ones. I like the idea of the competition being an event, as it is a big deal for people to come to it. Take Worlds for example, there is an official hotel, with shuttles between it and the venue. I don't doubt the majority of cubers will be staying there, as well as the party on Saturday night (not really necessary). For me, this nationals was cool to hang out with the people I did, but it got sort of repetitive. I missed out on spending extra time with some others because there was no feasible way to do so.

I didn't like Stanford as a venue solely because of its inaccessibility. The actual competition venue was decent, but the rest of it was awful. Luckily there was one food place close enough that had good food and places to sit and hang (Coho). Other than that, there was nothing in way of food, except for the things that closed at dinner time. The walk to anywhere else was over a half an hour, making it a pain to go anywhere else. A smaller, more city like campus would definitely make the competition run smoother.

On that note, I think holding it in some city, although perhaps more expensive, is probably the best option. The only issue, is an organizational one. I would love to offer Pittsburgh as a possibility, having access to one of the Universities here, as well as possible ties with some others, but I have no way of validating an organizational team. Perhaps someone closer to NYC would be able to secure a better venue. I definitely think that a team of east coast cubers could make up for the lack of manpower that some of the west coast organizational team brings to the table.

Entirely, the main issue to picking a venue for nationals is how to organize it. Its not about where people want it, or where people think it should be held, but finding a place where a large competition can logistically be run. It would be nice to vary the location, but I really think wherever it is held, people dedicated enough will come. This is the national championships of the largest cubing country in the world. If you want to come to it, you should really want to, not just come because its in your backyard.

Yes, this was probably the biggest drawback to the competition at Stanford. After the competition days, we would just go back to where we were staying, and there wasn't as much socializing, such as Atlanta or Chicago when we took over the lobbies of the hotels that were chosen.

We'll probably just hold it here: http://www.usm.md/

 

[Bob]

I don't think that having a public venue adds any value to the competition. If a private venue is more feasible, I'm all for it.

 

[tfkscores]

Dc area would be the best. Their are good hotels and places to stay. This is totally biased though since I live a minute from Dc.

 

[Bob]

Dc area would be the best. Their are good hotels and places to stay. This is totally biased though since I live a minute from Dc.

If I recall correctly, hotels in DC are so expensive that I stayed in Maryland when I went.

 

[Bryan]

Why not have it in minnesota and have it at the IMAX theahter?

How much does the theater cost? And would they even rent it for a weekend? And what makes the theater such a great layout?

If the national organizers had unlimited funds, they could just take suggestion of venues. But they don't. Any place that has a convention center could host nationals (unless it was a very small convention center).

Of course, cost isn't the only factor. If I needed to find a place for Nationals, I could make a phone call and probably get it done. Of course, that would mean that Nationals would be in Rochester or Madison. Both of these would be very very expensive to go to, because they're not major transportation hubs.

I think the private venue is good for organizers, but I think public venues are good for sponsors.

If you look at the proportion of competitions to area, I don't think the Midwest would be "due" another competition this year. I would say Northeast.

 

[kahman10]

Cnada please! it will be my only close sompetion.

 

[Waffle's Minion]

What about Boston? And it should definitely be public. Show the world what we are made of!!!

 

[Edmund]

I think public venue. Attention is good for cubing and it would be fun just to have a random person or 2 watching you.

 

[Waffle's Minion]

I think public venue. Attention is good for cubing and it would be fun just to have a random person or 2 watching you.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Tyson]

Cnada please! it will be my only close sompetion.

Canada was vetoed. By a Canadian. Boston is an interesting choice.

 

[pjk]

I would personally like to see nationals 2010, wherever it is, more of an event atmosphere. This time around, the entire focus was only about the competition itself. There wasn't enough focus on the rest of the weekend. There was no reasonably close "official" hotel, and a lot of people didn't even stay at one of the near-by ones. I like the idea of the competition being an event, as it is a big deal for people to come to it. Take Worlds for example, there is an official hotel, with shuttles between it and the venue. I don't doubt the majority of cubers will be staying there, as well as the party on Saturday night (not really necessary). For me, this nationals was cool to hang out with the people I did, but it got sort of repetitive. I missed out on spending extra time with some others because there was no feasible way to do so.

I agree with this. It didn't seem like there was a location where everyone got together other than the venue itself, and after the competition was over, everyone pretty much split up.

I didn't like Stanford as a venue solely because of its inaccessibility. The actual competition venue was decent, but the rest of it was awful. Luckily there was one food place close enough that had good food and places to sit and hang (Coho). Other than that, there was nothing in way of food, except for the things that closed at dinner time. The walk to anywhere else was over a half an hour, making it a pain to go anywhere else. A smaller, more city like campus would definitely make the competition run smoother.

In addition, a lot of the restaurants were closed on the weekend, limiting the food selection to pretty much nothing.

I don't mind public or private venues, and have no preference based on that. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Based off what Jim posted, Ohio looks like a good option.

 

[StachuK1992]

What are hotel prices like in Boston?
How available is transportation and food?

We should all definitely plan this on the same weekend as a Red Sox game, if this is chosen, so cubers may later gather there as well.

 

[Tyson]

I would personally like to see nationals 2010, wherever it is, more of an event atmosphere. This time around, the entire focus was only about the competition itself. There wasn't enough focus on the rest of the weekend. There was no reasonably close "official" hotel, and a lot of people didn't even stay at one of the near-by ones. I like the idea of the competition being an event, as it is a big deal for people to come to it. Take Worlds for example, there is an official hotel, with shuttles between it and the venue. I don't doubt the majority of cubers will be staying there, as well as the party on Saturday night (not really necessary). For me, this nationals was cool to hang out with the people I did, but it got sort of repetitive. I missed out on spending extra time with some others because there was no feasible way to do so.

I agree with this. It didn't seem like there was a location where everyone got together other than the venue itself, and after the competition was over, everyone pretty much split up.

I didn't like Stanford as a venue solely because of its inaccessibility. The actual competition venue was decent, but the rest of it was awful. Luckily there was one food place close enough that had good food and places to sit and hang (Coho). Other than that, there was nothing in way of food, except for the things that closed at dinner time. The walk to anywhere else was over a half an hour, making it a pain to go anywhere else. A smaller, more city like campus would definitely make the competition run smoother.

In addition, a lot of the restaurants were closed on the weekend, limiting the food selection to pretty much nothing.

I don't mind public or private venues, and have no preference based on that. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Based off what Jim posted, Ohio looks like a good option.

I was going to ask you about Denver options.

 

[JBCM627]

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?p=227540#post227540

I second this.

I first this.

I personally vote Cincinnati, DC, or NY, but that's only if there are willing teams in those areas willing to set up the competition.
I, for one, could very much help with some planning for a NY comp.

I can't think of a large enough, easily accessible venue that would be easily affordable in Cincinnati. The past competitions there were both in fairly small venues.

 

[anythingtwisty]

Indianapolis has a HUGE convention center, of which any room would probably be fit to host a competition as large as nationals. I don't know about pricing, however, Indianapolis has a wide variety of hotels and I have plenty of space in my yard for tents!

 

[StachuK1992]

I can't think of a large enough, easily accessible venue that would be easily affordable in Cincinnati. The past competitions there were both in fairly small venues.

Hmm. I really don't know what I was thinking when I suggested Cincinnati...

 

[Dave Campbell]

Cnada please! it will be my only close sompetion.

Canada was vetoed. By a Canadian. Boston is an interesting choice.

Which Canadian?

 

[blade740]

I think both public and private venues have their merits. Private venues make for easy organization and less bathroom muggings (100% LESS THAN LAST YEAR). But when people see 30 people walking down the street cubing, it's nice to be able to say "yeah, it's the world championships. You should check it out, it's right over there" Stanford was pretty isolated from the public.

As for location, I'm fine with pretty much anything. I'll find a way to make it wherever you hold it. The real cubers always seem to.

 

[Tim Reynolds]

Boston is an interesting choice.

Hmm, Boston...well, naturally MIT comes to mind to me, but given that we've never hosted a competition (though I hope we do this year) I don't have any experience with getting space and stuff like that. Also, while I wouldn't mind being more involved in the organization of Nationals, I'm not sure I have the experience to be one of the main organizers as of yet.

If MIT's cube club gets more active (it's not high enough on my priority list to make that happen at the moment), then maybe we could host Nationals; until then, I'm not so sure.