Melbourne Cube Day 2013

[andojay]

Can you get more? Not sure where they're from.

We have a bunch of popcorn boxes, courtesy of Cameron.

Tim.

I couldn't find the same boxes so I got more popcorn boxes
I bought 24 of them, will that be enough boxes to run 3x3?
They are smaller than one used last week. the diameter is 11cm, this should be fine for 7x7 and etc

Andrea

 

[TimMc]

I bought 24 of them, will that be enough boxes to run 3x3?

Yeah, sounds good.

Tim.

 

[TimMc]

isnt the oh hard a little too harsh, maybe put 30 seconds on that?

It's a bit harsher than usual because a lot more competitors registered than expected. If 20 people don't turn up then I'll raise it to 45 seconds.

I reckon about 18/28 will make the cut-off based on the past couple of competitions:
https://www.worldcubeassociation.or...Results&competitionId=AustralianNationals2013
https://www.worldcubeassociation.or...All+Results&competitionId=MelbourneSpring2013

Also why not do partially simaltainius rounds

We've done this in the past by giving competitors a choice between events like: fmc, 4x4 BLD and 5x5 BLD (i.e. they can compete in one bot not the other two). I doubt that we'll have enough time or space in the venue to do that.

I'll probably start having a $2 or $5 registration fee at future competitions if we need more equipment to handle more competitors (or just offer fewer events). Prepayments via Paypal might help stop fake registrations (if any).

Tim.

 

[Logical101]

simultaneous but with say 10 minutes for each round to be running without anything else running and then 20 minutes where there are 2 events running

Just put up a 15$ fee for every comp, just like nationals, i highly doubt any one would mind if its going for the better of speed cubing in australia

 

[Faz]

2 events running is hard to manage logistically, considering that there needs to be scramblers and judges who aren't competing in either group of the event. It really wouldn't save much time, running events alongside each other, and might cause more problems. I think it's better off having a smooth transition between events (like what we do now, where we call the next event whilst the other one is still running so that we can start it as soon as it's done.)

 

[Logical101]

yes that is definitely true, but this could be done with the events that take a long time (4bld 5bld possibly 7x7) if there is no time on the schedule.
Also everything for the next event could be prepared during the previous event (Colecting all the puzzles and doing the first shuffle on them all, rather than just calling the next event)

 

[Dene]

yes that is definitely true, but this could be done with the events that take a long time (4bld 5bld possibly 7x7) if there is no time on the schedule.
Also everything for the next event could be prepared during the previous event (Colecting all the puzzles and doing the first shuffle on them all, rather than just calling the next event)

You're not considering what is needed logistically to make these ideas happen. The biggest issue is manpower. Considering the event transition is usually largely handled by myself alone, and I am often busy with many things at once, it would be asking a lot to manage two events at the same time. Cameron actually proposed something like this for Melbourne Spring, and I essentially outright rejected it and provided this explanation (partially edited for relevance) to him:

1) To pull of a system like this would definitely require pre-arranging everything with a staff set, and we don't have that.
2) Most of our helpers are also participants in the majority of events. How can they scramble for other events when they're competing?
3) Most people are competing in multiple events; how can you submit a puzzle in advance when you're busy competing in a current event?
4) It would be naive of us to expect to rely on people to hand in puzzles in advance as people are generally unreliable.

I'm not saying it would be impossible, it would just require a level of preparation and complexity that isn't worth the hassle for what would probably be minimum benefit. Personally I think it is a good idea to have a few minutes with that transition between events. Also, usually there are one or two stragglers that we end up waiting for to finish, and while they're finishing we're making a headstart on scrambling for the next event anyway.

 

[Logical101]

You're not considering what is needed logistically to make these ideas happen. The biggest issue is manpower. Considering the event transition is usually largely handled by myself alone, and I am often busy with many things at once, it would be asking a lot to manage two events at the same time. Cameron actually proposed something like this for Melbourne Spring, and I essentially outright rejected it and provided this explanation (partially edited for relevance) to him:

Hmm ok ill let that idea go

 

[Dene]

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their contribution to this competition. Despite the enormous turn out of 60 competitors (making this by far the largest Melbourne competition ever), everything ran super smoothly all day, even allowing us to finish ahead of schedule!!! You all make this possible, and I'm looking forward to more massive competitions to come. Go the Spiritual Centre!

(and a quick off-the-cuff comment to Tim Major, who never thought we'd ever see numbers like this, back when I was saying we'd hit 60 in the future; take that!)

 

[Tim Major]

(and a quick off-the-cuff comment to Tim Major, who never thought we'd ever see numbers like this, back when I was saying we'd hit 60 in the future; take that!)

When did I say this? :O

I'm certainly not looking FORWARD to another 60+ person comp, but I'm glad we can run events well (I felt bad during awards, there were some new kids there who judged ALL day and I felt they deserved certs or something, as they only competed once or twice)

Very stressful rushing all events, judging all day, running all, scrambling. But the fact we managed to fit all those events and rounds with free time is great.

Special thanks to TimMc/Yy for data entry. At least judging/scrambling/running can be social. Data entry would be boring as hell but someone has to do it.