Questions about proper identification at a competition

[Tim Reynolds]

Oh, Tim, by the way when I pre-registered I said in the comment box that I didn't have an ID and asked if that would be a problem. I'll know from now on

And I replied on 4/13 saying not to worry about it.
I do think that it's a problem to make people show ID. Most people working at registration tables don't have experience checking ID's to see if they're real or fake, and plenty of people don't have any ID, especially younger people.

By the way, Rubik's Cube Fan, who are you?

 

[PCwizCube]

By the way, Rubik's Cube Fan, who are you?

Uhhh.... I'll give you a clue. Remember at the beginning of the Armonk Spring 2008 3x3 competition, people were practicing at the stackmats? I was the person who you said to "We are going to start the 3x3 round soon... so please get out of this area". You said something like that to me. By the way, please DO NOT state my real name here.... only PM me.

 

[Hadley4000]

By the way, Rubik's Cube Fan, who are you?

Uhhh.... I'll give you a clue. Remember at the beginning of the Armonk Spring 2008 3x3 competition, people were practicing at the stackmats? I was the person who you said to "We are going to start the 3x3 round soon... so please get out of this area". You said something like that to me. In other words, I was the person who got the 35.35 second average. By the way, please DO NOT state my real name here.... only PM me.

Edited for me doing something dumb.

 

[shelley]

At smaller competitions, ID usually isn't checked unless you're competing for a country other than the US. At bigger competitions ID will be checked (we will be checking ID at US Nationals).

So, in a hypothetical situation where someone doesn't have a driver's license or student ID, what would you like them to do for Nationals?

A copy of a birth certificate would be acceptable.

 

[Alex DiTuro]

Sorry Tim, didn't realize you replied to that comment.

 

[shelley]

I do think that it's a problem to make people show ID. Most people working at registration tables don't have experience checking ID's to see if they're real or fake, and plenty of people don't have any ID, especially younger people.

The main reason for checking ID is to make sure people claiming to compete for another country are actually citizens of that country. Otherwise I could say I'm from Azerbaijan and claim a NR.

At US Nationals, we're collecting registration fees ahead of time, so we'll be checking ID to make sure everyone's accounted for and that some random person isn't competing under the name of someone else who's already paid, or something like that.

Yeah, it's a pretty informal process. We definitely don't have the experience or resources to see if IDs are real or fake, and with school IDs it's practically impossible anyway. But if you're going through the trouble to obtain a fake ID, I would think you had more exciting things to do than compete at a Rubik's cube tournament under a different name.

Oh, and for younger competitors who don't have identification, we could probably let the accompanying parent show ID too.

 

[Bryan]

The main reason for checking ID is to make sure people claiming to compete for another country are actually citizens of that country. Otherwise I could say I'm from Azerbaijan and claim a NR.

But really, driver's licenses are ID's to show where you live, not your nationality. Can people outside the US comment on how it works there?

 

[shelley]

That's why we ask for passports as proof of nationality if you're not a US citizen.

 

[Tim Reynolds]

Alex, don't worry about it, just a mishap in communications. I think there'll be one in Armonk next year, but hopefully you'll make it to a competition before then anyway.