Washington DC Winter 2011

[a small kitten]

Most likely timer.

 

[OMGitsSolved]

I've seen lots of reviews of Maru 2x2s and 3x3s not being very well but who else there got a Maru 3x3 or 2x2 from Bob Burtons stand and thought they were amazing?! As a matter of fact I bought a 3x3 and it is my new main and I tied the Maru 2x2s they were selling and they were better than my LanLan. And Eric you know you liked my Maru 4x4. Do you like the micro alpha?

 

[Baian Liu]

I've seen lots of reviews of Maru 2x2s and 3x3s not being very well but who else there got a Maru 3x3 or 2x2 from Bob Burtons stand and thought they were amazing?! As a matter of fact I bought a 3x3 and it is my new main and I tied the Maru 2x2s they were selling and they were better than my LanLan. And Eric you know you liked my Maru 4x4. Do you like the micro alpha?

Pops with Maru 2x2s are nightmares...

 

[RyanReese09]

Nick, it's no accomplishment to beat me at 2x2x2, I only solve it in competitions really, I haven't gotten into it yet . I was thinking of learing CLL starting today though, Eric *almost* beat me at 2x2x2 and I just can't have that.

I possibly will go to cornelle, if someone else drives or we take megabus.

 

[EricReese]

Learn Ortega seriously. Its 3 algs and much faster the LBL. One alg is R2 F2 R2. and it never comes up -_- You can learn it in like 8 minutes

 

[OMGitsSolved]

Lol Baian. "So much parity!"

And Ryan just learn Ortega like Eric said. I learned it in about 6 minutes lol.

 

[RyanReese09]

I might one day, if Eric ever beats me at 2x2x2 in comp.

 

[watermelon]

It appears that most of your comments have been directed to Evan Liu. Since the three organizers played an equal role in organizing the competition, Kevin and I (Mitchell Stern) have decided to make the following posts.

We would like to formally apologize for the organizational issues at our competition and address your concerns.

General Delays and Cuts
This competition was by far the largest we’ve ever held, and we were unfortunately not fully prepared for such a large turnout. We tried our best to keep everything on schedule, but with so many competitors and such a small organizing staff, we were unable to keep up with our original plan (we would, however, like to thank all those who volunteered to help judge and scramble throughout the day). When scrutinizing our decisions to reduce cutoff times and cut events, keep in mind that our number one priority was to refrain from cutting any entire events if at all possible. Competitors paid by the event, and we wanted to give everyone who signed up for an event at least a few attempts at that puzzle in exchange for strict cutoff times rather than eliminating that event completely.

3x3x3 Blindfolded
We were not originally planning to include this event, and it was only after repeated pleas from competitors prior to the competition that we decided to attempt to include it. Because this event can often be one of the most time-consuming, we imposed a strict cutoff of a 5:00 success or below on the first solve to save as much time as possible. In retrospect, this was a harsh but necessary decision; the time we saved on 3x3x3 BLD made up for much of the time lost on other events. Granted, this cutoff precluded most competitors from receiving the full 3 attempts, but since we did not initially intend to include 3x3x3 BLD at all, we felt that this was one of our better options in terms of which events to cut or shorten. Some competitors noted that several stations were empty towards the end of 3x3x3 BLD, and this was unfortunately due to a lack of organization. We intended to begin the next event of Square-1 while the remaining BLD competitors were finishing up, but we didn’t want to disturb those who were solving by making an announcement. Looking back, we should have held the cubes of the competitors who achieved the cutoff, made an announcement calling Square-1 competitors up to the scrambling table, and then resumed BLD.

Magic and Master Magic
Ultimately, we did not have time to include the final rounds of these two events. Late in the day, we decided that all competitors had previously completed a full average of 5, and with time constraints so drastic, we did not have time to include these final rounds.

3x3x3 Round 2
We made the decision to cut the second round when we were over an hour behind schedule. We did not realize that this would elicit so many complaints as all competitors who would have competed in Round 2 were able to compete in the Final round, just with one less round in between.

Stricter Cutoffs
A number of events were given stricter cutoffs than were initially announced. This was another measure we took to try to reduce our time deficit after it became clear that we were not going to be able to complete the day on our original schedule. We could have had less harsh general cutoffs had we not decided to allow everyone to complete an average of 5 for 3x3x3; however, we didn’t want some people to leave without having completed any averages.

Inspection Time
Bob notified us that he had forgotten to bring the stopwatches and pens just one day before the competition. We did not have time to purchase 10 stopwatches, and we recommended that judges instead use their watches, cell phones, or other time-keeping devices to measure inspection time. When it was brought to our attention that some judges were keeping track of inspection time in their head, we attempted to rectify the issue by again reminding them that they needed to use electronic devices and could not simply estimate. If there were judges who were still violating this regulation later in the day, we would have been sure to speak to them personally had we been notified of the individuals in question. We, the organizers, never timed inspection in our heads. However, some of us, along with other judges, used the wall clock in the venue to time inspection, which from a distance might have appeared to be mental timing.

Organizers Competing in Events
Once it became clear that time was going to be an issue, many of the organizers (including several TJ students other than Evan Liu, Mitchell Stern, and Kevin Zhou) decided to drop several of the events we had originally signed up for. For example, Evan Liu dropped OH and Clock, Mitchell Stern dropped OH and Square-1, Kevin Zhou dropped Pyraminx, OH, and Megaminx, Will Bunting dropped Square-1 and BLD, David Weisiger dropped OH, Clock, Pyraminx, BLD, and Master Magic, and so forth. Next time, we will further limit the number events that we, the organizers, will compete in.

 

[kzhou]

After meeting today to discuss the competition, here are some actions we, Evan Liu, Mitchell Stern, and I (Kevin Zhou), hope to take in the future to ensure a smoother and more efficient competition experience for everyone involved.

• Limit the total number of competitors and / or the number of events per person
• Rather than splitting rounds into a general competitor group and a judge group, split the round more evenly to allow more people to participate in scrambling and judging (this strategy proved much more efficient when we tried it out towards the end of the competition)
• Refrain from using the runner / judge system, as this proved to cause more trouble than it was worth, given that our organizational staff was small
• Use floor tape delineating areas for scramblers, judges, competitors competing in the current round, and competitors not currently competing
• Further limit the number of events in which the organizational staff can compete
• Move the scrambling table to a more convenient location
• Create a short Powerpoint presentation to run for 5-10 minutes before the competition to explain penalties, rules, judging, etc.
• Include a list of pertinent regulations at each solving station for judges and competitors to reference
• Bar competitors from adding events on the day of the competition
• Discourage people from registering on the day of the competition by increasing the registration fee or limiting the number of events available to at-the-door registrants
• Require exact change during the registration process
• Lock registration for some period of time before the competition
• Purchase a set of stopwatches, Stackmat timers, and pens for TJ competition use

If you have any additional feedback, concerns, or suggestions, please let us know. We hope to learn from our mistakes in order to provide you with a better competition experience at our next Washington DC competition.

 

[Mike Hughey]

• Create a short Powerpoint presentation to run for 5-10 minutes before the competition to explain penalties, rules, judging, etc.

That sounds like a great idea! If you create it, and you're willing, please share - it would be nice to have something like that be a standard thing at all competitions.

(Kind of like the safety instructions for commercial flights.)

 

[a small kitten]

In order to avoid certificate awkwardness...maybe you guys can consider printing the blank certificates out before the competition starts. Once you know the results of an event, you can just hand write the name of the competitor and result?

 

[RyanReese09]

Not to be pushy, as many other more important topics are being discussed, but results are late being put up (in retrospect of the original "late" date of being put up).

 

[Tim Reynolds]

They haven't been sent to us yet. Also there were 8 competitions this weekend, so don't be surprised if they don't get posted right away.

 

[Tyson]

Not to be pushy, as many other more important topics are being discussed, but results are late being put up (in retrospect of the original "late" date of being put up).

There are also issues that will need to be addressed, and the organizers aren't being prompt with their responses, and they haven't sent over the results.

 

[RyanReese09]

Results are up.

Things to note...

Spoiler

Fails-
I could have placed in Master Magic if I didn't fail with several unfoldings (last step)
I could have placed in OH. Dunno what happened.
My 4x4x4 average-1:30.79 average. Times : DNF 1:17.96 1:59.09 1:15.31 1:13.86

Happy-3x3x3 average. Yay for 1 round of not sucking...totally.

Expecting to smash OH (avg and single)/4x4x4 (average) next comp. Funny thing about my WCA profile-my master magic is almost as fast as my magic on there (due to the fact I haven't competed in magic the past 2 competitions I've been there, despite me registering for them ).