1999 ACF Nationals Announcement

ACF hereby officially announces the 1999 ACF National Championship Tournament, to be held at The University of Chicago on April 23-24, 1999. Various pieces of information follow, including editing/packet info, registration info, fees, travel info, and other miscellany.

Editing/Packets

This year's NCT will be (as always) a packet submission tournament. The editing team (and it is a _team_, as opposed to last year's "top-heavy" model) is being led by John Edwards and Rick Grimes, and includes several former ACF editors and/or champions.

All packets must be sent to Alice Chou, Assistant Tournament Editor at achou@midway.uchicago.edu. Any packet sent to Alice that does not meet the tournament formatting guidelines will be returned to the submitting party immediately. Any packet that does not meet the tournament question category distribution will be returned to the submitting party immediately. A packet will not be considered "submitted" in terms of discounts and deadlines until it meets the required specifications. Any returned packet will be sent back with specific instructions how to cure any defects in the packet.

"B" teams are required to submit packets as well. However, if there is space for any "C" teams, such teams will not be required to submit a packet.

Any questions regarding packet requirements should be directed to Rick Grimes (RiGrimes@aol.com) and John Edwards (Jedwards72@aol.com), Editors-in-Chief. Formatting questions directed to Alice Chou (achou@midway.uchicago.edu). Any questions about tournament logistics and registration should be sent to Mike Zarren (mikez@tiac.net).

We urge all teams to read John Sheahan's thorough and insightful Question Writing Supplement for the 1998 ACF National Tournament. The directors of the 1999 Championship adopt this document in its entirety. The Sheahan guidelines can be found here.

Teams should also read the new ACF Formatting Guidelines. Packets are required to follow these guidelines.

Format

The format for this tournament will depend on the number of teams attending, but expect a field split into divisional round robins with teams advancing to playoff RRs, as in previous years. I expect the tournament to begin with a meeting around 6:30 & rounds at 7 on Friday. Saturday will likely have rounds starting at 9, and I expect to be done by 5:30. All times subject to change, though. (I promise we will not start earlier than 6 on Fri.)

Registration

This tournament is limited by space and other resources to 30 teams. If we have fewer than 30 teams registered (that is, registrations _received,_ not necessarily sent) by 11:59:59CST Jan 31, then registration will become first-come, first-served until we fill up. If we have more than 30, first teams from schools will be accepted first. After that, B (and perhaps C) teams will be accepted based upon the old ACF system of finish results at ACF format invitationals and regionals. (More on this system later if you need it; it basically will consist of us looking at how your teams have done at other ACF format tourneys, especially Regionals.)

If teams have sent in a packet before Jan 31 but are, for some reason, not allowed to participate, the packet will be returned to them & not used in the tournament. This is possible, but unlikely.

This system seems to us to be the fairest way to let the broadest number of schools into the tourney while not compromising quality amongst B-teams, etc.

TO REGISTER, do the following: send an email to mikez@tiac.net with "ACF REG" in the subject line & an appropriate message in the body saying what school's team(s) you're registering. Do not put "ACF REG" in the subject unless you are registering; for questions and other email info please see below. Please do not register a team unless you are relatively certain it will be attending. If you're going to be claiming any moderator or buzzer discounts, please also let us know (either when you register or later) at the same address/subject. I will attempt to confirm receipt of all registration emails within one week. If you've heard nothing back after that time, please contact me again.

Fees

	$100 per team is the base fee for this tournament. Significant discounts can be
	earned depending on the date of your submission of packets.
	A $40 discount plus a free copy of all packets used for the tournament can
	be earned if the packet is submitted by January 15, 1999.
	A $40 discount can be earned if the packet is submitted by January 31, 1999.
	A $30 discount can be earned if the packet is submitted by February 15, 1999.
	A $10 discount can be earned if the packet is submitted by February 22, 1999.
	
	Packets must be submitted by March 1, 1999 to escape penalties.
	
	A $15 penalty will incur for a packet submitted between March 2-March 8
	A $30 penalty will incur for a packet submitted between March 9-March 15
	A $60 penalty will incur for a packet submitted between March 16-March 29
	
	No packet will be accepted after March 29, 1999, and teams which have not
	submitted packets by that date (except for teams exempt from writing duties)
	will lose their tournament spot.

	 $40 minimum fee.
	-$5 working buzzer, notified before 2/15.
	    We will only take 20 of these discounts. 1st come, 1st served.
	-$10 experienced moderator, approved by TD by 2/15. We will only take 10.
	    1st come 1st served., 1/school.
	-$20 if your school has never attended ACF NCT before.
	-$05, packet formatted exactly_ according to specs.
	+$15 for packets; +$20 for packs if you didn't play.

Travel

Chicago is easy & (relatively) cheap to get to from almost anywhere in the country. Midway airport is closer to campus than O'Hare is. Taxis from Midway are ~$20 and take about 25min; from O'Hare it's more like $50 and ~1hour. Public transportation is available from both airports to campus; feel free to ask me about it later. There will be parking available in the neighborhood for teams who drive or rent (or both) a car.

Hotel

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Ramada Inn Lake Shore, the only hotel in the area. I believe the rate is $85+taxes. To get in on this block, call 1-800-237-4933 during CST business hours and ask to speak with Marilyn. Tell her you are with the College Bowl group (Yes, I know this is amusing. But to get the University rate, we had to give the name of our University organization, and that's it).

In terms of getting from the hotel to campus, the hotel has a small shuttle but if enough teams need it, we will arrange a larger bus to get you from there to here (it is about 13 blocks); I will be taking a survey for this as the tourney approaches (do not email me now). If you're bringing a car, there's parking both at the tourney site & at the hotel, so you should be fine.

If you need other travel info, feel free to email me; I will be sending out a more detailed transportation info email to registered teams once I have the hotel squared away (or not).

Questions?

If you have further questions, feel free to email me at mikez@tiac.net - please put "ACF Question" in the subject line. Thank you.

Thanks,
Mike Zarren
ACF NCT TD