SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

Friends and Colleagues:

The Conference Challenge Committee is pleased to invite you to the Conference Challenge on January 22^st (note that COD’s Frankly Speaking Tournament is the day before – giving you the chance for two tournaments in Chicagoland that weekend). The tournament will be held on the picturesque Northwestern University campus in scenic Evanston, Illinois, just miles north of Chicago.

We are pleased to offer all 11 AFA Events and Editorial Impromptu. A two year division will be offered for all events with sufficient entries. Parliamentary Debate will be offered if sufficient interest is shown. Awards will be presented to the top six speakers in each event, top six speakers in Individual Sweepstakes, and the top five schools in team sweepstakes.

The tournament will also feature a special conference challenge sweepstakes to determine the top team from each athletic conference over the course of the tournament. Because some schools are in multiple conferences we ask that you indicate which conference you are a part of on your tournament entry. The top students in each event from each conference who place in final rounds will also be recognized. Please note that the bragging rights from this challenge are taken quite seriously by many administrators, especially those at Northwestern and UNL. For this reason, all students from the host schools will be competing, even with events that have qualified for the AFA-NIET (note: this is only true for our Sunday tournament). Please enjoy the opportunity to compete with your best events as well.

Please enter the tournament by using speechwire.com before 5pm on Tuesday January 17th, 2017. Fees are $8 per IE slot each. One judge will be required for every six entries or fraction thereof. Uncovered slots are each $10. Drop fees will be assessed after noon on Wednesday, January 18th. The drop fee for IE is $15 per dropped slot and $50 per dropped judge.

Parking for the tournament will be widely available as parking permits on campus are not required during weekends. Parking is recommended in either the surface lot or parking garage off of Arts Circle Drive (just off of Sheridan Road). Registration will be held near this location on the main level of University Hall.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Thanks,

** LUNCH will not be provided. Lunch options are available in both downtown Evanston and the Norris University Center. Evanston options include Panera Bread, Taco Bell, Potbelly Sandwiches, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Jimmy Johns, Burger King, Noodles and Co., Starbucks, Chipotle, and a myriad of other options. The Norris University Center offers food options as well and Willies Food Court (containing a number of deli-style options). Snack items (granola bars, fruit, donuts, ect.) and water and juice will be available in the morning at the tournament.

All students will be entered in Individual Sweepstakes. Only open division events will count toward individual sweepstakes. The top six students in Individual Sweepstakes will be recognized.

Team sweepstakes will be awarded to the top five teams at the tournament based on final round points.

In order to bring parity to the conference challenge competitions, only a team’s two best finishers in the open division will score team sweepstakes points. To clarify, a team may enter an unlimited number in any event and may take up every spot in the final round but only the top two finishers will count toward sweepstakes points.

For the purpose of this tournament, any student competing in his or her first two years of competition will be eligible for the two year division. Conference Champions will be declared in these divisions; however their results will not count towards conference sweepstakes (except for conferences comprised only of two year schools).

All events and tiebreaking procedures will follow the AFA-NIET rules. Events will break to finals unless entries warrant the addition of other elimination rounds. Editorial Impromptu will use the following rules: In this event students are given a short editorial (ideally 3 to 5 paragraphs) to which they will develop a response. Students will be allowed nine minutes to divide between preparation and speech time. Speakers must speak for at least five minutes. Limited notes, prepared in the round, are permitted.

There are many hotel options in Evanston and the surrounding areas. With the abundant hotel options in the Chicago area, you may be able to find much less expensive rooms if you are willing to travel a bit further. Please, reserve your rooms early. The following hotels are all in close proximity to campus: