I just love the US political campaign. There’s almost nothing so interesting and funny than the political ads and campaigns that they do.
But I’m a bit dissapointed with the number of the oncomming debates, because Obama wishes to do only 4 debates, and a couple debates by the Vice president candidates.
Well, I will enjoy all of them, but I also believe, that there will be more, beucase if you get an invitation like that, you just need to go
(Im not sure if this will mean, that more young Americans will watch or be interested in the debates, because they will expect Paris to show up, but if nothing else, I just love the ad, how Paris calls the candidates beaches That’s kinda cute, isn’t it?
This is not a promotional post for our debate academy, do not worry.
What this post is, is the question, what are the things that are important to you/or only me if no one comments, at a debate academy.
Lets first define it in a good debating way. A debate academy is a couple of days, up to a week long education, of course about debate. There are a couple of them that I know about, one in the GB every year, one in the Netherlands (DAPDI), and one in Slovenia (IDAS), and there is a new one that is just taking place in Serbia and there is one just going on in the USA (WDI). Because I have been a part of the organizing committee of a couple of the past IDAS, I like to think about what should we do to make it better.
So what is it that will make you join a debate academy?
I would think that the most important thing is the Faculty. But what does that mean exactly? Do we need people from the UK and only that? Or do we need people that are well known because of their great results in important debate tournaments. What about people from the theory, debate and rhetorics professors from the USA? What do you want to hear at a academy?
The second thing are the lectures. I see more and more topical lectures being provided. How to debate criminal law, economics, international relations. But is this really what a good debater needs, or are this only shortcuts to get “good” arguments? I have seen a class that has “destroyed” a tournament after the academy, because everyone used the arguments presented.
Socials? I know it is not only about the socials and drinking (or I would like to believe ), but is this a really important part? Do you make a decision based on how much free beer do you get? Or is the truth, as Bojana would say it “they are adults, they can entertain themselves”?
The last part that could be important is the accommodation. Is it really important that people stay in a fancy hotel? This is what we can see at the EUDC’s and some other tournaments (even if some of the tournaments just provide crash, and that is it)
I know a lot of questions, but these are questions that I and other people from our org.com ask themselves all the time.
Or is it “Who is going to be there”. I have been told that it is incredibly important that you have best debaters on the academy and the tournament that follows, so important that people would actually pay travel expenses to good teams, just to have them there… Is this true?
I would enjoy your comments. We, and probably every other org.com tries to balance all these things, but what is REALLY important?
If you do not find the time to comment, at least subscribe and read more blog posts.
I have already written a post on how our debaters debated for Laura Bush here, now we got official photos from the event, every photo with a not and a hand signature from Laura. Just wanted to brag about it here
Well, this is it, I’m almost packed, and in a couple of hours I’ll be driving up to Tallinn. Its somewhere around 2000 km, and it will be a great trip, I hope.
As you can see, my website changed a bit, because of the blog on the first page. As I mentioned before, I will blog via email on my phone, and this is sadly not possible yet on this blog, so I use blogger.com to blog and show this blog on my website.
I will try to blog as often as possible, you will get the motion at least after each round and the breaks for all the breaking rounds.
Come to my site, www.debate-motions.info and read all the news, and if you do not have any teams from your Institution or country, I always need cheerleaders, so cheer for me and my debatie.
I will blog more on the EUDC when I come back, in 10 days.
Well, I’m really looking forward to enjoy 10 days of travel and debate.
We are traveling to EUDC with a van, so it means we will be on the road for three days. 8 people, one night on the road, one night in Kaunas and something like 4000 km. That’s what I call a road trip.
We will be there already on Sunday, so I believe we will be able to get some of the Vana Tallinn in advance.
As noted before I’ll be blogging from the EUDC live, just come to my website, the blog will be on the first page. It won’t be this one giving you all the live information, because I have some technical problems. I will blog via my mobile phone, so I need the other blog. But whenever possible, I’ll update this blog too, so you will get all the info, if you are subscribed to this blog.
I will also bring my camera, so I can record debates, and post them on the Internet for you, so if your not going to be there, just check out my webpage and you will get all the EUDC 2008 info
It is all set. Laura already came to Slovenia and is probably enjoying our hospitality in Brdo pri Kranju (just a fancy place where all the “important” guests sleep). She will be walking around Slovenia to see all the places that she missed at her first visit to Slovenia, and more.
On Tuesday she will come to the national museum, where she will attend a debate. As far as I heard the debate is going to take place right next to one of the first printing mashines used in Slovenia to print something in Slovenian, so really a great place to support the debate as a whole.
Four great debaters and two more as floor speakers all from high school, and around 20 primary school debaters in audience and the wife of Slovenian president ms. Türk. And me YEY
I arranged that we will be able to make a recording of the first 10 or something minutes of the debate, so you will be able to see the whole thing, sadly they want to close the debate down for public later, that also means that we won’t be allowed to film anything else.
The debaters will debate on the topic how voluntary community service should be obligatory for high school graduation. The US Embassy and White house, with whom I exchanged probably 100 emails in the last week, wanted to see the arguments up front and we have a rehearsal tomorrow, where they expect the debaters to make their speeches. They are worried, that we do not destroy the friendliness with our freedom of speech.
They probably remember all the hard questions that we asked the US ambassador in Slovenia when he (actually both of them, the current and the previous) visited University students at the IDAS, and they do not want us to do the same thing to ms. Bush. Well, this is why the University students are not invited. Shame, I know.
Well, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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This is an article I wrote some time back, but by popular demand, I’m publishing it again.
Debate will change your life, if you like it or not. There is no way out of this, mainly because a lot of people just get addicted to it after they try it. And once you are in, you can’t get out. And you do not really want to be called a quitter, do you?
So here are a couple of things that I have seen, that have changed in my life.
1. Yeah right, I don’t buy it
This is the most common answer, that I now give to people. Ok, maybe I’m not that annoying, but I really think more about what people tell me. If you are a politician or just my friend, I will challenge you on what you say. Sometimes just for fun, just to see the argument, or to see if you have an argument behind your claims, and sometimes because I really do not agree with you.
2. My first point is, my second point is…
Well I use structure. Even if I do not always use it in my debate, I use it more and more when I speak freely with my friends. It helps me to get my information to them and it helps me to get back to what I spoke in the past, because they tend to try to change what I said. Or they just hear it differently.
3. I’m more annoyed by things that people say
When you start thinking about what people tell you, you see that there is a lot of BS, that they try to sell you. It sucks sometimes, because you would just like to go and have an easy day, but you just have to think about what people tell you. Yes, Ignorance would be a bliss sometimes, but if you are a debater, you just can’t do that.
4. I know people all around the world
In all of the years, that I debate, I have probably met hundreds of people from all around the world, that I would never meet, if I would not debate. All the tournaments just push you to speak to people from different backgrounds, and this makes your social life much more fun. Yes, it can destroy the organization of the friends that you have on Facebook (if you are a debater, you MUST join) (and I don’t try to brag about the number of friends that I have on FB), but it really is great, that you have a place to crash and a couple of interesting people that you can go for a coffee with in almost all countries that you visit.
There are probably even more things that I have just because of debate. This web page, a proportion of work that I do for money is connected to debate, most or all of the travel that I do an others.
More about debate and where to debate at the website below.
You need to. It does not matter, if you live in the America’s, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa or in Bhutan.
There are benefits for you, there are benefits for the people around you and there are benefits for the society. Even if this sounds like a bad debate case, there are even benefits for the world, and everyone that does debate, that teaches debate or even only goes to see a debate is contributing to a better world.
Ok, now I need to support these claims with something. Here it goes.
1. If you debate, you think. And thinking is a underrated consept these days. Most people believe, that thinking about something is just too hard, and that if other people think, and they just folow the orders everything is going to be ok. But I believe that we see every day (and I’m not using Hilter here, even if I could), what bad things can happen if we let other people think and we only follow orders (or just do what other people tell us to do). We come to a society, where nothing is forbidden, because the responsibility is always on someone else, and it gets lost.
2. Debate makes people change their mind
Maybe. Sometimes. But as the Policy debaters would say, if we save only one person, that is enough. And that is how it goes. We can not make people think if we order them to think (because they do not think … As Tuna would say, if I order you to think by yourself, do you do it?). What we can do, is change people one by one. One more debater in your debate club, and one more thinker. One more person watching you at a public debate, and here you go, one more thinker. Multiply this by 10000 debate clubs and here you go. We are changing the world. You just do not know it yet, because you do not think globaly.
3. Debate makes your life easier
I know. You need me to tell you, how debate is going to make your life better and easier. Here you go. Your studies will be easier. You will understand the material easier, because you are used to think about it. You will also have more general knowledge, and this will help you with your studies. And more. It will be easier for you to pass exams, because you will know how to structure an argument and structure an essay. Or if you have oral exams, each answer will be as a debate speech.
And at the end of the day, yes it will be easier for you to find a girl/boyfriend. Believe me. YOU will be the talkative/whitty/funny/smart/inteligent guy/girl that everyone wants to date (Ok, I’m still waiting for this benefit, but Im sure it will come .
Do you really need more reasons? GO! DEBATE.
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Well obviously there are more and more debate tournaments being organised in Europe and the “fight” to get teams to debate.
The organisers of the Amsterdam Open 2008 have released an analysis of the tab after the tournament, and I believe that this is a good way to show, that you are concearned about what has been going on on the tournament.
It does not really matter, that the results show, that two of the motions were a bit more op orientated, because this can happen on any tournament. And the CA-DCA pool was really good on this tournament, so the motions were discoussed beforehand.
What is important is, that the organisers showed, that they are concearned about what has happened, and that they will (probably) try to make the motions more unbiased the next time. And this is what is important, if you show that you are concearned and prepared to learn and to improve.
And I’ve attended the tournament and I know that they have done a lot of great steps to make the tournament as good as possible.
While I’m at it, I can write a bit about it:
1. Take care for the break-fast
If you go to tournaments where you crash at peoples places, it often happens, that you have to go without a breakfast. While I’m not a big breakfast eater, I always enjoy something to eat after a night out. And the organisers took care that the people that crashed debaters had breakfast ready for them. This was great.
2. Great name-tags
A lot of people will say that it is not really important how the name tags look like, and what is written on them, but I disagree. The idea to put all the info about you crash on your name-tag is great. If they would add the schedule on the back of the name-tag it would probably be one of the best name-tags I’ve seen. And I like name-tags, because I never remember names of people that I meet.
3. Post-tournament activities
Brunch after the tournament and a bike tour or history tour of the city is what was offered after the tournament, on the departure day. This is a thing that is great, because it happens too often that you get to a tournament and all what you see are the debating and party places. This way we got to see the city and doing it on a bike was a great way to do it.
4. Parking problems
Well, this is one of the things, where I believe that the organisers didn’t do all that great, because I had to take care of my own parking, and it is not that easy to get a parking place for a reasonable price in Amsterdam. Maybe provide info about cheap parking places before the arrival. And P+R deals are great.
5. Payment via PayPal
A great way to make the payments easier. Good job. But next time please check twice before you talk to debaters that they did not pay. It gets annoying if you payed, and you are approached about your non-payment 3 times in two days.
All in all it was a great tournament, and I believe that a lot of people from my debate institution will continue to come to your tournaments. After all, I believe that we were allready the biggest or even one of the biggest institutions on the tournament (15 people).
Promoting University debate events is a hard job because you need to reach people in countries from all around the world, and these people have different ways to find out about debate tournaments.
There are three major ways how to promote your debate tournament, and I’ll write about the forth one.
The most used is the EUDC debate mailing list. It is not used any more for promotion of the Euros but also for promoting of other tournaments all around Europe.
Probably the best way to promote your debate tournament is to use all the people that you know. The more people you know, more people they know and if you use the mouth-to-mouth (advertising) tehnique, you will get the info to the people that need it.
Facebook is the new way to promote debate tournaments, because almost everyone that I know and is involved in debate has a FB account, so you just need to post about it on your facebook acount, or make a group about your tournament and people will know about it.
The fourth and new way that is here is to use this website to promote your tournament. There is a new category called “Your debate info”. If you sign up to the page and then post in the category, the info will show up in the category, and it will show up in the latest articles list, down left. This way all the users that come to this website will read about the info that you post. For now everyone can sign up and everyone can write.
If you have any problems, please contact me, and I will help you with all the knowledge that I have.
There are aprox. 100 people on this website everyday, and they come here to read about tournaments, so this is the way you should use. Other webmasters of other debate websites come here to get their info, that means if you post here, your info can and probably will be posted on other websites. I will help you with Digging, stubmling, facebooking etc, meaning publishing your information, so that it gets the exposure that you would like.
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