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?

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