Botswana Worlds Rego update

Hello from Botswana:

We are writing with initial details concerning the registration process for Botswana Worlds 2011. Please read this carefully as we hope to be as clear as possible. If you have any outstanding queries regarding registration you can contact Thato Utlwang at registration@botswanaworlds.com  

Quickly introducing the registration team:
Registration Director: Graham Sowa
Registration Deputy Director: Thato Utlwang
Registration IT Expert: Matt Phillips
Adjudication Registration: Logan

REMEMBER:
Cost: $450 USD per participant
$750 USD per observer
Team Limit: 3 teams per institution
Adjudication commitment: N-1 rule (i.e. if you bring 3 teams you must bring, or pay for, two adjudicators)

Please continue to follow the Botswana Worlds 2011 Website at: http://www.botswanaworlds.com/

This communiqué is going to cover the following items:
I) How registration will work
II) What you need to do to register
III) N-1 and adjudication registration policy
IV) Closing the digital divide

I. HOW REGISTRATION WILL WORK
This section will cover how the registration stages will work as well as the dates and time of registration. Please be sure to check out the easy to read table at the end of the section summarizing this information in an easy to read format.

First Stage (2 weeks to register)
The first stage of Botswana Worlds will commence on the 21st of June, 2010. Please note that this is a Monday. This is being done to allow people in countries with poor internet access to get to an internet café or school in order to use internet. Registration will be on a first-come, first-serve basis so please note the exact time that registration will start. The first stage of registration will be to reserve spots for the teams and adjudicators. There are special considerations that will be given to teams from countries that have not previously attended Worlds, so please see those details further on in the communiqué.

Reservation of spots and Forwarding the number of team and adjudicators:
Open: Monday 21 June 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)
Close: Monday 5 July 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)

Second Stage (Payment stage: deposit or full – 2 weeks)
At the close of the first stage of registration we will release a full list of teams that got in according to our registration rules and requirements. Institutions on this publicly posted list must pay a deposit of $150 per individual registered in order to hold the spot. Of course you could also pay the full amount to complete your registration at this stage. Please note that our online registration system will accept wire transfer or credit card, so please plan accordingly. Teams that do not pay the registration deposit by the closing date will be removed from the registration. We will strictly enforce the deposit rule. The wait list will also be published at this time.

Payment of deposit
Open: Monday 12 July 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)
Close: Wednesday 21 July 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)

Third Stage (full payment, access to waiting list)
During the third stage of registration all tournament attendees must pay the balance of their registration fee in full. Institutions that don’t pay will be removed from the registration list and their spots offered to institutions on the waiting list. At this time, teams that have not paid a deposit will be removed from the registration list and their spots offered to teams on the waiting list. Please note that deposits paid for teams are non-refundable and non-transferable; this means that you cannot transfer deposits for 3 teams into payment for one team. Distribution of spots on the waiting list will prioritize diversity as will be explained further on.

Full payment
Open: Monday August 2 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)
Close: Thursday September 2 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)

Fourth Stage
The fourth stage of registration is for teams accepted off of the wait list to complete their full payments of registration. Wait list registration will open on September 11th; however teams high on the waitlist should probably make some preparations to be ready to pay. The wait list will be published after the first registration stage so wait list teams will know where they stand and have the same amount of time to make tentative plans should they be bumped up from the wait list to the registered list.

Teams accepted from the wait list will have two weeks to pay in full. After two weeks their spot will be revoked and offered to the next team on the wait list. Registration will officially close on November 1st 2010.

Wait list registration and payment
Open: Monday 13 September 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)
Close: Monday 1 November 2010 6:00AM GMT (10:00AM in Southern Africa)


Registration Summary for Botswana Worlds
Stage Description Open Close
Stage 1 reservation of spots 6/21/2010 6AM GMT 7/5/2010 6AM GMT
Stage 2 deposit payment due 7/12/2010 6AM GMT 7/21/2010 6AM GMT
Stage 3 full payment due 8/2/2010 6AM GMT 9/2/2010 6AM GMT
Stage 4 wait list registration and payment 13/9/2010 6AM GMT 1/11/2010 6AM GMT

II. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO REGISTER
A) Registration will be done online. You can follow a link through the Botswana Worlds website, www.botswanaworlds.com. The link is going to take you to the website Regoline where you will then proceed to register for Botswana Worlds.

B) Sample registration forms will be made available on the Botswana Worlds website before registration opens. This is so you will know what information your delegation should have available for each of the participants at the time of registration.

C) One person may register the entire delegation as long as they have all required information for each participant.

D) During registration you will be asked to fill in travel details. We don’t expect anyone to have this info available in June, but as you purchase tickets please go back to the regonline site and make the additions to your registration info.

E) Payment can be made by credit card or wire transfer.

F) Every registrant will have to upload a photo at the time of registration. Please be sure you are uploading a photo that is less than 800 KB and photos are available of each of your delegation members. These photos will be used to create Photo IDs that you will need to enter social events and certain venues on the campus. Please send us a picture that we can use to identify you for this purpose.

III. N-1 AND ADJUDICAITON REGISTRATION POLICY

We will be strictly enforcing the N-1 rule. This means that if you do not register the correct number of adjudicators, your registration will be considered incomplete. We will accept only as many teams as you have registered adjudicators for. This means that if you have registered 3 teams but only one adjudicator, we will only consider the first two teams as registered.

The N-1 rule is illustrated below.
• 1 team = 0 adjudicators
• 2 teams = 1 adjudicator
• 3 teams = 2 adjudicators
• 4 teams = 3 adjudicators


Independent Adjudicators
We welcome independent adjudicators. Adjudicators who want to come as independent adjudicators (judges not part of the N-1 requirement or not attached to any institution participating in the tournament) need to apply to the adjudication team. This is because spaces are limited and we want to ensure independent adjudicators want to come to adjudicate and not merely observe. The application process will be announced by the adjudication team.


Adjudicator subsidies
The adjudication team will release an application process for subsidies. The goal of these subsidies is to

 increase the quality of adjudication at Botswana Worlds

 enable adjudicators who might not otherwise be able to attend Botswana Worlds to attend

We will prioritize funding adjudicators who are not part of the N-1 requirement of their institutions. However adjudicators who are part of their contingent can still apply for funding when it is made available.

Adjudicators interested in applying for subsidies should register as independent adjudicators. There will be an option for you to note if you also intend to apply for a subsidy. Adjudicators requiring a subsidy will not be part of the cap for independent adjudicators who are willing and able to pay their own way.

We can only release the subsidy amount and number of adjudicators we will be subsidizing after the completion of stage 2, as we need a solid estimate of teams who will be attending in order to estimate how much money we can afford for subsidies. If you have noted that you need a subsidy to attend, you do not need to pay the deposit or registration fee.

Adjudicators Test
We will be running at least one online adjudication test. All judges who are planning to attend must take this test. Details on this test will be released later, but please ensure the email address used for your registration is accurate and working well. Failure to take the test will affect how you are ranked during the tournament.

IV. CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
As we highlighted in our bid, Botswana Worlds is going to open up the WUDC to many new participants from countries that have usually not been able to come to Worlds. In order to protect the diversity of the tournament we have set aside 48 team slots for the nations listed below. The reasons for doing this are several: 1) many of these countries do not have equitable internet access 2) this continues policies from past WUDCs 3) provides teams with local communication limitations more time to assemble their delegation.

Teams from these countries will be ensured a spot in the first stage of registration as long as they submit their information by the close of first stage and are within the first 48 teams from these countries to register. Of course there could be more than 48 teams from these countries; we simply have a guaranteed number of 48.

While we are trying to accommodate everyone as best as we are able we are also trying to be proactive in diversifying Worlds and getting everyone on the same page to register at the same time. Therefore if you think that your nation should be included on our list please get in touch with us at registration@botswanaworlds.com or debatemasters@yahoo.com

The list of countries falling within the 48 guaranteed registration slots:

China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, all of the African continent, all of the South American continent, all of the Middle East (except Qatar and UAE).

NOTE: All countries that were represented in last year’s Worlds have a guaranteed place in this year’s Worlds as long as they register within Stage 1, have their deposits paid on time in Stage 2, and complete the full payment according to the schedule of registration above.

Accounts information, travel information and information regarding possible travel discounts and packages will be released a few weeks before registration opens.

See you soon in Botswana

Botswana Worlds 2011 Registration Desk