Tallinn Intervarsity 2009

Tallinn is proud to present its Tallinn IV to take place (again, after a little break) from Friday 7th of May until Sunday 9th of May. Registration opens on the 23rd of March and lasts until the 24th of April.

Registration
Our team cap is set at 32 (no institutional cap), with a registration fee of 25 € per debater and 15 € for adjudicators. No charge for teams and judges who have reached break-rounds at EUDC/WUDC/Oxbridge competitions. The n-1 rule applies for all institutions and we would like to see many adequate adjudicators attending. Payment possible on registration and via bank transfer in advance.

The registration for Tallinn Intervarsity 2009 will be active from Monday, 23rd of March until the 24th of April (23:59, GMT +2) on the following link
http://www.eformular.com/iivikakalden/tallinniv09.html
Notice that this one is to be filled INDIVIDUALLY.

Tournament
We'll be running a 5 round competition, which is spread out on two days of debating. There is breaking to semis but no ESL, sorry guys. Preliminary rounds feature 5 minute speeches, beyond that you will have 7 minutes to speak your mind.

Our judging team:
CA: Uve Poom (Tallinn)
DCA: Will Jones (Oxford)
DCA: Rich Penny (Helsinki)
Very Special Guest: Leela Koenig (Leiden)

Transportation
Tallinn University is situated in a walking distance from the centre of the city, some would even claim it is in the centre. Numerous public transports connect this place with the rest of Tallinn so it should be no problem to come and go (even when drunk).

If your problem of getting to the spot exists on a broader scale, i.e. "Where is Tallinn?", there are several possibilities. Firstly, check the map, okay? Then, if that didn't scare you off, there are Easyjet flights from Stansted, London to Tallinn, where booking early might save you some money, but Tallinn Airport is able to cater a variety of airlines so check your options. Perhaps a better way for some to reach us, is to first go to Riga, even if you're not from Latvia, buses from there cost about 15 € and take about 5 hours to get here, but the plane tickets with Ryanair make up for the re-route...

Schedule (as usual, slight changes may occur):

Thursday, 7th of May
18.00 – Public debate: Peep Sürje vs Rein Raud in the Rotermann Centre (most likely something about education, as usual)
20.00 – Dinner. Mack Bar-B-Que (recommended, meaning, here you'll meet the debating crowd)
21:30 – Sauna. Reval Olympia Hotel.

Friday, 8th of May
Arrival and check-in
13:00 – Lunch. Vapiano (recommended)
16.00 – Registration opens at Tallinn University
16.50 – Registration closes
17.00 – Tallinn Intervarsity 2009 opening ceremony
17.30 – Round I
19.00 – Round II
21.00 – Dinner. Lost Continent. (Not Australia but the pub actually next to the university)
22.30 – Party

Saturday, 9th of May
Breakfast
09.40 – Registration closes
10.00 – Round III
12.00 – Round IV
13.30 – Lunch
14.30 – Round V
17.00 – Semifinals
18.30 – Final
20.00 – Dinner for the last time in Vertigo or C'est la Vie
Party @ Privé. Don't worry, we'll carry you home.

If you have questions, email me at martinkiik@gmail.com.

If I have some major updates, I'll let you know.

If you know people who don't know about this event, tell them!

And if you haven't already found this (shame!):www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=28513549823

-- Martin Kiik,
Tallinn IV team

Tallinn IV 2009

Dear All,
It gives the Tallinn Debating Sociery great pleasure to announce the hosting og Tallinn IV 2009, which also happens to be the 5th Baltic Championships. The event builds on our experience from the EUDC 2008 and is planned to take place over May 3rd-8th, including a 4 day academy and 2 day tournament.

With the help of funding from the European Union Youth in Action programme we are able to cover participation costs for the whole week and 50% of travel expenses for up to 60 participants, provided they attend the whole event. We are now looking for partner organisations from EU member states that would be interested and capable of sending prople to the event from their ddebating society and/or country. Each partner organisation should commit to sending a delegation of 6-10 people. Bear in mind that not all delegates have to be members of your debating society - they just have to be legal residents of your country. Here is a list of opportunities and expectations:

What we offer
- Free participation of a weeklong event (incl. accomodation, food, most socials, and transportation in Estonia)
- 50% reimbursement of travel expenses to Tallinn, Estonia (economy class tickets, may exclude travel costs to your departure airport)
- Top-flight BP coaches to improve your debating skills
- Fun-packed event with a 4-day academy outside of Tallinn and a 2-day tournament in Tallinn
- High level of debating and judging
- and then some.....

What we expect
- Confirmation of your commitment by October 20th
- Initial list of participants' names and the group leader's name by October 25th (people may change later on with a good excuse)
- Fill in and sign the preliminary agreement form by October 25th (includes data on your organisation, initial list of participants names and a name of group leader)
- Scan and e-maiil the form to president.tvk@debate.ee by October 25th (fax alternative also available if requested)
- Post the form to Estonian Debating Society (Joe 9, 10151 Tallinn, Estonia) by October 25th
- Readiness for 1-2 representatives to attend a 2-day advanced planning meeting in Estonia during Spring 2009
- Motivation for representatives of your delegation to prepare a 45 minute lecture on the subject of innovation in the economy (specific focus to be determined later)

We hope to receive participants from all applying partnet organisations, but if we run out of slots, we will for the sake of reliability prefer organisations that we have a working relationship with from EUDC 2008 and Tallinn IV 2007. We aim to have up to 8 partner organisations. The event will also be open to other participants.

If you have any questions please contact us at president.tvk@debate.ee. We'd be more than happy to fill you in on this what we believe is an exceptionally good offer and hope to welcome you in Estonia next spring.

Yours truly,
Tallinn Debating Society - www.debate.ee/tvk
Estonia Debating Society - www.debate.ee

Tallinn IV 2007

Here are the results of the Tallinn IV 2007:
Champions: Oxford (Andrew Marshall and Simon Quinn)

The other finalists are:
SSER LMT A (Egle Murauskaite and Aisma Vitina)
Leiden B (Sheila Lynch and Koen van Schie)
Helsinki B (Helena Service and Filip Popovic)

Top Speakers on the Tab (tie): Andrew Marshall and Simon Quinn
Best Speaker in the Final: Simon Quinn
The full tabs can be found at www.tallinniv.org/index_en.htm .

Thanks to everyone -- judges, competitors, organizers, and sponsors -- who helped to make the Tallinn IV a pleasure to coordinate. We hope everyone who came enjoyed the experience as much as we did.

Alex Blenkinsopp
Chief Adjudicator

Uve Poom
Convener

Tallinn IV on Line

I'm a little late posting this event as it is already underway and I only saw the mail tonight. Anyway better late than never.


March 20th @ 15:00 GMT+2ONLINE DEBATE WORKSHOP: Strategic motion analyses for winning from 1st prop+ ONLINE PRACTICE DEBATE debating workshop in English by Gabriel Mastico (Helsinki University)MM 2007 semi-finalist, LSE Open 2007 Finalist, Oxford IV 2006 quarter-finalist CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE!

Tallinn IV is taking debating a step further by introducing Internet broadcasts of public debates and providing interactive online workshops given by some of the most established debaters in the scene. In addition to several experts debating, you'll get to listen to lectures and feedback to virtual debates from:

Who? Gabriel Mastico (WUDC 2007 octo-finalist) When? March 20th @ 13:00 GMTWhat? Strategic motion analyses for winning from 1st prop.

Who? Alexander Blenkinsopp (WUDC 2007 semi-finalist)When? March 21st @ 13:00 GMT;What? Winning summary speeches

Who? Jens Fischer (Euros 2006 DCA)When? March 22nd @ 13:00 GMTWhat? Dirty Tricks and how (not) to use them

What? Public Debate - Estonian Integration Policy - Cultural Mosaic or Melting Pot?When? March 21st @ 16:00 GMT Who? Paul-Eerik Rummo (Estonian Minister of Population, Reform Party) versus Andres Herkel (Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica)

What? Tallinn IV 2007 Grand Final When? March 24th @ 16:00 GMT Who? Teams advancing to the finals from Tallinn IV 2007

To tune in, you need to follow these easy steps:

STEP 1: Sit behind a decent computer with a broadband connection (wifi tends to lag) and a headset;

STEP 2: Download this nifty piece of free software called Skype that enables you to talk online free of charge;

STEP 3: Check back to here when the broadcasts take place;

STEP 4: Log on to Skype and click a button at the top of this site that will direct you to the interactive debating workshop or public debate.

It's that simple!

Do you want to let your debating friends know of this great opportunity to hone their debating skills online? And hit another bird with the same stone by winning a FREE weekend in Tallinn? Click here to do so!

Stay tuned!
Check out our blog during the event for more information