World Online Debating Championships - the draw‏

I'm delighted to announce that the draw for the WODC is below

All debates start at 12 noon GMT.  The first of the two teams listed will be the Proposition.

If you haven't sent us your Debatewise usernames please do so now.  Time is running short (this means you: Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, England, Israel, Kenya, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Scotland, USA1 and USA2, Venezuela and Zimbabwe).

Dave

First round

Monday 1^st August

1: Latvia vs. Brazil, 

2: USA 2 vs. Uzbekistan

Tuesday 2^nd August

3: Mongolia vs. Czech Republic, 

4: Scotland vs. Nepal

Wednesday 3^rd August

5: Lithuania vs. Canada, 

6: Rwanda vs. Australia

Thursday 4^th August

7: Bangladesh vs. Colombia, 

8: USA 1 vs. Venezuela

Friday 5^th August

9: Belgium vs. Pakistan 2, 

10: Zimbabwe vs. Pakistan 1

Saturday 6^th August

11: China vs. Mexico, 

12: Trinidad and Tobago vs Malaysia

Sunday 7^th August

13: Republic of Korea vs. Romania, 

14: Mongolia 2 vs. England

Monday 8^th August

15: Nigeria vs. Macedonia, 

16: Kenya vs. Israel

Round II

Monday 15th August

17: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2, 

18: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4

Tuesday 16th August

19: Winner 5 vs. Winner 6, 

20: Winner 7 vs. Winner 8

Wednesday 17th August

21: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, 

22: Winner 11 vs Winner 12

Thursday 18th August

23: Winner 13 vs. Winner 14, 

24: Winner 15 vs. Winner 16

Quarter Finals

Monday 29th August

QF1: Winner 17 vs. Winner 18

Tuesday 30th August

QF2: Winner 19 vs Winner 20

Wednesday 31st August

QF3: Winner 21 vs. Winner 22

Thursday 1st September

QF4: Winner 23 vs. Winner 24

Semi Finals

Monday 12th September
SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2

Tuesday 13th September
SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4


Final
Monday 26th September
Final: Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2

Announcement of the Winner of the World Online Debating Championship Monday 3rd October

There's a Google Calendar of this schedule here:

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=MnFwbTlxN3V1NzZxMW1tdGRlYmFyaHJ1dnNAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ

WODC 2011 update

One little update on the World Online Debating Championships.


Okay, so you've registered; but there's one little formality left(before the debates in August). Now, you have to either ask Dave for bursaries at dc@debatewise.org  (just ask, they only charge a fee to insure participation, if you can prove you are serious about participating you'll get a partial or full bursary) and/or send payments via Paypal or moneybookers to wodc@debatewise.org ($US20 per person 'or' $100 per team).

Only four more countries can join the loop to make it officially 32.

We had people from 34 countries in (wrote to Dave about wanting to participate) but a few of those countries have yet to settle financial matters. If you need a bursary please ask for it, or you might not be in the final pool. :S

Nadia

Last chance to register for WODC

Hi everybody,
Your last and final chance to register for the WODC ends today.
 
We extended the deadline to give you more time to find teams, apply for a bursary and/or start your ad-hoc car washing business to generate the registration fee. But to be fair to all concerned we do have to close the door sometime and tomorrow is that time.

So please, if you want to take part tell me now. Don't wait for a better time, don't put this in your 'must-get-round-to-soon' folder, you know the folder you never get round to. Simply email me with your details and your money or your reasons why you deserve a bursary and a great summer of learning and laughter will ensue.

BTW, you will have to send money by Paypal and we can't promise the laughter. But we can promise the learning. Oh there'll be lots of that.

Thank you,

Dave

dc@debatewise.org

WODC registration closes today.

Hi all,

Registration for the third World Online Debating Championships will close TODAY, so what's it going to take to get you to commit? Promises of untold fame and fortune? Guarantees of everlasting happiness? Certain knowledge that at the end you'll be a whole lot smarter than when you started out? One of those is definitely true. The others, who knows. Oone thing that's certain is if you don't register at all none of this will be possible.

To register send $US20 per person or $100 per team (remember, teams can have unlimited number of participants) to wodc@debatewise.org via Paypal. If you can't use Paypal let me know. If you can’t afford it let me know. If you need more time let me know.

Thanks to everyone who has registered. To everyone else - come on, we want you to join us.

David Crane --

The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) UK
96a Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3AA

020 3393 7223
 
info@idebate.org.uk Registered charity in England and Wales. Registered number: 1139452

Register for World Online Debating Championships

Last call
Half-price for returning teams; so was Dave`s word. and register before 1st June here: http://www.facebook.com/l/32179f5rJQGVmdD_iwrB7SXOm5g/www.debatewise.org/wodc  or just write an email dc@debatewise.com
Watch the video:
May 31st is the registration deadline not the `payment` or `team round-up` deadline; so don`t worry if you haven`t got a fully-formed team yet, you have until July for that.
For now, register: http://www.facebook.com/l/32179WanOZFH0iyaPVQzZyO9eQA/www.debatewise.org or email dc@debatewise.com.

Cheers Nadia :)

New website resource debateable.org

Samuel Myat San has created a new website featuring debate skills and techniques mainly focused on Schools but with useful elements for all debaters.
You can find the site at http://www.debateable.org/

Registration is open for the 3rd WODC‏

We are proud to announce that registration is open for the 3rd World Online Debating Championships. Thirty two teams from all over the world will compete in a knockout tournament, debating anything from pre-nuptial agreements, through European tax law, all the way to denying heavy drinkers liver transplants.

Last year (in front of an all-star judging pool) the Czech Republic beat New Zealand in the final. Could your team beat the reigning world champions? Can you impress this year’s top adjudicators? You can team up with anyone: people from the Internet; your school, university or local community; or, for the hard-core, you can compete by yourself.

This year we’ve upgraded our system, tweaked the rules and improved the prizes. We’re expecting all 32 places to be filled by exceptional teams and you could be one of them, with a chance to win the coveted WODC 2011 trophy!

The tournament starts in July and the winners can expect to be involved every two weeks from then until the end of September. This makes it a very tough competition and whoever ends up victorious can take great pride in their achievement.

Entry is $20 per person and capped at $100 per team, though bursaries are available to all deserving applicants.

More information can be found on our site, you can register there too: http://debatewise.org/wodc

We are really looking forward to what will be an exceptional tournament and we hope you can join us.

IDEA Debate Live-Streaming

As part of a continuing effort to bring debate to as wide of an audience as possible, the media team at IDEA will be live-streaming three debate tournaments this April in the United States.

Each of these tournaments will be streamed in real time, and the video archives will be available for subsequent viewing. Our Twitter feeds will include live updates as the events unravel. All of this is free of charge, so we hope you enjoy the opportunity to watch high-quality debates without having to travel!

As for the schedule...

*United States Universities Debate Championship 2011*
Burlington, Vermont
April 1st - 3rd
http://www.idebate.org/streaming/usu2011/

*HWS / IDEA Round Robin*
Geneva, New York
April 8th - 9th
http://www.idebate.org/streaming/hwsrr2011/

*Campeonato Norte Americano de Debate (debates in Spanish)*
Ithaca, New York
April 7th - 10th
http://www.idebate.org/streaming/cnad2011/

We will email more updates as they become necessary.

Thanks,

Alex Dukalskis
Executive Director
International Debate Education Association (IDEA), United States
http://www.idebate.org/
http://idebate.blogspot.com/

Strategy Competition‏

This post isn't strictly about a debating event but it could be a useful tool for people to practice their strategic thinking in debates.  Also debaters used to thinking strategically about proposals may be in with a good chance of winning.

Wikistrat is holding it's first International Grand Strategy Competition later this year and there's a strong crossover between the skills of debating and this tournament, despite being in a written format.


The whole event takes place online, there are no entry fees, and the team ranking #1 will receive a $10,000 USD as a cash prize.

Ideally participants will come from an international relations or political science background as they will be proposing country strategies and foreign policy.

More information and to register interest: http://about.wikistrat.com/strategy-competition/

Thanks again,

Daniel Green

Debating Alumni Linkedin group

While we are waiting for the finals now is a good time to remind all the Worlds Alumni of the linkedin group has been created for debating alumni set up by Ray D'Cruz.

If you would like to join the link is below.


http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3607103

World Cup Debates - this time and next time‏

The global debating competition that is the World Cup Debates 2010-11 has begun with four debates between eight teams. They represented Asia, Europe, North America and South America. The contest is sponsored by the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont and the EDEBATING website that will be launched in 2011. The contest allows teams from all over the world to engage in demanding competitive debates without spending any money.

See all the information and debates at http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/worldcup/

A topic is assigned, teams are paired randomly into a double elimination bracket, sides are assigned and the debate begins. Affirmative teams videotape a first speech and upload it to the Vimeo website. Then, that speech is pasted into the World Cub Debates website http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/worldcup/ and then the other team has 72 hours (although there is some flexibility) to upload the next speech. After all the speeches are done, three assigned judges watch the debate, come to a decision and vote. Judges may or may not wish to publish text or video reasons for decision. One interesting thing about these debates is that they can take place in any language that the two teams determine. For example, in the first round the debate betweenUniversidad Central de Venezuela and Universidad Andres Bello of Chile was held in Spanish and judged by Spanish-speaking adjudicators. Three students are in each debate, although the teams can switch debaters from debate to debate.

The first round has now completed. The topic was, “Now is the time for a Palestinian state.” The debates were between:

Assumption University of Thailand vs. Peking University of China
University of Belgrade from Serbia vs. University of Vermont of the USA
Comunidad de Debate Venezuela vs. Cornell University of the USA
Universidad Central de Venezuela vs. Universidad Andres Bello of Chile

The winners were Assumption University of Thailand, the University of Vermont of the USA, Cornell University of the USA and Universidad Andres Bello of Chile. In round two these winners now go on to meet each other. The losers of round one now go on to debate each other with the loser of that debate being eliminated. The full schedule is now available at the website. The second round topic comes from the WUDC finals in Turkey, “The press should show the full horrors of war.” Speeches will begin appearing on the website this week.

Alfred Snider, convener of the event, noted several advantages of this debating format. “It is really an idea whose time has come,” he said, “and teams from all over the world can debate each other and travel, costs, distance and time are no longer barriers. If two teams share the same language, they can debate in that language, but English remains the default language. Those who are not native speakers have the opportunity to practice their speech many times and tape it until they get it right, as can any participant. This makes for excellent quality and argumentation. I look forward to expanding this contest in the future.”

Future plans involve having a much larger field in 2011-12 and copying some of the structure from the world cup of football, with teams coming from all parts of the world. “We might have groups as the football contest does, or we might just stick to a much larger double elimination format,” said Snider. “Those who participate will have input and a committee formed by the World Debate Institute will decide. That committee is now being formed. ”

University and college teams who wish to participate in the 2011-12 contest should send notes of interest to the convener at alfred.snider@uvm.edu.

Reminder: Debate Park 51

This is a call to arms! This is a call for you and your friends to contribute to the preservation of democratic values. Everyone seems to have an opinion about Park51. Most of those opinions are either reactionary, emotionally biased or simply an exclamation of whatever position the mass media are bashing into our skulls that day. How isit that we can have reasoned and balanced debate on topics ranging from immigration policy to gay marriage, but we're so easily seducedby the over-simplified, eye-catching sound bites that pervade publicdiscussion of the 'Ground Zero Mosque'?

The issue is clearly polarizing, but that's precisely why we should be approaching it from the reasonable and impartial direction of debate. Together we can remedy the misinformation and inflammatory voices of mass media and the blogosphere. Together we will mediate the cacophony of competing and incompatible opinions.

http://debatepark51.org/ is hosting a series of on-line debates for teams from all over the world to contribute to this important and valuable debate. Regardless of your beliefs, each team must argue both in favor of the Islamic cultural center and to oppose it. By encouraging teams to defend both sides of the issue, we encourage understanding and tolerance, while discouraging bigotry and bias.

By singing up at http://bit.ly/DebateP51 , you'll get the chance to help us achieve these worthy goals. AND you get a sweet t-shirt http://bit.ly/CoolTShirt . AND you could win a book and a massive trophyhttp://bit.ly/MassiveTrophy .

Only a limited number of teams have registered so far, so you have areal chance of making your mark and lifting the coveted Debate Park51Winner's Trophy high above your very clever head.
Twitter http://twitter.com/DebatePark51

Facebook http://facebook.com/DebatePark51
http://debatepark51.org/

Debate Park51 and win, win, win‏

The Park51 debates are starting soon and I know many of you will be thinking why should I spend my precious time and brainwaves on this one particular issue? What's in it for me? Because, dear friends, of the prizes. Lots of lovely, lovely, prizes.

Seriously. Everyone who completes both the two main online debates – one arguing in favor of Park51 being built, one arguing against – will win a gorgeous t-shirt. The best debating teams will win a stunning trophy – one to take pride of place on any mantelpiece. Last, but definitely not least, we’ve got ten signed copies to give away of the fantastic book "New York Masjid: The Mosques of New York City."

Though of course, the ultimate thing you’ll win is invaluable knowledge of how to debate both sides of a controversial argument and how to take other people’s views into consideration, even if you strongly disagree with them.

You can see the prizes here:
http://debatepark51.org/index.php/reason/debate-online/what-can-i-win

So sign up, sign up. You’ll lose a little time but at the very least will gain some extra clothing in return. Plus a boosted brain and I know how the very smart people on this list love one of those.

David Crane
Debatewise

World Debate Alumni on Linkedin

A new linkedin group has been created for debating alumni.  If you would like to join the link is below.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3607103

Czech Republic win WODC

The Czech Republic team have won the 2010 World Online Debating Championships.  They defeated New Zealand 4-2 in the Final.

For more details visit  http://debatewise.org/wodc-debates-2010

Well Done To David, Niall and all at debatewise for organising the event.

World Cup debates

Following the recent success of the European Debating Championships broadcasting a live debate from each round online a new online video debate initiative will go live this week.  The first "world cup online debates" will be available from the end of this week.  The format is Australasian style (3 on 3). This year's tournament is contested by 8 teams from 6 countries.

1. Cornell University, USA

2. Universidad Andres Bello, Chile
3. University of Belgrade, Serbia
4. University of Vermont, USA
5. Comunidad de Debate, Venezuela
6. Assumption University, Thailand
7. Peking University, ChinaPEKING UNIVERSITY, CHINA
8. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela

If everything goes well the organisers plan to hold a larger tournament in 2011.

For more information visit http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/worldcup/Welcome.html

WODC Round 2 Draw

We are down to the last sixteen teams in the World Online Debating Championships. The full draw is:

D1: USA 2 vs Macedonia
D2: Greece vs Pakistan
D3: Mexico vs New Zealand
D4: Australia vs Botswana
D5: Latvia vs Canada
D6: Colombia vs India
D7: Mongolia vs Ghana
D8: USA 1 vs Czech Republic

Debates D1-D2 start on Monday 16th August, D3-D4 on Tuesday 17th, D5-D6 on Wednesday 18th and D7-D8 on Thursday 19th August. You can see the debates so far and follow the progress of Round 2 here

WODC Registration closing‏

There are only a couple of days left before registration closes forthe World Online Debating Championship and if you haven’t already signed-up you should do now.

To help you make up your mind here’s some feedback from lastyear’s participants:

“The WODC was been a huge learning experience for me and my team-mates. It teaches you to write better English, to be more organized, to work more collaboratively and most importantly, it teaches you how resilient you can be.” Mónica Tisminesky, Venezuela

“Thank you for the event you organised. It was exciting, thrilling and definitely a very enriching experience. Now we can confidently state that we know a lot more about nuclear weapons and prohibition ofdrugs.”. Georgi Manolov, Bulgaria

“I feel this tournament has improved my debating skills incredibly. I am able to think out more sophisticated arguments and make the whole case very coherent.” Nikita Pusnakovs, Latvia

“The combination of an amazing judge panel and worthy opponents made the WODC the best training and practice we received this summer” Korey Pace, USA

The skills you will pick up, experience you will gain and judging you’ll receive all make this competition well worth the investment of your time. So don’t leave it to the (very) last minute, email now and make sure your place is safe. dc@debatewise.org

WODC Registration closes in 7 days‏

Dear all,
If you want to take part in the WODC and haven’t quite managed toget your team together, or collected the entrance fee (or asked for abursary), time is running out. There are now just seven short days until registration closes on the 1st July.

We’ve made quite a few technical changes to make your life easier this year. They include much simpler ways for you or your supporters to join the site, much simpler ways of contributing and a 2,000 character limit on each point – so your opponents wont create hugely long arguments for you to respond to. Plus we’ve got a snazzy Google Calendar that will tell you who’s competing when, and who’s wontoo.

This is not a competition for everyone. Only serious, smart and hard-working, debaters should apply. But if that sounds like you, whatare you waiting for? This is a competition like no other and yourchances to enter are running out fast.

Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me on wodc@debatewise.org

Thank you,
Dave

World Online Debating Championships Adjudication team

It is now exactly two weeks before registration closes for the second World Online Debating Championship. One of the things that worked particularly well last time was the quality of the judges. Two were World champions, one a European champion, three had chaired the Worlds council and two been its chief adjudicators.

In order we secure a similarly stellar line-up this year, our Chief Adjudicator, Neill Harvey Smith has recruited three deputies to help out. They are: Fred Cowell, a Europeans finalist, Loke Wing Fatt, a professional debate coach and Rose Hellens-Hart, debate coach at the university of Honolulu, all of whom broke at Worlds as a judge.

Ours is not an easy competition to win. It starts in August, ends in September and each debate lasts five days (though you don’t need to argue for all of them of course). It takes a lot of hard work to win but there’s no great reward without great effort and the judging team you’ll face will ensure you’ll benefit regardless how the debates turn out.

To secure your place please send $20 per person or $100 per team (unlimited number of members, though we reckon six is best) to wodc@debatewise.org via PayPal. If you’d like to apply for a bursary or have any questions at all please email us on the same address.

Thank you,

David Crane
Conveynor