Stanford National Forensic Institute

February 8th-11th, 2013

We are always looking for qualified judging so that we can meet the needs of teams who are unable to bring enough judges to cover their entry.  If you or someone you know are interested in being considered as a hired judge, please complete the following form: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdSWUNCM3Y2OHBWZjNTSFhXa182MXc6MQ#gid=0)

The Stanford Debate Society is pleased to invite you to the 27th annual Stanford National Invitational. Since February of 1987 students from across the nation have been joining us for this national level competition, and we hope that you'll help us build on this tradition and join us in Palo Alto this year!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR 2013:

• Tournament Dates: Friday, February 8th, 2013 through Monday, February 11th, 2013

  • Entry Deadline: Friday, January 11th, 2013
    • We will continue to accept entries beyond this date, however we plan to accept all teams on the waiting list as remaining room space allows (such as entries from schools in excess of the initial entry cap in each event) after this deadline so that schools may make appropriate travel and accommodation arrangements with sufficient lead time, so remaining space after this date will be extremely limited.  Please plan to register teams prior to this deadline in order to avoid disapointment!
  • Judge Entry Deadline: Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
    • By this date, we MUST know if you plan to cover each entry's judging requirement via paying the judge fee or by providing a qualified judge.  If providing a judge, we need the name and contact info for each judge, and for judges in Varsity LD & Varsity Policy a complete entry must be listed on the Judge Philosophies Wiki.  Visit the Judge Information page for more information.
    • For any judge information that is missing, we will assess a fee equal to 25% of the cost of buying out of a judge for the event which that judge is listed as covering.
    • We can't guarantee our ability to fulfill any requests to hire judges after this deadline, and for any judges that we are able to provide the fee will be 125% of the fee to hire a judge for the relevant event before the judge deadline.
  • Fees Received Deadline: Friday, January 25th, 2013
    • By this date we must receive all fees for all entries which we have accepted up through Monday, January 14th, 2013, plus fees for any and all judges that you plan to hire from the tournament--this means that you shouldn't wait to indicate that you want to hire a judge on Tuesday and then mail us payment on Wednesday, since it won't get here by Friday.
    • We reserve the right to assess an additional fee equal to the school fee owed by your squad in the event that you don't remit payment on time (as described above).
  • (Mandatory) Registration: Friday, February 8th, 2013 at the Santa Clara Marriott from 5:30-8:00PM
  • Competition: Saturday, February 9th, 2013 to Monday, February 11th, 2013
    • IEs: Saturday and Sunday
    • Congress: Saturday and Sunday
    • Varsity Policy and Varsity LD: Saturday to Monday, most elims on Monday
    • Public Forum, Parli, JV Policy, and JV LD: Saturday to Monday, although Monday will only have late outrounds and should effect only a few schools

• Debate events:

  • Varsity LD: 7 prelim rounds, and we guarantee that all 5-2's will clear!
  • Varsity Policy: 7 prelim rounds with 100+ entries as of January 25th, 2013; 6 prelim rounds with fewer than 100 entries as of January 25th, 2013.  Even if a few late adds take us above 100 teams, we will hold 6 prelim rounds based on the enrollment as of January 25th to allow for the schedule to be firmed up and for teams to make appropriate travel plans.
  • Public Forum: 6 prelim rounds with a break to double octos (assuming enrollment of 80 or more teams).
  • Parliamentary, JV LD and JV Policy: 5 prelim rounds with a generous elimination round break (we guarantee that all 4-1's will clear, and at least one 3-2)!
  • Congress: 4 prelim rounds with a break to finals.
  • TOC Bids: Quarterfinals in Varsity Policy, Varsity LD and Public Forum!

  Please note that JV Policy, JV LD, Parli and Pofo will likely have some late elim rounds on Monday, although of course this will only effect a small number of students / schools.

• Speech events:

  • Varsity IE's: 4 prelim rounds with domestic & international extemp in opposite patterns!
  • JV IE's: 3 prelim rounds with domestic & international extemp in opposite patterns!
  • Quarterfinal rounds in Varsity IE's: All Varsity IE's with 60 or more entries will break to a quarterfinal round.
  • JV division in all IE events: Students who did not compete in any high school speech events prior to August 2012 are eligible to compete in our JV division.

• TOC Bids: The 2013 Stanford Invitational is a Quarterfinal qualifier in Varsity Policy, Varsity LD and Public Forum!

• No rounds on Friday: In order to make tournament travel easier for schools and to provide you with a more efficient and on time tournament experience, rounds for this year's Stanford Invitational will all begin on Saturday. Schools will be required, however to register on Friday evening from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Santa Clara Marriott (tournament hotel).

• Registration or optional phone/electronic registration: Mandatory tournament registration will be held at the Marriott of Santa Clara on Friday, February 8, from 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM. Although it is recommended that coaches register in person, the tournament will be offering a courtesy phone registration. In order to be eligible to register by phone a school’s fees (in their entirety) must have been received by the tournament by Wednesday, February 6th and they must have no changes to their judges. Please note that no changes to Varsity LD or Policy judges will be accepted at registration whether in person or over the phone as strike and ranking sheets will have already been issued and processed.

• Tournament hotel: The tournament hotel is the Marriott of Santa Clara, currently offering an extra low rate of $92 + tax per room per night (up to four in a room)--the hotel reserves the right to increase the rate as the block fills or after our protected block dates expire. We strongly recommend making reservations with the Santa Clara Marriott as soon as possible to take advantage of this incredibly low rate. For more information, visit the Tournament Hotel page.

• Middle School students: All events are open to 8th grade students this year! We do, however, encourage all participating middle school students to sign up for our Middle School Student Congress event which is open to students in grades 7 & 8, as we believe this is the best fit for most middle school students.

SPECIAL AWARDS:

• Champions receive an excellent award: Your squad will be excited to know that in addition to their trophy the following students will each receive a special award. The past few years this has been a Kindle, iPod or iPod Nano! For the 2013 tournament we will have another great award for the:

  • Champion in Varsity Policy

  • 2nd place in Varsity Policy

  • Champion in Varsity LD

  • 2nd place in Varsity LD

  • Champions in each Varsity IE event

  • Champions in Parli debate

  • Champions in Public Forum debate

  • Champion in Student Congress

  • Note: Champion is defined as the 1st place winner only. Awards this year are for students only.

• IE Champions also receive a partial scholarship to camp: In addition to their trophy and iPod Nano the champions in each Varsity IE event will receive a 50% scholarship to attend the Stanford National Forensic Institute in Individual Events. Champions in each JV event will receive a 25% scholarship to attend the Stanford National Forensic Institute in Individual Events. Scholarships are not combinable for multiple event winners, or transferrable to other students or events.

Questions: Questions about the 2013 Stanford Invitational should be directed to tournament director Mr. Matthew Fraser, or our other staff by e-mailing invitational@stanforddebate.com. You may also try calling the Stanford Debate office at (650) 723-9086, however email is the most efficient way to reach our staff, and likely will receive a much quicker response.

We view this tournament as an opportunity to provide a service to the high school speech and debate community, and hope that is apparent to past attendees. We welcome feedback about how we can continue to improve the Stanford Invitational. So that we may accommodate all of your students who wish to compete, please take care of your tournament registration right away, and please book your hotel as soon as possible. This will insure a pleasant and trouble free tournament for everyone, and allow us to host you in the way you deserve!

Matthew Fraser

Director of Debate, Stanford Debate Society & Executive Tournament Director, Stanford Invitational

Rich Boltizar

Associate Executive Tournament Director, Stanford Invitational