KESDA Senior
2020 — Lexington, KY/US
KESDA SENIOR GENERAL INFORMATION
ENTRIES: A student may enter no more than two events in each flight. Each student may enter a
maximum of five events, including Group Interp. Students may enter a maximum of 5 events, however, they may not enter more than two events in each flight.
STUDENTS MAY ENTER ONE FLIGHT C EVENT AND STILL PARTICIPATE IN STUDENT CONGRESS.
NEW THIS YEAR: All legislation submitted for Congress must be new; it cannot have been debated during any tournament this school year. Also, we feel it would be best practice to have two judges in Congress if numbers allow. Therefore, coaches should familiarize themselves with the event.
FEES: $7.00 per entry. $14.00 per Duo Interp, Improvisational Pairs, and $7 for each student in the Group Interp and The Ad Game
JUDGES: Schools must supply one judge for every 6 entries or portion thereof. There will be a $5.00 judge fee per uncovered entry. For example, if the entry form contains 35 entries and you have 4 judges, your school is covering 24 entries with your judges. Therefore, your school would have 11 uncovered entries. (35-24=11) Since the fee is $5.00 per uncovered entry, your school's fee would be $55.00. Duo and Improv Pairs count once in terms of computing the number of judges needed and twice for entry fees.
New on the judge front this year: In order to eliminate some of the judging problems of the past, KESDA requires a $100 judge bond to be submitted as a separate check at registration. Providing there are not problems with a team’s judges, the check will be returned at the end of the tournament. Problematic behavior includes, but is not limited to: not showing up for rounds or showing up consistently late, switching judges, not complying with event rules.
Reminder: Please take care to insure that all judges and chaperones at KESDA have passed background checks.
A drop fee of $50.00 per judge dropped after February 19 will be assessed. Substitutions may be made.
Stand-by Judges: Stand-by judges must remain in the judges’ area until all sections have been covered and announced by tournament directors.
AWARDS: Awards will be presented to 1st-6th in individual events. First-Sixth Place schools will be recognized for Sweepstakes. A school’s top three entries in each event will count toward sweepstakes. However, all students are eligible for individual awards.
NOVICE FINAL ROUND: We will be holding at least one final round for non-advancing novices in interp. Most likely, it will be comprised of two students each in prose, poetry, and p.o.i. If numbers are good, we will have a prepared speech final for novices as well. Please note that this round will not count toward sweepstakes. In order to insure that all novices are eligible coaches must indicate who their novices are on Tabroom before the start of the tournament.
PENTATHLON AWARD: To compete, students must enter at least one event in each of the following areas:
Limited Prep: Broadcasting, Extemp, Impromptu, Improv Duo, Student Congress
Original Prepared: Original Oratory, Informative, Student Congress
Interp: DI, Duo Interp, HI, Poetry, Prose, Storytelling, Declamation, POI, Group Interp
DEADLINE: Tournament registration will be on Tabroom. Deadline for entries is Thursday, February 13 by 5:00 p.m.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Since the prelim rounds of the State Tournament will be held in the motel rooms, every team must stay at the Clarion and every competitor must be on a rooming list booked at the KESDA rate. We are sorry if this causes inconvenience, but in the interest of fairness, we need all teams contributing rooms for competition. The exception to this rule will be any team from Fayette County. Additional exemption requests of this policy must be presented to the tournament directors, not the hotel staff, by the registration deadline.
If you have team parents who do not wish their rooms to be used for competition, they must make their own separate arrangements without any mention of KESDA. They will be offered the hotel’s walk-in room rate; those rooms will not be eligible for the KESDA discounted rate. Make sure parents understand that if they book a room through your school using the KESDA rate, their room is open to use for competition.
We have received a special rate of $95 per room. (Be sure to bring your tax-exempt certificate to save the state tax. You will, however, be charged a 10.07 local occupancy tax.) If you wish to come in on Wednesday, or stay over on Saturday, you may do so at the same rate. It is advisable to make your reservations as soon as possible, and send a rooming list to the hotel. Please note that students cannot be reassigned to different rooms from those indicated on the rooming list.
The rooming list can be scanned to Savannah Miller in Reservation at clgs@bluegrasshotels.com. Lists can also be faxed to (859) 469-6448. If you have questions please call (859) 233-0512 Ext. 299
The deadline for your rooming list is Jan 30. After that date, reservations will be subject to the prevailing hotel rates and availability.
If cancellation of an individual room becomes necessary, the hotel must receive notification by 4:00 p.m. on the day of arrival for an individual sleeping room.
Hotel check-in time is after 4:00 and check-out time is prior to 11:00 a.m. The Clarion will make every effort to accommodate requests for early check-in or late check-out, however they cannot guarantee either.
SAFE ROOMS: Each school will have a minimum of one "safe room,” provided at least five rooms are reserved. Safe rooms will not be used for competition so that you can keep valuables in there or simply use this room as a gathering-spot for your students between rounds. In the event that a school uses less than five rooms, we will attempt to have at least one of your rooms designated a safe room.
COMPETITION ROOMS: We use motel rooms for some of the preliminary rounds. Each school will be assigned their motel rooms and some of those rooms will be used during the tournament. If you have team parents who do not wish their rooms to be used for competition, they must make their own separate arrangements without any mention of KESDA. They will be offered the walk-in room rate; those rooms will not be eligible for the KESDA discounted rate. Make sure parents understand that if they book a room through your school to get the KESDA rate, then their room is open to use for competition.
Identification: Due to security concerns at the hotel and for easy identification of KESDA State Tournament participants by KESDA and hotel personnel, ALL tournament participants (contestants, coaches, judges, and chaperones) will be issued KESDA identification, which is to be worn at all times during the State Tournament. Contestants will not be allowed to compete without the identification being displayed. This id will allow the student entrance to the dance. Replacement ids will cost $5.00 each and will be sold only to the head coach of that team member. All Judges are requested to wear their identification while judging.
MEALS: The hotel offers a free hot breakfast. For other meals, the hotel restaurant is open, and several places offer delivery to the Clarion.
No type of cooking (aside from use of the provided microwave oven) is permitted in the hotel rooms. Cooking in rooms violates both hotel policy and the fire code.
CHAPERONES AT THE DANCE: We ask that each school provide a minimum of two chaperones at the dance. Chaperones will be stationed at every entrance to the Balloon for the dance. They will check to make sure that all dance participants have a KESDA ID, mingle throughout the Ballroom, and monitor the outside doors as well. Please advise your students that if they are not at the dance, they must be in the pool area or in their rooms with adult supervision. Chaperones will meet 10 minutes before the beginning of the dance.
BANQUET: Formal dress is not required. We do want to point out, however, that the majority of students embrace the occasion as a chance to dress up. The banquet cost is approximately $14. We will send out the exact cost when we receive it from the Clarion Hotel.
MANUSCRIPTS DUE: Manuscripts of original speeches must be submitted via email as attached Word Documents up to February 22. The cover page with signatures must be submitted in hardcopy form at registration.
For your protection, you should also have original manuscripts of ALL scripts with you at the tournament in case a question of authenticity arises.
DROPS: Drops of student events or judges after 5:00 pm, February 13 will result in a drop fee of $10.00 per drop. Slots dropped after 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19 will be assessed a $25 drop fee. Judges dropped after February 19 will be assessed a $50.00 drop fee.
TAB ROOM STAFF: KESDA senior board members will be manning the tab room. We also ask coaches to help in the tab room, ballot drop off and pick up, etc. We pride ourselves on running an efficient tournament, and we cannot do that without your help!