SUNDAY MORNING PROCEDURES

Zoom Updates

Elimination rounds will be hosted on Zoom. The link is on Discord, and in an email going out to coaches and judges Saturday night.

All students, judges, and chaperones must ensure that they have their Zoom client updated (version 5.3.0 or later). This will allow them to join breakout rooms without being manually assigned.

See update instructions: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362233-Upgrade-update-to-the-latest-version

Judge Check-Ins

Judges (both returning judges and Sunday-only judges) must check in on the Discord judge-check-in channel no later than 7:30 AM (Pacific time). Go to #judge-check-in in Discord.

Judges should go to the judge-lounge channels in Discord. Judges who do not receive ballots should stay in the Discord Judge Lounge until released by tournament staff.

Debaters should arrive by 7:30 AM, but do not need to check in.

Zoom Naming Conventions

All judges should rename themselves as follows:
(Judge) - (First and Last Name) - (Pronouns)
example:
Judge - Mary Lee - she/her

All debaters should rename themselves as follows:
(Gov/Opp) - (School Name) - (First and Last name) - (Pronouns)
example:
Opp - Lakeridge - Mary Lee - she/her

All viewers (people who are observing rather than debating/judging) should rename themselves as follows:
(Viewer) - (First and Last name) - (Pronouns)
example:
Viewer - Mary Lee - she/her

Viewers should turn off their cameras and keep themselves muted throughout the round.

Pronouns are optional.

How to change your name on Zoom:
https://teaching.nmc.edu/knowledgebase/changing-your-name-in-a-zoom-meeting/

Elim Procedures

When pairings go up, judges and debaters should go to the room. One judge will flip a coin (e.g. Google “flip a coin”). One team will call it. The winner of the flip will choose their side.

Once all teams have flipped, topics will be posted in the topic document (see varsity and novice), and teams will strike topics.

Opp has one minute to strike a topic. Then Gov has one minute to strike a topic. The remaining topic will be used in the round. Teams should mute themselves and stay logged in the Zoom room, but may communicate with each other using whatever means they wish.

On Sunday morning, spectators should go to the Zoom 5-15 minutes after topics are posted, to ensure that if there are any Zoom capacity issues, teams and judges are able to access the rooms first.

Elims will continue with the “no citation to published authority” rule. Judges should disregard such citations, and focus on the analysis of the debaters.

After the round, judges should make their decisions and submit their ballots independently. They should not discuss their decisions with anyone until all judges in their round have submitted their ballot. (Please submit the winner as soon as you decide, and add comments after submitting if you wish.) After all judges have submitted decisions, they will disclose the decision, and are encouraged to give brief RFDs (reasons for decision), totaling no more than 15 minutes total for all judges.