VPF Hybrid Model

For VPF what this looks like is if EITHER team is virtual then the entire round will be virtual. If a team is on campus they’ll be assigned a classroom w/ a room monitor to do the round. If both teams are in-person we will prioritize an in-person judge for that room. Judges judging virtual debates will have the Media Center, and theatre to judge from. I will have NSDA Campus w/ Observers so coaches can watch rounds if they choose. I will also still fly in hired judges to increase the number of good, in person judges we have.

PROCEDURES FOR TOURNAMENT

Since hybrid tournaments are still relatively new, we wanted to review a couple procedures and would request you pass this along to your debaters and judges. The most important note we can encourage is that you should be prepared to have online debates. This means debaters and judges should have headphones that they can use for any hybrid debates to help with audio issues.

Procedures for Debaters:

For debaters that are in-person:when pairings are released, you should immediately report to your room on the pairing. Regardless of whether you are debating another in-person team or an online team, you will be assigned a room on campus. If you are in a hybrid debate (that is, debating against an online team), we ask that you join the NSDA Campus Room at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the round.

For debaters that are online:when pairings are released, you should join your NSDA Campus to let us know you are there and to facilitate any pre-round logistics with your opponent (email chains, disclosure, etc). You are required to be in your rooms at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the round.

Procedures for Judges

For judges that are in-person:when pairings are released, your blast will indicate whether your round is in-person or whether it's a hybrid round. The blast will read in all caps "HYBRID ROUND". Regardless of the type of round, we ask that you immediately press "start round" to acknowledge your ballot and then head to your judging location. If the debate is completely in-person, you report to the room on the NSU campus to judge the four debaters. In the case of a hybrid round, we ask that you find a nice place on NSU's beautiful campus to judge that debate. The Media Center will be dedicated to hybrid judging. There is ample space for you to connect with your device and headphones to listen and flow your debates. The only thing we ask is that you do not judge your debate in the room where the in-person team is located. Please be connected on the NSDA Campus Room at least ten minutes prior to the start of the round.

For judges that are online:Please press "Start Round" to acknowledge your ballot and then head to your NSDA Campus Room. We do expect all online judges to have their camera on throughout the entirety of the debate. If that is going to be an issue for you, please reach out to us and we will try to help you resolve it. It is a tournament policy.