Hosting a Tournament
Updated July 15, 2007
Getting on the Schedule
Tournaments are placed on the APDA schedule well before they take place. Fall scheduling happens early in the spring semester, while spring scheduling occurs near the end of the spring semester. For example, fall '07 scheduling took place at NYU in early February '07, and spring '08 scheduling happened at Nationals in late April.
The President of APDA will post a request for tournament applications about one month before the scheduling meeting. Make sure to check the official business section of the forum in early January (for a fall tournament) or late March (for a spring tournament). To see what type of information you'll need to provide in your request, check out the bid request post for spring '08 tournaments.
Running the Tournament
Glen Whitman, a former APDA debater and NYU coach, has written a fantastic and comprehensive guide to running a tournament. You should definitely check it out if your tournament is approved.
While it's still possible to hand tab a debate tournament, as the guide suggests, there are a number of electronic options that you may find more convenient. The Brandeis tab program is open-source software that you can download free of charge. MITTab is a web-based solution whose price depends on the size of your tournament.