Registration Communiqué 4 – Stage Two Commences

Greetings aspiring Botswana Worlds 2011 participants!

Registration is well underway. We filled the registration quota in 93 seconds. The biggest problem encountered, as many of you are aware, was getting your accounts activated. I apologize for any stress and problems this has caused, however I am pleased that our team was able to rectify these problems quickly. If you feel that you are still having problems with account activation please email us directly and we will take care of the problem. If you have emailed us and are still awaiting your response I apologize for this. If your problem or question has not been addressed please kindly send us a reminder email and we will take care of it. You all are great, and thanks for working with us through this process.

1. The next step of registration

When we release the final list of registered teams in the next week we will be underway with the next step of registration. During this stage you will be required to pay a deposit to confirm your spot. You can also choose to make your payment in full. Only when full payment is received, you will able and in face be required to enter full participant details. Please remember that the deposit payment is non refundable and if it is not paid on time you will lose your spot. This will be strictly enforced.

All details about the steps of registration, the deposit amount, and the bank wire transfer details can be found on the Botswana Worlds Website (www.botswanaworlds.com/registration)

There has been a change in the bank account information (because we’ve got a new sponsor come on board). This has been updated on the website, Do Not use the bank account that was released previously. Some of you have transferred monies to the account that was initially published – don’t worry, we will still be monitoring that account.

ACCOUNT NAME: UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA-DEBATE MASTERS ASSOCIATION

BANK NAME: CAPITAL BANK GABORONE BRANCH

ADDRESS: P O BOX 5548, GABORONE, BOTSWANA

ACCOUNT NO: 0020025790131

BANK CODE: 800267

BRANCH CODE: 80-02-67

GABORONE BRANCH SWIFT CODE: CAPLBWGAXXX

CORRESPONDENCE BANK: CITI BANK NEW YORK

SWIFT CODE NO: CITIUS33

2. Team quotas with respect to slow internet policy. previous Worlds attendance, only nation represented and African teams

We have now released the list of 52 teams accepted on the basis of previous Worlds attendance (in accordance with the Worlds Constitution) and those teams accepted on the basis of slow internet status.

If for some reason your team is not included and you feel that you should have been we are ready to hear your appeals. However, before you send your appeals; please be reminded of the criteria listed bellow which determines the acceptance of teams. Please only email us if you have a genuine concern. At this point in time all lists of teams that registered have been published and you should be able to determine your status based on your position on the wait list. Take a few minutes of time to try to figure out why you were not accepted before emailing us, as we are really busy and would appreciate as few appeals as possible. If you do send an appeal BE PATIENT, we have plenty of time to solve all problems before Worlds.

APPEALS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR 72 HOURS FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF THE LIST OF TEAMS.  IF YOU ARE SENDING AN APPEAL AFTER 72 HOURS PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS POLICY WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED AND WE ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO HEAR YOUR APPEAL. The list is time stamped at 20:00 GMT on the 8th of July 2010, last day of appeals is 20:00 GMT on the 11th of July 2010.

Criteria for the selected teams.

1. We are guaranteeing every country at least 1 representative: first come first accepted. This means the first team that registered from an eligible country (remember, an eligible country is one that WAS NOT successfully registered in the published list of the 300 accepted teams) will be accepted. One team per country.

2. Concerning our slow internet policy: All countries that apply to our slow internet policy will have one team accepted from the first institution that registered from that country.

3. African countries: One of the main reasons on which we presented our bid was the development of debate in Africa through increased access to local debaters, something they cannot afford to do when Worlds is elsewhere. We have decided to accept up to two teams from institutions from African countries that registered within the 1^st stage of registration.

4. For those teams not accepted, they will retain their original position and eligibility on the wait list. At spots will be offered to you as they become available.

3. Wait list policy.

STAGE ONE OF WAIT LIST DISTRIBUTION

Given the long list of institutions on the waiting list, we have decided to give 1 team to every institution on the waiting list and then move down the list. So if you are on the waiting list for 3 teams and you are selected we will only be selecting ONE TEAM. Please determine which team you would send within your delegation NOW so you do not delay when entering team details.

STAGE TWO OF WAIT LIST DISTRIBUTION

On October 10th we will change the wait list policy for any spots remaining unfilled. From Midnight GMT on October 10th any spaces that become available will be given in bulk to teams according to the original wait list order. This means that if your institution registered 3 teams and 1 got accepted at the beginning of wait list distribution we would then accept the next 2 teams if space is available at this time. We realize that this could mean that you will have to send two payments, however we think the benefit that is realized by the increased chances in all of your teams attending will significantly outweigh this inconvenience.

PAYMENTS OF DEPOSITS:

DO NOT FORGET that it takes bank wire transfers up to 5 BUSINESS DAY TO CLEAR. Do not delay in sending your deposits. We have had a published list of deadlines for some time now. OUR DEFINITION OF A LATE PAYMENT: A payment that is PROVEN OR POSTED TO OUR ACCOUNT AFTER the deadline. Our definition of a PROVEN PAYMENT is a SCANNED COPY (sent via Fax of Email) of the Bank Receipt of the wire transfer with complete information including the tracking number. We will not accept details of wire transfer in ANY OTHER FORM accept an original copy of the bank receipt. Our definition of a POSTED PAYMENT is a WITHDRAWABLE full receipt of funds in our account. We cannot guarantee your successful registration if your payment is not posted or proven by the deadline. We will strictly enforce this policy.

Download this document

Download list of registered teams

View full list of Registered Participants

Every year debaters and enthusiasts from far corners and dense centers of the world converge in one spot to compete, debate and celebrate their community. In the short period of time dedicated to determining champions, debaters also explore other challenges - like how to improve adjudication, how to develop debate, sharing methods to raise funds. There are also those who are use debate outside of tournaments - teachers, advocates, community workers, budding politicians; who look to improve what they do by interacting with other debaters.

Given there isn't even enough time during Worlds to fully discuss how to improve Worlds, there definitely isn't enough time to talk about how debate can improve the world we live in. Yet we should find the time, because it is important to ensure the WUDC keeps improving as a tournament and debate increases its relevance in society. This is the best time because we are all here, in one place.

A few interested people, with the cooperation of Botswana Worlds and IDEA, are organizing the Worlds Debate Forum. It will take place immediately after Botswana Worlds, from the 4th to 7th of January. It will be held at a hotel or resort close to the University of Botswana.

What we want to do

Create opportunities for people who want to do more debate and more than debate. The goal is not to run an academic conference and the emphasis is not on publications or journals. The idea is to make easy for people to share ideas, find other people who are interested in the same ideas. To dedicate time to solving problems and finding people who can help you solve problems.

The goals of this forum are

• To bring together people of different backgrounds who are relevant to each other – for example NGOs using debate to teach and teachers who have used debate in similar environments, or 3 or 4 organizations with similar goals who can then put together a joint proposal for funding
• To create opportunities for debaters to be exposed to other aspects of debate – for example how debate is being used by advocacy groups and civil society organizations, to increase the sharing of information and resources.
• To dedicate time and resources towards improving debate as a competitive activity - for adjudicators to thrash out training guides and teaching philosophies, tabbers to run simulations and extrapolations, for us to share best practices and determine common guidelines. There isn’t enough time to do this at Worlds, yet it’s obvious there needs a space for this to ensure Worlds evolves.
• To expose people doing debate work outside the WUDC community to the WUDC community – having the forum immediately after Worlds we hope will encourage debate educators, advocacy groups and potential funders to participate at least in the tail end of Worlds.

Duplicate information

We have negotiated special group rates for Worlds Participants from all routes between Johannesburg (JNB), Gaborone(GBE) and Lusaka(LUN),Nairobi(NBO),Harare(HRE).

Full details in this official letter from Air Botswana.

We've put up a sample registration form and more information on our registration page.

Registration

Only 5 more days! More registration information has been updated. Check out http://botswanaworlds.com/registration or read the pdf document attached. Registration will be on from this website.

The Registration Team have published the registration policy for Botswana Worlds 2011! Full information available at www.botswanaworlds.com/registration . Here's a brief summary:

Registration Summary for Botswana Worlds

Stage 1 > Reservation of spots (6/21/2010 6AM GMT - 7/5/2010 6AM GMT)

Stage 2 > Deposit payment due (7/12/2010 6AM GMT - 7/21/2010 6AM GMT)

Stage 3 > Full payment due (8/2/2010 6AM GMT - 9/2/2010 6AM GMT)

Stage 4 > Wait list registration and payment (13/9/2010 6AM GMT - 1/11/2010 6AM GMT)

Welcome to new website for Botswana Worlds. We've decided to clean it up to make it easier for you to find information. If you miss the old site, you can find it at bid.botswanaworlds.com.