2017 National Championships – General Email #3: Where You Need To Go at Nationals and When You Need to Be There!

Dear Students, Coaches, Parents, and Teams!

Welcome to Nationals! This is the penultimate email from me until after Nationals finishes; a brief General Email #4 will go out within the next 24 hours with some final announcements, including, most notably, the draw for Sunday’s National History Bee. Below are four very brief announcements, then the important where you need to go and when you need to be there information, followed by a few last reminders.

First, it appears as if weather may be impacting many travel plans. Unfortunately, we are not able to give refunds for weather related cancellations / drops (as mentioned earlier, any drops this week are still liable for full payment), nor do we have any flexibility to move any event on any day. What we CAN do, is put out a renewed call for standby teams (at this point, you would play for free), and it would be very helpful if you could let us know (at help@historybowl.com) if you are or if you have players who are willing to do this!

Again, from now on no emails relating to Nationals should be sent to me until next Tuesday! You will get a (much) quicker response by emailing help@historybowl.com or calling the help desk at 202 790 3579 !

Next, I misspoke in General Email #2 in saying that the Sports and Entertainment Bee was separated into separate Sports and Entertainment parts. It’s actually a combined Sports and Entertainment Bee this year. I did send a follow up email to all those who had registered for the Sports and Entertainment Bee saying that this year, it’s combined, but I’d like to reiterate that here (so don’t email asking to be put in just Sports or just Entertainment.)

Next, likewise, I misspoke in a prior email in saying that the Play In Game for the Bee is going to take place at 11pm tonight. It’s taking place at 11pm tomorrow (Friday) night. Meet at the help desk at the top of the escalator. If you haven’t yet registered for it (it’s free), do so on the pre-tournament survey (which everyone should still fill out if you haven’t done so already!) You can also sign up at the help desk as space allows (limit 20 per division). This is now officially open to anyone who hasn’t qualified for the Bee on Sunday (regardless of whether or not you played A, B, and/or C Set).

Next, check the attached file to verify if you are listed as a small school, homeschool, middle school, or solo team, if applicable. If you think you are one of these and are not listed, please email help@historybowl.com to let us know. Please review our Small School Policy on the main Nationals page to see if your school qualifies.

Next, and this applies to everyone receiving this email! The website to reference to access all room assignments and results as our stats crew updates in real time (or close to it) is www.nhbbstats.com A huge thank you to Stats Director Andrew Feist for constructing these and uploading the draws!

Here is now what you need to know regarding where to report and when:

For each event aside from the National History Bowl, there is no formal check in process! Just go to your Round 1 (or Exam for USGO) room by the times below.

A. US History Bee – 8:00am start tomorrow morning (be in your Round 1 rooms by 7:45-7:50!). See the attached files for room assignments, or access www.nhbbstats.com. If you don’t see your name online and/or in the attached file (as long as it’s in the one OR the other, you’re fine), please email help@historybowl.com!

B. US Geography Olympiad – 12:40pm start tomorrow afternoon (be in your Exam rooms, which are all sections of the Arlington Ballroom by 12:25-12:30!). See the attached files for room assignments, or access www.nhbbstats.com. If you don’t see your name online and/or in the attached file (as long as it’s in the one OR the other, you’re fine), please email help@historybowl.com!

C. International Geography Bee – 5:10pm start tomorrow afternoon (be in your Round 1 rooms by 4:55-5:00!) See the attached files for room assignments, or access www.nhbbstats.com. If you don’t see your name online and/or in the attached file (as long as it’s in the one OR the other, you’re fine), please email help@historybowl.com!

D. Opening Ceremonies – 7:20pm tomorrow evening in Arlington Ballroom. Please arrive by 7:10!

E. National Sports and Entertainment History Bee – 8:45pm official start tomorrow evening. Head to your Round 1 room (all of these are in the Grand Ballroom) immediately after the end of the Opening Ceremonies (or at 8:35) See the attached file for rooms assignments!

F. National History Bowl – The following 18 JV teams will be playing off site at the Middle East Institute and need to meet in their assigned locations at the hotel at 7:20-7:30am. Do not go to the MEI directly! Look for Arthur Ramsay, Will Schneider, and Nick Brumfield, your site captains!
Meet in the Madison Room (Ground floor)
Amherst Middle A (NY)
Churchill Jr. High (NJ)
Loyola Academy (IL)
Montgomery Blair (MD)
Swanson Middle (VA)
Wilton (CT)Meet in the Grand Ballroom Salon C (Mezzanine Level)
Aptakisic Jr. High (IL)
Centennial C (MD)
Harvey (NY)
Newark Academy (NJ)
North Bend (OR)
Parkland (PA)

Meet in the Jefferson Room (Ground floor)
Amherst Middle B (NY)
McLean (VA)
Miami Beach (FL)
Team No-Name (NJ)
Team Urbana Snake Farm (IL)
Tenafly A (NJ)

All other teams will be playing at the hotel in the morning with a start time of 8:45am and should meet at their homeroom 15 minutes prior to that (the homerooms are noted online and in the attached files – careful, Varsity and JV are separate files!)EXCEPT FOR THE TEAMS GOING TO THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE, ALL TEAMS SHOULD BE IN OR NEAR YOUR HOMEROOM BY 8:30!

For the Bowl, only, though, you MUST sign in between 2pm and 11pm on Friday, or between 7 and 8:00am on Saturday if you aren’t arriving before then. You must indicate on the survey if you request a Saturday check in!

G. National History Bee / Consolation Bee – 8:05 am start time on Sunday (be in or outside rooms by 7:55!)

National History Bee assignments will be posted soon online. We will send out a blast email (General Email #4) when this is ready.

Note that all draws that are available can be accessed through links at www.nhbbstats.com – just scroll down to the news posts beneath the map.

From tomorrow (not tonight) you can also find your rooms posted next to the Help Desk at the top of the Escalator in the central part of the lobby. Whenever you are confused about anything or if you don’t see your name in the draw for an event, and you think it should be there, you can:
A) Come in person to the help desk
B) Email help@historybowl.com
C) Call the Nationals Help Hotline at 202 790 3579

And a few other announcements too:

1. Flagbearers at Opening Ceremony.
As you may have seen, we have flags for each state represented at Nationals. We are looking for one flagbearer from each state to bring the flag in during the Opening Ceremony. If you are / someone from your school is interested in doing this, please email help@historybowl.com asap!

2. Press Release
Reattached here if you want it.

3. NHBB TV
Those who signed up for interviews will be contacted shortly. You might also see our correspondent Raynell Cooper in action covering the tournament. Here’s our youtube channel where the videos will be posted.

4. Twitter
Follow us on Twitter at @NatlHistoryBowl ! And like us on Facebook for further updates!

5. WiFi
There is free wifi at the Crystal Gateway Marriott this year in the lobby. It’s free in the gamerooms at the hotel, and if you want it in your room, it’s free if you sign up for Marriott Rewards (which you can do at the front desk).

6. Prizes!
An updated list of Nationals prizes on the line this weekend is available here.

7. Snapchat
We just registered an account, so follow us at nhbbnationals !

That’s all! Good luck, and have a great time!

Best,
David