Replaying Events for 2021

[SOPomo]

I would clarify that it's not 100% certain that future rotations won't be affected by this change (especially those beyond the next few years). I could see some committees pushing to return certain events on the original timeline on the basis of it having been a while since they were in rotation.

The Rules Chairs have not made ANY decision nor had any discussions about how to handle rotations for the 21-22 season and beyond. Our focus the past few days has been on thinking through any issues / implications of replaying the current season rules next year. Note while all the events will stay the same, there will likely be a few tweaks to some of the rules, particularly to address any rules clarification or FAQs that have come up this year. We haven't made any decisions yet about whether we'll be tweaking any of the topical areas or device specifications, but I suspect if we do, any such tweaks will be minimal as the spirit is truly to 'replay' the current seasons rules. I suspect it'll be quite a while until we finalize them as our normal timeline is to discuss the rules for next year after nationals.

What do you think will happen to the Summer Institute, if rules are being kept the same?

[chalker]

Since there are multiple threads on this, cross-posting what I've said elsewhere:

The Rules Chairs have not made ANY decision nor had any discussions about how to handle rotations for the 21-22 season and beyond. Our focus the past few days has been on thinking through any issues / implications of replaying the current season rules next year. Note while all the events will stay the same, there will likely be a few tweaks to some of the rules, particularly to address any rules clarification or FAQs that have come up this year. We haven't made any decisions yet about whether we'll be tweaking any of the topical areas or device specifications, but I suspect if we do, any such tweaks will be minimal as the spirit is truly to 'replay' the current seasons rules. I suspect it'll be quite a while until we finalize them as our normal timeline is to discuss the rules for next year after nationals.

[chalker]

What do you think will happen to the Summer Institute, if rules are being kept the same?

Nothing official yet, but I believe that it will be held as usual. A significant number of attendees are new / first year coaches each year, so they would still benefit from it.

[Torchic]

Everyone who are my partners in my events are going into Div. C next year...
I'm going to not enjoy having to be the person doing everything.

hahaha I am the person doing everything our team is so screwed

That would hurt a lot...
If I were you, I would go insane studying for A&P (if state is cancelled, when I go to high school, the event topics would be the same) and then go ham on all build events xD

[farmerjoe279]

Is there any way we can get NSO to not recycle this year's events?

Yeah, I agree that events should not be recycled; in my opinion, it seems unfair to teams that may build schedules and select competitors based on the cycle of the rules, and also, this will probably just lead to a more boring 2021 season. Hopefully this decision is reconsidered.

Same here.

[buildergirl]

I would clarify that it's not 100% certain that future rotations won't be affected by this change (especially those beyond the next few years). I could see some committees pushing to return certain events on the original timeline on the basis of it having been a while since they were in rotation.

The Rules Chairs have not made ANY decision nor had any discussions about how to handle rotations for the 21-22 season and beyond. Our focus the past few days has been on thinking through any issues / implications of replaying the current season rules next year. Note while all the events will stay the same, there will likely be a few tweaks to some of the rules, particularly to address any rules clarification or FAQs that have come up this year. We haven't made any decisions yet about whether we'll be tweaking any of the topical areas or device specifications, but I suspect if we do, any such tweaks will be minimal as the spirit is truly to 'replay' the current seasons rules. I suspect it'll be quite a while until we finalize them as our normal timeline is to discuss the rules for next year after nationals.

I'mo not sure if it has already been explained, but what is the purpose of replaying this seasons rules exactly? If it is for the competitors, it seems like the majority would prefer them to change, especially if SOSI goes on as planned and it is possible to create new rules and move forward with the rotation.

[snowyowl]

I definitely agree, and I think that is the general consensus among teams at well. For many teams the season is already over or will be over soon, so it would be repeating the entire year over again, which will be boring and repetitive for all competitors and event supervisors. Reusing the rules and events will just make every event more competitive because people will have the entire summer to study/build and the generally lower ranking teams have no chance of ever medaling. Also, the majority of teams do not put underclassmen in events that will be out of rotation the following year, and it will really screw them over too because the graduating seniors who have been working on those events throughout the invitational season won't be able to participate.

However, I do understand that creating new rules takes time and at this point we don't even know if SOSI will happen, but it's a little early to declare that the same rules and events will be used.

I was initially happy about this because I love these year's events (ornithology, metoeorology), specifically.
However, it does make sense in the long run to just continue with the rotation as is.

[hmmm]

Crosspost for visibility:
https://www.change.org/p/ceo-of-science ... -2020-2021

[Unome]

I don't have a strong position on the rules change thing. But I'll try to contribute to the discussion as much as I can, since it's quite the topic.

Given the prevailing trend in this thread so far (over the last hour or so, admittedly), I personally would like to see some opinions from people who support the change, to better understand that argument.

[space-egg]

I support the change. I think that everyone’s hard work in their events should not go to waste. Many teams pick their events based on state schedules, and it’s devastating to spend hours working on them to end up not competing. While I know this probably was not an easy decision to make, I fully support it.