# US Nationals 2012: What do YOU want to see?



## flee135 (Mar 8, 2012)

Every day of the US Nationals competition will run to about 6:00 PM. What this means is that we will have available rooms in order to do whatever we like after 6:00. So starting from approximately 8:00 PM every night of the competition, we will be running all sorts of events and activities. This can include any of the following and more:


Seminars - Have you ever wondered how a specific cuber practices, or whether they have any tricks that they would like to share? Or maybe you want to hear from competition organizers and delegates about how to organize a competition.
Unofficial event - Do you always practice team blindfolded, but never have the chance to show it off? How about speed BLD or 2x2 BLD? We can organize competitions solely with unofficial events.
Demonstrations - If you'd like to see a demonstration, such as macky juggling while solving cubes, we can have that arranged.

We need help from you to figure out exactly what you want, and what ideas are the most popular. The more specific, the better. If you want to hear a seminar about how you can organize your own competition, great! Let us know, but also try to tell us any specific organizers or delegates that you would want to hear from. If you want an unofficial competition, please give us specific events.

Lastly, please be reasonable! We will be considering each of your ideas, and we don't need to take time skipping over requests for "7x7 blindfolded with one foot" competitions.

Listed below are ideas that have popped up. Please let us know which ones interest you so that we can get an idea of which ones we definitely want to do and which ones we may have to toss out.

*Seminars: *
How to get sub-x (Rowe Hessler, Dan Cohen, Anthony Brooks, Breandan Vallance, Ravi Fernando, Phillip Espinoza, Andrew Ricci)
How to OH (Jeremy Fleischman, Rowe Hessler)
BLD tricks (Mike Hughey)
Alternate algs
F2L tricks
How to organize competition

*Unofficial events:*
Square-1 BLD
Skewb
Speed BLD
2x2 BLD
OH while doing ____ (boxing, arm wrestling, nerf swordfighting)
Head-to-head (68 person elimination? with brackets and all?)
Team BLD (piggyback, nonverbal)
Relays
Ping Pong!

*Demonstrations:*
Multitasking (juggling, flips, etc while cubing)
Cubing stand-up comedy (PM me if you can do this)
BLD


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## Mike Hughey (Mar 8, 2012)

I'd love unofficial events:
1. Square-1 BLD? Please? (If Takao comes, hopefully I wouldn't be the only competitor.)
2. Skewb would probably be really popular.
3. Speed BLD would be fun, even though I'm bad at it.
4. Pretty please on the square-1 BLD? (Best of 3 would be nice.)


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## IMSLOW1097 (Mar 8, 2012)

How about seminars by people like Rowe, Dan Cohen, Anthony Brooks, Breandan (if we would have the privilege that he come again), Ravi, Philip Espinoza about how to get sub-30/20/15/12/etc on 3x3 (any maybe even how to get faster on OH by Jeremy Fleischman/Rowe/etc, or 4x4 by people like John Brechon, Dan Cohen, etc.) and have us split up to go listen to the seminars based on our averages? i would love that!


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## hcfong (Mar 8, 2012)

Maybe a weird idea, but I'd love to see some cubing related (stand-up) comedy. I've been trying to write something myself but haven't really come up with something good. So, maybe an idea for other more talented comedians among us?


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## IMSLOW1097 (Mar 8, 2012)

hcfong said:


> Maybe a weird idea, but I'd love to see some cubing related (stand-up) comedy. I've been trying to write something myself but haven't really come up with something good. So, maybe an idea for other more talented comedians among us?


 
hahaha frank morris jokes....NOT.


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## AustinReed (Mar 8, 2012)

2x2 bld would be amazing.


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## KingTim96 (Mar 9, 2012)

i dont even know if im gonna go. i just started cubing and my mom said she'd take me for my birthday, but how much does it cost to get in/watch? but relating to the thread topic, if i was going i'd wanna see tips on how to get sub 30/20/12/12 like the guy above me said. but also i'd like to see some sort of seminar on alternate algs different people use that are easier to perform/execute. that'd be cool. cause i seem to find one of the reason i am still averaging sub40 and cant improve is the time it takes me to do a simple alg. that'd be really cool.


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## Bob (Mar 9, 2012)

Beer pong tournament?


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## IMSLOW1097 (Mar 9, 2012)

Bob said:


> Beer pong tournament?


 
haha YES.


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## Ninja Storm (Mar 9, 2012)

I'd love to see Team BLD ^_^"

Also, I'd really enjoy a show of some sort(like, really cool cubing tricks. Juggling and cubing, flips and cubing, two OH cubes).


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## Yuxuibbs (Mar 9, 2012)

I would like to see live video of the events/activities, someone juggling 3+ crazy foot 3x3s, see how many cubes you can solve at the same time, and seminars on how to organize/run a competition.


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## a small kitten (Mar 9, 2012)

OH and armwrestling at the same time. yee.


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## Mike Hughey (Mar 9, 2012)

a small kitten said:


> OH and armwrestling at the same time. yee.


 
OH and boxing is more fun.


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## a small kitten (Mar 9, 2012)

Oh yes there is so much headpunch opportunity.


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## Bob (Mar 9, 2012)

Mike Hughey said:


> OH and boxing is more fun.


 
LMAO. I just watched the one where I boxed a child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpvRJK92HBE!


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## samchoochiu (Mar 9, 2012)

AustinReed said:


> 2x2 bld would be amazing.


 
2x2 bld is stupid according to Adam Zamora. I think he said because the inspection would be so short. something like that, whatever he said I agreed that 2x2 bld is useless


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## rowehessler (Mar 9, 2012)

Bob said:


> Beer pong tournament?


how about ping pong tournament followed by a head to head. That'll be pretty ridic


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## David Zemdegs (Mar 9, 2012)

Id like to see Feliks there. Any chance of a sponsor - Trump, Rockefeller, Gates, Romney?


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## Kirjava (Mar 9, 2012)

Erik should go <3


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## flee135 (Mar 11, 2012)

Original post is now updated with various ideas.


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## IMSLOW1097 (Mar 11, 2012)

I think that the guy who did the "Less over the top" oskar van deventer parody should do some stand up - he was frickin' hilarious!
Also, i might be able to do some stand-up cubing comedy....i've got some alright one-liners.


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## blade740 (Mar 12, 2012)

Team Blindfold should definitely be an unofficial event. The staff did it last year, but I'd like to see it as an open event (and hopefully, in the future, move toward making it official). 

What I'd really like to see, though, is slow-motion instant replays and reconstructions/commentary on high-level official solves. A good commentator could making cubing a lot more accessible to spectators, and I think something like this could really be what we need to get more sponsors into the sport (which would mean more prizes, better venues, and lower registration fees).


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## blackzabbathfan (Mar 12, 2012)

Everything that was said sounds great. 2x2 BLD, Speed BLD, TeamBLD, OH boxing, head to head. I would love to see Rowe or Dan or even Andrew Ricci give a seminar on getting sub-15/12/10. I would really love to see a seminar on BLD given by Mike Hughey or a competition holding seminar by Tim Reynolds. And for cubing stand up you could do an open mic where anyone who wants to do it can get like five minutes.


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## flee135 (Mar 12, 2012)

blackzabbathfan said:


> Everything that was said sounds great. 2x2 BLD, Speed BLD, TeamBLD, OH boxing, head to head. I would love to see Rowe or Dan or even Andrew Ricci give a seminar on getting sub-15/12/10. I would really love to see a seminar on BLD given by Mike Hughey or a competition holding seminar by Tim Reynolds. And for cubing stand up you could do an open mic where anyone who wants to do it can get like five minutes.


 
I like the idea of the open mic, but my only problem is that there won't be enough people who do it, and the event will have to be stopped. I think the cubing stand up would be great if we could just get a few people who can maintain an act for a longer period of time.


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## rowehessler (Mar 12, 2012)

fazdad said:


> Id like to see Feliks there. Any chance of a sponsor - Trump, Rockefeller, Gates, Romney?


He should totally come. Can I be his babysitter again????


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## Weston (Mar 12, 2012)

a small kitten said:


> OH and armwrestling at the same time. yee.


 
Anthony wins this.


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## DaveyCow (Mar 12, 2012)

Any idea as to what night(s) this would happen? coz I'd LOVE to attend but I also wanna "experience vegas" which happens nighttime (cirque de soleil etc...)


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## jla (Mar 12, 2012)

Would there be any chance that you can tape the seminars and then upload them? Las Vegas is soo far away....


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## flee135 (Mar 14, 2012)

DaveyCow said:


> Any idea as to what night(s) this would happen? coz I'd LOVE to attend but I also wanna "experience vegas" which happens nighttime (cirque de soleil etc...)


I believe it's Thursday through Sunday. We will have different events going on on different days, so once we put together a schedule, you can plan which days you would want to show up.



jla said:


> Would there be any chance that you can tape the seminars and then upload them? Las Vegas is soo far away....


 We'll see what we can do, but I can't make any guarantees.


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## masterofthebass (Mar 14, 2012)

Weston said:


> Anthony wins this.


 
you sure?


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## Vincents (Mar 14, 2012)

68 competitor Head-to-Head Single Elimination Unofficial competition, March Madness style.


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## Weston (Mar 14, 2012)

masterofthebass said:


> you sure?


 
osht


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## Tyson (Mar 14, 2012)

masterofthebass said:


> you sure?


 
Yeah, could he even move David Gomes' arm?


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## FatBoyXPC (Mar 14, 2012)

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but is anybody else realizing that a good bit of the staff is over 21 and this is in Vegas?

OH nerf sword fighting was a pretty big hit at UIndy 2011. John Brechon vs Ethan Crislip should be an interesting match.


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## Stefan (Mar 14, 2012)

a small kitten said:


> OH and armwrestling at the same time. yee.


 
What are the rules, how do you win/lose a match?


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## pjk (Mar 14, 2012)

What about doing a beer mile relay (4 people per team), or a pop mile relay for those under 21?



Bob said:


> LMAO. I just watched the one where I boxed a child.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpvRJK92HBE!


That is awesome. We should do this at Nats for sure.



rowehessler said:


> how about ping pong tournament followed by a head to head. That'll be pretty ridic


Count me in on both.


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## flee135 (Mar 15, 2012)

Vincents said:


> 68 competitor Head-to-Head Single Elimination Unofficial competition, March Madness style.


I really really like this idea! We can have people creating their own brackets and predicting who will win!



fatboyxpc said:


> Not to be a party pooper or anything, but is anybody else realizing that a good bit of the staff is over 21 and this is in Vegas?


Yes, but what's the issue? We don't need every staff member present every day for this to go through.


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## Mikel (Mar 15, 2012)

Vincents said:


> 68 competitor Head-to-Head Single Elimination Unofficial competition, March Madness style.


 
This sounds awesome. I'm guessing the 68 people would be the top 68 from round 1 of Nationals?


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## flee135 (Mar 15, 2012)

Mikel said:


> This sounds awesome. I'm guessing the 68 people would be the top 68 from round 1 of Nationals?


 
Well the problem with that is that there is likely people who would not want to participate out of those 68. I guess we could always just keep running down the list until we get a confirmation from 68 people that they will participate.


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## StachuK1992 (Mar 15, 2012)

Maybe I'm not getting this - where are you getting 68 from? As far as I can tell, 2^n != 68, but maybe you mean 64? I may be missing something about the bracket system..


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## Bob (Mar 15, 2012)

StachuK1992 said:


> Maybe I'm not getting this - where are you getting 68 from? As far as I can tell, 2^n != 68, but maybe you mean 64? I may be missing something about the bracket system..


 
March Madness went from 65 to 68 teams last year. However, if you were to do a head-to-head, I would suggest keeping things simple with an integer power of two.


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## Kian (Mar 15, 2012)

Bob said:


> March Madness went from 65 to 68 teams last year. However, if you were to do a head-to-head, I would suggest keeping things simple with an integer power of two.


 
Like 256, so Bob can compete.


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## a small kitten (Mar 15, 2012)

> Like 256, so Bob can compete.



You're an evil guy


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## Bob (Mar 15, 2012)

Kian said:


> Like 256, so Bob can compete.


 
That's just mean!


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## Tim Reynolds (Mar 15, 2012)

Bob said:


> That's just mean!


 
Maybe realistic...looking at the last 2 years, you've been 129th (missed top 128) and 118th (made it by like 2 seconds).


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## Vincents (Mar 15, 2012)

We theoretically could do any power of 2, and just give people bye's if people aren't here...


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## Ninja Storm (Mar 15, 2012)

StachuK1992 said:


> Maybe I'm not getting this - where are you getting 68 from? As far as I can tell, 2^n != 68, but maybe you mean 64? I may be missing something about the bracket system..


 
Take a look at the March Madness bracket. There are four spots in the bracket(errr, well, there were, until last night) that had two possible teams who could play there. There were 64 spots in the tournament, but the NCAA decided to excite things a bit more by making some teams have to play others BEFORE every team played. 

So, there are actually 64 spots, but only 60 are confirmed, and 8 teams battle for the last four.


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## FatBoyXPC (Mar 15, 2012)

flee135 said:


> Yes, but what's the issue? We don't need every staff member present every day for this to go through.


 
I guess it just depends on how many members of staff are willing to stay back and hold these side events, if there's a need for a fair amount of staff. I wasn't really sure how many people would be needed for these, and I know that I am personally going to explore Vegas a good bit of the time, rather than stay back for the competition stuff  I would have really enjoyed stuff like this at OSU last year, but with Vegas there are way too many other things calling my name


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## Mike Hughey (Mar 15, 2012)

fatboyxpc said:


> I guess it just depends on how many members of staff are willing to stay back and hold these side events, if there's a need for a fair amount of staff. I wasn't really sure how many people would be needed for these, and I know that I am personally going to explore Vegas a good bit of the time, rather than stay back for the competition stuff  I would have really enjoyed stuff like this at OSU last year, but with Vegas there are way too many other things calling my name


 
I would think the logical thing to do with unofficial events would be to expect that those who wish to compete must also judge and/or scramble. If you aren't willing to help, you can't compete. If no one shows up willing to help, there's no event.


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## Ranzha (Mar 16, 2012)

Piggyback Team BLD. Or better yet, non-verbal Team BLD.

Skewb would be nice =)


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## flee135 (Mar 22, 2012)

Bump

Some edits here and there in original post, and also some more input would be helpful.

Everyone, please make sure you read the first post in its entirety. There are multiple people who make suggestions that aren't exactly related, or aren't specific enough.


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## AustinReed (Mar 22, 2012)

As for seminars, I'd love to see the "How to organize competitions". So many posts asking "How do I get a competition in X city?"

For Unofficial events, I'd like Head to head and/or 2BLD.


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## macky (Apr 7, 2012)

I would totally organize a wikithon. We should be able to get a lot down more efficiently with a lot of cubers in the same place.


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## Ranzha (May 1, 2012)

Head-to-head reconstruction. Have random solves filmed throughout the day and use those.
It might be difficult to implement, but it would look amazing! =O

Maybe a portion on effectively using commutators in one of the seminars on BLD?
Perhaps after the team mosaics are demolished, one large mosaic can be made? 3600 cubes is certainly workable =)
Cool Frog and I were talking one evening, and the idea of time attacks came up. Perhaps a PLL or OLL time attack?


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