Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Navigating The Digital Divide, Dawn Lowry

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Dawn Lowry (George Mason University) talks about how we are essentially switching from an interpersonal medium to a mass medium. Coaches and competitors should have equal access to the visual vocabulary that society has learned through a lifetime of exposure to mass media.

Online Tournaments And Speechwire: The Show Goes On, Ben Stewart

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Ben Stewart (SpeechWire) details the various ways that people have administered online contests on SpeechWire, and ideas for the future regarding online contests.

Asynchronous Tournaments: A Resource For Now And The Future, Erick Roebuck, Jared Kubicka-Miller

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Erick Roebuck and Jared Kubicka-Miller (SEARK College and Santiago Canyon College) share their experience with an asynchronous tournament hosted with the organization, protocommunications.com. Additionally, they will propose a possible season format for asynchronous competition that can begin immediately or after the pandemic.

Lessons Learned From The 2020 National Online Collegiate Forensics Festival, Danny Cantrell

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Danny Cantrel (Mt. San Antonio College) will provide the resources and discuss the process of hosting the 2020 festival online.

Becoming A Virtual Host: How To Run An Online Tournament, Brandon Johnson

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Brandon Johnson (Cornell University) covers the basics for creating an online tournament and hosting site. He also talks about best practices for how to make the experience accessible to students and judges. He will discuss the differences between preparing for an in person tournament vs. an online tournament.

Improving Extemp Within Collegiate Forensics, Samantha Burke

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Samantha Burke (Hastings College) speaks about research conducted regarding the experience of extemp speaking in collegiate forensics, suggestions are provided on how to improve the tournament experience for students in extemp.

Proceedings Of The Sixth National Developmental Conference On Individual Events, Karen Morris

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The June 19-20 National Developmental Conference (NDC) on Individual Events (IE) was a series of free zoom webinars sponsored in a joint effort by AFA-NST, NFA, PKD, and PRP. The overall goal of the conference was to work together to set shared standards for the upcoming 2020-2021 season because of the uncertain times for intercollegiate forensics. The conference provided a collaborative space for the forensic community to discuss best and promising practices.

Prior to the conference, the NDC-IE planning committee sponsored a COVID-19 Coaches Webinar on May 1st, 2020. The recordings of the sessions by AFA-NST, NFA, PKD, and PRP …

The Individual Event Ballot: Pedagogical Tool Or Narcissistic Soapbox?, Kevin Jones

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Before developing some standards for evaluating/judging individual events, it is necessary to understand what exactly a ballot should do, and to look at some of the problems surrounding present standards and why new standards are in order. This paper will focus upon the pedagogical aspect of judging by first, examining the educational aspect of forensics; second, exploring the "useless ballot" issue and attempting to identify some causes of the problem; and finally, presenting some possible solutions and guidelines which might aid in correcting this concern. Hopefully, discussion will be generated from this paper and panel which will result in promoting …

A Philosophic And Pragmatic Rationale For Individual Events, Steve Hunt

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

To approach this task. I will have three sections to this paper. In the first section I will discuss what individual events are and their current slams. In the second section I will forward a set of questions I consider fundamental to knowing what we are about and the ways in which we go about it in individual events. In the third and final brief division I will comment on what I think are some long delayed research needs that could help us in responding to the questions raised in the second section of the paper and conclude my brief …

Open Discussion On Tournament Management Practices

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Discussion held at the Tournament Management Practices session at the First Developmental Conference on Individual Events.

Recommendation From Tournament Management Practices, Sharon Porter

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Recommendations from the Tournament Management Practices session at the First Developmental Conference on Individual Events.

Position Paper On Double Entries, Mike Wartman

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

I'm not bugged by the name writing and nonverbal symbols used in forensics. What does concern me, however, and what will be the premise and position of this paper, is the increasing number of double entries within conflict patterns that exists in forensics competition. While the idea of contestants trying and gaining experience in many events is admirable, I believe the "double entry movement" is potentially harmful and damaging to the quality of forensics competition and the abilities of most contestants. In this position paper I will briefly explain double entries, describe problems that may be caused by double entries …

Integrating Wellness And Forensics: Tournament Management As A Starting Point, Susan Rickey Hatfield, Timothy L. Hatfield, Cynthia Carver

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Though wellness on college campuses has begun to gain recognition and support, forensics activities have yet to be influenced by the wellness movement. Starting from the premise that attending forensics tournaments is essentially an 'unnatural' experience, this paper examines the basic dimensions of the wellness lifestyle as well as provides specific examples of how wellness can be integrated into forensics tournament management practices.

Forensic Tournament Management Via Computer Program, Virginia Fish, Cathy Marine, Charlotte Patrick, James Riley

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

With the increased emphasis on individual events at college forensic tournaments, both high school and college tournaments have become extremely difficult to manage manually. The shift has been to computer managed tournaments, and the reasons for this are as varied as they are valid.

The Gradual Elimination Forensics Tournament, Duane Aschenbrenner

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

As our national tournaments become ever larger it is imperative that we devise a system of gradual round by round elimination rather than our current system of going from over 300 entries in an event to only 24 after four preliminary rounds. I would therefore propose that the following plan be implemented in at least one of our National Individual Events Tournaments during the spring of 1990.

Creative Events: An Historical Perspective For The Development Conference On Individual Events, Bruce Wickelgren

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

If one can assume that forensics as an organization must continue to change in order to remain alive, it is important to study the events that are used as well as how they became used on the national level. Before an event is adopted by a national organization, it is necessary to give the event a test-spin before adoption. For this reason, it is important for the forensic community to study the use of creative events.

National Individual Events Tournament Qualifying Legs: An Ideas Whose Time Has Passed, Clark D. Olson

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The national individual events tournament hierarchy has a significant impact on practices at invitational tournaments. Regardless of which national affiliation one holds, participants are constantly being bombarded with questions of "7/12?" or "How many legs?" It is the contention of this essay to examine the role that the national hierarchy has had with regard to the at-large qualification method, examine an alternative, and provide implications for an alternative qualifying method.

Fisher's Narrative Paradigm Theory: A Model For Differentiating After Dinner Speaking From Informative And Persuasive Speaking, C. Thomas Preston Jr.

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

As Schnoor and Karns (1992) have noted, a great spirit of camaraderie and cooperation existed after the Second Developmental Conference on Individual Events concerning the direction of events (pp. 13-16). One of the questions posed at this conference, the authors note, was how to improve the original speaking events. At this the Third Developmental Conference, we ask the question, "How do we discover effective new directions in the original speaking events?" Today, my paper will assess both tried and innovative new directions in after dinner speaking, with a discussion of the other original speaking events as necessary for background material. …

New Directions For Public Speaking: The Perfect Pendulum Swings, M'Liss S. Hindman

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The author will present her personal and frank ideas of what she sees as a dangerous trend in public speaking events. A loose analogy of forensics to a swinging pendulum will first be explained. Then the author will explain what she sees as the current state of public speaking events, and finally, an attempt to predict some outcomes for the future of public speaking events and some suggestions for our consideration. The aim of this paper is to make us think: where are we in this quest for excellence in public speaking events? How did we get to where we …

Afa-Niet: The Culture Of Qualifying And Its Effets On Forensics, Daniel A. West

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

It is my concern that we have created a culture that is primarily focused on qualifying for a national tournament rather than on the pursuit of excellence in performance. This "culture of qualifying" is just like any other culture: it has norms, rules and rituals. It has expected behaviors and offers rewards to those who meet those expectations and punishments to those who don't. When this "culture of qualifying" replaces or supersedes other missions or goals of forensics competition, the following three problems result.

Judge Agreement And Student Rotation: A Real-Life Study Of The 1990 Dsr-Tka National Forensics Tournament, Vicki L. Karns

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

During the third round of Poetry competition at the 1990 DSR-TKA National Tournament, a student approached the Tab Room and asked why the same people were competing against each other in the first and third rounds. After examining the schematics, it was determined that, indeed, the first and third rounds were identical. At that point in the tournament schedule, it was impossible to reschedule or redo the schematic, so the tournament continued as originally scheduled. Instead of treating this as a crisis, it became an excellent real-life opportunity for research. Thus, this study examines the ranks between Rounds One and …

Understanding The Hyphen: Addressing The Debate-Ie Divide, Brian Swafford

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

At the 2008 National Forensics Association National Championship Tournament, a special meeting was held for the coaches of Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debaters. At this meeting, those in attendance attempted to voice concerns about both the perceived "slights" and the actual structures in place (like sweepstakes formulas, awards, and qualifications) from the larger NFA community, made up of individual events (IE) coaches. Issues like limited judge strikes or mutually preferred judging, changing the schedule so that debaters did not go first and last on competition days, and allowing for oral comments by judges were all discussed. But at the heart of this …

The "Culture Of Qualifying" Revisited: What Is The "End" Of Forensics, Daniel A. West

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Ten years ago, at the last developmental conference, I again asked Larry’s question to the greater forensics community. In my paper on the "Culture of Qualifying," I contended that the focus AFA schools place on qualifying for nationals resulted in three problems: pulling slots, hunting for legs and a reduction in the quality of regular season tournaments. Another ten years have passed, and not much has changed. The "Culture of Qualifying" still exists. And I am left wondering: Where do we go from here?

Rummaging Through Cumes: What Existing Results Data For Ld At The Nfa National Tournament Can Tell Us About Tournament Design, Joseph Dudek

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The top seeded LD competitor entering out-round competition has lost their first out-round in each of the last two NFA National Tournaments. This anecdote highlights the immensely dynamic nature of the event and, perhaps, begins to question the sanctity of out-round seeding. In order to better understand the nature of preliminary rounds, their importance in deciding who will advance to out-rounds, and how many of them are actually necessary, it is imperative that we dissect the results from recent tournaments and work toward creating a more fair and competitive tournament. In this paper, I use results data from the 2009 …

Back To The Beginning - Rethinking The Afa-Niet Qualification System, Justin Rudnick

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

On July 31, 2008, Professor Dan West (Director of Forensics at Ohio University) presented a paper at the 4th National Developmental Conference on Individual Events, in which he called our attention to the "Culture of Qualifying". West (2008) explained that this obsession with qualifying for the AFA-NIET results in three problems: pulling events from the circuit after qualifying, "hunting" for legs in order to qualify for the NIET, and a decrease in the quality of regular season tournaments. He further contended that the AFA-NIET qualification system needs to be replaced – not modified, but replaced – by a method that …

Towards A Novel Tournament Scheduling Algorithm And Statistical Measure Of Team Equity In Large Scale Forensic Tournaments, Mark Kokoska

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

Business items raised at recent national forensics tournaments regarding scheduling seem to be based around issues of an increased number of competitors and a trend for some schools to have a disproportionate amount of competitors in a single event. This paper examines the stated goals in scheduling a tournament as a device that measures the ability of competitors. Stemming from these goals, this paper proposes a novel random scheduling algorithm capable of scheduling a large number of competitors in an individual event. After implementing this algorithm, its performance is measured in relation to its ability to schedule a tournament comparable …

Ballots: A New, Comprehensive And Educational Approach For Evaluating Forensic Competitors, Bradford Wakefield

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

There has been much talk in the forensic community about frustration with events and progression of the activity. The National Forensic Association National Tournament student meeting discussed irritation with the Impromptu event saying that it has been stagnant and not providing the skills needed for application in a world outside forensics. I propose a new ballot that promotes the source and intention of the event while at the same time giving a basis for "real world" application. This would not only remind competitors and judges what the intent of the event is supposed to be but also with the constant …

Conference Proceedings: National Developmental Conference On Individual Events 2010, Daniel Cronn-Mills, Larry Schnoor

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The Fifth NDC-IE was hosted two years later in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the summer of 2010. A total of 90 participants presented papers discussing public speaking events, limited preparation events, oral interpretation events, forensic leadership issues, forensics and service learning and tournament assessment.

Conference Proceedings: National Developmental Conference On Individual Events, Daniel Cronn-Mills

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The Fourth NDC-IE conference occurred eleven years later in Peoria, Illinois. It was hosted by Bradley University in the summer of 2008. This NDC-IE included the largest attendance ever with a total of 93 participants. The topics discussed included: research, the role of a DOF, growth of programs, ethics in forensics, tournament administration, education/competitive duality, growth of the activity and debate and IE relationships.

Conference Proceedings: Third National Developmental Conference On Individual Events: Addressing Individual Events, Nfa Lincoln-Douglas Debate, & Npda Parliamentary Debate, Rice University, Houston, Texas, August 13-16, 1997, Shawnalee A. Whitney

Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events

The Third NDC-IE conference occurred seven years later in Houston, Texas. It was hosted by Rice University and Tyler Junior College in the summer of 1997. A total of 40 participants met and addressed key issues such as judge training and tournament management. In addition, this NDC-IE was also marked by timely discussion of NPDA and NFA-LD.