Tournament Checklist

This is a general chronological checklist for running a tournament on Tabroom. It's not comprehensive, but it should help remind you of things you probably want to do at each stage of the tournament. For a more extensive explanation of each item, see the relevant section of the full manual. If you're not an experienced tabber, you should start with the Tournament Quick Start instead.

You might want to print off a copy of this checklist, and then check off each item as you complete it or decide it's not applicable to your tournament. Going roughly in the order presented here is recommended - it helps avoid problems if you configure judge groups before events, for example.

As Early As Possible

• Request a tournament on Tabroom.
  • Double check your dates, as many of the default deadlines are based off what you enter. Tweak any of the deadlines as you see fit.
  • List your tournament in the correct circuit so it shows up on the main calendar.

Before Online Registration Opens

• Tournament Setup - go through each page of the Settings menu and decide if each available option applies to you.

• Settings - Tournament
  • Name & Info Tab - upload your Invitation document, and if applicable, Congress packet.
  • Settings Tab - Most tournaments should check "Require adult contact info to register," "Log registration changes," and "Publish list of registered schools."
  • Settings Tab - If not using online registration, check "Closed tournament; admin staff registers."
  • Settings Tab - If using Online On-Site Registration, enable it and set the deadlines.
  • Access Tab - give access to any of your tournament staff who will be using the website, helping enter ballots, start rounds, etc.
  • Housing Tab - if your tournament offers housing, configure it here, and see the longer section of the manual on housing.
  • Messages Tab - if you need to set a special message for invoices, registration, or waitlist admission, set them here.

• Settings - Rules & Results
  • Decide if the built-in Tiebreak sets are sufficient, or if your league rules require setting up your own. Create them if necessary.
  • For each Tiebreak set you use, decide if you want to uncheck the box for "No shows/forfeits cannot break/advance."
  • If you have speech events, decide if your speech tiebreaks will use "Truncate Ranks" and configure them on the Tiebreakers tab.
  • If you give Sweepstakes awards, configure a rule set on the Sweepstakes tab.
  • If your tournament gives NDCA Points or TOC bids, configure them on the "Points & Bids" tab.

• Settings - Judges (Repeat for each judge group)
  • Create judge groups. Most tournaments will have one judge group for all IE's, one for congress, and one for each division of debate events. Some tournaments use a combined judge group for all divisions of a single debate event (i.e. one judge group for both open and novice CX). Make sure to give each judge group an abbreviation.
  • Register Tab - Most tournament will want to check "Suppress Judge Codes (names only)" and "Publish the list of judges online" so judges can find themselves more easily.
  • Register Tab - Check the option for "Ask for judge phone #s at registration" - It's almost always good to collect as much contact info as you can.
  • Register Tab - If using online ballots, consider checking the "Require judges to have linked accounts" option. It will offload some of the linking to pre-tournament, rather than during round 1.
  • Register Tab - set one of the two judge burden methods, usually "Entries per judge owed" for IE's, or "Rounds owed per entry" for debate.
  • Register Tab - set a fee for missed rounds of judging.
  • Hires Tab - If offering hired judging or using a hiring exchange, use the Hires tab to configure.
  • Tabbing Tab - Check the box for "Judges can get the same event twice" unless it's an IE judge pool with lots of extra judges.
  • Tabbing Tab - Most tournaments will want to check "Allow panels w/ same school judges."
  • Tabbing Tab - If using MPJ, decide if you want to adjust the MPJ placement weights. If not, the defaults are fine.
  • Ratings Tab - If using MPJ, configure on the Ratings tab by choosing a "Pref Method" and, if applicable, using the "MPJ Tiers" tab to configure tiers.
  • Part Timers Tab - if you predict a large number of part-time judges, such as "Saturday Only" judges, configure part-timer blocks.
  • Pools Tab - Create a Judge Pool for each elim round, which you will auto-populate later with only obligated judges.

• Settings - Events (Repeat for each event)
  • Create Events. The "Add New Event" form has a variety of options you should set for all events. Make sure to give each event an abbreviation, set an entry fee for the event, set the minimum/maximum number of competitors per entry (they will be 1 or 2 unless you have an exotic event), ensure the event is in the right judge group, and choose an entry code format under "Designate entries." Also make sure to set the correct "Event Type" (e.g. Policy, LD, Speech) - only use the generic "Debate" for non-standard events.
  • Registration Tab - If you need to set an entry cap, do so here.
  • Tabulation Tab - Choose a "Preset seeding" method. If using a method other than "random" make sure to add preset seeds after you have all your entries.
  • Tabulation Tab - Choose a tiebreak set to use for speaker awards, if applicable for each event.
  • Tabulation Tab - Check the "Use live updates (Text/Email)" box.
  • Tabulation Tab - If using Online Ballots, check the "Online Ballot Entry" box.
  • Tabulation Tab - Set a minimum and maximum for speaker points, and if applicable, online ballot points.
  • Tabulation Tab - Set the "Point Increments." Most tournaments use either .10 or Half. Choose whether to allow Tied Points.
  • Tabulation Tab - Set the option for "Auto-publish results once next round is paired" to "Full Results." That way, you don't have to worry about manually setting each round's results to public.
  • Tabulation Tab - For most tournaments, check the box for "Allow repeat judging in elims."
  • Tabulation Tab - If you have a very small tournament or very tight judging pool. consider using some of the options in the "Judging" section to remove some common judging restraints (such as allowing repeat judging."
  • Ballot & Rules Tab - If desired, add a message/point scale to the ballot

• Settings

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