*The Debatewise Blog
WODC Officially underway in the first round!
The waiting is over, we are finally underway with the beginning of the World Online Debating Championship going off smoothly at 12.00 GMT. The field is set with 25 different countries competing the debates are ready, and we have our final line up of contestants well almost…Team Qoozee go through to become the team representing China in the first round of the WODC and will be squaring off against Scotland after a unanimous decision by the judges in favour of them. However the victory wasn't as much a flawless victory as a shaky start as neither of the adjudicators thought that both teams had done much to distinguish themselves with both sides making key mistakes by not doing a good team effort and more importantly according to Ian Lising :“The materials that are somewhat related to arguments from either side of the House were never linked to the impacts they are assumed to bear” meaning that the evidence cited was not tied in effectively to the impacts they were assumed to have for example with Swine flu . However a win is a win but both Frances Chou and zgill will be looking to build on that as they face some Celtic competition in the form of Team Scotland who will be waiting to launch a motion to them on Thursday.
Representing the Israeli's (who start off by opposing Nigeria) are what used to be Pakak Paka having got a walkover as Um Shmum failed to make their arguments in the set time for their match that had been previously rescheduled because of personal reasons affecting one of the teams.
More information to follow on the US preliminary round which instead of being two rounds was one round where the best team out of both debates will capture the flag and become the ones carrying the hopes of the land of the free in this competition. This is contrary to an earlier press release which assumed that the US round would be two knockout rounds rather than one judged round so apologies for that. We’ll reveal the identity of the American team as soon as it is officially confirmed.
In the meantime a quick explanation on how the first round of the finals is going to work. Twelve matches will be fought over the next two weeks with two matches beginning each day until Saturday. The match winners will qualify directly to the second round where there will be a nervous wait for the other teams as there are three best losers places up for grabs. The only country that can rest totally easy for the moment is South Korea as being the odd team out in the draw and with no other teams registering before the start of play they automatically go into the second round.
Finally a few words of observation from our CEO David Crane. While David wisely wouldn’t be drawn on who he believes will win. David thinks the winning team will have good concise well referenced arguments and will be very capable of countering their opponents arguments.
Good luck to all of those who are competing in the championship over the next two months. As for those of you who are watching sit back relax and enjoy the ride (oh and maybe help decide the outcome by registering on the site and voting on some of the title fights) ,The waiting is over it’s time for people to start debating.
Points of Information for Journalists
Debatewise (www.debatewise.com) is an not for profit online debating site where people can register for free to create and strengthen new contents bringing together the strongest arguments and counter arguments on virtually anything. The WODC is one of a number of initiatives Debatewise run including Revisewise which is a tool that can be used for revision by students. It was founded in 2008 by David Crane. It is currently based out of Bash Studios Scrutton Street in London and it’s patrons include Michael Crick, Gabby Logan and Chris Heaton Harris.
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The International Debate Education Association: The International Debate Education Association (www.idea.com) was created in 1999 to co-ordinate pilot member programmes. “IDEA acts as an independent membership organization of national debate clubs, associations, programs, and individuals who share a common purpose: to promote mutual understanding and democracy globally by supporting discussion and active citizenship locally.”
Contact details: For any inquiries about IDEA please contact it’s Salem office
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