* The Debatewise Blog
WODC update on Day three
HiDebatewise HQ here with an update on day three of the WODC
First up, some overdue congratulations to STJ- New Kids on the Opp who won their preliminary round in what was the toughest and strongest field of the three preliminary matches. They managed to win both their debate and get selected over their other three rivals as the best team out of two debates both over whether "Assisted Suicide should be Permitted". Both debates were concisely and accurately described by Johnathan Leader Maynard as both: " high quality debates in argumentation, evidence and sheer quality . However both judges ruled that they also thought that all teams needed to be more briefer and straight to the point and that Team Phillips and Best of Both Coasts were too eager to scrap point for point- possibly as a result of something debated.
Their victory got a positive reaction from Korey Pace the team captain : "First of all, we are very honored to represent the USA as well as St. John's University in the WODC. Looking at the countries whom are participating, there seems to be a representative from every part of the world which will provide lots of interesting and unique perspectives on various topics. This tournament has already been a great learning experience for us because the format calls not only for persuasiveness but also an ample amount of research to back it up. We are looking forward to competing as long as we can in this tournament as the information and feedback we have been receiving has simply just been unmatched to any other tournament we have competed in. We wish the best of luck to [Bosnia], but we are fully determined to win." A brief set of happy and confident remarks from a team who arguably won the toughest and maybe the most fiercely contested preliminary round of the WODC but still like the rest of the teams still in the competition have some more challenges ahead of them.
Our other preliminary debate winners China are also in their own words "excited" to be competing in the WODC particularly as this is Zachary Gill's first competitive debate (nice to see new people competitively debating and a possible chance of giant killing) alongside Frances Chou who is more experienced and the team captain. They're also a bit nervous to be competing against Scotland as : "..I'm guessing they are somewhat experienced and we might be out manned if they have a bigger team than we do. However, we will do our best and look forward to the challenge."
In the mean time we've got a couple of debates for you to follow and to vote on although there is the increasing possibility that a couple of active debates will be declared forfeit so WATCH THIS SPACE to see if we get our first qualifiers a little earlier than we expected . Anyway the debates ongoing in Round 1 are:
Bulgaria ( Proposing) V Israel (Opposing) "
Should all countries have the right to pursue a nuclear defence?" http://www.debatewise.com/debates/1000-all-countries-should-have-the-right-to-pursue-a-nuclear-defence
By the way this is the the one thousandth debate created on Debatewise as a whole. Kind of a milestone although we won't be uncorking the champagne in the office just yet,,, (Four digits yahoo!) but we can allow a few grins at least . As this goes to press we've currently got 624 published debates which is a hundred and one away from a big 750 debates so maybe some celebrations will be in order then...
Venezuela (P) V Indonesia ( O) "Dictatorship is the best path to development"
http://www.debatewise.com/debates/1001-dictatorship-is-the-best-path-to-development
Nigeria (P) V Estonia (O) "All patents should be removed on anti retroviral drugs to fight aids"
http://www.debatewise.com/debates/999-all-patents-should-be-removed-on-anti-retroviral-drugs-to-fight-aids
Dubai (P) V Mexico (O) "Convicted paedophiles should be chemically castrated"
http://www.debatewise.com/debates/1002-convicted-paedophiles-should-be-chemically-castrated
Tomorrow sees the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan start their match against our other African representative in the World Online Debate Championships South Africa, Also as mentioned more than previously, the Chinese team continue their journey in the championships with their first international opponents coming in the form of Scotland. Should be some interesting contests in what is shaping up to be an interesting competition.
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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.
Contact details Tel: 44 20 3393 7223 E-mail info@debatewise.com or postal address Debatewise CIC
Scrutton Street
London
EC2A 4PJ
UK
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
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301
USA
Telephone: (503) 370-6244
Fax: (503) 370-6171
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WODC Just over three days until the words begin to fly ! (Press Release)
Yesterday August the 6th at 11.00 BST (10.00GMT), The draw to set the grid for the first round of the inaugural World Online Debating Championships took place in London. Conducting it were Debatewise’s founders David Crane and Marcin Zaleski as well Project Co-Coordinator Stephanie Gaynor. Neill Harvey Smith the Chief Adjudicator for the WODC was also present. There are some interesting matches already in prospect in this first round and a interesting global exchange of views is guaranteed from the start of proceedings.The opening matches of the tournament will both commence at noon GMT (11.00 BST) on Monday August the 10th and are between Nigeria (who will propose) and Estonia (who will oppose and Bulgaria versus Israel ,who’s team qualified in a preliminary round through the other team in the match forfeiting. After these two other debates will start at midday each day until all of the matches have begun. The identity of our first of sixteen second round teams should be known around Friday the 15th . However the top losers will qualify for the second round so there are opportunities for redemption and revenge for some of the teams who lost out first time.
Representing the home nations ,Scotland start by opposing the Chinese on Thursday the 13th with England disputing a motion proposed by Singapore on Saturday the 15th of August. Other matches to look out for include a contest between the two L’s: Latvia and their neighbours from the south, Lithuania will ensue on Friday the 14th with a sub continental battle between India and Bangladesh beginning on Wednesday. Also an interesting match between the US and Bosnia will start on Friday.
People can keep up to date with the competition by watching the debates as they happen on Debatewise.com and possibly deciding who wins by registering and voting on whatever team they think has the best argument if the adjudicators can’t make up their minds. If they tie then the Chief Adjudicator gets to say the last word for the match. Reports on each of the rounds will be posted on the Debatewise blog which can be accessed at (www.debatewise.com/info) and the Facebook Group which can be found at (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=88378553341 ). Debatewise’s spokes bird will also be making some interesting tweets over on Twitter about the WODC as well as office life, the universe etc. You can find it squawking on its perch at: http://twitter.com/Debatewise and it doesn't want crackers!
FIRST ROUND DRAW- MATCHES
Starting on:
Monday the 10th of August
(Proposing) Nigeria V Estonia (Opposing)
(P) Bulgaria V Israel (O)
Tuesday 11th of August
(P) Venezuela V Indonesia (O)
(P) Dubai (V) Mexico (O)
Wednesday the 12th of August
(P) Bangladesh V India (O)
(P) Pakistan V Chile (O)
Thursday the 13th
(P)Japan V South Africa (O)
(P) China V Scotland (O)
Friday the 14th
(P)USA V Bosnia (O)
(P)Latvia V Lithuania(O)
Saturday the 15th
(P)Canada V Macedonia (O)
(P) Singapore V England (O)
So it's over three days until the words start flying but which countries will make a nice landing? Be wise and watch out
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.
Contact details Tel: 44 20 3393 7223 E-mail info@debatewise.com or postal address Debatewise CIC
Scrutton Street
London
EC2A 4PJ
UK
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
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301
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WODC- Aujudication pool revealed
Leo here again with the latest news on the World Online Debating Championships. First up we at debatewise finally know who some of the adjudicators are going to be, an group of people that our Chief Adjudicator Neil Harvey Smith describes as " the best all-star adjudication pool ever put together". In alphabetical order they are:- Ray D'Cruz
Monica Ferris
-Colm Flynn
Connie Grieve
-Andy Hume
-Ian Lising,
-Logan
Jonathan Leader Maynard
Tony Murphy
Can Okar
Sharmila Parmanand
Omar Salahuddin
With more still to follow we have a group of very high quality people for what is promising to be a high quality competition. Debaters whether novices or old hands are going to get a massive opportunity to learn their craft and the rest of the world will also be able to follow and learn too.
Meanwhile two teams Um Shmum and Pakak Pakka are squaring off in the only preliminary round to see who gets to be in the championships being the standard bearer for Israel . Their Hebrew names are pretty dismissive of certain institutions and everbody else respectively but who will be the ones doing the dismissing or suffering an early dismissal? Here's the link for those interested to see and maybe help shape the fate of this preliminary roundhttp://www.debatewise.com/debates/985-surrogate-mothers-should-be-allowed-to-profit-financially-from-surrogacy
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WODC-You’re the third man or woman
Following that first press release a quick note about the ongoing contests in the World Online Debating Championships preliminary round. When it comes to judging each contest will be decided by a pair of adjudicators(referee) plus a third person. If they can't make a decision on who comes first or second then they'll turn to the third person who is not going to be exactly in the room... YOU. If you're registered you can do some voluntary jury service and influence the outcome by voting for the debate at the bottom of the page for each debate on who you think has made the most convincing argument (Not just who you agree with please!) . If the adjudicators can't agree on who they think is the winner then they'll look at the vote totals in the top right hand corner of the screen. The winners will be the team with the most votes from registered after the summation when the two adjudicators will count the votes and make their ruling . If the vote is tied then the Chief Adjudicator will be the one who makes the final call.
For the record the matches currently taking place in this preliminary round are:
STJ- New kids on the Opp (For) vs Team Adium (Against)- USA Preliminary Round 1 -http://www.debatewise.com/debates/983-assisted-suicide-should-be-permitted-1
Best of Both Coasts (For) vs Phillips Academy's Philomathean Society- USA Preliminary Round 1 -http://www.debatewise.com/debates/984-assisted-suicide-should-be-permitted-2
The winners of these matches advance to the next preliminary round where they'll type off against each other to see who goes on to represent the United States in the WODC themselves
Qoo Zee (For) vs Team Cecilee (Against)- China Preliminary Round http://www.debatewise.com/debates/982-prisoners-should-be-used-for-medical-experiments-without-consent- China Preliminary Round
The winner of this round will represent China in the World Online Debating Championships.
So make your marks on either side of the debate.
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Official Press Release for the start of the WODC Preliminary Round
“And nation shall debate unto nation.”
Debatewise is pleased to announce that the preliminary round of the inaugural World Online Debating Championships (WODC) is currently taking place. This is to decide which debating teams from the United States of America, Israel and China will go on to represent their country in the Championships themselves which begin on August the 10th . They and other teams will compete in a straight knockout tournament lasting just over a month in a format that brings together the length of test cricket with the cut and thrust of politics of Westminster. This is a joint initiative with the International Debate Education Association and the World Universities Debating Council some of who’s members are acting as Adjudicators with Neill Harvey Smith being the Chief Adjudicator.
The championships are taking place in a time of great international economic, political and social turmoil and domestic discontent across many countries including our own. We believe strongly that never before has the need for debate by individuals of whatever race, age, gender, creed, physical or neurological condition from the quiet or noisy corners of the globe has never been greater than now ,whether on issues related to one place or many places in the world. We also believe that the internet can play a crucial part in facilitating and strengthening discussion as part of a stronger global discourse. The recent events in Iran are a shining example of the webs power to bring important issues to the attention of an international audience. The World Online Debating Championships can play a part in this by bringing countries together to thrash out issues on an array of era defining subjects, ranging from should assisted suicide be illegal to should prisoners be used for medical experiments without their consent.
Currently we have strong representation from across Asia with teams hailing from Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea, a variety of the ex Soviet countries in Eastern Europe as well as teams from the major debating powers Australia the USA and the UK. We also hope to have some teams representing regions as well.
The winners of the World Online Debating Championships will be revealed on September the 21st and will receive a suitable reward for their commitment, intelligence and passion over the past month. But whoever wins or loses we hope that bringing people together from different countries in the spirit of competition as well as intellectual exchange will strengthen the global discourse and that people will come away from it, be it competitors or spectators determined to talk freely and frankly beyond the boundaries of mere nation states. It is time for nation to debate unto nation.
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.
Contact details Tel: 44 20 3393 7223 E-mail info@debatewise.com or postal address Debatewise CIC
Scrutton Street
London
EC2A 4PJ
UK
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
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301
USA
Telephone: (503) 370-6244
Fax: (503) 370-6171
www.debatewise.com/wodc
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Weekly 5 and a massive welcome to the first 5 volunteers from the class of 2010
Konban Wa!Here's what I've been doing for the past week
Well the office has become progressively more quiet this past week with David going off South East towards Bosnia for two weeks, Alex leaving today for the Highlands of Scotland again for two weeks and Steph hunting for work (Oh and not to forget Pete leaving. So here's 5 things what I've been doing:
1. Placing adverts and attempting to place adverts for volunteers to join the Rapid Response Team and...
2. Welcoming five new Team members in, the first new members of the class of 2009-2010. I've already e-mailed them privately but once again a warm and cheerful, public welcome to Olusha Ojikutu, Arfraz Majeed, Sean Cable, Michael Archer and Daniel Lipman who are the first five new members to join this summer. It's nice to see I may be greedy but we're still looking for more people whether you're young old, disabled or non disabled, LGBT or straight, Black or white. The Rapid Response Team is effectively one of the motors on the site and a good bit of competition for us interns at HQ as well as raising the standard of debating for all contributors whether RRT HQ or not. After all we can't have Alex (who's going to be the first to score 1000 Karma tomorrow) or me( who was first to break the 500 K mark in June getting all the achievements on Debatewise!
3.Editing and working on debates such as one on whether the latest swimsuits used in competitive swimming are a form of mechanical doping ,something that has added significance given that the Swimming World Championships are happening in Rome at the moment .
4. Not related to work but... I went out on a trip for people on the National Autistic Society's Transitions Scheme to Greenwich on Thursday seeing the Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory as well as the Planetarium. On that note A huge friendly shout out of appreciation to those people from Goldman Sachs who organised, facilitated and went around with all of us in the cool but nice weather on that day as well as the staff from Transitions. I had a really interesting time viewing the various exhibits and sitting and watching the 3D movie and it was nice meeting the different people who went both autistic and non autistic. I even got to blow some rust off my passing and dribbling skills (which I haven't done in at least a year) as well as enjoy some nice sandwiches too!
5.Back to things debating related, I've also been responding to last minute inquiries from people about the WODC before the deadline for registration closed. I can't report on the precise breakdown of the nations yet although rest assured that will be coming soon along with the draw and reports on each of the rounds of the WODC as and when they happen.
Well got to leave the workstation clean but derelict for now as the weekend's calling.
Sayonara
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All good things come to an end
"And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain"Well the time has finally come when unfortunately I need to bid my very fond farewells. Due to a variety of reasons, I have had to tell Dave that it is time to seek pastures new and end my time at Debatewise HQ. When I replied to that advert on w4mp, I had no idea how much fun it would be working at Debatewise, and without any hint of a lie, it has been the most enjoyable 4 months of my working life thus far.
The reason I have enjoyed my time so much can be put down to the people I have worked with, and the environment I worked in. The Debatewise team are all so amazing for a variety of reasons and working with them has been such a pleasure. Dave has been such a fantastic and encouraging boss, easily the best I have had, Alex is one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable guys I have ever met, Leo is such a friendly and enthusiastic person and Steph has been such a ray of light in this office, and has really helped to give me more self confidence. There was also Betony and Judith, both sadly departed, who were lovely women, and I know they will be really successful in their future endeavours.
I intend to continue contributing to the site, and want to catch Alex and Leo on the Karma leader board. You guys are going down!
I don’t know what I am going to do in the future, but if it comes remotely close to my Debatewise experience, then I know I am onto a winner.
God Bless
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what we have been doing this week
A week without Steph (and without leo after monday) so frankly it has been a quiet week!Alex – mostly debates this week
1, for revisewise I have been researching data collection methods, both quantitative and qualitative, on the assumption that the point of a pilot project would be to study revisewise and we need to have some idea how we would go about such a study.
2, I have been writing historical debates (Cromwell) and adding to some that Leo made (McNamara).
3, took part in the debate on ‘does mother nature rule the world?’ for radical nature. I also picked out some quotes from the debate that I believe were read out.
4, took part in a test debate for the WODC, those Chinese sure can write a lot so it was lots of effort to keep up!
5, Made a revisewise debate on World Systems Analysis.
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Five things for the week
It is time to list what we have been up to this week1) Have gone on a bit sport debate crazy, I have written two football debates this week
2) Researched hotels and hostels that can be used for the idea exchange
3) Kept adding to the leads for potential clients to buy our software, this has been keeping Steph nice and busy
4) Had a good session of the papers, some very interesting debates where thought of. Unfortunately as it was so hot we did not have the chance to have chocolate
5) Not work related, but went to see Blur on Thursday night. It was amaaaaaaaaaazing
Alex... the comment about chocolate above, sorry my fault for buying the papers in the morning rather than when we were going to use them, chocolate would never have survived 5 hours in the heat :( I should buy some biscuits instead.
1, edited several debates for the newsletter, adding points etc to make them presentable and up to standard.
2, had a debate with my brother on whether Obama should have done more to help the Iranian moderates.
3, written a FAQ for debatewise
4, written some moderating guidelines for when we begin moderating debates on other sites (there is very little moderation on debatewise itself)
5, wrote a quick walk through of the WODC for our Chinese contestants in the test run next week.
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World Online Debating Championships: T-35 days
Just over a month to go until the start of the main competition stage of the World Online Debating Championships and so far we've got interest from 12 different countries from the four corners of the globe That's ten if you count the UK as one but then you'd be risking the wrath of a large amount of nationalists from both sides of the border, Sorry unionists!. Whatever, Stand by for more than a few sporting and edgy political observations as I go through the possible countries that could be involved so far. Out of the Home nations who have entered so far it's the Auld Enemies England and Scotland who meaning we could see debating's equivalent of the Calcutta Cup (a rugby union match between England and Scotland normally held during the Six Nations tournament). A competitor or team from Turkey beat all of the other European Union entries bar the UK in entering. Interestingly enough Turkey is where next year's World University Debating Championships will be held. Crossing over the Black Sea to the Middle East we find two key members of the Middle East peace process Israel and Jordan looking at competing . Also a large amount of entries have come from Asia and especially South East Asia with entrants or should I say wisers coming from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore which given the large amount of territorial disputes and nature of the countries should be interesting. South Africa is the first country of the African continent to get involved. The USA is also involved so far being the only North American representative although that will change as some of it’s north American cousins will want to put the world’s oldest democracy in it’s place. Finally last but not least the Japan may well also be fielding entrants making it the first to do so from the Far East.This is because one of the things we'll be doing next week is putting the finishing touches ( a touch of Western arrogance maybe?) to the destruction of the People's Republic of China's Green Wall as we hold a test debate between a group of our very own rapid response team's finest (with more than a little bit of input from certain people in HQ) and a team of students somewhere in the PRC as a dry run before the mayhem begins. We've had one in house debate so far using the system and despite a few teething troubles it works. Next week's test will be a good final shakedown although I'll be missing it (grr) as I'll be off to Italy with a new passport! .Expensive but worth it and I won't be losing this one in a pile anytime soon! Can't win them all.
Although the WODC is over a month away the deadline for registering is on July the 19th which is just over two weeks away. To find out more information and possibly register your interest in taking part click this link hereclick this link here which will take you to the WODC page on the site.
=
Good luck to both sides involved, may the best team in the shake down win and may the site be fully prepared for the five or more rounds that are to come!
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so what is a revisewise debate?
I have been thinking of adding a debate on Cromwell in Scotland (I have some notes on the topic from a few years ago) but should it go on the main site or revisewise?on the revisewise side:
The debate is academic in that what I have was for a presentation when back in uni.
It is history which is not something we really get debates on for the main debatewise site so fits in better with the content in revisewise.
on the debatewise main site side:
I dont have any references and footnotes for it as it came from a presentation, so it would not be helpful at guiding users to other sources for the topic, which I consider to be one of the big reasons for revisewise.
I dont want history to be totally relegated to revisewise, politics debates can be in either depending on the subject matter or the wishes of the creator of the debate, so why should history be any different?
In my view it is not rigorous enough,yes I had multiple sources at the time, but what use is it if I dont know what they were? On the other hand the point of debatewise is that the arguments will get better, it is possible that someone would find the sources I used and add to it.
Essentially there is no obvious dividing line between debatewise and revisewise, what should be in a general archive of debate and what comes under the 'academic' archive? I dont really know and I suggest that the disdinction should be up to the creator of the debate, if you are creating a debate that is with the intention that it will be used for education, be it yours or your friends then it should be revisewise. If the debate is just out of your general interest then debatewise.
Anyone have any views where we should set this line?
p.s. ill probably put the debate on the main site even if only as a token history debate!
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railways
I tend to think of myself as quite a frequent rail traveller and fairly knowledgeable about how they work however this does not prevent me regularly being baffeled by delays on our railways. As I get the train from Reading into Paddington every morning the train (whether it is the 9:35, 37 or 45 from Reading) almost always stops outside Paddington for a few minutes. Im pretty sure there are set platforms that they are supposed to go into, if there is a train that does not leave until mine is supposed to be arriving to free up the platform then why not change the timetable by a minute? What is even odder is that it even seems to happen when late, how can there not be a platform free?I assume this must all be down to a lack of capacity for the number of trains meaning that the staff in the signal boxes must be juggling trains and platforms right up to the moment the train arrives. So we need more investment and no real chance of getting it until after the recession is over. Crossrail in 4-5 years time should mean even more trains running along the line to maidenhead, I wonder if it will help or hinder?
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Five things and gone fishing or rather recruiting
Konichi Wa or Konban Wan or whatever greeting in whatever language you speak.Here's five things I've done last week and Monday:
1.Created Facebook, Myspace and Bebo groups all trying to get people to come and compete in or follow the World Online Debating Championships
2. Spread my wings and started tweeting as the new spokes-bird for debatewise.
3. Managed to potentially get an article into two publications for autistic people
4. Battled sleep while watching a training video for Salesforce (Still got more to watch!)
5. Helped Alex with the new FAQ section and worked on various debates such as on Formula 1
Out of the five activities I've been doing this week most of these things involved doing one thing: fishing for people for different purposes which is tricky. This is particuarly since I'm in the stage of doing what any good fisherman or woman does and setting out his bait for unsuspecting fish to come and take a bite and get reeled in. Difference is with interns people know what they're letting themselves in for hopefully and I can't hurt any people by either creating a hole in their tongues with a metal hole in their mouth's or getting them trapped in a fishing net. One thing remains the same in fishing and recruiting: what bait or where to go?. Debatewise is a not for profit meaning zero budget for promotion or recruitment so... that means thinking about trying to make an offer that people and advertising companies can not refuse, something that I'm getting the hang of. A great thing for whipping up passion in the team ethic that is debatewise but a tricky challenge meaning that I'm looking for outlets from the quiet corners of the globe as well as the loud ones. Any tips for how to fish (recruit) ethically but effectively in strange waters for people would be great fully appreciated. Oh and any new people too...
Anyway got to flutter off now
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another week
so another week over at debatewise. Dave is off at Glastonbury (its alright for some) and not much is going on here at HQ.still forgot to do any 5 a week last week so I guess I had better do one.
Alex
1, on account of not doing this last week I did not put down that I have taken charge of our weekly look at the papers in search of debates; always one of the best bits of the week!
2, written a set of guidelines for users of the site (mostly to be used for the while lable)
3, starting on a FAQ
4, meeting with debatemate; looks positive, to do with education so fits with revisewise
5, meeting today with Unlock democracy: want us to do the same with votematch for the general election as EU elections, they are also attempting to organise a big conference on parliamentary participation for GCSE/A level kids that we could be involved with
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British Sporting Summer
It is a sunny day outside, and after realising that no blog posts have been entered for almost two weeks , I have decided to indulge myself and blog about my most favourite of topics- sport.As an avid, some might say obsessive football fan, I dont generally find much time to be interested in any other sports through the months of August-May, with the notable exception of my love for horse racing (which has become increasingly expensive of late, however as the USA showed last night, all runs must come to an end sometime).
However once the football season has finished, there is a rather large stretch of balmy summer days in which I desperately need something to cure my 'sports fix'. This is something that the British sporting calendar manages quite well, with a raft of sports that manage to captivate my attention and banish the tedium of the endlesss summer transfer rumour mill. Already this summer we have had the twenty twenty cricket world cup, which I actually rather enjoyed, especially since I have had no previous interest in cricket. There has also been the lions tour, the US golf open and some of the finest horse racing you will ever see in the form of the Epsom Derby which was won by the magnficent Sea the Stars, who became in the process the first horse for twenty years to win the Derby/2000 Guineas double. This feat would have been met with a much greater level of admiration had the horse not passed Fame & Glory, my latest in an increasing line of 'unwise decisions' with only just over a furlong remaining. There has also been the glamour and style of Royal Ascot, with the Aidan O'Brien trained Yeats winning his 4th Ascot gold cup in a row, placing him in the pantheon of racing legends.
However, there are two sporting events that occur during this strange period of football limbo that i always look forward to. The first of these started on monday, and is of course Wimbledon. Tennis is a sport that is on virtually all year round, with bountiful coverage on SKY etc, but because I have football to contend with i am largely apathetic towards it. However come the end of June, for two weeks i become a tennis fanatic. There is something that always gets me about the way Wimbledon looks, and with players of the skill of Federer & Nadal to watch, you can't help to be drawn towards it. There is also the very real possiblity that a young Scotsman called Andy Murray could finally end Britains drought of winners at the top table of tennis.
The second event that holds me in raptures is the Open golf championship. I have always fancied myself as a golfer, and like the idea of early mornings on a picturesuqe golf course, prowling the greens like Tiger Woods. However my total lack of patience (read hand to eye co-oridination) has meant that trips to the golf course are often very infuriating affairs, and best not to be done on a regular basis. I find watching the golf very relaxing, and the BBC commentry team of Peter Alliss and Sam Torrence are very interesting and frequently hillarious. I am actually going to the last two days at Turnberry this year, so lets hope for an exciting tournament and either an Iain Poulter or Padraig Harrington victory would be nice.
On top of all this excitement there is the Ashes, the rugby league challenge cup final, aswell as other exciting events that I have probably forgotten about.
This is what will keep me interested untill that glorious kick off in August with teams sporting shiny new kits, your team has signed that silky Zidane esque midfielder that is going to cure all the problems of last season, and willl romp to an undefeated season that will go down in history with my grandchildrens grandchildren still talking about THAT team in in the most reverent of whispers. Then the referee goes and ruins it all by signalling for kick off and you remember that your defenders can't defend and your strikers cant score and that new signing is more like bananna man than Zidane. It's going to be a long season, COME ON THE HOOPS
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DrinksWise
I have thought of a brand new, exciting product to go under the 'wise' brand. In fact it is more of an event than a product, and i guarantee that it will be successful.The event starts at 17.30 hours, with all attendees meeting at the Old Kings Head pub which is on the corner of Scrutton Street and Hollywell Row in Londons trendy Shoreditch. The nearest tube stations are Old Street (Northern Line), Liverpool Street (Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines) and Moorgate (Northern, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines). The event has no definitive end time or venue, and will occur every Friday evening from now on.
Here are some recommendations:
DrinksWise is an excellent team building event, everybody and thier dog (especially ones named Marley) should go- Steph Gaynor, Sales Guru
If it was not for DrinksWise I would not be the man i am today- Alex Helling, Academic Superstar
After attending DrinksWise visits to the pub have never been the same again- Leo Capella, Debating Author Extraordinaire
DrinksWise was created for people who like making informed but drunken decisions- David Crane, CEO Maestro
Ahm so pished ah dinae ken wur ah um any mare- Peter Lally, Stereotypical Drunken Scotsman
Hope you can join us
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Five things for the week
Its time to list the five things we have done this week1. Had the best week since i started at debatewise, not necessarily a task but worth trumpeting
2. Finished the first drafts for the screen casts, Dave is tweaking them for another go next week
3. More cold calling of companies, slowly getting better and leads are coming together
4. Had a meeting with the wonderful Alistair to help cement a Debatewise vision for the future, also made further progress with leads
5. Researched local independent newspapers to contact for partnerships.
Stephanie
1. Followed some leads, meetings and discussions. Did 'Business' as you do
2. Listen, learnt and was encouraged by Alistair- Share my views and added input into direction and vision
3. Made some calls, did some lunches, set up a few meetings with some like-minded websites which were interested
4. Attending one of these meetings with ispystrangers Tony Grew, working together to establish core values
5. Wrote another blog which is starting to become a little addictive
Alex
1. nice to be involved in 2 new ideas sessions, one with Alistair and one on the webby – suggested several of the things I want for revisewise as well as various other ideas - not had ideas sessions for a while
2. been looking at possible funding for revisewise, seems to be quite a difficult task. This can be subdivided in various ways, first off looking at funding within the UK and then also Europe (nightmare and still don’t have a clue if there is anything at all relevant – its EUROPE there MUST BE SOMETHING!!!) not yet really looked at the US.
3. Another area I have only just started looking at is the private foundations and grant making institutions, both in the UK and the US.
4. put down my rough ideas on archives and debatewise...
5. leading to sending some emails off to some people who know about archives, basically to see if they get back to me with any ideas/ways for collaboration etc.
Dave
1. Very interesting meeting with a potential client for the Debatewise white label service
2. Great sales meeting with Alasdair and the gang, think we have a strategy here
3. Almost finished the written portion of the updated business plan
4. Made styling improvements to the comments section
5. Tidied the wires under our desks, now all is neat and tidy and my mind is eased.
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The Ebb and Flow of ‘Business’
With no experience, interest or abilities in Business I struggle to add anything to our mission apart from enthusiasm. Finding myself bewildered by money, business strategies and the confidence to ‘flog’, I find myself powering enthusiasm into the Debatewise team, hoping that it will settle and empower those who do know what they are doing. Compared to a puppy, I bounce along, hoping that my positivity will encourage people to throw money at us but it doesn’t really work like that. I am confident now in my ability as a cold-caller and have managed to set up a few meetings with smaller organisations, but the BIG, BAD corporate machines still petrify me with their receptionist and gatekeepers. As I have recently learnt, it is one thing to have an idea, yet another to implement it. There is a fear with any philanthropic, pioneering vision that it just isn’t sellable, for our own sustainability, online debate doesn’t necessarily appease businesses with that ‘what’s in it for me’ factor. So we are forever evolving as companies do... with Revisewise, Consultwise, Discusswise. Our abilities to think outside the box perhaps got a little side tracked with the new arm of our company, Drinkswise, even if it does have a good ring to it; ‘DrinksWise created for people who like making informed but drunken decision’. So its Friday and here I am, raising my glass to Debatewise and its drive to take the business world by storm!Click here to add your comment
Five things for the week
Its that time again where we tell everybody of the five things we are most proud of this week.Pete
1. Started on the cold calling, it was pretty scary at first but I am getting used to it
2. Got some replies from a couple of companies as a result of my cold calling, lets hope these turn into physical meetings
3. Wrote a blog on my expereinces of being a salesman so far, I can see why people enjoy 'blogging'
4. Continued with the screen casting. The 'how to use Debatewise' screen cast is practically done, just needs its voice over
5. Tried to contribute to a lenghty brain storming session this morning on how to drive Debatewise forward and safeguard its future.
Alex
1. Wrote a blog post for donklephant (along with a debate to go with it)
2. Wrote a blog post for our blog on the new comments system
3. Written up some new ideas for revisewse
4. Written a list of the changes that are possible or to be done for revisewise, along with reasons for them.
5. Done 2 revisewise debates (managed to publish one in the wrong place) things had not been changed recently enough.
Dave
1. Finished a pitch so that local authorities know just how much they need Debatewise
2. Arranged a meeting with sales guru people to help us work out a) if we actually have anything to sell and if so, b) how to sell it
3. Undertook leadership expertise course, apparently Jedi mind tricks not necessary
4. Started organising a debate for the Barbican through our lovely landlords Bash
5. Got more great tips on how to move us forward from Nick. Thanks Nick.
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