Berlin Worlds newspaper is seeking writing staff

This is an opportunity for everyone joining Berlin Worlds to do something interesting in their spare time. If you are, for instance, an observer who would like to write down some of their observations on real paper, our printed daily, a major Worlds tournament newspaper, will give you the chance to do so.

Interested? Get in touch with Press Secretary Annette Kirste soon.

Berlin Worlds Observer Policy

The representatives of the registered institutions have been informed by email about the technicalities of the registration process for observers. The deadline for registrations is August 4th, the deadline for full payment September 4th. If your representative has not received the message or if you are interested but not part of a registered institution, please get in touch with Participant Affairs.

Observers are able to fully take part in Berlin Worlds but will not be speaking or judging in the tournament. That means they get accommodation for the duration of the tournament (December 27th to January 4th), though probably not at the Hotel Berlin, Berlin due to limited capacity; they also get three meals a day; they may participate in all socials and, of course, observe all preliminary and break rounds. To cover all costs the observer fee is 850 EUR per person.

Eligible are all persons who are at least 18 years old and able to enjoy an exciting 9-day tournament among more than a thousand students from all over the world. You do not have to be a student or a supervisor at any registered institution, not even a debater.

[Update, Sep 24th: Registration may still be possible. Please email Head of Registrations Teresa Widlok if you are interested.]

[Update, Oct 27: The registration for observers is now closed]

Berlin Worlds registration update VII

Your institution representative has received the following email from Participant Affairs:

Dear institution reps, 

We are currently in the process of sorting out payments and calculating the amount of teams and adjudicators that will be allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions that have paid:

We will be confirming payment in the FastRego System by Friday. If you have paid but do not receive an automatic email from FastRego by Friday midnight Berlin time, please contact us immediately. If you do not receive an email by then, we have not received your proof of payment. Institutions that have not been granted a rare exception and from whom we have not received proof of payment will be cut and their team and adjudicator spots allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions on the waiting list:

We will begin granting free team and adjudicator spots to institutions on Saturday according to the published order of registration. We can only grant team and adjudicator spots to institutions that have created an account with FastRego. If there are any institutions seeking team spots who have not registered with FastRego, these institutions should do so immediately. To do this please click on “Sign up”, enter your personal data and manually add your institution to the institution register (there is a link at the bottom of the institution list!).

Institutions not registered with FastRego by Saturday will forfeit their place on the list of allocations.

Institutions allocated spots in this phase of registration are expected to make the down payment and upload their screenshot of the proof of payment by June 2nd 2012. Bank data can be found in a previous post. Special requests or concerns should be addressed in a timely manner to info@wudcberlin.com.

Best,

John and Dessislava

Berlin Worlds registration update VI

Do not forget to pay! 
The deadline for down payments is next Tuesday, May 22nd. Make sure your institution representative has uploaded the required screenshot by then onto FastRego. Otherwise you lose your ticket to Berlin.

Expect further slots! 
Judging by the number of institutions that have signed up on FastRego, it looks like we will be able to allocate further team slots to quite a few institutions on Wednesday, May 23rd. So, please, stay tuned, make sure someone check the mailbox of your contact address and be ready to make a second down payment within a week.

Observe the observer policy! 
Our observer policy will be published after the down-payments phase. Those of you who are required to have an observer accompanying you will be granted at least one observer slot. Most likely we will be able to accommodate all prospective observers.

Travel note: Berlin airports

Some of you may be thinking about taking an airplane to Berlin. And so, some of you may be wondering how many airports we have, how many of them are in operation, and which ones those are. Valid questions.

We were supposed to get the new "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt" (BER) by 2011, then June 2012, and now, according to latest statements, March 2013. That means BER will not be a WUDC airport after all.

Tegel (TXL) and Schönefeld (SXF), the two international airports currently in operation, will therefore stay open a little longer than planned before they get replaced by BER on SXF grounds eventually. They are both marked on our Berlin debate map.

One Berlin newspaper considers Tegel, the airport of the old West Berlin, a dump, which may not make it another year, but it's actually a nice one, comfortably close to the centre of the city. Schönefeld, the airport of the old East, is located in Brandenburg, directly at the southern border of Berlin. The merger of the two airports has been described as a last piece in the puzzle that is the German reunification.

[Update from October 2012: the BER opening is now scheduled for October 2013. The planning as a whole is on track to become a legendary scandal.]

Berlin Worlds registration update V

Dear WUDC institution representatives,

We are in the process of granting teams in the FastRego System. The system should automatically generate an email indicating the number of teams and adjudicators for which you must make a down payment.  The down payment deadline is May 22nd .

If you have not created your account yet, please do so as soon as possible. We will only be accepting scans and or screenshots uploaded through the FastRego System as proof of payment. Institutions that have been allocated slots and do not upload a proof of payment of 50% of their total balance by May 22nd will lose these slots.

Down payments are, unfortunately, non-refundable. Please ensure that you will be able to make future payments in order not to lose your down payment.

If you are on the waiting list and have not yet been allocated a team, please do not pay anything until you receive notice of allocation from us. Do, however, set up an account in the FastRego System, as all notices of allocation will be made through it.

Our payment system works as follows:

1. Check your FastRego account. We have granted teams and judges according to the published criteria. In your account you will see the total balance due for all judges and speakers/teams (400 EUR per participant).

2. Please transfer 50% of the total balance to the following account. You may also transfer the total amount.

WUDC World Univ. Debating Championship Bln 2013 UG

IBAN: DE91 1004 0000 0598 8399 00

BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Account No.: 598839900

Bank Code: 10040000
Bank: Commerzbank

Bank's address: Berlin-Geschaeftskundencenter // Friedrichstr. 62 // 10117 Berlin // Germany
Recipient's address: Bornemannstr. 6 // 13357 Berlin // Germany

Important: You are responsible for covering the costs of the transfer. Make sure to tell your bank that you will be paying any fees associated with the transfer or the conversion of currencies.

3. After you have completed the transaction please make a screenshot or scan the payment confirmation and upload it onto the FastRego System. Input your account number and the date of transaction so that we can find the transfer in our records.

Important: Make sure to process the payment on time! The down payment deadline is May 22nd. If we have not received the screenshot by May 22nd, you will lose your slots.

We will be very strict in enforcing the deadlines!

Kind Regards,
Dessislava & John
(Participant Affairs)

Berlin Worlds registration update IV

Important: Please make sure your institution representative is aware of this!

Dear All,

we have started processing the data in the FastRego System. Institution representatives should please check their FastRego account as the number of teams and judges granted will be shown there. You can also find the total amount of euros you have to pay there. The down payment of 50% of that total amount is due by May 22nd. You will receive the bank account details in the next days. You can only complete phase 2 of the registration and make the down payment if you are in FastRego! Not signing up will eventually result in your institution losing its slots! 

Kind regards,
Dessislava&John
(info@wudcberlin.com)

Berlin IV 2012 registration opened

The regular number of tournaments hosted by the Berlin Debating Union each year is three. We have a large beginners-oriented tournament as part of the German-language Free Debate League, a fine Invitational, and this:


The Berlin IV 2012 will take place from June 29th to July 1st. Those of you whom we had the pleasure to host in previous years may recall a deep adjudication pool and hot socials. Once again we plan to invest every cent we can raise in the quality of the tournament.

This year, our Berlin Worlds DCA Isa Fischer will be part of the Adjudication Core together with Harish Natarajan, the man who brings you the WUDC 2014 in India.

The registration has opened. It is not filling up at Worlds pace but still fairly quickly. Please find the registration form and further information on the BDU blog.

(>>photos from 2011)