2005-2006 USFA season - where are the NACs

[foildad]

This is great information and extremely helpful so far in advance. Booking affordable flights and lodging will be much easier now. oiuyt, you are awesome. I will name my nextborn oiuyt and if there be twins there shall be a qwerty as well.

[mlr2fence]

Are these days carved in stone? Or will we find, after we make travel arrangements, that the schedule has been 'tweaked'?

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I too, shall name my first born oiuyt. Thanks brad.

[JEC]

Thanks! You're the sole beacon of timely information from the organization that we all are paying dues to.

[fencergal33]

Since you're the big man as it were Brad, any idea of when and where we can find out a list of confirmed entries to the Miami NAC? Thanks!

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by JEC

Thanks! You're the sole beacon of timely information from the organization that we all are paying dues to.

I hardly think THAT'S true. I just pass along information which needs general distribution a bit faster than some of the official channels. I'm just lucky that I get it a bit early a fair amount of the time and can do that. I certainly don't generate the timely information, I just help it be a bit more timely. Lots of people here do the same when they get similar information.

-B :)

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by fencergal33

Since you're the big man as it were Brad, any idea of when and where we can find out a list of confirmed entries to the Miami NAC? Thanks!

I would guess the USFA website about a week or two prior to the event. Given that today is the registration deadline, I'd imagine that the national office is a bit busy right now... :)

-B :)

[JEC]

Originally Posted by oiuyt

... a bit faster than some of the official channels...

Let's see:

NAC Event schedule
I do not know when the event schedule for the Miami NAC was posted, but for the NAC B:
- In 9 weeks today (63 days), some people will be traveling to Albuquerque. We do not have any information within the "new" USFA website about the event schedule to plan for the trip. We will count until posting time. Bringing out the Sacramento NAC info 7.5 months ahead of time must be a record. As you know, past experience has taught us that we're lucky if they provide this information within 45 days from the tournament.

USFA Official business
http://oldsite.usfencing.org/Official/
http://www.usfencing.org/do/formsDownloads
No minutes of official minutes since October 2004 have been posted. The only agenda posted from 2005 has been only the February 2005 special BOD meeting. To date the agenda and minutes of the July 2005 Congress or the minutes of the February 2005 meeting are not posted. Who has provided the membership with TIMELY information? Thanks again.

[JEC]

The new webmaster for the USFA (noahz) has placed in the website the Event tournament days for the NACs (but not JOs or Summer Nats). This is a record as some of these NACs are several months in advance. We can only hope that this type of improvement becomes the new standard. Praise and recognition should also ge given to noahz and USFA.

[millsisland]

I'm delighted with the early posting of event schedules. I can't count the times I've watch an air fare sale go by without being able to take advantage.

Thanks to everyone who has worked to make the schedules available so early in the season!

Mills

[Dee EffEll]

Note that the THS isn't listed for some of the future events. Is the USFA dumping them? There isn't a USFA rate posted either, so maybe we're left to fend for ourselves now.

[Frank Pratt]

Originally Posted by mlr2fence

Are these days carved in stone? Or will we find, after we make travel arrangements, that the schedule has been 'tweaked'?

This is an excellent question. My understanding is that the only official version of the schedule is the final draft that arrives in the competitors' mailboxes with the confirmation materials. Though Brad's post does appear to include the "confirmation" schedules, I would want some assurance that these timetables are indeed set in stone before buying an airline ticket.

Despite my slight reservation, it is great to have an idea this far in advance. Travel plans are much easier to make several months in advance, as are arrangements for days off from work, etc.

[JEC]

If you get to the THS website http://www.ths-usf.com/ , you could make reservations for all of the 2005-06 tournaments now. I already did.

[JEC]

Originally Posted by Frank Pratt

This is an excellent question. My understanding is that the only official version of the schedule is the final draft that arrives in the competitors' mailboxes with the confirmation materials. Though Brad's post does appear to include the "confirmation" schedules, I would want some assurance that these timetables are indeed set in stone before buying an airline ticket.

Despite my slight reservation, it is great to have an idea this far in advance. Travel plans are much easier to make several months in advance, as are arrangements for days off from work, etc.

You are right, but now, thanks to noahz, we also have them posted in the OFFICIAL USFA website. The website has the following disclaimer:

Originally Posted by USFA website

Note: The tournament confirmation materials contain the only official schedule. In the case of any discrepancy between the confirmation materials and the website, the schedule in the confirmation materials will prevail.

Nevertheless, it would be a big fiasco for USFA if they change the tournament schedule. You are able to alter Hotel and Car (if any) reservations until 3 days prior to the event, and airline reservation typically have only a change fee of $100. It's a relative low risk now.

[noahz]

Originally Posted by JEC

You are right, but now, thanks to noahz, we also have them posted in the OFFICIAL USFA website

Announcement to everybody:

I AM NOT THE USFENCING.ORG WEBMASTER.

During the transition over the summer (during July and 1/2 of August) I was updating the OLD web site. I have no idea who is making updates to the new web site (although according to plan it should be managed by National Office staff at this point).

Yours, etc.

Noah Zucker

[JEC]

noahz,
You indicated earlier in this thread that you were maintaining the USFA website. I assumed incorrectly that the person that maintains the website is the webmaster. I'm sorry for the confusion.
JEC

[oiuyt]

Check-in times for NAC A attached.

-B

[mlr2fence]

Originally Posted by oiuyt

Attached are event days for NACs A-E. NAC F and JO's are the next message (limit 5 attachments).

No times are included, but we again have a notation of which events are expected to be early (pre-10am).

-B

Are these check in times accurate? Or hasthere been a change? I noticed that for the NAC B in Albuquerque on Sunday only the Junior event has the asterix on the USFA website schedule.

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by mlr2fence

Are these check in times accurate? Or hasthere been a change? I noticed that for the NAC B in Albuquerque on Sunday only the Junior event has the asterix on the USFA website schedule.

The schedules posted are the most recent that I've received, with the exception that for the two NACs involving Vet events (NACs C and E) I have an updated file that changes the names of the events from Veteran 50-9 to Veteran 50-59 and Veteran 60-9 to Veteran 60+. No times or dates changed, so I didn't post the updates. They're attached to this message.

As noted, in the schedule, as I received it, on 11/13 cadet ME is listed as a pre-10am start, on the USFA website it's not. The real answer is go with what the materials in your confirmation packet say, as they take precidence over the website, and certainly over anything I can post. I would normally say go with the website times over the information that I get, but it seems very unlikely that we'd only have one early event and four late events on a day. Don't know what to suggest.

-B