Students for a Creative Iowa

With the Sub-state tournament just around the corner, you may find this post, filled with reminders and tips, helpful to print and take with you to tournament. We look forward to seeing your teams’ solutions!

Tournament schedule & special requests:

The tournament schedule is available for viewing on the Competition Schedule page of this Web site. Please note that the deadline for special schedule requests has passed. If a special situation arises between now and the Sub-state tournament, you may contact another team and exchange places, as long as that team is competing in the same Challenge and Level. However, both teams must notify cre8iowa in advance by emailing cre8iowa@gmail.com. If your team withdraws, please notify us immediately, as this affects the schedule.

Driving directions:

Location: Ames Middle School, 3915 Mortensen Road, Ames, IA 50014
Directions: Take 35 North to Highway 30. Turn west and go a few miles (looks like you might be leaving town, but you’re not) to the South Dakota/Kelley exit. Turn north (right) and stay in the right lane. Turn again onto the first street, Mortensen Road. The school is about a block from the intersection on the left, and has three entrance drives.

Parking instructions:

If you are coming from the west, you may enter the third drive (near the flag pole). If you are coming from the east, use the first driveway (also near the flag pole).
Please note that buses should NOT park in front of the school. Those that have done so in the past get parked in until the end of the tournament, and cannot get out until everyone else has left. Instead, park in the back of the school in the north lot.
Do not park in the center turnaround. This is a Cy-Ride turnaround, and you will be towed away if you park here.
Challenge A teams will perform in the small gym and can drop off their props by going to the East parking lot. Look for the doors with a large letter “A” on them.

Check-in upon arrival:

When you first arrive at the tournament site, visit the Registration table (located in the Commons) to check-in your team. This is also where you will receive the most up-to-date version of the tournament schedule, which may include room changes. Do not assume that the version you downloaded from this Web site includes these changes; it likely does not.

Schedule:

When you check your schedule, please note that there are 2 performance times: one for the Team Challenge, and one for Instant Challenge. Check-in is 20 minutes before any performance, so give yourself enough time to move from one location to the next.
Check-in locations are included in the schedule. Please note that the Instant Challenge Check-in location is no longer in the Commons, but instead on the first floor in the 6^th grade wing, across from the Media Center.
Unlike other Challenges, Structure Challenge E (Lose to Win) teams have a structure weigh-in time, for a total of 4 scheduled times: Structure Check-in, Team Challenge Check-in, Team Challenge and Instant Challenge. Make sure your team brings a container in which to store the structure after it has been checked in.
Teams that hold up the schedule by not arriving on time may be subject to an Unsportsmanlike Conduct deduction.

Prop storage:

We are asking Team Managers and Coordinators for their assistance in monitoring Prop Storage. Prop Storage is NOT supervised, so do not leave your valuables unattended. Many teams choose to leave their solution in a vehicle until it is time to perform.
If you see something that shouldn’t be happening, please let the Prep Area Appraiser for that Challenge know, or talk to the Challenge Master (identified by a neon-colored safety vest).
Prop Storage areas are generally located close to Presentation Sites, so please encourage your team(s) to work or talk quietly in these areas.
Before you leave the tournament site, check Prop Storage to make sure you haven’t left part of your team’s solution behind.

Paperwork requirements:

Make sure your team shows up with the appropriate completed paperwork. To insure legibility, take advantage of the fillable forms found in the Resource Area of the Destination Imagination Web site. If you run out of space, type on the back, or attach a second sheet. Keep in mind, however, that Appraisers do not have time to read a novel!
Team Managers can complete paperwork for elementary teams as long as they write the exact words the team dictates. Middle and high schoolers should complete their own paperwork. It is important that these forms be legible!
All teams must bring the following pre-completed forms to each tournament:
- Declaration of Independence (2 copies): one for the Prep Area Appraiser, and one for Instant Challenge Check-in.
- Tournament Data Form, pages 1 & 2: 5 copies (each Appraiser gets a copy).
- Tournament Data Form, page 3, “The Creative Process”: 1 copy. This is a reflection about each stage of the creative process as the team solved its Challenge. The team should write about specific activities or discussions that took place at each stage of the program. Especially in Challenges where fewer than 3 teams compete in a Level, the Iowa Affiliate Director will evaluate how the team completes “The Creative Process” section of its Tournament Data Form. Please encourage your teams to take seriously this part of their tournament paperwork. You will find more information about “The Creative Process” here: http://www.cre8iowa.org/team-support/cre8iowa-document-library/the_creative_process/
- Medical Information Form for each team member (kept by the Team Manager in case of an emergency).
- All teams except for Improvisational Challenge D (The Improv Games): Expense Report (make sure this is a photocopy, since it will not be returned to you). Also bring photocopies of receipts in case questions arise about Expense Report.
- Team Clarifications: 1 photocopy (if your team asked for any).

Things to know:

All teams are required to familiarize themselves with Published Clarifications. These clarifications supersede all other rules and can be published ANYTIME.
Make sure you review the Tournament Policies page. No weapons (real or facsimile) are allowed, and requests for the use of dry ice must be pre-approved by the Tournament Director. Lights may not be turned off during any performance. Helium balloons must remain under control at all times. Students must be supervised by adults at all times.
Not sure about what to expect at tournament? Watch the tournament training video on our Web site, and/or read the Travel Guide for Teams, found HERE. The Travel Guide for Teams is a tournament prep guide that describes what happens at each Challenge site, who’s who, and how scoring works. It also includes handy checklists for what to bring to tournament, an information sheet you can complete and distribute to family members and friends who come to support you, and a great list of questions for you and your team to discuss after tournament.
In addition to all electronic devices and phones, no watches of any kind may be brought by team members into the Instant Challenge room. These items will not be collected, so leave them before Instant Challenge Check-in with an adult who is not accompanying the team into the competition room.
Don’t forget to pick up raw scores for your Challenge. Raw, or preliminary, scores are available approximately 30 minutes after your team’s performance, and can be picked up from the Head Appraiser or Challenge Master between performances. Please don’t interrupt an ongoing performance! If you have questions after picking up your raw scores, you have an additional 30 minutes to return to the Presentation Site with no more than one Team Manager and one team member. If you need to leave the tournament site and are unable to pick up your team’s raw scores, please let the Head Appraiser or Challenge Master know this at the time of your team’s performance. Just look for the individual(s) at the Presentation Site who wear a bright, neon-colored vest.

Things to do during downtime:

Participate in cre8iowa’s Scavenger Hunt. More information is available at the Registration table.
There will be a photo station somewhere in the Commons, so bring your camera and take a team photo.
Your team is encouraged to watch other teams’ performances, since this is a great learning opportunity. It’s also a good way to show your support for other teams.
Use markers that will be available in the Commons area to develop a design for the 2015-16 Pin & T-shirt DIsign Contest. Please note that your designs (no more than two per person) must be sent electronically to cre8iowa@gmail.com by March 16, 2015 to be considered. Complete rules, as well as the entry form, may be found on the Contests page of this Web site: http://www.cre8iowa.org/current-season/contest/. Voting will take place at the state tournament, where one Team Manager from each team will be provided with ballot tickets at check-in.
Got a restless team? Borrow a game, using self-checkout, from the Games Table located in the Commons Area. Remember to return the game before you leave the tournament.
No dumping of any part of your solution is allowed. Use downtime to remove props from Prop Storage and Presentation Sites after your team has performed. We appreciate being able to use the Ames Middle School facility, and want to insure that we are welcome in the future. Dumping of any part of your solution can result in an Unsportsmanlike Conduct deduction, even after the tournament is completed.

Tournament prep:

Dress rehearsal. If you have not already scheduled a dress rehearsal, now is a great time to do so. Please remind audience members that it is Interference for them to provide any kind of constructive feedback. Have your team practice set-up, entering from the left, entering from the right, and having something go wrong (such as having scenery fall down, or a prop being forgotten at home). Remind teams that their solution must fit through a standard doorway.
Emergency repair kit. Now is a good time to have the team brainstorm a list of “what if” scenarios in case something goes wrong at the Tournament. Simultaneously, have the team brainstorm a list of items needed for an emergency repair kit.
Interference reminders. Remind parents and supporters that they may not help students put on makeup and costumes, and that it is the team’s responsibility to make any repairs to their solution. It is the team’s solution! Also, remind parents not to ask students about their Instant Challenge. The same set of Instant Challenges is being performed internationally, so students may not discuss their Instant Challenge with anyone besides their Team Manager(s) until after Destination Imagination Global Finals. When discussing Instant Challenge, teams need to do so privately, not in public places such as at the tournament or in a restaurant.

As always, feel free to contact us with your questions at cre8iowa@gmail.com, or leave us a message by calling 515-650-8949.

Release/Disclaimer
By my participation in an event conducted by an Affiliate, Region or other gathering related to the Destination Imagination program, the participant or participant’s parents or participant’s guardian understands and hereby voluntarily agrees to release, waive, forever discharge, hold harmless, defend and indemnify Destination Imagination Inc., and their agents, officers, boards, volunteers, and employees from any and all liability and all claims, actions, or losses for bodily injury, property damage, wrongful death, loss of services , or otherwise which may arise out of the participant’s participation in activities related to the Destination Imagination event, including travel to and from the event.