The PiggyBack Society for Northwest Diplomacy is pleased to present you with the following bid to host the World Diplomacy Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2007!
The tournament would be held from Thursday August 9th to Sunday August 12th, 2007 at the Student Union Building Conference Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The tournament will be six rounds, with the first round starting Thursday evening, two rounds scheduled each of Friday and Saturday, and a final round on Sunday.
The University is located about 10km from downtown Vancouver, at the western tip of the city, overlooking the Strait of Georgia. The site is an easy 20 minute drive from the Vancouver International Airport, from which you can catch direct flights from many major North American cities. The tournament committee plans to work with all participants to address transportation to and from the site.
Accommodations are provided at the University residence halls. Gage Towers, where the Diplomacy players can stay, is about 1 block down the street from the Student Union Building where the games will be held.
Standard rooms will cost $40CAN per night for each person. The residence halls are divided into “pods”. Each pod layout consists of 6 small private dorm rooms with a single bed, each connected to a common area with a shared kitchen, bathroom, and living area.
The tournament organizers will be reserving a large number of pods exclusively for Diplomacy players. Players can be book rooms through the University individually, in which case you will be put into a pod with 5 other random players, or you can get together with several friends and book together so you are put into the same pod.
Suites are also available in a different section of the residence hall complex, for between $120CAN and $150CAN per night. This, while more expensive for individual players, could be an appealing options for players who are traveling with families or who might want more space or privacy.
Please try to book your rooms early, whether reserving pods or suites! Although the organizers are committed to reserving a large enough number of pods, suites may sell out early, and options for off campus housing are located some distance away and are considerably more expensive. So you can save yourself a lot of stress by booking early!
Many dining options are available in the Student Union Building, depending on the day of week and time of day. These vary from more formal sit-down restaurants to fast-food/take-out places. The pub on campus is open until 2AM, Monday thru Saturday. Several options for dining off campus are also available, if one walks a few blocks. The organizing committee is also currently exploring options for catering a select number of meals during the weekend.
The admission fee for the event has not yet been set, but is expected to be approximately $50 Canadian.
The tournament structure will be similar to other North American events. Rounds will be centrally timed – meaning all boards will run on one clock – but there will be no hour limit or year limit on the games themselves, except as necessary to complete the final round on Sunday. The scoring system will include elements that take into account both the size of the draw, and the size of each power at game completion.
The scoring system will be constructed in a way to allow players to skip a couple of rounds without significantly impacting their final score. While we encourage players to play as many rounds as possible, we also seek to accommodate both players who are unable to attend all 4 days, and who would like to take some time off from Diploming to explore this fabulous city. Plans are already being made to put together some organized touristy activities for Diplomacy players and their non-Dip-playing families.
If you have any questions, please contact the organizing committee, and please remember to vote for Vancouver in 2007!
Sincerely,
Your Vancouver ’07 Organizing Committee
Nathan Barnes Mike Hall Matt Shields
Washington British Columbia Oregon