Programming Olympiad, view from NSU. Article 3 - the work of the organizing committee
Hello again! Two articles about olympiad programming in general and NGUshnoe in particular have already been published on Habré. Unfortunately, they are too full of technical details, sometimes not interesting to the person from the side (or requiring further clarification). Today I will try to correct this mistake. The third article of the cycle will be about the reverse side of the coin. On the technique of the Olympiad can go, but without a human resource is difficult. There are so many things around the same All-Siberian that in the heat of the competition the participants may not notice. But all this is well known to the lovely girls from the organizing committee, whose work (and not only about them) I will tell you today.
For those who have just switched to our channel:
The first article is about drawing up tasks.
The second article is about testing systems.
The fourth article is about the tour itself.
')
I myself took a small part in the work of the organizing committee. Helped the girls to register, a little help while checking jobs. But this is just a small fraction of what our girls are doing with their fragile hands =)
All-Siberian Olympiad begins long before September. Just a couple of days ago, an invitation came to my mailing list to take part in the X Open All-Siberian Olympiad. Mailing is the first step. Of course, the teams themselves must remember about our great and mighty tournament, but once again say that we remember them, love and wait - it will not be superfluous =)
Next comes the online tour. This is a test before the fight, since all the Novosibirsk teams are invited to write tasks in the terminology of the NSU. Consequently, immediately running and running-established technology for many years. Registration, draw, tour. Here, it seems, there was nothing particularly difficult.
When the results of the online tour are known, the jury decides on a “passing score” for a full-time tour. Then the special good person after publishing the guest list begins to correspond with the teams. It is necessary to find out whether they will indeed participate in the onsite, where they want to settle down and tell other trivia on the type of weather (although it is of little use to ask about the weather 3 weeks before the tournament). Shortly before the tournament teams are sent a very detailed guide with a common destination - NSU. It tells how to get to our alma mater from the train, bus and air terminals (on the River, it seems, the teams have not yet arrived, although there is a delivery option here), which buses to choose and which words to speak to taxi drivers if they are not up to date prices for transportation of great minds in the NSU.
This was what concerns the participants. But besides them there are also computers for which the Olympiad will be written. They must also be looked after, and very carefully. The terminal administrators, along with very clever Jedi from the jury, prepare the images of the systems to be installed in the terminal classes. What is required is the presence of programming environments (Visual Studio, some Delphi, Free Pascal and Eclipse), the work of the compilers specified in the Olympiad description from the command line and the inability of participants to stick their nose further than the jury would like. In preparation and testing, the existing teams of the NSU often help, since the olympiads, who are now in the cage, know better what the basic minimum should be on the working machines. Thus, over the past two years, the availability of Far-A machines with the Colorer plugin and a local copy of javadoc has been “pushed through”. I took direct part in the last point.
The organizers also help with the purchase of all kinds of nishtyachkov on tours, for example: chocolates, mineral water, napkins and other edible nonsense.
A full-time tour for the organizing team begins in two days. First you need to prepare the badges for the participants, the jury and the organizing committee, prepare also a souvenir for the participants (and grab yourself a little :)). The day before the first round, non-resident teams are starting to arrive for registration. They need to meet, register, hold to the box office and love as relatives. And then - to settle.
Settlement is a separate story. Some teams lodge in a hotel, others in a hostel. Who goes where - depending on the desire of teams and their distribution in the table (NSU reserves a certain number of places in the hotel, the issuance of which is a priority to a place in the selection table). With the hotel, like, this is the last neponyatki. With dormitories more fun. We need to distribute the teams in the hostels, because we have a decent number of them. Or it may happen that guests of a conference held by another faculty will populate the same place (this was already the case, communication between faculties here, alas, sometimes at the level of the Stone Age). It is necessary to explain to the guardian grandmothers that we are not terrorists, and that presenting payment receipts at 4 am on Saturday is an extremely interesting quest, especially when the ticket office opens on Monday. It is necessary to once again take into account the desire of teams + to take into account the female factor (there are not so many girls coming, but they are there, but in order to observe chastity in student dormitories, you do not need to lodge with guys; although there was one precedent :)). It is also important to take into account that some teams do not like each other so much that they cannot even eat. But in general, the situation is friendly and no one stays exactly on the street.
On the day of the tour organizers work is simple. Admins + jury before the tour rolls the already prepared image of the system on the working computers. The girls smile affably and help the teams to find their place in life in general and in the terminal classes - in particular. Help with any technical problems. For example, once a good and intelligent boy, Seryozha issued (literally): “The mouse does not work for me, but I signed a sign in safety that I will not touch the wires.” The members of the organizing committee also help to deal with such problems. They also care that teams must behave as befits noble dons. More on their fragile shoulders entrusted with the issuance of table chocolates and juices during the tour (a nice little thing that helps support itself).
The organizing committee still helps the jury to stay away from the participants and vice versa. Communication with the jury takes place either through the testing system, where there is a special point, or, in particularly neglected cases, through the organizing committee. More organizers are engaged in various handouts. They carry envelopes with assignments in front of the tours, program listings to the teams that ordered the printout and help in dealing with our favorite proxy server (although on an in-person tour it’s fraught with disqualification to fight, the outside world is cut off to the maximum; only very cynical FIT students managed to get out) .
Well, 5 hours have passed and the tour is over. First of all, you need to clear the terminalki. Return them to their original state, throw out trash, if necessary - rearrange computers. And then the most interesting thing is the preparation of the elephants for distribution. The organizing committee is one of the first to know the placement of teams and they have to remain silent for the rest of the day. Well, it is not so difficult, because it is enough just to put our team on view, that is enough to put pressure on the organizing committee, because you (that is, us) have connections in the jury.
So, about the elephants. The prize fund is usually very large and very diverse. At least for the last 3 years, there are enough souvenirs for all losers. And then, when they are selected to the best of the best, questions begin. Firstly, it is important to consider that the winnings must also be delivered to the place. I don’t think that it would be very convenient for those in St. Petersburg to take home 3 printers. But some PDA - that's it. Secondly, since the contingent of participants is undergoing evolution, then about 60 percent of the participants in the final of the current VseSib have already taken part before and received prizes. Therefore, you need to consider what to give them this time to avoid repetition. It comes to even ridiculous. Once the team from Petrozavodsk was asked what they had better give. Just like in the "Field of Miracles."
Well, the next day, you need to smile a lot and diligently, help representatives of the sponsors to present the sponsors with dignity, give the prizes to the prize presenters well, and don’t smear the impression of the awards to the teams. Debriefing usually does not take place. All just swear to themselves that they will never and ever get involved in this matter. And a year later, Vsesib is again organized, with instructions "and not to be disgraced, as in the past year." And do not disgrace, no wonder it is NSU =).
The next article, the last one on the organization of the Olympiad, will tell you directly what is happening during the tours (on the example of the long-suffering Vsesib). It will be interesting. I - for sure.
For help in writing this article, I would like to say a special thank you to Natasha Popova, who has already completed 7 Olympiads (5 All-Siberian and 2 POIs) as an organizer for interesting memories and facts.
For those who have just switched to our channel:
The first article is about drawing up tasks.
The second article is about testing systems.
The fourth article is about the tour itself.
')
I myself took a small part in the work of the organizing committee. Helped the girls to register, a little help while checking jobs. But this is just a small fraction of what our girls are doing with their fragile hands =)
What happens before the Olympiad
All-Siberian Olympiad begins long before September. Just a couple of days ago, an invitation came to my mailing list to take part in the X Open All-Siberian Olympiad. Mailing is the first step. Of course, the teams themselves must remember about our great and mighty tournament, but once again say that we remember them, love and wait - it will not be superfluous =)
Next comes the online tour. This is a test before the fight, since all the Novosibirsk teams are invited to write tasks in the terminology of the NSU. Consequently, immediately running and running-established technology for many years. Registration, draw, tour. Here, it seems, there was nothing particularly difficult.
When the results of the online tour are known, the jury decides on a “passing score” for a full-time tour. Then the special good person after publishing the guest list begins to correspond with the teams. It is necessary to find out whether they will indeed participate in the onsite, where they want to settle down and tell other trivia on the type of weather (although it is of little use to ask about the weather 3 weeks before the tournament). Shortly before the tournament teams are sent a very detailed guide with a common destination - NSU. It tells how to get to our alma mater from the train, bus and air terminals (on the River, it seems, the teams have not yet arrived, although there is a delivery option here), which buses to choose and which words to speak to taxi drivers if they are not up to date prices for transportation of great minds in the NSU.
This was what concerns the participants. But besides them there are also computers for which the Olympiad will be written. They must also be looked after, and very carefully. The terminal administrators, along with very clever Jedi from the jury, prepare the images of the systems to be installed in the terminal classes. What is required is the presence of programming environments (Visual Studio, some Delphi, Free Pascal and Eclipse), the work of the compilers specified in the Olympiad description from the command line and the inability of participants to stick their nose further than the jury would like. In preparation and testing, the existing teams of the NSU often help, since the olympiads, who are now in the cage, know better what the basic minimum should be on the working machines. Thus, over the past two years, the availability of Far-A machines with the Colorer plugin and a local copy of javadoc has been “pushed through”. I took direct part in the last point.
The organizers also help with the purchase of all kinds of nishtyachkov on tours, for example: chocolates, mineral water, napkins and other edible nonsense.
In anticipation of the tour.
A full-time tour for the organizing team begins in two days. First you need to prepare the badges for the participants, the jury and the organizing committee, prepare also a souvenir for the participants (and grab yourself a little :)). The day before the first round, non-resident teams are starting to arrive for registration. They need to meet, register, hold to the box office and love as relatives. And then - to settle.
Settlement is a separate story. Some teams lodge in a hotel, others in a hostel. Who goes where - depending on the desire of teams and their distribution in the table (NSU reserves a certain number of places in the hotel, the issuance of which is a priority to a place in the selection table). With the hotel, like, this is the last neponyatki. With dormitories more fun. We need to distribute the teams in the hostels, because we have a decent number of them. Or it may happen that guests of a conference held by another faculty will populate the same place (this was already the case, communication between faculties here, alas, sometimes at the level of the Stone Age). It is necessary to explain to the guardian grandmothers that we are not terrorists, and that presenting payment receipts at 4 am on Saturday is an extremely interesting quest, especially when the ticket office opens on Monday. It is necessary to once again take into account the desire of teams + to take into account the female factor (there are not so many girls coming, but they are there, but in order to observe chastity in student dormitories, you do not need to lodge with guys; although there was one precedent :)). It is also important to take into account that some teams do not like each other so much that they cannot even eat. But in general, the situation is friendly and no one stays exactly on the street.
Olympiad itself.
On the day of the tour organizers work is simple. Admins + jury before the tour rolls the already prepared image of the system on the working computers. The girls smile affably and help the teams to find their place in life in general and in the terminal classes - in particular. Help with any technical problems. For example, once a good and intelligent boy, Seryozha issued (literally): “The mouse does not work for me, but I signed a sign in safety that I will not touch the wires.” The members of the organizing committee also help to deal with such problems. They also care that teams must behave as befits noble dons. More on their fragile shoulders entrusted with the issuance of table chocolates and juices during the tour (a nice little thing that helps support itself).
The organizing committee still helps the jury to stay away from the participants and vice versa. Communication with the jury takes place either through the testing system, where there is a special point, or, in particularly neglected cases, through the organizing committee. More organizers are engaged in various handouts. They carry envelopes with assignments in front of the tours, program listings to the teams that ordered the printout and help in dealing with our favorite proxy server (although on an in-person tour it’s fraught with disqualification to fight, the outside world is cut off to the maximum; only very cynical FIT students managed to get out) .
Well, 5 hours have passed and the tour is over. First of all, you need to clear the terminalki. Return them to their original state, throw out trash, if necessary - rearrange computers. And then the most interesting thing is the preparation of the elephants for distribution. The organizing committee is one of the first to know the placement of teams and they have to remain silent for the rest of the day. Well, it is not so difficult, because it is enough just to put our team on view, that is enough to put pressure on the organizing committee, because you (that is, us) have connections in the jury.
So, about the elephants. The prize fund is usually very large and very diverse. At least for the last 3 years, there are enough souvenirs for all losers. And then, when they are selected to the best of the best, questions begin. Firstly, it is important to consider that the winnings must also be delivered to the place. I don’t think that it would be very convenient for those in St. Petersburg to take home 3 printers. But some PDA - that's it. Secondly, since the contingent of participants is undergoing evolution, then about 60 percent of the participants in the final of the current VseSib have already taken part before and received prizes. Therefore, you need to consider what to give them this time to avoid repetition. It comes to even ridiculous. Once the team from Petrozavodsk was asked what they had better give. Just like in the "Field of Miracles."
Well, the next day, you need to smile a lot and diligently, help representatives of the sponsors to present the sponsors with dignity, give the prizes to the prize presenters well, and don’t smear the impression of the awards to the teams. Debriefing usually does not take place. All just swear to themselves that they will never and ever get involved in this matter. And a year later, Vsesib is again organized, with instructions "and not to be disgraced, as in the past year." And do not disgrace, no wonder it is NSU =).
The next article, the last one on the organization of the Olympiad, will tell you directly what is happening during the tours (on the example of the long-suffering Vsesib). It will be interesting. I - for sure.
For help in writing this article, I would like to say a special thank you to Natasha Popova, who has already completed 7 Olympiads (5 All-Siberian and 2 POIs) as an organizer for interesting memories and facts.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/63045/
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