It’s been five years since the first WUDC in Germany took place. Teams from all over the world met in Berlin to determine the best debaters in the world. But how was it for the volunteers and organisers? We have asked some witnesses about their memories.  Florian Umscheid [caption id="attachment_33284" align="alignright" width="400"] © Henrik Maedler[/caption] At Worlds 2013, I was Chief of Runners. The ballot handing happened analog back then which meant that the running-team had to hand out 100 ballots to 100 rooms in six or seven buildings of the TU (Technical University) and collect them after in each round. My most ...

At the World Debate Forum in Berlin 2013, debaters from across the world talked about using debating in tournaments, trainings and youth projects. In the opening speech, Doug Cochran presented “Ten suggestions for a better Worlds”. Among these points, he suggested to abloish or reform Points of Information during BP debates. As these thoughts might interest you aswell, Achte Minute asked Doug to write down his thoughts. Doug Cohran: Two Potential Reforms to Points of Information At the World Debating Forum, there was a discussion about potential reforms to WUDC debating. I put forward a number of suggestions, including abolition of points ...

For a few years now, it has been a loved and honoured tradition of the South African Delegation to host a Yakka-Party. Until Worlds 2013, the party was organized separately from the official part of the tournament. Money was collected and the ingredients for the Yakka (lemons, wodka and sugar) were bought in a private context. For the first time in 2013, the organizers of Berlin Worlds decided to integrate the Yakka-Party into the official schedule. This led to discussions within the OrgCom prior to the event and to discussions between the participants during and afterwards it. Marcus Ewald, member ...

For a few years now, it has been a loved and honoured tradition of the South African Delegation to host a Yakka-Party. Until Worlds 2013, the party was organized separately from the official part of the tournament. Money was collected and the ingredients for the Yakka (lemons, wodka and sugar) were bought in a private context. For the first time in 2013, the organizers of Berlin Worlds decided to integrate the Yakka-Party into the official schedule. This led to discussions within the OrgCom prior to the event and to discussions between the participants during and afterwards it. Marcus Ewald, member ...

This year’s World Universities Debating Council decided for Malaysia to host the World Universities Debating Championships 2015. After Chennai in 2014, debaters will fly to Southeast Asia in order to experience world class debating. The decision of the council in which all nations are represented that attended WUDC for two consecutive was close: the second bid from Auckland, New Zealand, got 42 votes while Malaysia got 57 votes. The arguments for Malaysia were mostly that it is more accessible for most participants and the registration fee would be significantly cheaper. Teresa Widlok, representative of the German WUDC delegation, tells us that despite ...

For the Malaysian delegation the WUDC 2013 has been a great success. They won the bid to organize Worlds 2015 and broke directly into Open Octos. After the Octos we spoke with the members of the Malaysian Team, Syed Soddiq and Arinah Najwa. Achte Minute: You’re ESL speakers but made the direct break to the Open Octos. Would you like to reveal your secrets? Arinah: It’s our second WUDC together as a team. Last year in Manila, we got to the ESL Final and lost. Since then, we trained every day individually and at least one time a week as a team. Syed: ...

Every year new generations of debaters step up to fill the shoes of past legends. The wudcwatch interviewed two young debaters who are carrying on the tradition of the worlds oldest debating society at the competition’s highest level. Alisha Ricard talked to them. [caption id="attachment_14118" align="alignleft" width="400"] Cambridge A: Rebecca Meredith and Ashish Kumar.[/caption] Achte Minute: Did you expect to be so successful? Rebecca: No. There are a lot of good teams here. But we had hoped for it. Achte Minute: There is a long tradition of debating in Great Britain. Did you feel any pressure to succeed? Ashish: Oh no...it’s my first WUDC, so ...

For Jairo Andrés Cortés Torres and Mauricio Alexander Yandar Paz from Colombia, this WUDC is the first English language tournament. Thanks to the scholarship program, they were able to represent the Universidad Cooperative de Clombia. [caption id="attachment_14108" align="alignleft" width="150"] Jairo Andrés Cortés Torres and Mauricio Alexander Yandar Paz from Colombia.[/caption] Achte Minute: Jairo, Mauricio, how are you doing here at the WUDC in Berlin? Jairo: For us, this is our first English competition, so debating can be very hard sometimes. But we like it a lot and we are full of new ideas now! Maybe now we will be able to organize ...

The WUDC Berlin 2013 are officially over, and the debating world has three new World Champions, one new coming WUDC host and a lot of other prices and winners. But first of all, congratulations to the winners of the EFL-final, Porto A, as well as to the winners of the ESL final, Bangladesh A, and Here is what we would call a preliminary overview - no guarantee on results being complete for the moment. In the EFL final, the teams from Porto A, Freiburg A, Tokyo A and Bucharest A debated the motion "This house welcomes the decline of the ...

[caption id="attachment_14099" align="alignleft" width="400"] James Beavis and Nita Rao with our reporter Anna Mattes (c) WUDC pretty pictures[/caption]This morning, right after the open semi finals of WUDC, Achte Minute spoke to Nita Rao and James Beavis from the team Monash B from Australia. Tonight it turns out we picked the right team and actually talked to the new world champions. In total, four Australian teams made it through to the open semi finals. Achte Minute: You just finished your debate. How did it go? Were you nervous? Nita: We were really nervous. The topic was really hard. I’m not an economist, but ...

Things were going fast during the second to last day at the World Universities Debating Championship 2013 in Berlin. So many Knockout rounds took place that we had difficulties following all announcements and breaks. But now we tried to sort everything a bit and present you here the break into the day of WUDC Finals. In the Open Break, we have a break into Semi-Finals. They will take place at 10:15 on today's Thursday. In the Open Semi Final 1 there will compete Monash B, Otago A, Sydney A, St Andrews A. In the Open Semi Final 2 we have Sydney ...

Today, Achte Minute had the chance to talk to Alfred Snider, called Tuna in the debaters’ world. Tuna is a debating veteran, having served on many many tournaments as adjudicator and trainer throughout the world. In his normal live, he is a professor of Forensics at the University of Vermont. We talked with him about his WUDC Berlin experience.  [caption id="attachment_14071" align="alignleft" width="320"] Alfred "Tuna" Snider answers the questions of Philipp Stiel, President of the VDCH.[/caption] Achte Minute: Hi Tuna, thanks for your time. How are you and your teams doing here at WUDC? Snider: Unfortunately, none of my teams broke. But ...

Marietta Gädeke is Chief of Staff of the WUDC. She has recruited, organized and motivated a team of over 200 volunteers from all around the world. Martin Funck, Chief Editor of the wudcwatch, talked to her. [caption id="attachment_14059" align="alignleft" width="240"] Marietta Gädeke, Chief of Staff, after 4 days of work for WUDC 2013[/caption] Martin Funck: Two hundred sounds like a lot. How did you organize such a large team? Marietta: It took us two days to get things going. Our original plan how to allocate personnel resources didn’t work. So we changed our system dramatically: Now, our volunteer dispatchment uses a huge wall ...

After debates, food is probably the second to most important thing here at Worlds - making sure that no participant goes hungry. This is not an easy task, in the face of the diverse dietary requirements that participants have due to cultural, religious, personal or health reasons. [caption id="attachment_14040" align="alignleft" width="294"] Reuben Thomas is a catering volunteer at the WUDC.[/caption] With a tight budget and no dining hall available, the catering team has had to find creative solutions. “First of all, we try to handle questions, problems and crises with care as soon as they arise”, says Christian Zimpelmann, head of the ...

“Echo Whiskey to Flo,” that’s the one phrase Elina Siivola will dream of after three days of working at the WUDC. Elina, from the University of Helsinki, Finland, is a runner at Berlin Worlds. She is part of the machinery behind the tournament: distributing ballots, guiding debaters into rooms, reminding judges not to go over time and bringing ballots safely back to the tab room. And while getting ballots in quickly is the top priority, Elina still strives to be friendly and helpful to judges and participants. [caption id="attachment_14037" align="alignleft" width="266"] Elina Siivola is volunteering at WUDC in the running team. ...

It took until after midnight that the WUDC 2013 break coul be announced in Berlin. The CA-team took its time to sort out which 100 (!) judges broke into the break knockout rounds. Especially, they had to handel the new 48-team break for the first time which lets 16 teams break into octo-finals directly and sends 32 more teams into mock-octos (read here what that is). In the following we provide you the breaks and tab positions at WUDC 2012 after the nine preliminary rounds. Note that due to the WUDC constitution, unlike as at Euros, there is no double break. ...

[caption id="attachment_14010" align="alignright" width="400"] Where do they hide among  Announcement Hall der WUDC 2013[/caption] "I was really eager to be part of the largest debating tournament on earth," says Lucas Danco. The 20-year old experiences his first Worlds and is enthusiastic. "It's totally fascinating to see so many different people from so many different cultures come together and compete by the same rules. " Lucas is one of 28 speakers from VDCH clubs that compete at the Worlds in Berlin. The umbrella association VDCH (Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen, engl. Association of Debating Societies at Universities) represents more than 70 debating societies ...

A tab insight: Berlin Worlds' tabmaster Jens Fischer gives some information we used to collect and tweet in the past - and usually we only had them in parts. You may find here a table that shows you the team results after the six open preliminaries. Of course: The details about the individual speaker points are still under wraps. All teams that have accumulated the same number of team points are simply listed alphabetically. And the tension remains: there are three preliminary rounds to go today - and the judges will not give feedback nor team points. The break will be announced ...

Chelesile Ndlovu, Michael Mhlanga, Thabo Arthur Dube and Tatenda Muzamindo from the Lupane State University in Zimbabwe are debating for tree years. After participation at the Zimbabwe National Debating Championships (ZNDC) last summer they applied for the scholarship program and succeeded. Martin Funck, Chief Editor of WUDCwatch, the WUDC newspaper, spoke with them: [caption id="attachment_13991" align="alignright" width="400"] Martin Funck talking to participants of the scholarship program[/caption] Achte Minute: How did it feel to be admitted? Thabo: I feel privileged. That was an inspiring moment. Hopefully this leads to the establishment of scholarship programs in years to come. Achte Minute: It’s your first time ...

Last minute, indeed “no minute” preparation and no team partner by your side – that’s what Emy Finch had to go through when she was called upon as a swing speaker. In round one of WUDC, several teams were discovered missing only when debates were scheduled to begin. So more swing teams than planned were needed instantly - and the runners' team took every WUDC volunteer they found. That's how Emy became an iron swing and had to run to debate in the first round. Emy is a debater from King’s College in London who’s volunteering in documentation at the ...

This morning, WUDC starting with round 1 - a tiny wee little bit late due to missing teams, but with goose bumbs on our arms when the first motion was announced (which read "Round 1: This house would create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas." - see our Facebook page for all three motions of today.) On twitter, you could also feel the emotions: Due to a delay of more than an hour, some debaters poured out their emotions on twitter, while other defended the tab team for doing a great job in a 100 rooms tournament. We then ...

The break is now bigger than ever! 48 instead of 32 teams do break after nine preliminary rounds at this World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds). That is twelve percent of all teams breaking instead of only eight percent. “Thus, the system we have now is fairer than any of the other proposed systems for the WUDC break,” Marcus Ewald, president of the EUDC Council, is sure. “Huh?” you may go, “how, mathematically speaking, can 48 teams break to octo-finals? How do they fit into eight rooms?” Well, with the new system, the first 16 teams break save to octo-finals. ...

The WUDC Berlin 2013 is creating a massive press echo. Mayor German newspapers write about the Championships, radio stations have live interviews with WUDC staff and even the first camera team came to the TU yesterday. For the press review, please read the German verision of this article.

It is impossible to find out when the first participants of WUDC 2013 arrived in Berlin – too many have already been around and have spent some days in Europe, Germany or Berlin. But just from a glimpse into the WUDC accommodation, Hotel BerlinBerlin, it is clearly visible: today was arrival day! Dozens of participants dropped into the Hotel each hour and stopped at the registration desk in order to check in to their “Worlds” 2013. And in less than 24 hours, Patrick Ehmann, Convener of WUDC Berlin 2013, will open the 33rd World Universities Debating Championship officially. Thus, the biggest ...

[caption id="attachment_13898" align="alignright" width="275"] Anna from Paderborn, boarding the train.[/caption] Today, more than one hundred WUDC volunteers left their cozy Christmas homes in order to get the big WUDC Berlin 2013 project running. During the day, more and more volunteers arrived and added massive manpower to the crew that already ran the WUDC scholarship program since the 25th of December. In order to prepare WUDC novices from countries that would not have participated in WUDC 2013 otherwise, a core volunteer team already started its work on Christmas day. Most of the other volunteers then left their home or university towns today ...

Thanks to Wladislaw Jachtchenko (vocals), Daniil Pakhomenko (guitar) and Willy Witthaut (video) the World Universities Debating Championship has its own official song! You can watch and listen to it here: Embrace Dissent - Official WUDC Berlin 2013 Song from WUDC Berlin 2013 on Vimeo. Embrace Dissent (Wladislaw Jachtchenko/ Daniil Pakhomenko) I understand your position You have your breaking mission Your debating behaviour is on It has been your decision To stand in competition With the best debaters of the world. You are smart, well-prepared and keen So c'mon bring debating to Berlin You're here to go for the win So here is your chance, so what you're gonna do is: Embrace Dissent Impress with your ...

[caption id="attachment_13845" align="alignleft" width="400"] First arrivals for WUDC 2013. (Foto: Manuel Adams)[/caption] "It's on" is the comment of the organisation committee on their blog. The comment refered to the arrival of the first participants of the WUDC 2013, the recipients of the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship, who arrived during the day. On 26 Dezember there will be a workshop for the participants at the Technical Univerity of Berlin. A visit on a traditional Christmas market is planned as well. The trainers are are some of the best adjudicators of the tournament. The WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship is supported by the Open Society Foundations. ...

[caption id="attachment_13818" align="alignright" width="400"] A picture WUDC participants will not encounter upon their arrival in German: Currently, the weather is untypically warm (+10°C). [/caption]In Berlin, for many WUDC organizers, there won’t be an ordinary Christmas celebration this year. Instead of spending Christmas with their families, the core of the WUDC Org Com is already on place in Berlin in order to work on the last preparations. But before the first participants of the WUDC scholarship program will arrive tomorrow, the WUDC Org Com will have its own very private Christmas celebration. Rumors tell us that the celebration will take place ...

Isabelle Fischer (born Loewe) is Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) at this year’s World University Debating Championship in Berlin. She started debating in 2003, with the debating society of the University of Bonn and has been living in Berlin for five years. After her career as a debater, which led her into the final of the European Univerities Debating Championship in 2006, she started an impressive career as an adjudicator. Lately, she has worked as DCA at the European Championships in Tallin 2008 and Belgrade 2012. Philipp Stiel talked with her for the Achte Minute about the upcomig event. [caption id="attachment_13800" align="alignleft" ...

[caption id="attachment_13785" align="alignright" width="300"] Diese Woche in der ZEIT: Eine ganzseitige Anzeige der WUDC. (Foto: Henrik Mädler)[/caption] The countdown is running: There are only seven days left until the opening ceremony of the World Universities Debating Championship in Berlin begins. While more than 800 speakers, 300 judges and 200 volunteers from all parts of the world will find their way to Berlin, Achte Minute will accompany this countdown with preliminary reports around the WUDC Berlin 2013. We start with a text from Matthias Winkelmann which got published this week in a full page add in the mayor German newspaper „DIE ZEIT“. ...