Saturday, August 17, 2013

Words of a Volunteer

Debating is, without debate, one of the most trusted ways to develop one's ability not only to defend anything properly but to communicate, organize or, for example, respond quickly and appropriately.

As a volunteer of this tournament, I didn't really have the opportunity to debate. Come to think of it, I could debate the dishwashing or allocating the debating rooms with the organizers and the other volunteers. Still, I enjoyed the preparation of the rooms and also a role of the timekeeper that I experienced for the first time. Even though I couldn't participate in debating, I met several debaters from all over the world and made new friends. It was really exciting. Briefly, I fully enjoyed being a part of this event.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Do You Have Something To Say? Communicate

We are already more than ten years into the 21st century, but debating tournaments seem to lag behind in the media department, including ours. We do have a facebook, a twitter, a youtube, a blogger and a number of other social media accounts, but are we really using them? Debating is all about communicating and debaters do have a lot to say that should be heard as much as possible. At tournaments, however, debaters tend to talk only to each other, individually or in small groups, when they could be talking to...everyone. Do you want to tell people that you've been here? Do you want to tell people what you think about anything that goes on at the tournament? Tell us and we will make sure the world will hear you out. We can interview you, film you, post your articles on our blog - and then tell everyone to go check them out. Heck, we will even lend you a camera to film your own point of view. We are already streaming all of the debates in real time and you probably know that, but what about the people that you know who would want to be your audience or even fans? Do they know they can watch you and show their support online? Never in the history of the world was it easier to simply speak up and be heard everywhere. So, speak up.

Heart of Europe's Got Talent - Do You?

Did you know, that the newest addition to Heart of Europe's cultural program is a talent show? Coupled with the traditional International Friendship Night on Friday, it will be a unique opportunity for the participants to bedazzle everybody by their mad skills and become the official superstar of the tournament. Every performance art is welcome, be it singing, dancing, acting, free style sport, anything but debating (obviously). While the best debaters will arise at the end of the tournament, the talent show offers an alternative way of excelling right from the start, as well as bringing people closer together. Amusingly, there is no reason to forbid the participation of judges side by side with the debaters in this case, and some of the main judges and even staff members are already seriously considering stepping up to the challenge, most notably Frankie Cena, the last year's Mr. World Canada, with his beautiful singing, and Nae Sovaiala from Romania, a professional dancer. So what about you, are you game?