Travel
We are currently finalizing arrangements with the Sheraton Boston Needham hotel. Room rates will be approximately $200 (including tax) per night plus $15 parking. The hotel is about three miles from the UMass Mt Ida campus. Getting back and forth should be easy via Uber, etc. We’ll let everyone know when there’s a link to use to reserve rooms.
The cost of a taxi from Logan Airport should be about $55-65.
Schedule
We would prefer for teams to be present for the general orientation session and “moral compass” exercise/competition on Wednesday late afternoon or early evening (time to be determined). We understand, however, that this may not be possible for everyone. Full presentations will be given sometime Thursday; 10-minute presentations, Friday morning; 90-second presentations Friday afternoon. The awards ceremony will be held late afternoon on Friday. This will give teams the opportunity to take advantage of how close we are to Boston.
Topics
Please submit your topic as soon as you have it to topic@ibecc.net. (This isn’t the executive summary, which is separate. The deadline for that will be announced.) Judges have a strong preference for being able to choose from a variety of topics. You will end up with a better pool of judges if they’ve chosen according to your topic, rather than a convenient time slot. Also, when you submit your topic, please declare whether you want to be part of the AI division competition.
Northrop Grumman AI division competition
The way we handle this will depend on how many teams are interested. We’ll announce the details as they become clear.
Prize money
We expect to award about $5,000 in prize money. Most likely, prizes of $250 will go to divisional winners; $125 to divisional runners-up. The AI winning team will receive $500; the runner-up, $250. If we are particularly successful in our fundraising between now and the competition, the prize money will be increased.