The fine print on the waiver that you have to sign before you register is unbelievable.
@Loci, thanks for the notice. If you manage to organize dinner, let me know. I live in the city, so I would try and make it.
Thanks for notice!
I registered prior to the links being reactivated so just shot a note to organizers to see if they still have me included.
I would join for dinner, too. Would be fun to meet all of you.
Cheers,
Erik van Mechelen
Hey guys,
I just registered! Finally – I had been refreshing that registration page for over a month waiting for the links to become active lol. It’ll be my first time competing, so I’m super nervous but nonetheless really pumped up.
Anyway, I hope to meet all of you in NYC: everyone here sounds really interesting and fascinating.
Just signed up again after receiving a note from Karen that they misplaced my previous reg. Looks like I’m good to go now!
Looking forward to seeing everyone as well. Just finished my first iOS app too (Connecting to the iTunes Store.) called Advantage Poker so I’ll have less distractions from my training.
Cheers,
Erik
Assume everyone has already noticed the date change to March 29, 2014. I just found out :).
My cell is 281-702-2588 for those who are looking to get dinner the night before.
Cheers,
Erik van Mechelen
Is registration closed now?
If not, how do I find the form? 
Cheers,
-Steven
Steven,
By the looks of the website, registration is now closed: http://www.usamemorychampionship.com
HOWEVER, I would try emailing Karen Pinson ([email protected]) to see if you can negotiate getting in! You already have a no, perhaps you can get a yes!
Best of luck. Erik
Does anyone know what the best airport to use or hotels that many of the participants are staying? Just trying to set up flights and such. Also my cell is 423-580-1565, would like to be at the dinner Fri, and Sat if anyone is staying through to Sun.
Brad
I’m staying with my friend in Long Island City area. My cell is 281-702-2588. I’m planning to get in on Friday and leave Sunday or Monday.
Cheers -Erik
Thanks Erik!
I emailed Karen and recieved a prompt response. The event filled up and is “bursting at the seams.”
She said that she put me on a wait list in case of cancellations, which may (hopefully) still be quite short. Luckily I live in NYC so making last-minute travel plans won’t be a problem.
Best of success in the competition!
Cheers,
-Steven
That’s really weird. It took so long for the registration to open and then closed so suddenly. Any number of serious competitors could have very easily been blocked out or wait-listed. Sounds like the word has really spread this past year.
I’ll throw my # into the hat, too. 972 746 6590. It’s starting to feel like that time of year…asking myself why I didn’t allot more time to disciplines that aren’t digits or cards, and wondering what kind of improvement can be made in these other disciplines in just 6 weeks.
Unless I get tied up at work, I’m down for the dinner. My number is (201) 214-3200.
Good luck to everyone!
This is ridiculous. I thought that there would be some form of notification or announcement if registration was going to be closed about 2 months before the competition! They “lost” the first first set of forms so I figured it would be better to save up my money and wait until the last week of February. I guess I was wrong, but I am not very impressed.
I have been thinking that it would be worth the effort to go to a competition with a more standard format instead for a while and this does make my decision much easier.
Hmmm… I don’t see any other events in the USA the entire year… am I missing any?
If anyone else is interested, I wouldn’t mind helping schedule a NYC memory competition like the “Friendly Champs” linked below, but perhaps even much lower-key. I don’t know how convenient it is to set up a good set of materials for names/faces and abstract images, but everything else could certainly be done pretty easily I would think. I could have it at my 700sf Brooklyn apartment, or we could reserve a room for a day at an NYPL library or something. Even if it’s amateurish, it might be something to do for some newbies excited after the USA champs, and/or intermediates who would enjoy an opportunity to mentor and show-off. I was thinking sometime in May…
Friendly Champs:
At the risk of derailing the thread further, another idea would be a worldwide same-day event where everyone does matched trials of the more easily prepared WMC-type events. It shouldn’t be too hard, they do a worldwide Bridge tournament and that sounds far more complicated… ECatsBridge - Promoting Real Bridge in a Virtual World This way many people could participate with a bare minimum of physical event planning. And it would serve my purpose of having a convenient event to train for.
I guess for the worldwide/distributed event the cards would have to be digital or on printed paper, especially for the multi-deck events. Snail-mailing decks around and sealing/unsealing envelopes would be a hassle.
Any interest or precedents for either kind of event?
Cheers,
-Steven
I live in NY - if you organize an event, I’d be there! 700sf apartments are my jam.
[quote=ALeman]
Are you saying that you will not be there?
Steven - glad you’re on the wait-list, you never know! Since you live in NYC you should join us for dinner on Friday. My cell is 281.702.2588.
Why thanks so much! I would much enjoy meeting you all. I suppose since Zoomy was invited to the dinner and he’s not a competitor either, then it might make sense that I could be invited as well. 
My cell is 646-430-1585.
Looking forward to meeting y’all, Erik, Brad, Lance, Zach, and others.
Cheers,
-Steven
- A billion. Do it.
Being an MA in America sucks. One competition a year, and with so few events? Ugh, it’s like being a passionate composer who is stranded on an uncharted island with only a someone else’s moody, sticky pet guinea pig who survived the plane crash to hum to, but he doesn’t offer you his two cents because he only likes listening to rap.
No, it’s more like being an author, but you have to write your books out by hand with one of those little pencils that are included with a rented golf cart because nobody had the bright idea to invent anything longer. Oh sure, there’s a typewriter at the extreme tip of this huge nation that you can use one day per year, but it’s not very reliable. Never mind trying to get your hands on something better – the computer that the whole world shares was recently shipped to China, not that it even matters anymore; thanks to that avalanche, you’re snowed in this tiny cabin with a broken heater and a nun who keeps whacking your left hand with a ruler.
Good luck developing into the writer you want to be.
