Prior to tournament:

• Make/verify hotel reservations.  If they have been made by Sue, the confirmation number will appear on the planning sheet, but you should call and verify when you know the exact number of rooms you will need.  Always overbook rather than underbook, but get the cancellation policy (some hotels will require 24 hour notice, others are just 6 pm the day of arrival).  Always ask if they have a State of CA discounted rate (Marriotts, Comfort Inns, etc. always will.  Other hotels may) and compare it to the tournament rate and take the cheapest.
• Reserve/verify vehicles.  Sue will reserve vehicles at the beginning of the season, but won't have numbers at all.  So, you should verify that you have the vehicles you need for the number of people traveling.  Also consider who will be driving each vehicle!  Remember, debate tubs take up quite a bit of room, so plan for that when choosing vehicles.
• Enter tournament online by the deadline.  The students are to have their entry to you no later than one week before the start of the tournament.  You can usually drop people up until the Wednesday before the tournament begins.  The online entries are usually at either www.debateresults.com  or forensicstournament.net.  But, check the invitation to verify.  Passwords for each of the sites are in the tournament binder.
• Complete a travel advance AND travel request form AT LEAST two weeks prior to the tournament.  These are available in the forms section of this wiki.  Please be sure to complete the correct form as there are different account numbers for in-state and out-of-state travel.  Always request more money than you think you will need - do a tournament budget than ask for $500 more than that.  Remember, you will have to pay for hotel, food money, team dinner, entry fees, etc. so be sure to ask for enough.
• Pick up a travel packet from Peggy or Sue prior to departure.  This packet will contain important forms you will need for the tournament - food money signing sheets, a results sheet (record during awards if you can), a budget sheet (record information as you spend money to make the return job easier), a tax waiver for hotels (some will take it, some won't), etc.  Let me know if you have any questions about how to complete any of the paperwork.
• Have students complete a field trip sheet at the last class before the trip.  Once you have this, copy it twice.  Give the original to Peggy, a copy to the Public Safety office on campus, and keep one yourself in the tournament envelope or binder if you are carrying it with you on the trip.  If any attendees change on the day of the trip, call in any changes to Peggy and University Police.
• Plan ahead for team dinner.  Check the tournament schedule for the best night to have a team dinner, then start looking for local restaurants that can handle the number of people traveling.  Remember, we want these team dinners to be fast (its usually relatively late), fun (no stuffiness if it can be avoided) and relatively reasonable (usually figure that the average cost of a dish should be around $10, because students will get drinks, etc. and drive the cost up).  I usually either (1) contact someone I know from the area for ideas or (2) do a google search for "large party dining" in the city where we are staying or competing.