Schedule - Mid-Central USA Region

The contest is conducted in Central Standard Time, so all sites in the Eastern time zone will start one hour later. At all sites the contest will begin promptly at 12:30pm CST and end at 5:30pm CST. The other times are approximate and may vary slightly between sites.

9:00am - 9:30am: Arrival and Check-In: Teams and coaches arrive and report to the local site registrar. A small continental breakfast may be provided.
9:30am - 10:00am: Welcome: Typically includes an official welcome to the teams and coaches from the Site Coordinator or other university dignitary, the introduction of IBM representatives or other special guests who may be in attendance, and a thank-you to the volunteers who made this site's participation possible.
10:00am - 10:30am: Tour: Teams and coaches meet with local student staff for a tour of the contest facilities (general meeting location, team workstations, judging area, central bulletin board location, restrooms, etc).
10:30am - 12:15pm: Contestants' Meeting: The Site Coordinator or his/her representative meets with the contestants to review the rules and discuss site-specific policies. Contestants have from the end of their meeting until 12:15pm for lunch, which is usually not provided.
10:30am - 12:15pm: Coaches' Meeting: The Site Coordinator or his/her representative meets with the coaches. Contest problems are opened and discussed, and judging duties are determined. Lunch for the coaches is included.
12:15pm - 12:30pm: To Your Stations: Teams report to their workstations and coaches report to the judging area. Sealed contest questions and necessary contest materials (forms, disks, manuals, etc.) are distributed to the teams at 12:29pm.
12:30pm: Contest Begins: Let the joy commence.
5:15pm: 15-Minute Warning: Contestants are notified that the contest will end in 15 minutes.
5:30pm: Contest Ends: No further submissions or dialogue requests are accepted.
5:30pm - 6:00pm: Site Results: The site judges finish all last-minute entries, double-check and finalize the scores on the web, and send solutions for any teams ranked in the top five in the region to the Regional Chief Judges for validation.
6:00pm - 7:00pm: Site Awards: The top four teams at each site receive ribbons, and in addition the top three teams at each site receive prizes. Pizza or comparable computer-geek food may be provided. Regional results are usually in by this time but are not official until the solutions from the top 5 teams are validated by the Regional Chief Judges, which takes a day or two.