Hi Codeforces community!
I am currently a member of a team that aspires to compete in the upcoming ICPC World Final 2024. As we gear up for this exciting journey, we encounter a significant hurdle that we'd like to share with you all.
As part of the qualification process, we must first participate in the national marathon in Colombia, which is a crucial step towards earning a spot in the Latin American regional and, ultimately, the world finals. However, here's where the challenge lies – the scheduled date for the national marathon (2nd September) coincides with the prestigious International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), taking place from 28th August to 4th September. Several team members, including myself as a coach and one of my teammates as participant, have qualified to represent Colombia in Hungary at the IOI, making it seemingly impossible to be at both events simultaneously (as far as we know).
Upon realizing this conflict, we immediately attempted to contact ICPC Colombia to discuss possible alternatives. We proposed the option of either rescheduling the national marathon or allowing incomplete team participation with the commitment to complete the team in subsequent stages. However, to our dismay, ICPC Colombia remained inflexible and denied us the possibility of participating without relinquishing the IOI.
Their reasons for this decision were not entirely convincing. Regarding the date, they stated that it is a global arrangement. But we wonder, shouldn't they consider the IOI dates? After all, who schedules the Champions League on the same day as the FIFA World Cup? We believe that each country should be able to adjust their national marathon date, at least to some extent. Moreover, allowing incomplete team participation would not affect anyone else but the team itself, and this has happened in our national marathon before, and it have happened in higher stages as well, including World Finals.
Looking beyond this specific issue, we've experienced other challenges with the organization in Colombia. This year, two training camps were organized in different cities – one by competitors in Medellin and another coordinated by ICPC Colombia in Bogota. While ICPC Colombia claims that the dates were announced first by Bogota, we recall that Medellin announced them earlier. Consequently, the dates overlapped, creating unnecessary conflicts for participants. Our organization seems to hinder our experience as competitors rather than enhancing it. We understand that coordinating such events is complex and may not cater to specific needs, but we believe the IOI competition is a valid reason to seek some flexibility.
If you've made it this far, leave a like (just kidding)! We'd love to hear about how similar situations are managed in your country and how you have dealt with them. Is there a feedback system or complaint box for ICPC in your country? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Codeforces community, for your support and input. Let's continue striving for a better competitive programming experience for everyone worldwide.
Share your thoughts below! How are similar conflicts handled in your country? Have you encountered a situation similar to ours, and how did you resolve it? Do you have a feedback system or complaint box for ICPC? Let's foster a constructive discussion!
Looking forward to your comments and experiences!
