At the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in Zagreb, the EUDC council will meet to decide who will host the EUDC in 2016. A couple of weeks ago, the University of Cork announced their bid for the EUDC 2016. Now there is a second bid: The University of Warsaw Debate Society has joined the ranks of the applicants to host the prestigious tournament. Marcus Ewald, former President of the EUDC council, asked both bidding societies to provide information to enable debaters to compare the bids.

The full information gathered is compiled in a Google Doc. As a caveat, Marcus notes that the information provided by the bidding institutions has not been double-checked. The twelve-page document is open for everyone to edit. It contains basic statistics as well as detailed descriptions of flight costs, visa requirements, the adjudication teams, and local travel possibilities.

While the bids do not differ greatly, Warsaw overall is a cheaper option, but Cork has more experience with organising big championships. The price difference is not as notable with regard to the registration fee (Cork:  299€ maximum; Warsaw: 280€ maximum), but getting to the tournament is cheaper if EUDC will be hosted in Warsaw. The Polish bid was also keen to highlight the cheap prices for food and drinks, detailing accurately how much a bag of crisps, a fruit salad or a beer would cost. Meanwhile, the Cork bid stated that a pint of beer in a bar would cost more than four Euros. However, they have more judging funding available (12,000€ vs. 10,000€ in Warsaw).

Most of the relevant criteria cannot be compared in numbers though. The document also features information on the Convenors, Chief Adjudicators and Equity Officers, and a short characterisation of the hosting institutions. There is another important difference in the style of accommodation: While the Warsaw hosting hopefuls provide a four-star hotel located in the city, Cork offers self-catering apartments on the university campus with four-eight bedrooms and sitting rooms each.

hug/nbo