Now since I’ve spent last night fiddling around with this shiny new wordpress installation I really feel the need to write something.
In the last years we have collected lots of experience on what kind of IT is necessary to support an event like the IYPT (mainly by organizing the AYPT). For the IYPT 2010 we have to scale up everything we’ve learned so far.
Since i hope very much that there are many more IYPTs to come, I would like to start a small series of posts about my experiences so far.
So lets start by giving this some structure. First, there’s of course the website: aypt.at and my new toy iypt.at. Then we have to look into communication and collaborating in a team, keeping files up to date and protecting them from hdd failures (yes, we’ve had them!). And eventually there’s the open problem of how to deal with the team’s large binary files (powerpoint, videos, pictures).
So let’s start with the website. I guess in 2010 I don’t have to stress the fact, that a website is necessary to accompany an event like the IYPT. But looking at the sites from last years’ tournaments I feel like there’s always been something missing. The goal has to be to provide different groups of people (e.g. participants, teachers, parents) with all information they might be looking for. IYPT2010 gives you all the information about the 23rd IYPT in Vienna. However I felt like that is not enough, so we’ve added The Tournament with all kinds of information about the IYPT, its history and so on. Sure, the only way to experience what the IYPT is all about is to participate, but the website at least gives you a video of a fight and the slides that were used in the report.
There’s still more to come. I’ve already setup a gallery, but currently I’m also thinking of using this blog as some kind of photoblog. Sure, having hundreds of photos online sounds great – but I now prefer the way how Rudi Lehn is blogging and using pictures.
Ok, that’s enough for now. I promise to write more about the website, subversion, the pain of binary file versioning, and ideas on how to do team-registrations right after Christmas 🙂