How it Works
For months and months, teams work hard at perfecting their solutions to their long-term problems and practicing spontaneous for the big day. But what happens when they actually compete? The layout of the competition changes based on the level of competition and division, but it remains fairly similar nonetheless. When you sign up to compete at a given competition, you are given two times: one for your long-term, one for your spontaneous. You are obligated to be ready for both of these times lest you lose all possible score for that section. The time given for long-term is the time that the judges will expect you to be in the "pre-staging area". The time for spontaneous is the time that you are expected to be at the given location to wait to be called for spontaneous. Teams must check in early in the competition, but after that, they only have to be around for their respective competition times. Most teams stay at the competition throughout the whole time it goes on, however. The times a team is competing dictate what the team does during the rest of the competition. They might practice their skit in their down time, or do practice spontaneous problems, or they might just relax.
Long-Term
When the time for a team's long term comes, there are still many steps to go before the team actually performs its skit. They start by going into what is called the "pre-staging area". This is where the team will hand over all of the paperwork that judges will need to announce who is performing and the necessary forms to tell them which style elements the team wants to be scored on, the general premise of the skit, and any other necessary information they will need for the skit to begin. This generally happens while the previous performance is finishing up. Then, when it is time, the team goes into the "staging area". This is where the team will wait until the judges say to begin and start the clocks. Before every skit, the judges announce general information like what problem and division the team is from, whether or not they have strobe lights and if they allow flash photography. Then, they ask the judges if they are ready. The judges generally respond with a silly phrase pertaining to the problem. Then, the team is asked if they are ready, with a similar response from the team. Finally, the team is told to begin and they must drag their sets onto the stage and complete their skit in eight minutes.
Spontaneous
When the time for spontaneous rolls around, there is another interesting ritual to go through. A team first checks into spontaneous and is ushered into a waiting room. There, many teams from many divisions and problems are waiting, either practicing spontaneous or playing games, depending on the team and level of competition. When the actual time for competing comes, someone will come into the waiting room to get the team and bring them down the hall to the specific room in which they will be competing. Again, depending on the competition, the team might be encouraged to yell or play instruments on the way to help relieve the stress of competing. Once in the spontaneous room, the problem is given and teams must respond in the given time.
Divisions
Divisions in competition refer to the age of the team members competing. There are five divisions: 1-4 and Primary [5]. The primary division is for kids younger than third grade. There is only one Primary problem each year and their competition is not really covered on this page. The other four divisions are pretty easy. Each number corresponds to the different levels of U.S. school. Division one is elementary school (up to age 12), two is middle school (up to age 15), three is high school (older than the other two, but still in school), and four is college (members have a high school diploma) [5]. However, if there is a team of six middle schoolers and one high schooler, the team has to compete in division three. If there is one member that is too old, the entire team has to play up to keep it fair to the other teams []. Teams only compete against those in their division and problem. Additionally, teams in division four skip the first two competitions and go straight to Worlds.
Competition Levels
Regionals are the lowest level of competition. They involve all of the teams in the immediate area. Regionals are usually held over a weekend and only last one day. The Awards Ceremony is on the night of the competition, which is held in a large school or community college in the immediate area.[2]
States are the level after Regionals. They are pretty much the same layout except that States are held further away (depending on the state and region you're in). States are at a larger college or high school in the state and usually require teams to stay overnight because of how far away the competition site is. This, again, depends on region. They are still only a day long, though.[3]
Worlds is the final and most exciting level of competition. If your team makes it past Regionals and States, you are in for an exciting time. The OM World Finals are held in a large university every year because of the amount of people that need to be housed in the area. They are always in the United States, but people from all over the world come to compete. World Finals are a week-long ordeal. You are not only given a time to compete, but also a day. The rest of the time is yours to explore and make new friends. There is an opening ceremony on the first day where everyone is welcomed. Every state and country has different hats that they wear to the opening ceremony. After this, hats can be traded with other states or countries.
Competition during Worlds works about the same as it would at any other level, the difference is all of the time in between competing times. At Worlds, there are lots of things to do. One major attraction is called pin trading. Each state and country makes its own pins that teams can buy to trade with others. There are also some teams that make their own pins to trade. Every year, there are some pins that are coveted by OMers that can be traded for multiple other pins. There is a whole economy of pins. Depending on the size and rarity of a particular pin, it is worth more. It also depends on the individual you are trading with. There are also many other activities going on during Worlds, but there is still plenty of time to make new friends and spend quality time with the team or spend time practicing. Everyone in the team stays in dorm rooms on the campus for the week, so everyone is near each other. [1]
Awards
At the awards ceremony, they announce a multitude of things. First of all, and most understandably, they announce the first through third places for every problem and division. They try to do this in such a way that will encourage people to stay for the whole ceremony. So, if you are not involved in OM and the ceremony seems to progress in an odd order, this is why. In regards to the places earned by teams, the first and second places move on to the next level of competition in Regionals and States [3]. So, if a team knows that it is one of two competing teams in its problem and division, it knows it is moving onto the next level of competition no matter what. At Worlds, they announce the top 6 places since there is no higher level of competition [6].
There are some less common awards that are announced at every award ceremony. The first is the most common: the OMer award. An OMer award can go to a team or team member that shows an exemplary sense of "the OM spirit" [8]. This can mean any number of things. Usually, though, it means that the team overcame adversity by competing, or were especially kind to another team. So, things like helping a team in a way that might hurt your own team, continuing to perform even when nothing works, or performing even when one essential team member is absent are examples of reasons teams have gotten OMer awards. An OMer award does not allow the team to advance to the next level of competition.
The rarest award at OM competitions is the Renatra Fusca. The Renatra Fusca is the highest honor a team can get at an Odyssey of the Mind competition. The Renatra is given to teams that show an incredible amount of creativity in the creation or implementation of their solution--either long-term or spontaneous [7]. Renatras are given out very rarely and are very highly exalted in the world of OM. Neither Renatras or OMer awards are required to be given every year, it just depends on the quality of the solutions in that competition.
At World Finals, there is one award given to one group every year: the Odyssey Angels. It is not always given to a team. Sometimes, the award is given to a family or a community. It is an award given to a group that created something to help their surrounding community, or their community at large. Groups must enter an application in order to win and only one group is chosen per year [4].