MSPDP Tab was originally written in 2005 by Danny Cantrell, now Director of Debate at Mt. San Antonio College. Danny created the program as a community service for the middle school debating community. Kate Shuster, the director of the Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP), asked Danny to write the program after she became convinced that teachers in the MSPDP needed a simple, powerful program to administer their tournaments. Major revisions were done in the summer of 2016 by Matthew Blakmon who is now the lead coder on the excel based MSPDP Tab project.
During the summer of 2020, Danny Cantrell worked to convert the Excel based program into a web-based system to take advantage of exciting new technologies and enable online tournaments. All the same features and easy workflow from the excel program are available on the web based program.
Although there are many tabulation programs available for free and for fees, none have been constructed specifically to empower public debate program teachers to be able to run their own tournaments. PDP Tab (short for “Tabulation”) fills this niche.
As the program was designed specifically for PDP tournaments, it is ideal for new or existing leagues running tournaments. Unlike other programs, it is designed for three-person teams and requires little experience in order to direct a flawless tournament.
PDP Tab features:
- § Easy tournament direction, so that most tasks are easily accomplished using the “Next Step” button on the main page.
- § Automatic results calculation for individual and team awards, as well as a cumulative results sheet.
- § Easy mechanism for changing judge assignments.
- § Direct printing of ballots.
- § Flexible for tournaments that feature 4, 5 or more debates
- § Compatible with both PC and Mac computers as it is browser based. It even works on your phone!
However, before you direct a tournament, you should read this manual (coming soon) and ensure that you are able to operate the software. You should also read our “Tournament Director’s Manual,” located on our Web site, www.highschooldebate.com, so that you are prepared to handle the contingencies that might arise at tournaments that you direct.
If you want to run a test tournament, here is a data file with 18 schools, 60 teams, 44 judges, and 36 rooms prepopulated. All of the schools and names are top California schools and public historical figures. After creating your tournament, just go to the entry system then the export/import page.
Please feel free to contact Kate with questions about the software or about running a tournament. Kate can be reached at kate.shuster@gmail.com.
If you have an emergency using the software, it’s okay to call Kate on her cell phone: (tba).