The Biannual Bits Summary Competition

The summary competition is an ongoing event occurring on each biweekly group meeting, with a prize awarded at the end of fall semester, and just before Independence day. All members of the laboratory are eligible to compete, with the exception of the director.

During each group meeting, at the conclusion of summary presentations, attendees shall determine the most compelling presentation by an open vote, director excluded. Attendees may not vote for themselves, nor abstain. In the event of a close call, runoff voting shall be used. Ties shall be broken by the director. The winner of the vote gains one point toward the award. At the end of the award period, the member with the most points shall win the award, and all members' points shall be reset to zero.

Members are urged to judge presentations primarily on the quality of the presentation, and only secondarily on the accomplishments presented. For example, Turing award-worthy material poorly presented should be expected to receive fewer votes than a catastrophic data loss accompanied by a stellar forensic analysis and recommendations to avoid future disasters.