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Over the last several weeks I have given significant thought to the future of Extemp Central. As our regular readers know, I have had to curtail several content features to start the 2016-2017 season. News quizzes were suspended part of the way through first semester, news about circuit results were not posted, and no standings were released for the National Points Race. All of this is due to the fact that I simply have not had the time in light of existing work commitments – which have me teaching three separate AP history courses and other extracurricular duties – and while I like posting questions and R&Ds, I am not currently satisfied with the content that has been released this year.
I thought of trying to rearrange the content schedule to get news quizzes back into the rotation and then try to get our circuit results updated, but every time that I thought about doing so I simply could not find a way that I could rearrange the schedule so that this content could be delivered in a timely manner and with quality. Anyone who knows me understands that I am someone that prefers to do things the right way and to the best of my abilities and not being able to do a project to my standards is why I have made the decision to end Extemp Central.
This website has had a good run and has hopefully assisted many extempers and teams across the country. If I could have made a living chronicling the extemp circuit, I would have gladly done it but such a goal is not feasible. I hate to close down something of educational value, but if history is any indication something will one day rise and take the place of this site. Prior to Extemp Central there were other significant websites such as forensicsonline.net, individualevents.org, and extemp.net. Those sites served as an inspiration for this one and more will probably emerge in the future. If one does, I hope that they will make use of the records that this site has maintained and continues to add to them.
I thank anyone who has contributed to this site over the years, visited, or spoke highly of it to people they have interacted with on the circuit or at conferences. It is a tough decision to walk away, but I feel that it is for the best. I hope the rest of the 2016-2017 competitive year goes well and I wish everyone the best on the road to their respective state tournaments and NCFL and NSDA nationals.
-Logan Scisco
DXFan345
Hi there Logan.
I am an Extemper from CO., and as a passionate and dedicated member of the forensics community, I had always wanted to give myself the resources to succeed, especially since the Forensics team I was a part of was always competing against larger teams that had classes, and generally, got more resources and funding from their respective High Schools. For the longest time, ExtempCentral was our go-to resource to help us improve at Extemp., and in some ways helped us “level” the playing field with those larger teams. Although there are other resources out there for my team, I don’t believe that many sites out there can match the kind of originality, utility, and generally, the usefulness of ExtempCentral. I am sad to hear that this site is closing down, but I am appreciative and grateful for the work you have put into it’s development. Once again, thanks for helping my team improve at this great activity.
betsyconnor
Hi,
So sad to see this go, but I completely understand. Do you have any tips/tricks/advice for writing extemp questions? I can never seem to write questions that are as wonderful as yours.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Betsy