Dear WCA Community,

The WCA Board of Directors are accepting applications for Asian Championship 2018 and European Championship 2018.

Please discuss whether this is something you are willing and able to pursue with the delegates and organization teams in your country. Organizing a competition of this size takes a significant amount of time and effort before and during the competition.

If you are interested, then send your application documents to Olivér Perge, pergeoliver@gmail.com (Asian Championship), or Ron van Bruchem, rbruchem@worldcubeassociation.org (European Championship).
The application period ends on August 31, 2017

Please include in your application documents at least the following information:

1. When would you like to hold the competition?
   1.1 number of days of the competition
   1.2 overlap with holiday periods of schools
   1.3 overlap with national holidays in the country

2. Where would you like to hold the competition in your country?
   2.1 city should be interesting to visit for travellers with opportunities for sightseeing
   2.2 ease of international, national, and local travelling
   2.3 availability of hotels/apartments in varying price ranges
   2.4 venue should be able to accommodate stage, audience, tables to practice, and side rooms
   2.5 technology, like internet, video streaming, lighting, and sound equipment, should be available
   2.6 number of competitors and spectators that can be hosted

3. What would the organization team and staff look like?
   3.1 core team members
   3.2 experience of the core team
   3.3 involvement of other parties
   3.4 quantity and quality of local volunteers (guideline is 80-120 staff)
   3.5 required support by foreign delegates

4. What will be the overall budget for the competition?
   4.1 cost (venue, stage, equipment, decoration, website, badges/lanyards/giftpack, prizes)
   4.2 income (registration fees, sponsoring, local government)
   You can assume 20K EUR sponsoring from a central sponsor via WCA (for calculation purposes, this is not yet confirmed!). Local sponsors may be Rubik partners or preferably not in puzzle business.

Here is an example document with a non-exhaustive list of topics that need to be arranged and budgeted for a large competition:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w6uxOHrr40of1R4-NjU1vy7fVJXRHiRZBn53Hc-IOk8

The two Directors Olivér Perge and Ron van Bruchem will lead the process of selecting the winning application. The Board of Directors will vote and may consult with other members of our community before voting.

We are looking at a competition that is focused on three things:
1) Will our members have a great experience together?
2) Will our members have a good opportunity to set personal times, in a fair competition where the best will win?
3) Will our sponsors be happy and will this promote our community well?

Kind Regards,
Linus Fresz
on behalf of the World Cube Association

Max Park won the World Rubik's Cube Championship 2017 with an average of 6.85 seconds. Seung Hyuk Nahm (남승혁) finished second (7.02) and Lucas Etter finished third (7.24).

World records: Drew Brads Pyraminx 2.04 (average), Feliks Zemdegs 5x5x5 Cube 38.52 (single), 5x5x5 Cube 46.24 (average), 6x6x6 Cube 1:20.03 (single), 6x6x6 Cube 1:27.79 (average), 7x7x7 Cube 2:06.73 (single), 7x7x7 Cube 2:15.07 (average), Max Park 3x3x3 One-Handed 10.31 (average).

African records: Moez Boussarsar Pyraminx 4.78 (average).

Asian records: Seung Hyuk Nahm (남승혁) 5x5x5 Cube 46.36 (single), 5x5x5 Cube 51.21 (average), 5x5x5 Cube 45.54 (single), 5x5x5 Cube 49.51 (average), Yulun Wu (吴宇伦) Pyraminx 2.48 (average).

Oceanian records: Jack Cai 3x3x3 Blindfolded 23.44 (single), Jayden McNeill Pyraminx 2.10 (single), Square-1 10.36 (average), Square-1 7.47 (single), Square-1 10.07 (average), Tom Nelson 5x5x5 Blindfolded 5:43.86 (single).

European records: Charlie Stark Square-1 9.07 (average), Ciarán Beahan 6x6x6 Cube 1:45.57 (average), Jules Desjardin Pyraminx 2.32 (average), Oscar Roth Andersen Megaminx 45.07 (average), Sebastian Weyer 5x5x5 Cube 50.88 (average).

North American records: Bill Wang 4x4x4 Cube 20.69 (single), 4x4x4 Blindfolded 2:09.94 (single), Max Park 5x5x5 Cube 45.38 (single), 5x5x5 Cube 48.09 (average), 5x5x5 Cube 42.63 (single).