Houston Region specific Information

Updated 2/8/23

Welcome to the Houston Area Region Odyssey (“HARO”) page. You will find here additional details that are specific to Houston, in addition to all the general program information that is explained on this website.

Join our Coach Mailing list for the 2023-24 season here. This is the same link to sign-up for Coach Training. Note: you should consider white-listing all emails from @txodyssey.org domain to ensure that you do not miss any important communications about volunteers, judges, preorders, etc.

Quick links to general information on our website:

Tournament Staff for HARO

What’s Happening in February:

JUDGE REGISTRATION for competitive teams was due Jan 15th. Short grace period until Jan 20th, after that date penalties apply.

Make sure that you verify all your team qualification requirements in order to be included in the team schedule.

Tournament Staff registration and orientation for memberships with 4+ teams. Volunteer registration is now open until Feb 5th. Job selection will open Jan 20th to Feb 10th (extended to Feb 14th for Primary team volunteers and Feb 17th for competitive team volunteers due to delay in scheduling).

Start reviewing team paperwork. Discuss style with the team, it should not be an afterthought.

Coaches! Be sure to attend the virtual competition walk-through on Monday, Feb 12th at 8 pm. No rsvp needed. Computer or tablet are recommended:
https://join.freeconferencecall.com/TXOM

We are starting to publish competition-specific information under Regionals, HARO Competition. Monitor that page frequently for further updates.

Key dates for Houston season

Link to our Google Calendar to add events to your personal calendar. Please note that rsvp is only accepted through the specific sign-up links below.

The list below includes all dates mentioned in newsletters:

Month	Date	Time	Type	Details
August/ September 2023			Key date	Annual membership renewal to access the current year full problems and program guide. Purchase/renew your annual membership here.
September	Wed 13th	7:30 pm - 8:30 pm	Event	Odyssey of the Mind Orientation for New Parents and Teachers. Live webinar. Sign-up here.
September	Sat 23rd	4:00 pm 5:00 pm	Event	Odyssey of the Mind Orientation for New Parents and Teachers. Live webinar. Sign-up here.
September	Sat 30th	9:00 am - 1:00 pm	Event	4-hour Coach Training session on-site. Presbyterian School, Museum District. Sign-up here.
September to February		Ongoing	Key date	Team meetings under the direction of their coach to determine their team solutions, build their own sets and costumes, write their scripts and practice presenting them in an 8-minute skit.
October	Sat 21st	4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Event	2-hour condensed Coach Training (make-up session). Live webinar. Sign-up here.
October	(mid)		Key date	Online Team registration opens for HARO competition
October	Sat 28th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline to sign-up for Spontaneous Workshop. Track B for Teams.
October	Mon 30th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline to sign-up for Spontaneous Workshop. Track A for Coaches.
November	Wed 1st	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for renewal of annual membership
November	Sat 4th	8:30 am to 1:30 pm	Event	Spontaneous Workshop. Track A for Coaches. Sign-up here by Oct 30th.
November	Sat 4th	10:00 am OR 11:45 am	Event	Spontaneous Workshop. Track B for Teams. Sign-up here by Oct 28th. Choice of session 1 from 10 am to 11:30 am, or session 2 from 11:45 am to 1:15 pm.
November	Fri 15th		Key date	Online Judge registration opens for HARO competition
December, 2023	Fri 15th	10 pm	Deadline	Online Team registration closes for all regional competitions
January 2024	Sun 7th	2-3 pm	Event	Problem 4, Balsa Crush testing. Sign-up here by Dec 31st.
January	Mon 1st	Ongoing	Key date	Pre-orders open for OM team regional shirts. Get your team shirts only available through preorders. Also, a sneak peek at pins.
January	Wed 10th	Ongoing	Key date	Online Volunteer registration opens for HARO competition.
January	Mon 15th	10 pm	Deadline	Payment for HARO competition fee. Late teams are not guaranteed to be on the competition schedule. Instructions here.
January	Mon 15th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline to include any qualified scheduling requests within the Team Registration.
January	Mon 15th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for registration of team judges for HARO competition.
January	Wed 20th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for registration of team judges for SOUTH TX teams.
January	Wed 20th	10 pm	Deadline	Registration of Tournament Staff (only for schools with 4+ teams registered at HARO competition). Instructions here.
January	Wed 20th	Ongoing	Key date	Volunteer jobs open for self-serve selection until Feb 10th. First come, first served.
January	Thu 21st	8 pm	Deadline	Pre-orders close for OM team regional shirts. Pins remain online for two more weeks then available onsite at competition.
January	Wed 31st	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for registered judges to take the general training certification, in order to be invited to Feb 3rd specific training.
February	Sat 3rd	3-5 pm	Event	Virtual Judges Training, (in addition to online General Training) for HARO and SOUTH TX judges.
February	Mon 5th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for registration of team volunteers.
February	Mon 12^th	8 pm	Event	Virtual Walk-Through of HARO Competition for Coaches.
February	Wed 14^th	10 pm	Deadline	Last date for volunteers to pick their own jobs. After that date, they will be assigned, but fewer choices will remain then. [Extended due to delay in scheduling]
February	Wed 14^th	10 pm	Deadline	Deadline for registered judges to take the general training certification, in order to be invited to Feb 17^th specific training.
February	Thu 15^th	10 pm	Deadline	Last day to submit any team clarification requests for the year (optional).
February	~~Wed 14^th~~Sat 17^th	10 pm	Deadline	Last date for volunteers from Primary Teams to pick their own half-day jobs from the Primary list only. After that date, they will be assigned, but fewer choices will remain then. [Deadline extended due to delay in scheduling]
February	Sat 17^th	3-5 pm	Event	Judges Training, Virtual Catch-up session, (in addition to online General Training). LAST CHANCE and with smaller scope, for HARO and SOUTH TX judges.
February	~~Wed 14^th~~Tue 20^th	10 pm	Deadline	Last date for volunteers from Competitive Teams to pick their own jobs. After that date, they will be assigned, but fewer choices will remain then. [Deadline extended due to delay in scheduling]
February	Sat 24^th	8:00 am - 4:00 pm	Competition	HARO Regional Competition, San Jacinto College, South Campus, followed by the Awards ceremony on-site.
February	Tue 27^th		Deadline	Deadline for registration of advancing judges to the State Competition.
February	Thu 29^th		Deadline	Deadline for booking team/judge hotels at our negotiated group rates.
March	Sat 2^nd		Deadline	Deadline for registration of advancing teams to the State Competition.
March	Sat 23^rd	8:00 am - 4:00 pm	Competition	TX State Competition, at Texas Woman s University (Denton, TX) followed by the Awards ceremony.
May	Tue 21^st evening to Fri 24^th	three full days	Competition	World Finals, Iowa State University, in Ames, IA. * This year, the competition will take place Tuesday to Friday.