Bull City Slam Guidelines
The monthly slam is open to everyone 16 years or older unless the slam is designated as a slam for a particular demographic. For example; the all women slam.
Poets become eligible for the Durham - Bull City Slam team by competing in the Jambalaya Soul Slam throughout the year. We typically begin in September and the final team is selected in April of the following year.
Jambalaya Soul Slam is held at the Hayti Heritage Center, Durham, NC (www.hayti.org) located at 804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27701. *Occasionally slams are held at an alternate location (always check the website for details).
Slams are FREE for participating poets. 12 slots are available for participating poets.
Slams are open to the public, have an open sign up, and are not censored.
*NEW for 2011: 2 slots are reserved for out of town poets. If those 2 slots are not filled, then they are made available to anyone. The first person to sign up is guaranteed participation. The other 9 slots are available for anyone. If there are more than 12 poets, then the poets who will fill the 9 open slots will be selected by lottery.
The poets will draw numbers to determine the order of the first round. In the 2nd and 3rd round, the poet with the highest score will perform first and the round will end with the poet with the lowest score.
The competition will be a 3 round slam with elimination each round. The 1st and 2nd and 3rd round scores are cumulative. The highest scoring poet wins.
Bull City Slam Team Selection Process:
The 12 poets with the highest accumulation of points (by score) at the end of the March slam will be invited to participate in the Grand Slam Finals. The list of the top 12 poets will be posted to the Jambalaya Soul Slam Facebook Group, Jambalaya Soul Slam Blog, and the Bullcitypoetryslam.com website. In the event that a poet included in the top 12 is unable or unwilling to compete in the Slam Finals, the next poet on the list will be contacted to compete.
Poets invited to slam finals must be at least 18 years of age. *NOTE: The host city of both Southern Fried (regionals) and NPS (nationals) designate if the venues will be 18 and up or 21 and up. Poets will be notified if poets under 21 will not be able to compete. If this happens then the poets invited to finals will be 21 and up.
Winners of individual slams automatically advance to finals held in April.
Bull City Slam Finals:
The Grand Slam Finals occurs yearly in April. The top 12 poets will compete for a spot on the slam team. The competition will be a 3 round slam with elimination each round. Poets will draw numbers to determine the order of the 1st round. The order for the 2nd round will be determined by the poets score, the poet with the highest score will go first and the poet with the lowest score will go last. The 1st and 2nd round will be cumulative and the 3rd round will be clean slate. The top 4 poets at the end of the 3rd round will be the 2010 slam team. The 3rd round will also be used to determine the grand slam champion. The poet with the highest score will go first and the poet with the lowest score will go last. There will not be a cash prize awarded in the Slam Finals. The prize money and the funds collected from passing the hat will go toward assisting the team in getting to regional and national competition.
St. Joseph's Historic Foundation will purchase the PSI membership at the associate level for the four poets who make the team. The poets will be responsible for his/her membership renewal thereafter.
If a team member needs to be replaced for any reason, we select the next highest scoring poet from finals.
Slams follow the rules and regulations of Poetry Slam Inc. (www.poetryslam.com).
You can also find these rules and regulations at www.hayti.org
Team Commitments
Please be aware, this is a major commitment of your time. You will be required to participate in team practices Time must also be spent writing and rehearsing away from practice; there must be contact with other teammates for collaborations, and voluntary participation in team fundraising events over the summer. The Foundation will make team arrangements for regional and national competition, but YOU must be dedicated to the team. Also, be aware of the time spent away from family, work, and other responsibilities during competition regionally and nationally.
The slam master and the foundation will attempt to raise funds to cover the registration fee for all PSI events, Southern Fried, the cost of airfare, and hotel. Team members will receive regular updates (written or verbal) on team finances. In the event that the slam master and the foundation are unable to secure enough funds to meet budget, the team members are expected to assist in fundraising and/or cover the cost of the trip themselves. In the event that budget is not met and the team member is unable to meet the financial obligation, the team member replacement rule will be utilized.
The new team will meet directly after the slam finals and no later than a week after finals to discuss team practice and expectations. BCST historically practices at least once a week and the schedule is established based on the team member(s) availability. Team members are expected to attend each practice/scheduled team performance. In the event that the team member is unable to attend practice or a scheduled performance, they are required to contact the slam master or coach to make them aware of this. Excessive absences from practice or scheduled performances may result in the slam master replacing that team member.
In the event that a poet is unable or unwilling to perform their duty as a Bull City Slam Team member, the 5th ranked poet from finals will be contacted. The subsequent poets will be contacted down to the 12th poet until the spot is filled. In the event that the vacant spot on the team can not be filled with the remaining poets from the slam finals, BCST will have an open last chance slam. The slam will be limited to the first 12 poets to sign up.
**These rules can be changed at the discretion of the slam master. Any changes will be posted to the Bullcitypoetryslam.com website.**