Difference between revisions of "Bryce Avery"

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'''Bryce Avery''' was the President of '''Avery Enterprises''', which bills itself as "America's biggest supplier of custom-formatted questions for academic competitions." Avery himself played [[College Bowl]] at BYU and California State Polytechnic, Pomona. It is surmised that he purchased [[Patrick's Press]] in 2009; in 2016, he purchased [[Questions Galore]]. In 2024, he announced that he was leaving quiz bowl; his client list was then purchased by the [[Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance]].
  
'''Bryce Avery''' is the President of '''Avery Enterprises''', which bills itself as "America's biggest supplier of custom-formatted questions for academic competitions." Avery himself played [[College Bowl]] at BYU and California State Polytechnic, Pomona. In 2016, he purchased [[Questions Galore]].
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==Avery Praised by Avery==
 
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* Bryce Avery sees Avery Enterprises as favorable in comparison to his smaller competitors, who do not write in as many formats as he does, as well as favorable in comparison to his larger competitors, who tend to write only in their format.
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* Bryce Avery has described Avery Enterprises as "provid[ing] the best in [[funn|fun]] and challenging quiz tournaments!"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210302222721/https://www.averyenterprises.net/quiz-bowl/quiz-bowl-high-school Avery Enterprises: high school quizbowl (archived)]</ref>
  
 
==Avery Criticized by Others==
 
==Avery Criticized by Others==
 
*Repeatedly on the HSQuizbowl forums, which include [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=12565&p=232382&hilit=Avery+Enterprises#p232382 here], [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8688&p=155401&hilit=Avery+Enterprises#p155401 here], and [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=56020#p56020 perhaps most strongly here].  
 
*Repeatedly on the HSQuizbowl forums, which include [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=12565&p=232382&hilit=Avery+Enterprises#p232382 here], [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8688&p=155401&hilit=Avery+Enterprises#p155401 here], and [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=56020#p56020 perhaps most strongly here].  
*Descriptions of Avery questions from those who played on them include: ''speed questions with an extremely large amount of trash, including, but not limited to, spelling questions and questions about types of detergent.''  
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*Descriptions of Avery questions from those who played on them include: ''speed questions with an extremely large amount of trash, including, but not limited to, spelling questions and questions about types of detergent.''
 
 
The criticisms above were valid at the time of writing but are less so in 2021.
 
 
 
Client satisfaction (especially in a vendor's honoring client requests regarding categories, types, distribution, and length) is generally more important to vendors than player criticism afterward (assuming the vendor wants to stay in business). Thus, some criticism of questions by players is more of a criticism of the question requirements given by the sponsoring organization, and players have had success petitioning an organization for changes to those requirements.
 
  
==List of quizbowl events run on Avery questions==
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Avery attempted to frame criticism of questions by players as "more of a criticism of the question requirements given by the sponsoring organization,"<ref>https://www.qbwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Bryce_Avery&curid=4057&diff=51601&oldid=40305</ref> with players successfully petitioning an organization for changes to those requirements. In reality, IESA added a Miscellaneous Pop Culture subcategory in 2019 because Avery included such questions in his sets before 2019 even though they were not supposed to be part of the distribution.
The Avery Enterprises website below keeps an updated list.
 
  
 
==Fact Mountain==
 
==Fact Mountain==
Avery, through his company Foothills Education, LLC, also produces a quizbowl study guide app series called "Fact Mountain." As of 2021, apps are available in both Apple and Android for American Literature to 1900, 19th-Century British Literature, Russian Literature, Great Paintings, U.S. Presidents and U.S. Constitution. Non-quizbowl apps with the same construction are available for Legal Ethics and for (unofficial) missionary preparation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Mission Prep app is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese by setting devices to those languages. All apps (except Mission Prep, which is totally free) have freemium versions to try out before purchase.  
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Avery, through his company Foothills Education, LLC, also produces a quizbowl study guide app series called "Fact Mountain." As of 2021, apps are available in both Apple and Android for American Literature to 1900, 19th-Century British Literature, Russian Literature, Great Paintings, U.S. Presidents and U.S. Constitution. Non-quizbowl apps with the same construction are available for Legal Ethics and for (unofficial) missionary preparation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The apps retail for around $3-$4, which, considering other free options available (Quiz/AseemsDB, QuizBug, Anki) are extremely expensive.
  
 
==Non-Quizbowl Activity==
 
==Non-Quizbowl Activity==
* Apart from being a major question writer, Bryce Avery is also a registered patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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* Apart from being a major question writer, Bryce Avery is also a registered patent agent and technical writer, credentials which are advertised on their website mere inches from their quizbowl packets.
  
==Links==
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==External Links==
 
* [http://www.averyenterprises.net Avery Enterprises website]
 
* [http://www.averyenterprises.net Avery Enterprises website]
 
* [http://www.factmountain.net Fact Mountain website]
 
* [http://www.factmountain.net Fact Mountain website]
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==References==
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<references/>
  
 
[[Category:People]]
 
[[Category:People]]

Latest revision as of 22:57, 16 October 2024

Avery Enterprises
President or CEO Bryce Avery
Location: Grand Junction, CO
Status Open

Bryce Avery was the President of Avery Enterprises, which bills itself as "America's biggest supplier of custom-formatted questions for academic competitions." Avery himself played College Bowl at BYU and California State Polytechnic, Pomona. It is surmised that he purchased Patrick's Press in 2009; in 2016, he purchased Questions Galore. In 2024, he announced that he was leaving quiz bowl; his client list was then purchased by the Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance.

Avery Praised by Avery

  • Bryce Avery sees Avery Enterprises as favorable in comparison to his smaller competitors, who do not write in as many formats as he does, as well as favorable in comparison to his larger competitors, who tend to write only in their format.
  • Bryce Avery has described Avery Enterprises as "provid[ing] the best in fun and challenging quiz tournaments!"[1]

Avery Criticized by Others

  • Repeatedly on the HSQuizbowl forums, which include here, here, and perhaps most strongly here.
  • Descriptions of Avery questions from those who played on them include: speed questions with an extremely large amount of trash, including, but not limited to, spelling questions and questions about types of detergent.

Avery attempted to frame criticism of questions by players as "more of a criticism of the question requirements given by the sponsoring organization,"[2] with players successfully petitioning an organization for changes to those requirements. In reality, IESA added a Miscellaneous Pop Culture subcategory in 2019 because Avery included such questions in his sets before 2019 even though they were not supposed to be part of the distribution.

Fact Mountain

Avery, through his company Foothills Education, LLC, also produces a quizbowl study guide app series called "Fact Mountain." As of 2021, apps are available in both Apple and Android for American Literature to 1900, 19th-Century British Literature, Russian Literature, Great Paintings, U.S. Presidents and U.S. Constitution. Non-quizbowl apps with the same construction are available for Legal Ethics and for (unofficial) missionary preparation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The apps retail for around $3-$4, which, considering other free options available (Quiz/AseemsDB, QuizBug, Anki) are extremely expensive.

Non-Quizbowl Activity

  • Apart from being a major question writer, Bryce Avery is also a registered patent agent and technical writer, credentials which are advertised on their website mere inches from their quizbowl packets.

External Links

References

  1. Avery Enterprises: high school quizbowl (archived)
  2. https://www.qbwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Bryce_Avery&curid=4057&diff=51601&oldid=40305