IAC is pleased to announce a series of talks and receptions at the 2027 Middle & Elementary School National Championships! Our vision for Nationals is that it is not just a full slate of competitions, but also a forum for the brightest young minds in America and their families. The talks and sessions listed below help fulfill our ideal of creating a community where we all learn from each other and come away with new perspectives on competitions, educational opportunities, and chances to keep pursuing excellence.
Talks are listed on the Nationals Schedule (see Column AD on the right of the file). Please see below for details on each of these – all are offered free of charge and do not require prior registration. Note that some additional talks, receptions, and guest speakers may be announced prior to the National Championships. Should that be the case, this website will then be updated accordingly. All of these will take place at the Hyatt Regency Orlando; exact locations will be communicated to families prior to Nationals weekend, though most will be held in the main ballroom where the Opening Ceremonies and Awards Ceremonies take place. And if you yourself are interested in giving a talk or presenting at our National Championships, please email IAC Executive Director, David Madden at david@iacompetitions.com
IAC Info Sessions
1. 2027 International History Olympiad Info Session
The 2025 International History Olympiad in Paris with 432 Competing Students was a great success, and we’re now looking ahead to the 2027 Olympiad in Berlin on July 24-31! Remember that Nationals is the last chance to qualify! Come and hear about updates on our planning, the ideas we have for the program, and what we are looking to debut for 2027. If you have questions or comments about the Olympiad, this is the perfect opportunity to let us know. We can also take questions and explain a bit more about the pre-tour to Munich and Nuremberg and the post-tour to Hamburg, Bremen, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This session will be held from 4:30-5:00pm on Friday, May 28 directly following National History Bee Block B.
2. 2028 International Geography Championships Info Session
The 2028 International Geography Championships will be held from July 9-16 in Stockholm, Sweden! If you’re considering attending, we hope you will join us for this information session on Friday, May 28 from 10:30-11:00am, directly following National Geography Bee Block A. Come and hear about all the fun in store in Scandinavia, including our pre-tour to Copenhagen, and our post-tour to Finland and the Baltic countries for Competing Students and their families! If you have any questions, or if we can help clarify any of the plans, this is the perfect opportunity to get the details you need in advance of IGC 2028.
3. 2028 International Science Championships Info Session
The International Science Championships will debut in Summer 2028 as a world championship-level competition for science! At this information session, we’ll go over the plans we have for this week-long event, which will be held in Washington, DC and Arlington, Virginia, with excursions to nearby sites, such as Johns Hopkins Medical School and Chesapeake Bay. We’ll be happy to answer your questions, and hear any recommendations you have, as our program of events will only be finalized by October 2027, in advance of registration opening in November 2027. This session will be held on Saturday, May 29 from 3:00-3:30pm immediately following National Science Bee Block D.
4. IAC Community – Town Hall Meeting
IAC is always looking to innovate: improving our current competitions and programs, and introducing new ones. Ultimately, though, all of our offerings are your opportunities, and we welcome this annual chance to share to exchange ideas and brainstorm with families, teachers, and administrators! We’ll begin by sharing our reflections on the 2026-27 competition season (what worked, what didn’t, what was just… not what we expected), and then delve into some specific aspects of our programs that may be of interest to you. Then, we want to hear your thoughts, comments, and feedback, as we look ahead to the remaining four days of Nationals, the 2027 International History Olympiad, and the 2027-28 competition season beyond. This session will run from 6:15-7:15pm on Thursday evening, immediately after the first of our two Opening Ceremonies.
5. QuizVidya Info and Question and Answer Sessions
QuizVidya is International Academic Competitions’ official training website. We’ve made substantial upgrades to QuizVidya for the 2026-27 academic year, and we’d love to get your feedback and suggestions for future improvements and additions. There will be two of these sessions, both of which will be led by Saroj Thatte, the primary developer of QuizVidya, who is also a parent of a competing student in IAC’s competitions. The first QuizVidya Info and Question and Answer session will take place from 3pm-4pm on Friday, May 28 and the second will take place from 9am-10am on Saturday, May 29.
6. Panel Discussion with IAC Coaches
Academic quiz competitions are expanding rapidly, and every year, with more students competing – and studying and preparing systematically – the bar is raised ever higher. Coaches are at the forefront of that development, and their experience can make all the difference between making the playoffs (or not) – or winning a national championship (or not). If you’re serious about upping your game, the coaches on our panel have decades of collective experience to share, and constitute an invaluable resource. This panel discussion will include coaches for hire, as well as school quiz bowl coaches, IAC full-time staff who have coaching experience, and teachers who lead some of the most successful IAC programs around the country. This session will take place from 12:00pm-1:00pm on Friday, May 28.
7. Quiz Bowl and IAC Question Production Q and A
IAC’s buzzer-based quiz competitions form a portion of the broader “quiz bowl” community, which consists of all such competitions. At this question and answer session, we’ll first explain a bit more about other opportunities within the wider world of quiz bowl (which is how many of IAC’s staff first got started, before IAC was founded in 2010). Then, we’ll pivot to a Q and A session regarding all aspects of IAC’s question production efforts, chaired by IAC’s Director of Question Production, Lee Holden. This session will take place from 12:00-12:30pm on Friday.
Receptions
8. 8th Graders Reception & Intro to IAC’s High School Programs
For 8th graders, this is your last chance to compete at IAC’s Middle & Elementary School Nationals! But there are years of competition and camaraderie ahead of you in IAC’s high school competitions, including the IAC Varsity and Junior Varsity National Championships each April in Arlington, Virginia! Our high school programs work slightly differently (the National History Bowl is a particular focus at the high school level) so come learn about how you can still compete for the next four years. You can even look to become a paid staff member at our Middle and Elementary School tournaments in your area as well! We’ll spend a bit of time outlining opportunities and then give you a chance to hang out with other competitors from around the country with some soft drinks and snacks. This reception will take place on Sunday evening, May 30 and run from 8:30-9:30pm.
9. Girls Who Quiz Discussion and Reception
IAC is eager to help make quizzing more welcoming to girls. We’d love for all girls and women at Nationals to join us to hear about our ideas and to give us some feedback on what you would like to see more of in our programs. A number of girls and women who are experienced competitors or IAC staff members will be on hand to share their perspectives as well. This can also give you a chance to get to know other girls at Nationals and make friends early on in the weekend. This event will run on Friday morning, May 28 from 1:30-2:45pm.
10. Teachers and Administrators Thank You Reception
IAC’s National Championships wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of thousands of teachers and administrators across the USA! If you are a teacher or administrator and are attending Nationals, we’d love to get to know you better and thank you for your support. We’d thus like to invite you to our annual educators reception which will run from 6:00-7:00pm on Friday, May 28 in the Rocks Bar at the Hyatt Regency Orlando with complimentary snacks, beer, wine, and soft drinks. We hope you’ll be able to join us!
Other Talks & Presentations
11. AFS Exchange Student Programs Info Session
IAC’s Executive Director David Madden spent the first six months of his senior year in high school as an AFS exchange student in Vienna, Austria. Not only were these the best six months of his life, but he credits his time overseas as helping him get into Princeton University (the Princeton Dean of Admissions at the time was quoted in the AFS brochure as saying that ideally, every applying student would have a chance to take part in such a program), acquiring complete fluency in German, building self-reliance and social skills, forming life-long friendships, and developing an appreciation for what America can learn from the wider world and what the wider world can learn from America. 30 years prior, David’s mother had also been an AFS exchange student in Brazil (and many years later is still fluent in Portuguese). The Maddens also hosted an AFS exchange student from Indonesia in 2007.
Come and learn about opportunities for students to go overseas with AFS, to open your family to a student who is eager to study in the USA, and for teachers to participate in their own specially designed travel and exchange programs as well! This talk will take place from 5:00-5:30pm on Thursday evening, May 27 directly proceeding our first Opening Ceremonies.
12. College Admissions Talk and Discussion
Come and hear a panel discussion including college admissions officers, current college students, and others with an insider’s perspective on the college admissions process. While it’s often at the forefront of students’ and parents’ minds particularly as the high school years approach, the college admissions process doesn’t need to be the stressful experience that it’s often portrayed to be! We’ll discuss approaches to maximizing your chances for admission, while also broadening your horizons to consider gap years, study abroad, and hidden financial aid opportunities. IAC Executive Director David Madden, who has interviewed numerous students for Princeton University’s admissions department, and has written dozens of recommendation letters for top students in IAC’s competitions over the past 16 years, will emcee the discussion from 7:30-8:15pm on Thursday evening, May 27.
13. Rainforest Alliance Coffee Break
IAC’s Executive Director, David Madden, is an Ambassador for Environmental Education with the Rainforest Alliance, one of the world’s largest conservation organizations. Come and learn about how the Rainforest Alliance helps both rain forests and the communities that live in them and enjoy some free Rainforest Alliance certified coffee! The coffee will be available directly outside the Regency Ballroom from 10:30-11:00am on Saturday, May 29. We’ll also discuss the return of the International Environmental Science Olympiad in Summer 2029.