There are only two weeks to go before the fingers start flying at the Cincy Typing Challenge in Cincinnati, Ohio! If you’re in the area, be sure to register on line if you want to participate and try for the $5,000 grand prize. The contest is open to anyone, and there will be a “celebrity typing challenge” as well, featuring local news broadcasters and reporters. There’s also a texting competition with a $500 prize, but if you want to compete in this category you’ll have to bring your own device.
This competition is being held on the 125th anniversary of the first typing contest between expert typists Frank McGurrin (who used the then-new QWERTY keyboard layout) and Cincinnati typing teacher Louis Traub. McGurrin won the challenge back in 1888 and the QWERTY keyboard became the standard. This year, the competition will be held at the Cincinnati Museum Center, and there is also an exhibit of old typewriters on display at the Cincinnati History Museum going on now until the first qualifying round in the typing contest on July 20th.
To register for the Cincy Typing Challenge or to get more information, click here.
If you’re in Kuala Lumpur on January 8th, you can celebrate Typing Day and participate in the speed typing contest sponsored by the Malaysian government and the student organization AYFIC Project. In the UK, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, recently sponsored an open typing test competition for anyone who wanted to take it at their training centres, and back in 2010 Das Keyboard held the Typesy Championship in Austin Texas. The Cincinnati challenge is the first major US-based typing contest to receive media attention since then, though several school districts have held informal typing contests over the years.
Have you participated in a typing contest recently? Tell us about it in the comments!
Check out Typesy Community and exchange ideas related to touch typing, keyboarding, learning, technology, and Typesy program itself. Login with your Typesy Account here: https://community.typesy.com/