June 2012 Anniversaries

 

Here are the June 2012 judge anniversaries. Due to certain problems with the Judge Center, this month’s list may contain judges who are not active anymore. In fact, everyone on this list is currently Level 0!

10 years

Stefano Gattolin, Coventry,  England Great Britain
Wynand  Geyser,  Pretoria,  South Africa
Graham  Hopkins, Whitstable, England, Great Britain
Lian Pizzey  Derby, England, Great Britain
Roelf Pringle, Bloemfontein,  South Africa
Tom Russell, Newpor,t Wales, Great Britain
Nick Sephton, Isle of Wight, England, Great Britain
Francesco Spognardi, Isernia, Italy
Nicholas Taylor,  Essex,  England, Great Britain
Danesh Jogia,  Canberra,  Australian Capital Territory,  Australia
Lloyd Dodson,  Overland Park,  Kansas, United States
Jeremy Shapiro, Madison, Wisconsin,  United States
Rashad Miller,  Chicago, Illinois, United States
Kenji Suzuk,  Nishitokyo-shi,  Tokyo-to, Japan
Sauro Panzacchi,  Bologna,  Italy
Eric Wall,  Little Falls, Minnesota,  United States

5 years

Alexander Semkin, Moscow,Russian Federation
Brian Hellevang,  Moorhead,  Minnesota, United States
Jun’ichi  Yabuta,  Hachiouji-shi,  Tokyo-to, Japan
Christopher Nguyen, Baltimore,  Maryland,  United States
John Richens,  Gravesend, England, Great Britain
Benedict Schssler, Telgte, Nordrhein-Westfale,  Germany
Toshiki Ogihara, Shiki-shi, Saitama-ken,Japan
Luke Powell,  South Bend, Indiana United States
Debi Rivkin,  Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Congratulations to everyone, and thank you for your hard work!

This month’s featured judge is Lloyd Dodson from Kansas, United States. Regional Coordinator Steven Briggs writes:

Lloyd is enjoying his temporary L0 status.

“I first learned of Lloyd Dodson not through his judging efforts per say, but through his humanitarian efforts in his local community.  As I started to build my charity event tradition in my local area of Flint, Michigan, Lloyd made contact with me in response to a dcijudge-l post and offered lots of encouragement and support for my event.  It was then that I learned of Lloyd’s charity work – a tournament dedicated to the memory of his youngest brother, Bryan Scott Fry, in support of the Kristin Brooks Hope Line.  Lloyd continues to mentor local judges, attend regional Grand Prix events, and promote the judge program through his area leadership in Kansas.  While he may come across as quiet or unassuming, Lloyd’s strength of character and spirit are absolutely remarkable.  Lloyd, your ten years of service to this program are deeply felt and appreciated, and we thank you for being an amazing judge, a pillar in your area, and a selfless human being.  Congratulations Lloyd, and may the next decade treat you well good sir!  Cheers!”

 

We also have two Level 3+ anniversaries this month: James Mackay and Shawn Doherty.

James Mackay was promoted to L3 in 2007. Here’s what L3 judge Fabian Peck had to say about James:

Not mad.

“ I met James at one of my first events, on a PTQ team back in 2006, he was slinging puns around like mad. Even from that early on he’s been a huge influence on my judging career and the rest of the Australian magic community. He was one of my first impressions of judges and what judging was and it’s hard to have a better impression of the program, he’s one of those judges who fills the team with energy and laughter and is always ready with something to prod your brain.

Anyone new to the judge program in the last year or so may find it hard to appreciate how much James has impacted the program, his work on regular REL has revolutionized how most of us judge. His push for such a big change in moving away from the more rigid structure of the IPG at store level events is what has given us the freedom to be even more helpful, friendly and involved judges to our local players, magic is even more fun in stores than it used to be and much of the credit for that goes to James. The creation of the JAR and subsequent changes to L1 have been an important factor in helping people jump into judging quickly and intuitively growing the program to the whopping 3000+ judges we have now. James has never been afraid to stand up for an idea or change that he believes in and has been part of countless other policy discussions and changes that have got us where we are today, ask him about recording life totals some time =)

Even with the responsibilities of both an L4 and Regional coordinator James is still firmly rooted in his local community, his events are fun, educational and there’s always someone who wants his opinion on vintage or legacy or to just play some games.

There’s so much more to say but I have to leave something for when you have the pleasure of meeting him =) From the program, congratulations to James on so much success so far and thanks for all he’s done for the program and those around him. And from me, thanks for being an inspiration, a mentor and a friend over the years. “

 

Anniversary project team member Shawn Doherty was promoted to L3 in 2002. Here’s what Wizards employee and former L3 judge Lee Sharpe had to say about him:

Ask me about hamsters and bananas.

“When I first decided to investigate becoming a judge, I emailed the nearby level 3 judge, Shawn Doherty. I was good with the rules, but inexperienced at running tournaments. Shawn did a great job working with me and teaching me the ropes. He mentored me, and gave me increasing amounts of responsibility as I grew as a judge. He helped guide me to level 2 and level 3, complimenting my strengths, and helping me to improve at and overcome my weaknesses. I certainly would not be where I am today without him.

Shawn did a great job training judges and building a community in the Midwest, and I’m sure he’s doing the same thing on the east coast now. He is a great friend, a lot of fun to hang out with, and improves any event lucky enough to have him on staff. His ten year service to the judge program is a wonderful achievement. Congrats, Shawn!”

And here are a few words from L4 judge Carlos Ho:

“I first met Shawn Doherty at US Nats 2005, in Baltimore, when I was a young L2 first experiencing big events outside of my little turf, Panama. He was already a very experienced L3 back then, and I remember him running the Judge Booth at the show (back then, we didn’t do any of this rules challenges to players, we just had someone answer people’s questions about the judge program, and handling certification). I remember clearly my impression from that first chat we had at the booth: he striked me as a friendly and charismatic judge who loved interacting with others. Seven years later, Shawn hasn’t lost that attitude, making him a popular judge to hang around with.”

 

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3 Responses to June 2012 Anniversaries

  1. Lloyd Dodson says:

    Nationals in Kansas City 2004, my wife brought our then 1 month old son(Lloyd III) to the event to see all our friends(and me as well since it was Father’s Day Weekend). Shawn Doherty was manning the Judge Testing station when I took L3 over and said, “Fresh candidate for you.”
    Without missing a beat, Shawn had a ready reply for my son.
    “While there is no technical age requirement, you do need to be able to hold the pencil by yourself.”
    My wife was able to get a great picture of that ‘interview’.
    Always one with a quick wit and ready smile, Congrats to you, Shawn!

  2. Kyle Ryc says:

    Shawn and James may also be some of the funniest people I’ve met. Every event I work with Shawn is a fight to keep a straight face.

    Thanks for keeping judging fun!

  3. Chin Kai says:

    I can attest to the testimony about James’ quirky sense of humor. Watching him learn Mandarin from Hans during GP Melbourne…priceless! BEYONCE* 🙂

    * This is an inside joke, hehe

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