Samuel, I want to publicly express how much your contributions to the IPG for Players project have helped steer the entire team towards a much clearer and well defined view of what the document is supposed to look like. Your contributions are insightful, well thought out, and really help contribute to improve the work our team is doing. While the result is not yet public, you deserve recognition for the great amount of work you’re putting in to the project. Thanks for your dedication!

Sometimes it’s not just the leadership of a project that helps keep the team motivated or to keep everybody on the same page. Samuel‘s recognition, his first Exemplar, showcases that very nicely. It’s great to see this level of initiative and involvement from an L1, and I hope that he keeps up the great work!

Gil has put a lot of work into improving the scene in RI & Cape Cod where he is the area captain. It’s an easily overlooked area in our region and it’s easy to miss how much he has done to help, with running PPTQs, to working on store relations, to helping mentor judges. Even as the area captain, where a lot of this is his responsibility, his work is exemplary. He also consistently impresses me with his performance at events when I have had the chance to work with him.

Thanks for all your hard work Gil, you’re helping make this region great.

As an Area Representative Gilbert is the point person for Rhode Island, for when judges in his area need anything or the leadership is curious about things. Gil has certainly gone above and beyond, helping to schedule the PPTQs in such a way as to ensure there is no overlap, making sure they are all covered, and using them to help the next generation of judges learn.

Jacob Kriner wrote and published the SOI Judge prerelease announcement helper and leaflet. I live over an hour away from the nearest LGS, but there are several different stores that are about the same distance from me so I have had the opportunity to play and judge prereleases at all of them, as well as some other places when I was visiting family or friends. I’ve had to make those opening announcements, sometimes with little or no notice, and I’ve seen other judges flounder with them (and often whispered reminders to them about new mechanics they forgot to mention or basic sealed deck construction guidelines.) This document is such an AMAZING resource for thousands of stores and judges, and will help ensure that players around the world have a consistent prerelease experience and that judges remember all the “important stuff” they need to say to make their event run smoothly. Thank you, Jacob, for taking the initiative and creating this extremely valuable document. You rock!

As any Judge who has made opening announcements can attest: sometimes it’s hard to get it entirely right. It gets even tougher when you are making them for up to 5 events over the course of a single weekend, with little time for practice or refinement. Jacob‘s project had a clear goal of helping anybody who was going to be making these announcements and making sure nothing “fell through the cracks”. Not only was this helpful for Judges, but also for any store owners who don’t have a certified Judge to help out. This leaflet is just one example of how a great idea and some initiative can reach out and help many.

Eli, I wanted to recognize you for your online presence in the judge community. You continue to offer clear and teachable moments on the Judge Forums. One particular example was your tournament report for the charity event (http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/25308/) where you called out particular lessons from each situation. Keep up the good work and continue to share your thoughts with others.

Program involvement isn’t limited to only official projects. Activity on the forums is another great way to exhibit exemplary habits. This can range from answering questions, to sparking discussion, or to pointing things out that will help our fellows grow. Eli has been very active on the forums, and many (including myself) believe the program is better for it.