{"id":505,"date":"2018-01-04T21:55:48","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T21:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/?p=505"},"modified":"2018-01-11T01:14:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T01:14:34","slug":"status-of-the-judge-program-after-fall-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/2018\/01\/04\/status-of-the-judge-program-after-fall-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Program Status &#8211; Winter 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and Happy Holidays! Winter 2017 is coming to an end and here we have some exciting news about the Judge Program.<\/p>\n<p>Every quarter, we offer you an update with what has happened in the program and what are the Program Coordinators\u2019 goals for the next quarter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes in the Spheres structure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>New Social Media and Web Platforms Sphere leader: <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/3102549036' >Jack Doyle<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=3102549036&size=200'><\/span><\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nFirst and foremost, a big thanks to David de la Iglesia, former leader of the Sphere. He did an excellent job during his time as leader of the Sphere.<br \/>\nLet\u2019s give Jack a warm welcome! Jack has been a great asset in this Sphere since its creation and now it\u2019s time for him to take the lead and make it even better than it is.<br \/>\nYou can see the details of the Sphere <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/social-media-web-platforms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>New Judge Conduct Committee Sphere leader: <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/19451179' >Cristiana Dionisio<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=19451179&size=200'><\/span><\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nWhile Johanna Virtanen has successfully led this Sphere for two years, at the beginning of the summer, she was ready to share her expertise with other parts of the program beginning with the new year. Johanna and the PCs have spent several months running the selection process for the new leader of the JCC and chose Cristiana Dionisio to lead the Sphere. Thank you Johanna for serving the program in this vital, and behind the scenes role.<br \/>\nWe\u2019re positive Cristiana is the best candidate to lead one of the most complicated and delicate Spheres in the program. She brings years of experience serving as a GP Head Judge and Regional Coordinator to this new and challenging role.<br \/>\nYou can see the details of the Sphere <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/judge-conduct\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes in the structure of the Levels Sphere<\/strong><br \/>\nThree months ago, we announced the merging of the former L1 and L2 Sphere and the L3 testing Sphere into a single Sphere. During this time, we\u2019ve worked on creating a structure that allows coordination and flexibility in the Sphere.<br \/>\nThe resulting structure is the creation of 4 major projects inside the Sphere:<br \/>\nL1 project, led by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/1201757752' >Bryan Prillaman<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=1201757752&size=200'><\/span><\/span>.<br \/>\nL2 project, led by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/70274285' >Alfonso Bueno<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=70274285&size=200'><\/span><\/span>.<br \/>\nL3 project (includes L3 certification), led by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/58806265' >Matteo Callegari<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=58806265&size=200'><\/span><\/span>.<br \/>\nExams content, led by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/5208297693' >Louis Fernandes<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=5208297693&size=200'><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>You can also find details about the other existing Spheres <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We would also like to remind you the existence of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/media\/project_files\/267\/243246\/Chart_LatestVersion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Organization Chart<\/a> we\u2019re slightly changing the way it works, instead of releasing a new chart every 6 months, we\u2019ll updated it as needed always hosting the file under the same link: <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/media\/project_files\/267\/243246\/Chart_LatestVersion.pdf\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This way we won\u2019t need to wait for the next update to make any changes.<br \/>\nIf you observe any error or missing project, please let us know at <a href=\"mailto:mail-the-pcs@googlegroups.com\">mail-the-pcs@googlegroups.com<\/a>, we\u2019ll forward it to Zohar Finkel, the creator of and person responsible for the Chart.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Summary of Advanced Roles rotations<\/strong><br \/>\nA new class of Program Coordinators <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/2017\/10\/21\/announcing-the-program-coordinator-class-of-fall-2017\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was announced<\/a> in October.<br \/>\nA new class of Regional Coordinators <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/01\/regional-coordinator-selection-process-wave-3-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was announced<\/a> in October and in <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/02\/new-regional-coordinator-usa-southeast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exceptionally in January<\/a>.<br \/>\nApplication for GP Head Judge is ongoing and results will be announced in January 2018.<br \/>\nSpring 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/2017\/12\/30\/spring-2018-program-coordinator-application-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">application <\/a>for Program Coordinator is ongoing and results will be announced at the end of March 2018. Riki Hayashi concluded his term as of January 1st, and we thank him for his contribution.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rules Lawyer promotional card<\/strong><br \/>\nAs a \u201cThank You\u201d to Judges for their dedication to the game, Wizards is providing a Promotional version of the Unstable card: Rules Lawyer. This card will be available to conference and mini-conference attendees the first half of 2018. If you want information about conferences in your area, or want to organize one, please contact your <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/advanced-roles\/regional-coordinators\/\">Regional Coordinator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Judge Exams moved into JudgeApps<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter several months without access to the Judge Center, the Judge Program has decided to take over the judge tests. This will be a tremendous effort for everyone involved, but we believe that this will lead to better exams. These are necessary to improve our training and testing and to maintain and improve our quality of service to the players.<br \/>\nCheck the available exams <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/exams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nThe project of the Season: Exams on judgeApps.<\/strong><br \/>\nWell\u2026 we just mentioned this above, but this project really deserves the highlights of this article. There are two main parts in this project, the first one is creating the software needed to host the questions, edit and review them, create the actual tests, print them, etc. This is a bunch of work made by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/8102291717' >Dan Collins<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=8102291717&size=200'><\/span><\/span> and <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/5223921934' >Paul Baranay<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=5223921934&size=200'><\/span><\/span>.<br \/>\nThe second part of this project is the creation of the questions for the test; this may look like an easy job\u2026 but far from it. We were surprised by the huge amount of details and effort it takes. This part of the project is led by <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/5208297693' >Louis Fernandes<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=5208297693&size=200'><\/span><\/span>. Louis and his team are preparing, reviewing and editing the content for all the exams. A big thank you to the entire team for volunteering their time to this important work for the program.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The project contributors of the Season<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are many other judges contributing to different aspects of the program. We would like to highlight a few people doing awesome in their projects. We know there are many, many, many more judges going above and beyond in their volunteer contributions to projects, and we will be featuring more judges in the future issues of the Status of the Judge Program articles.<\/p>\n<p><span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/3223903168' >Michael Arrowsmith<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=3223903168&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, for his time as lead of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/projects\/60\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Judge of the Week<\/a> project.\u200b There are many judges dedicating their time to the program and they deserve being highlighted.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/8213969381' >Ronald Thompson<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=8213969381&size=200'><\/span><\/span> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/anniversaries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Judge Anniversaries project<\/a>, Project Manager. It\u2019s important recognizing experience and dedication to the judge program.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/3102549036' >Jack Doyle<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=3102549036&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for his work in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/social-media-web-platforms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media and Web Platforms Sphere<\/a>. We do lot of stuff, but if we don\u2019t manage to communicate it properly, judges around the world won\u2019t get access to it.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/29614562' >Edwin Zhang<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=29614562&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/projects\/527\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JTQ Project<\/a>. In many areas there\u2019s a player\u2019s community that would allow a PPTQ, but there is no L2, this project allows training for judges in isolated areas.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/11134222' >Johanna Virtanen<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=11134222&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for her leading of the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/judge-conduct\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JCC<\/a>. We need to keep the judge program safe and welcoming for everybody.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/3223788462' >\u200bHao Du<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=3223788462&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for helping with the judge blogs software. In the blogs, there is information that will help us all to become better judges.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/9209366657' >Joe Klopchic<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=9209366657&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/projects\/18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Knowledge pool<\/a>. Great tool to improve your judge skills.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/93462131' >Sashi Kumar<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=93462131&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for helping with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagicJudges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">judge staff photos<\/a> at many, many GPs. When you see the staff photos on facebook, don\u2019t you think \u201cI wish I could be there\u201d?<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/5208297693' >Louis Fernandes<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=5208297693&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for leading the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/exams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exams <\/a>content in JudgeApps. One of the main priorities in the judge program, at the moment.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/58806265' >Matteo Callegari<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=58806265&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for coordinating the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/o\/spheres\/level-3-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">L3 testing<\/a>. The keeper of the third level.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/82733019' >Hans Wang<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=82733019&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/projects\/398\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Announcements translation team<\/a>. When Program Coordinators need to speak to the program, this project facilitates our voice to be understood.<br \/>\n<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/8102291717' >Dan Collins<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=8102291717&size=200'><\/span><\/span> for creating the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/exams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exams <\/a>tool in JudgeApps. As we said before, one of the main priorities in the judge program, at the moment.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nFocus of the Program Coordinators in 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After consulting with the Level 3 judges, we determined the main topics we are going to focus on 2018:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00b7 Re-evaluation of the level system:<\/strong> starting from the current structure of the Magic organized play, we will review the definition of the different levels of judges (skills, requirements, opportunities, maintenance), we will evaluate the first two years of existence of the advanced roles (and the respective selection committees and leads), we will consider the possibility of badges\/certifications in addition or instead of the levels, and we will explore alternative structures in systems that resemble the Magic judge program.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00b7 Quality and level maintenance:<\/strong> in parallel with the re-evaluation of the level system and also based on the respective choices, we will put a much higher focus on quality, in different areas: training systems, focus on feedback, maintenance requirements\u2026<br \/>\n<strong>\u00b7 Projects structure: <\/strong>we will increase the attention on the most important areas of the judge program for what concerns the non-tournament activities, analyzing the current \u201cSpheres\u201d, the independent projects and the areas that might need a higher attention.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00b7 Role of Program Coordinators \/ Leadership of the judge program:<\/strong> Program Coordinators were initially defined as \u201cinvisible air traffic controllers\u201d, they now moved to a group of much more visible and present leaders of the Magic judge program, with the goals of determining the direction and the values of the judge program and giving support to the areas that are considered the most important to develop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and Happy Holidays! Winter 2017 is coming to an end and here we have some exciting news about the Judge Program. Every quarter, we offer you an update with what has happened in the program and what are the Program Coordinators\u2019 goals for the next quarter. Changes in the Spheres structure New Social Media [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"language":[5],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-status","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":558,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}