{"id":893,"date":"2019-07-29T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/?p=893"},"modified":"2019-07-29T15:35:53","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T15:35:53","slug":"future-of-judge-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/coordinators\/2019\/07\/29\/future-of-judge-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Future of the Judge Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear judges,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today Wizards of the Coast announced a fundamental shift<\/a>\u00a0in its relationship to the Magic Judge Program.\u00a0 Going forward, what we currently know as the Magic Judge program will be managed by the independent organization Judge Academy, owned by Tim Shields, as of the start of October 2019. You can read their announcement here<\/a>. While this is a significant and substantial change, we, the Program Coordinators, believe this change is ultimately in the best interest of the Judge Program.<\/span><\/p>\n

In early February we were notified that Wizards was looking to alter its relationship with the Judge program as of October 1st 2019. We discussed goals and constraints with Wizards, and began researching possibilities for an independent judge program run by judges – talking to lawyers, researching profit and non-profit organizational structures, legal requirements, discussing potential budgets and revenue streams. During these discussions and research period, we learned that Tim Shields of Cascade Games, as well as another organization, also had a proposal for a new organization.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After several conversations with Tim, it became clear that Tim had the vision, resources and connections to form an organization than was bigger and more forward thinking in scope that we were planning.\u00a0 He had a long term plan to form a multi-domain organization, where skills in running events would port to certifications in other games. This was interesting to the PCs because it positioned Magic Judges in the center of something new, created with the goal of expanding into other markets, in effect, allowing Judges to judge more. We found out that Tim was very passionate about helping judges, and that he also has business skills and experience that are not easily available among judges. He was also committed to involving judges in the management of the organization. After a month of discussions, we concluded that in both logistical execution and overall vision, Tim\u2019s plan gave the Judge Program a better chance for success in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About two weeks before the London Leadership conference, the PCs agreed to endorse Tim\u2019s plan, and chose not to continue exploring a competing plan. The rough outline of the plan was presented to the Regional Coordinators at London. Since that time we have been having conversations with Tim and the people he has hired on topics like Level Definitions, Web platforms, JCC, Conferences, Promos, a Board of Advisors, and some full time staff positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now the big question is:\u00a0 How will this affect you?<\/span><\/p>\n

The short answer is, we don\u2019t fully know. Details are still being worked out every day. We don\u2019t expect the \u2018events\u2019 part of judging to change very much. You will still judge your local events the same way as before. The same is true for MCQs and international events such as MagicFests. JudgeApps will still be around. The global community and family we have built over more than two decades will not disappear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Things we do know:<\/span><\/p>\n