Judge Foundry Exemplar Program Wave 2 Begins! Wave 1 Vanguard Announced!

Wave 2 of the Judge Foundry Exemplar Program has arrived. It opened Monday, September 8 at 0500 GMT and will close Monday, December 8th at midnight on the West coast. East Coast folks have a little bit of spill over into the next day, but if you are done by midnight on the 8th you are fine.Judges will have the same number and kinds of slots as they did for wave 1:Level Based Slots:
L1s – 1 “any” slot per wave
L2s – 1 L1 slot per wave, 1 “any slot” per wave
L3s – 1 L1 slot per wave, 1 L2 slot per wave, 1 “Any” slot per wave.
L4s – 1 L1 slot per wave, 1 L2 slot per wave, 2 “Any” slot per wave.
L5s – 1 L1 slot per wave, 1 L2 slot per wave, 3 “Any” slot per wave.

Role Based Slots:
Regional Advocates – 3 Additional “Any” Slots
Area Communicators – 1 Additional “Any” Slot
Core Judge Foundry Project leads will receive additional “Any” slots tied to the size/scope of the respective project.

I’m also going to plug the nominations from Wave JF01 again. If you haven’t read all the good things people are doing, you ought to! Maybe you’ll be inspired. Or maybe you’ll just get all misty-eyed as someone waxes poetic about one of your friends.

Wave 1 Vanguard

The goal of Exemplar is to highlight the exceptional actions of other judges. As part of that effort each wave we pick a recognition each wave to highlight, and as part of that recognition, we allow the recipient to take part in the creation of the token for the following wave. We evaluate nominations based on our criteria, and we vote for the one that we feel excels in all categories.

The Exemplar Program is pleased to announce that Wave 1’s Vanguard is Khailyn Schaefer, an L3 from the Great Lakes region based on the recognition they received from PJ Wynn Moonsetter. Here’s what Wynn wrote:

Not all heroes wear capes – some of them wear a teacher’s name tag by day and a judge’s name badge by night!

This nomination covers multiple specific things, from Khailyn’s contributions to local growth to online collaboration on various projects. It’s also exemplary – so much so that PJ is talking about reviving one of their projects. (As an aside, if you’re reading this, you should also think about starting or joining a project!)

But we also wanted to call out another nomination, funnily enough written by Khailyn, for Rob McKenzie, an L5 from the Plains region. This nomination was neck and neck for the Vanguard spot, and we thought the only thing better than highlighting one great exemplar nomination was highlighting two (there are probably more better things, but we can’t count terribly high).

From Khailyn Schaefer to Rob McKenzie

Rob, This Exemplar Nomination is written for you based on exceptional player interaction/engagement, transparent community leadership, and proactive actions taken to establish an alternative event for players.After the abrupt cancellation of a few large events in the St. Paul area, Rob quickly and deliberately collaborated with local players, store owners, and judges to construct an alternative event for these players. With a quick turnaround, Rob established a Modern 1K+ event with a knowledgeable and trustworthy judge staff overnight for a large collection of competitive players.Rob, this may just be typical Wednesday behavior for you, but to me, these are qualities and actions of a true leader in a community. Understanding the importance of qualifying for the Regional Championship, having a competent judge staff that will maintain the integrity of an event and help players feel comfortable, and connecting individuals from the spectrum of competitive Magic are attitudes and actions that cannot be taught. I want this nomination to remind judges that judging and organizing events goes beyond just showing up and answering calls; judging is also about connecting and paving the way forward for a community of individuals to learn and grow. Truly, thank you for all that you do for the Magic community, and until next time, my friend!

This is a great recognition. It starts fairly broad – big picture Here Are Things Rob Excels At – and then narrows scope to talk about a specific community effort Rob and some other MN judges pulled together. But not everyone can create a $1K tournament on short notice. Excellent large behaviors are built upon more subtle ones. Not recognition needs to be this long or cover such a big scope! Here are a few more examples of nominations that we think are pretty great.

From Kyle Evans to Sean Schumacher

Sean, ever since I met you, you’ve been a positive force for good in the community. You’ve built a safe and fun environment for players, created a league that your players support, and are always striving to be the best version of yourself. I also have to commend your efforts getting judges in Del Rio certified. You communicated with them and found a meeting space that worked for everyone involved. You are executing everything the community needs and I’m so proud you are here getting the work done. I look forward to your progress and ideas in the future!

Here we have a judge focused on creating a league for players as well as mentoring judges. And coordinating a space everyone can be at at the same time? Anyone that’s ever tried to run a D&D game knows that’s a difficult accomplishment.

From Cardan Wood to Alex Sowa

Thank you for writing your in-depth tournament reports. Having perspective and experiences of someone who runs so many events very well is fantastic, and seeing all the fun and quirky interactions you encounter is really cool. You’re always trying to learn something new, and always going above and beyond at every event. I also love watching your growth as a judge through your reports, and I hope you enjoy writing them as much as I enjoy reading them!

Here we have an L1 writing tournament reports, making them publicly available and teaching others through their own experiences. Definitely something we want to hold up as something we would like more judges to emulate.

From Joe Klopchic to Garrick Brooks

Garrick has been an outstanding member of a few LDXP staffs. This is what Erin Leonard, the reg lead had to say: “Garrick demonstrates a willingness to step outside his comfort zone and learn new things. He’s willing to jump right in testing new software and processes while working with his team to smooth out the bumps for players. He provides excellent operational feedback as well as mentorship for newer staff members. Garrick simply makes things easier for the players, his team, and his lead.”

Here we have something I think is special on a few different axis. First, stepping outside your comfort zone to learn something new and help an event is great. Providing actionable feedback is awesome too. But here’s something subtle about this nomination: Erin Leonard is not a Judge Foundry member. This nominations was made via proxy. Why I think this bears mentioning, is that it’s one thing for someone to sit down and think about the impressive stuff they’ve seen another judge do. Its something else to impress someone so much that they tell someone else about you.

Final Thoughts

An exemplary action doesn’t have to be some grand, sweeping thing. It just has to be something we want to encourage more of. The next time you’re at an event, or a conference, or anywhere there’s another judge around, and you see something that makes you think, “Oh, that was great, I should start doing that immediately” or “I wish more people did this thing” – that is exemplary.

See something you think is worth shouting from the rooftops? Great! Tell us about by submitting a recognition here.

If you need a refresher on how to submit a recognition, see our guide here.

Judge Foundry Exemplar Wave JF02 is open right now and closes Monday, December 8th.

We can’t wait to read about all the cool things judges get up to this fall. Until next time, be well, do good, and be good to one another.