Written by Carlos Ho, Level 3, Panama
From: Jarrod Williams To: Rob McKenzie
Rob, Thanks for all your help in studying for the L3 exam. You dedicated a lot of time and effort in tutoring me and helping me with rules knowledge with the weekly webex sessions. I appreciate you working with me and helping me improve. You are a great example of a leader willing to go the extra mile to help others improve.
I spend a lot of time working with individual candidates for certifications – I help a lot of people make L2, and Jarrod was one of the first people I helped get to L3 successfully. Having a direct impact on a person in the program is a huge deal to me, because I feel that the program is people and how strong our connections are.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
This is for something specific (some mentoring sessions) which other people can emulate, and which made a huge and positive difference for Jarrod in achieving an in-program goal.
From: Paul Baranay To: Matteo Callegari
Matteo, I really enjoyed working with you at Pro Tour Magic Origins. I learned so much from you about team leading, both from observing you on Day 2 and from your comments on my leadership on Day 1. I also enjoyed being able to talk with you about the differences between American and Italian judges. You are a very insightful mentor, and I look forward to working with you again!
Why this is important to me
Two of the things I love the most about the judge program is learning/mentoring and meeting different cultures. Having the possibility to compare how different communities tackle the same topics is incredibly eye-opening and a source of great inspiration. I loved that at that event Bearz and I were on the same team both days with him as TL on day 1 and me as TL on day 2. This allowed to put into practice several ideas on how to lead a team in different ways. Diversity is extremely important and even applied to leading styles is a great resource for all of us.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
Bearz captured all the above concepts in a few lines and while being specific he puts the focus on the general importance of exchanging points of view for growing as judges. And I must confess that I learned a lot from him as well. 🙂
From: Matt Crocker To: Jack Doyle
There have been a few times over the last year where I’ve been at somewhat of a crossroads as a judge and at those times I’ve sought you out as a mentor. The knowledge and advice you’ve imparted has been invaluable and really helped me sort my head out with regards to my place in the program. I also wanted to thank you for how welcome you made me feel at GP London. Your contribution to my experience that weekend is a significant part of why I now have a fire to drive on and become the best Grand Prix judge I can be.
Why this is important to me
One of the things I pride myself on is being available and willing to talk to any judge about anything. It can be “I had a hard day at work and need a pick-me-up” to “I don’t understand this policy situation” to “I’m thinking of quitting” – I will find time. The fact that it meant enough to someone to think about our interaction in an exemplary way made me happy and realise that what I strive to do is important to others.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
Matt captures how our interactions helped him crystallise how he felt and what he could and should do about certain things in the program. He combines overall repeated interactions with one specific memory that motivated him and gives him a level of drive. It’s a well-written piece of text that shows how much impact small interactions have on a wider scale.
From: Agustin Mopty To: Carlos Ho
Tuve la suerte de trabajar contigo por primera vez en el último Grand Prix de Porto Alegre. Ninguna de las situaciones que nos cruzaron en el torneo puede ser catalogada de grata; ni la descalificación ni la “enfática” (por definirla con liviandad) queja de un jugador problemático. En relación a esta última, me tomó mucho tiempo entender por que habías actuado como lo hiciste. En principio no estaba en absoluto de acuerdo con la tolerancia que te vi demostrarle a un jugador que, a mi entender, se quejaba desmesuradamente sin tener razón. Las veces que me ensaye en tu lugar, yo hubiera cortado antes su catarata de verborragia o perdido mi propia paciencia. Pude meditar muchas veces al respecto y, después de mucho, termine entendiendo que lo más sano para el torneo fue tu accionar, en que demostraste una capacidad de autocontrol envidiable, de la que espero aprender y, eventualmente, emular.
Translation:
I was lucky to work with you for the first time at the last GP Porto Alegre. Several situations made our paths cross during that tournament, and none of them can be considered enjoyable. That’s the case of the disqualification and the “energetic” (to define it with some lightheartedness) complaints from a problematic player. In the latter, it took me a long time to understand why you acted the way you did. At the beginning, I completely disagreed with the tolerance that you showed towards a player that, to my understanding, was complaning in a disproportionately way without having a valid reason to do so. Everytime I tried to put myself in your shoes, I thought I’d have stopped his verbosity before you did, or lost my own patience in the process. I was able to think about many times, and after a long while, I was able to understand that what you did was probably the best for the event, and that in doing so, you showed a great deal of autocontrol, and I hope I’ll be to learn from that autocontrol and eventually, emulate it.
Why this is important to me
One of my strengths as HJ is that I remain calm most of the time, no matter what happens. In turn, that makes judges at the event feel more comfortable and confident, and even under stress and problems in the event, they feel we’ll able to go through it and make the best of it. It’s the kind of thing that not a lot of people notice, and I really appreciated that Agustín saw it on the first time he worked with me and decided to recognize me for that.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
Agustín is very specific about what he’s recognizing, which is the way I handled a player that was excessively complaning at that GP, and he explains in detail why it was important to him. He puts emphasis in how much time and how many tries it took him to understand why I acted the way I did, and how my actions made him reevaluate how he would normally react in similar situations.
From: Aurélie Violette To: Sophie Pages
Tu as toujours était un peu mon modèle dans l’arbitrage. Ton implication dans un nombre dingue de projets me donne toujours envie de faire pareil, et je ne serais pas la moitié de ce que je suis en tant qu’arbitre sans toi. Les efforts que tu mets sur des projets sur le long terme (comme les traductions) mais aussi l’ensemble des documents que tu mets en place régulièrement sur des sujets variés permettent à toute la communauté arbitrable d’évoluer dans le bon sens. Un grand merci pour ton implication permanente dans l’arbitrage au sens large.
Translation:
You’ve always been a little bit like my model in the judge community. Your involvement in a crazy number of projects makes me always want to do the same, and I would not be half of what I am as a judge without you. The efforts you put on projects over the long term (such as translations) but also all documents you put in place regularly on various subjects allow all the judge community to evolve in the right direction. A big thank you for your ongoing involvement in judging.
Why this is important to me
The message is important, the judge who write it much more. Aurelie is my first padawan, the first judge I certified L1 when I became L2 and also the spark to involve myself in mentoring. Then she moved away from my town and took a great importance into Parisian judges. She is enthusiastic and does a lot of things, and seeing that she still notices things I do for the french community really touched me. I indeed put a lot of efforts to enliven the community online, with translations, forums and tools, giving time and energy to be always available and with new ideas for judges, and am always a little worried about their impact, so having the feedback that what I did is useful and give some inspirations to young judges make me remember why I do all these things and motivation to continue.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
In this nomination, Aurélie shows exactly what Exemplar program wants to highlight, that more that stating the work I’ve done, it inspired her to do the same, gives her energy and motivation to start projects as well. She gave examples, and we can read that she took some of my motivation to create emulation around her, and she did with great success with weekly conferences in Paris. She also extends the scope to the whole french community, showing that the work is not only helpful for her, but also to other judges she encountered.
From: Nick Sabin To: Sean Catanese
Sean, I admire you as much as I don’t envy you. When I think of people with the requisite poise, diplomacy, and tact to be a voice for the program – or, to steal your metaphor, a member of air traffic control – I can’t think of many people as well-suited as you. At GP ABQ, you led the L3 meeting and stood as a representative of the program against some thoroughly skeptical veterans, myself included. I respect the hell out of you for standing your ground and for standing up as a leader. The program is lucky to have you as a member.
Why this is important to me
When I look back at ones I’ve received, I appreciate the sentiments of most a great deal, but sometimes they’re for things where I didn’t really want recognition. For example, a couple folks really liked the article I posted explaining the whole Southeast suspensions mess from my perspective, but I put it out specifically between one wave closing and another opening so it would be more likely to avoid being recognized without the awkward presumptiveness of saying “please don’t”.
So here’s one that focused on something I set out to accomplish, where the person writing it speaks from experience. I feel like this one, more than others, focused on something I did that others might not have done if they were in the same position.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
Nicholas hit on something that both matters to me and matters to how leaders approach their duties. He highlighted an intersection of something that the leadership of the Program should always be trying to improve upon and haven’t always historically succeeded in – direct and honest communication throughout. He did this while also describing the specific instance and ways in which I was seeking to improve upon it.
From: Sonia L’Hopital To: Eric Levine
While a player started stressing and feeling bad after a game, you’ve been able to reassure him and to bring him back in a good mood. After your quick and kind intervention, this player was able to enjoy the rest of this day. This situation is a very good reminder that what we say really is heard and can matter. Your professional behavior and your kindness is an example for all of us. Thank you Eric.
Why this is important to me
I personally pride myself on customer service skills and my ability to improve the days of frustrated and unhappy players just by listening to them, empathizing, and helping them move forward. Sonia’s nomination of me not only reinforces this and remind me that this is important to continue doing, it also shows me that this behavior is noticed and hopefully emulated by other judges.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
The nomination touches on what happened without getting bogged down in the specific details, then quickly turns to how we as judges can help unhappy players by talking and listening to them without getting too prescriptive about what methods we should use. It’s so easy to think that calming down or cheering up players won’t work, because it’s hard to do, but I appreciate Sonia taking the time to highlight its importance.
From: Simon Freiberg To: Sergio Perez
Sergio, you were an inspiration to me during the GP Sydney weekend.
Organising side events on Friday is a mammoth effort in our particular circumstances and while managing all the events and all the staff, you were also concerned with making sure the GP staff had breaks and training me to fill in for you. On Sunday night you stayed up late to talk about program construction and at the conference on Monday you volunteered your time to personally train some of our judges in investigations. I look forward to working with you in the future, and am very glad you decided to come visit us 🙂 ñ
Why this is important to me
Because I enjoyed a lot the experience during this whole weekend, meeting many new antipodean judges and doing the best to learn from them while also trying to help as much as I could.
Having a direct or indirect possitive impact in others is one of the best feelings someone can experience, and reading Fry’s recognition I can see I was helping other people around to have a better experience when I didn’t even feel I was doing anything special at that moment.
Last, but not least, he closes with a small friendly detail that made me remember one of our recursive jokes of the week. The “*ñ*” at the end of the text (that could have been perceived as a potential typo by others) gave me an additional energy burst and made me laugh when I saw it, because it made me directly recall the great moments we shared when we just made each others laugh with this insignificant joke (the Spanish keyboard from my laptop was not very friendly with him when I was having lunch :P)
Why I think it’s a good nomination
This kind of recognitions are a clear example of the huge value the
Exemplar Program gives to our community, because being recognized by others for something you do just because you like to do it, that indirectly impacts them, provides extra energies to people to keep judging and doing the best they can for the program.
The specific examples he mentions help me to remember the interactions he talks about, but also put a well defined context that others can use in the future to identify similar situations where we can all put small efforts to keep impacting people around us.
Also, the final “personal touch” is a plus. At the end, our best experiences in the program usually come from personal interactions. Having fun enjoying each other’s company while judging needs to be sometimes remembered, and this is a clear example of how small details also matter when we’re appreciating our peers’ efforts 🙂
From: Pierre-Jean Chaïb To: Francois Grossi
You organized the leadership conference in Bern and I really appreciate it. You prepared it well, proposing discussion and a planning which permit to talk about all subjects efficiently. Moreover,during the conference, you managed the speech and take care that we didn’t loose to much time by speaking about whatever but the principal subject. Thank you. I think we have done some good job during this conference because of your organisation.
Why this is important to me
When you put on your shoulders a workload that can be higher than expected and somehow discover it definitely is, this is a weird sensation. Mix up between confusion and excitement for my case. In the end for this event I had several indicators of success, and not only did I reach them, but they were also notified to me thanks to this amazing recognition and even more !
What is even more important is seeing that other people had a great time because of my doing, that makes me even more feel recognized.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
When PJ writes about his event he describes how things went well in a global scale and then with a little more details. He then expands the scope not only to himself but also to all the people attending the event showing the consequences of what he states. Finally PJ explains in his text that he was involved in the event in its globality and felt reassured since he had the chance to provide a good work.
From: Jurgen Baert To: Emilien Wild
Giving feedback is hard. When that feedback is “snap out of it” to someone who is not likely to do so, that feedback is significantly harder. Many would choose to ignore the issue, instead allowing the other one to be on tilt, and staying out of the line of fire themselves. It takes real courage and dedication to take action. What’s more: it takes great skill at diplomacy to be succesful in situations like that. Emilien, I want to thank you for your words on Friday at GP Paris. For saying them as well as for choosing them well. They were needed and, however unlikely given my state of mind, they worked. I realize you had to conquer yourself to say them. If that isn’t exemplary, I honestly wouldn’t know what is.
Why this is important to me
This is related to something I struggled to do, before finally finding the courage I needed, thanks, in part, to a discussion with Oli Bird. It could have backfired, it was uncomfortable to do, and staying out of the issue was easy, and I would not have been the one taking the blame. But it felt the right thing to do, and as such, I had to give it a try.
Being recognised for something that was difficult, especially from the person who had the most reasons to be confrontational about it, felt like a validation of the choice I made, and a appeasement of potential tensions.
Jurgen is one of my mentors, and I admire him as a judge and a person, making this recognition even more heartwarming.
Funny note, I recognised Jurgen for the way he handled that interaction on his side, unknowing he did the same for me.
Why I think it’s a good nomination
Jurgen not only explained what was at stake, but what made that action difficult, and how it could have failed. That’s not only pointing out something I should do again in the future, but how, making it easier for me to succeed in such future situations.
That’s it for now. Remember, wave 7 is open and ends on Nov 1st at 23:59PM PST (GMT+7), so if there’s anyone you’d like to recognize, please go ahead and submit a nomination now!