Exemplar Wave 6 - USA Great Lakes Judges

Subject	Creator	Description
Aaron Heying	Akihiro Hara	GP東京のSSSにおいて、彼はGP初参加にも関わらず、ジャッジとして安定感のあるフロアリングで、また疑問に思ったことをすぐにTLである自分に報告、相談をし、滞りなくイベントが回るよう尽力されていました。加えて、英語と日本語を用いて十分コミュニケーションが取れ、今後日本のGPで重宝される存在となるでしょう。次にお会いする時はL2となっていることを、強く期待しています。ありがとうございました。
Alison Chambers	Heidi Sitten	Alison, you were one of the first people to volunteer for our regional judge conference and you were the last aide to leave, making sure the conference venue was left just as it was when we arrived. Your travel guide was awesome, and you were a real life saver when you agreed to step in and fill the role of Conference Aide when two other volunteer were unable to attend. You always have a fantastic attitude when we work together. Lady, you’re on my short list.
Andrew Doyle	Rob Castellon	Thank you for your hard work at GP Charlotte. You made my first day one TL experience easier by working hard and assisting the judge on our team that was at his first GP. I was very happy with your attitude when our shift got extended, and ecstatic when you volunteered to be extended for another round more than the rest of the AM shift judges. Thank you for your hard work through an excessively long day.
Andrew Thompson	Jonah Kellman	Andrew – your work on Mystical Tutor has been fantastic. Editing is far from glamorous, but your touch is appreciated by everyone on the team. Your hard work and dedication behind the scenes makes everything come together smoother.
Andrew Thompson	Zachary DeLadurantaye	There’s a few recommendations that I’m overdue on. This was the most important and I wanted to clear it off my desk. I advanced from L1 to L2 in about three months of active judging, and I owe it to your exemplary mentorship. In fact, a lot of us do. You consistently help create L1 judges that are far beyond the expectations set for them. Your commitment to your mentees after they certify demonstrates your excellence and dedication to helping create the next generation of awesome Michigan judges. You constantly go above and beyond in offer support and guidance for those around you. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and for Michigan judges.
Ben Litz	Casey Barnett	Ben has shown his ability to share his judging knowledge, and his dedication to the program by providing the local magic community with an online resource to all local magic events. By maintaining a spread sheet, constant communication with multiple shops, and working with myself and other judges to keep the site up to date, he has improved the tournament scene in the area. Distinguished in the ability to manage a team, both online and at events, Ben has shown his passion for the game and community.
Ben Litz	James Risner	Without Ben, there would be much less magic played in Kentucky. He does a lot of the grunt work in organizing the far too many events into an online schedule to help the players know which local events are where each weekend. It’s a huge job and frankly, we are all thrilled Ben seems to be willing to accept that burden.
Ben Litz	Thomas Fritz	Thank you for helping me stay up to date on happenings in KY. At GP Columbus, we had a lot of time to talk about state issues and I really appreciated your feed back and thoughts.
Ben Sturtz	Frank Singel	Ben, I’ve had a lot of time to observe you over the past few months, I would say I’m impressed with how you are developing as a judge. At GP Columbus, I saw you get called to a real 2-Chains call in the wild. Not only did you have this obscure interaction down to a dot, you managed to describe it in a manner that both players were able to quickly comprehend, much to my surprise. Not only that, but you have also begun to request (and obtain!) leadership roles at events and have been leading successful teams at SCG: Opens. Ben, you’re a wonderful addition to the Judge Program, and I’ll miss you if you leave Cleveland.
Ben Sturtz	David Elden	Ben, we had a great conversation at GP Pittsburgh. Although we didn’t see eye to eye at first, you expressed your arguments clearly, eloquently, and convincingly. In the end, you changed the way I look at giving recognitions. This capability for reasonable, level-headed dialogue, especially in the context of something you’re so passionate about, is itself exemplary.
Bernd Buldt	John Temple	Bernd’s ‘Deckcheck Gauntlet’ workshop was one of the highlights of the Great Lakes Regional Conference. Teaming judges up into pairs, he had each team goes round robin through each of his scenarios giving them a chance to see if they came to the same conclusion then went over the answer with them. Along with this workshop he is working on a guide for so other can present this workshop. This is setting the example for our conferences moving forward and will become a mainstay of our regional conference circuit.
Bernd Buldt	Erick Carlsted	Thank you so much for your work at GP Minneapolis. You helped salvage a mess of a situation on Friday Sides. There was a 2 Headed Giant event that had multiple problems firing and you helped save us a massive headache. After the event got moved down several hundred tables, you renumbered the old location to make the following constructed events able to fire without headache. Thanks for taking the initiative to fix this problem while the rest of us scrambled to fire the 2HG.
Bernd Buldt	Ryan Hughes	Bernd demonstrated exemplary effort and skill in educating other judges as a presenter at the Great Lakes Summer 2016 judge conference. His presentation, the “Deck Check Gauntlet” consisted of about a dozen deck check stations in which small teams of conference attendees would perform a deck check against a list while keeping an eye out for potential problems including marked cards, missing cards, extra cards, sideboard cards present in the main deck for game one, and a variety of other issues. In each case, participants were not told at the outset what the issues were, but instead had to attempt to discover any problems for themselves while under time pressure. At the end of their time at each station, the attendees could turn over a sheet with a list of potential issues, including explanations and any appropriate penalty. (As another layer of intricacy, there were some cases that appeared to have been designed to trick participants into thinking a penalty was appropriate when this was not in fact the case.) I was impressed with the extraordinary amount of thought that Bernd put into constructing his examples in terms of both the categories of problems and the manner in which he chose to illustrate the various problems. I never knew that sleeves could be marked in so many different ways! As we were running the gauntlet, Bernd’s enthusiasm was infectious, and I am confident that I and the other attendees came away with a new appreciation for the subtleties of performing deck checks, and better practical skills for conducting them thoroughly and accurately under time constraints. Thanks to Bernd for designing one of the most informative and most fun seminar presentations in which I have had the opportunity to participate.
Bernd Buldt	Erik Aliff	Bernd, at the last few events we’ve worked together at, I’ve greatly appreciated your willingness to ask questions when you are uncertain rather than just hope for the best because you don’t want to be viewed as lacking knowledge in a certain area. We all have areas that we need to continue to improve on, but not everyone is willing to ask questions to help themselves grow in those areas. I hope that others judges around you will follow your example to be willing to ask questions and answer questions in a way that promotes inquisitiveness in the judge program rather than stifles it.
Bernd Buldt	Heidi Sitten	Bernd, when our regional conference was in need of presenters to create new workshops you jumped on board without hesitation, ready to help us break new ground in the conference sphere. Not only that, the Deck Check workshop you created was better crafted than anything I could have envisioned. I can’t say enough about how impressed I am by the method you devised to impart this much-needed knowledge.
Bernd Buldt	Carmen Campbell	Bernd, Your deck checks workshop at the Great Lakes judge conference was simply fantastic. It really showed that you put a lot of time into the preparation for it and every session I heard people talking about how much they learned and how much they enjoyed the process of learning. This workshop should honestly be required for L1s prior to their first competitive event.
Bernd Buldt	Matt Sauers	Bernd, your forward thinking and proactive mindset for planning is exemplary and instrumental in effective conference planning for our region. We are not required as ACs to take the responsibility of planning local conference and nor are we compensated for it, but that you choose to do the right thing without heretofore expectation of direct compensation for community building is uncommon indeed. Thanks for taking actions directly contributing to the growth of our region so proactively.
Bradly Linville	Matt Sauers	Brad, thanks for being a proactive judge in our program! It was exemplary the way you have taken your new direction into your own hands so quickly, and made a decision to move forward in the program. You found out that we had a need for the state of Indiana, and your stepping up to the plate and reaching out to me instead of waiting to be prodded into action is indeed exemplary in our program. Thanks for your initiative and your demonstrable and observable self-improvement for the benefit of the program!
Brian Rapp	Jarrod Williams	Brian, you’ve been doing a lot of community work in Columbus. From running the L0 Study Guide group and running judge classes to being available to players and judges alike as a resource. You are making our community bigger and better. Keep up the great work.
Brian Rapp	Erik Aliff	Brian, this recommendation is for your excellent mentoring during SCG Columbus. It’s so easy for judges to feel disconnected from other judges while working side events at SCG events or GPs, but your took seriously the responsibility that I gave you to mentor a very new L1 throughout the day. You helped prepare him to run ODE events as well as scheduled events and gave him actionable feedback throughout the day. I watched you provide encouragement to both him and the rest of the team throughout the day. As a team lead, it was encouraging to see team members so actively contributing to the success of the day and I am confident that you played a large part in making side events a great success throughout the weekend. I hope you’ll continue to put that level of energy into each event that you work–you’ll continue to set an admirable example to other judges in the program!
Brian Rapp	Johnpaul Adams	Brian, Your work locally deserves special recognition. You’ve worked hard at making sure that we have a mentorship program fostering new L1 judges in the region as well as mentoring two current L1 judges in your local shop in preparation for possible L2 testing. I’ve heard a lot fo great things about your work and seen it especially online. thanks for this work and i look forward to testing some of these candidates at an upcoming conference or other testing session!
Casey Barnett	Ben Litz	At GP Columbus you were LAZER focused at getting your L2. That’s all you wanted to talk about was rules and policy, the whole damn weeked. You breathed, ate and slept that stuff. That’s the kind of focus and determination I love to see. Thats what you have to do to get there. Keep it up! Oh yea, and, congrats on L2 bro! You certainly earned it.
Christopher Stine	Thomas Fritz	For the PPTQ in Owensboro, you prepared very quickly and were at full speed on IPG knowledge in record time. I had reservations about how you would be able to handle floor calls, but you showed how quickly you could learn and I gained confidence that you would handle things well shortly after watching a few calls.
Clint Herron	Brian Schenck	For working with Zach Robinson and starting the Exemplar Recognition Audit project. This is a fantastic tool, and honestly very helpful. I hope that you and Clint can get others involved, and help provide a different view on the Exemplar program and ensuring that every judge has a chance to be recognized!
Clint Herron	Bryan Prillaman	After some discussions on the forums regarding the Exemplar program, Clint showed initiative to write a full article highlighting another judge in his region. He then solicited feedback on that article, and attempted to refine the article based on that feedback. I also want to recognize the efforts he put into his local region to highlight L1s and their local contributions, who might otherwise feel disconnected from the program. While the effort itself is still in its infancy, I believe the initiative shown and the desire to help his fellow judges merits a nomination
Clint Herron	Michael Anderson	Clint, thank you for your work on the Scry Glass program, and your willingness to develop it to benefit the judge program. While it’s not a strictly judge project, your efforts to benefit the program through using the technology for deck registrations and checks has the potential to revolutionize workflows for event judges and admins. Keep up the good work.
Clint Herron	Spencer Cole	Clint, I’ve seen you in and around Slack participating the best you can. It’s great to finally see you at an event! I was impressed by the way you handled negative feedback. You made a few larger mistakes and you rolled with those punches and never let them get you down. All I saw at Origins was the drive to grow as a judge, and the grace to own up to your mistakes. After working with you on your review, I have to say, that it was the BEST review I’ve ever received, and I’ll be using it as an example in the future. Keep up the amazing work, I look forward to seeing you at more events!
Clint Herron	Milan Majerčík	Hi Clint! I am going to follow up to my previous recognition of you. Well, I am so IMPRESSED. You are a shining example of one possible way for L1 judges to make themselves seen and noticed. Your enthusiasm shown by the work on the project “Leave No Exemplary Judge Behind!” is just amazing. I wish that all judges show such empathy and caring for their judge colleagues! And that everyone does what you do: actually acting rather than only speaking/”whining”. I congratulate you on your personal progress. (Just be careful not to forget what Exemplar is really about and try to incorporate its mission into your tool).
Clint Herron	David Poon	Clint, you raised concerns about Exemplar and discussed it civilly on the forums. Some have already noted that this was exemplary. I would like to recognize you for what followed: your zeal and follow through on the conclusions from said discussion resulted in a fantastic data source for identifying unrecognized judges (http://seattlejudge.org/dci/exemplar.html) and a very worthy project (http://apps.magicjudges.org/projects/472/) dedicated to acting on this data. Keep up your enthusiasm, and continue showing the rest of us what’s supposed to happen when a problem is identified.
Craig Reeder	Rob McKenzie	Craig, you’ve done some stellar work on Judgeapps, and I really appreciate it. This is a somewhat belated thank you for putting in your time and helping to make this platform better. I appreciate this more than you know.
Craig Reeder	Heidi Sitten	Craig, at the regional judge conference this year you were an absolute rock star at the help desk. You didn’t blink at the fact that we had two volunteers who where unable to attend. You even volunteered to stay behind the counter all day so that others could attend presentations. Your technical knowledge was invaluable as well, helping us craft and improve online feedback tracking on the fly.
Daniel Francke	Andrew Doyle	One of the qualities I tend to stress in our program is professionalism. It’s an important quality, right at the heart of the Judge Program. I discovered what that looks like from my very first, with you as the head judge. Recently, I handed you the reigns of a fairly large local event that required you to manage a team of judges. Not only did you perform well, but you maintained your poise and charisma when tested. As I watched you run the remainder of the event, you gave excellent instructions to your floor judges and interacted with your players to provide positive experiences for everyone involved. Dan, when I tell other judges about the importance of being a professional, I’m really passing on what your example has taught me throughout my career as a Judge.
daniel hall	Jarrod Williams	Daniel, you were excellent help at Origins doing tear down. You were quick to jump in and help everyone with their tasks and did so with a great attitude. You checked on how everyone was doing and were a huge morale boost. Your positive attitude was infectious and I look forward to working with you again in the future.
daniel hall	Benjamin Lurie	Daniel, this recognition is for a social media interaction I saw, where you at the drop of a hat decided to assist a fellow judge who was running an eighty person PPTQ by themselves. That kind of dedication and willingness to help other members of the judge program is exactly the type of behavior I look for in other judges.
David Elden	Arthur Edson	The Continuous Effects seminar that you presented at the Regional Judge conference was probably the best presentation at a conference I have seen. It was very informative, engaged the audience with questions, and had a couple cool corner cases for the extra time given for longer presentations.
David Elden	Trenten Novak	Thank you for helping to reprogram the registration system at the Detroit Judge conference between presentations. Even though you were presenting, you found time to help the staff out. The changes made collecting feedback easier as well as distributing foils to the attendees much easier and quicker.
David Rappaport	Spencer Cole	Dave, during GP Columbus, I got the great opportunity to observe a lot of what was happening during downtime on the slower Friday, and on our busy Saturday working on the same team. You excelled at pushing judges around you into opportunities to expand and test their abilities. It was interesting watching the way you orchestrated some of the tasks you set people on and gave them just enough to get started and let them make the task their own. A very hands-off approach that didn’t feel like you weren’t there to help when needed, but didn’t suffocate the person assigned. Keep up the fantastic work.
David Rappaport	Dylan Goings	David, I can’t thank you enough for the trust you put in me when, mere hours after becoming an L2, you gave me the chance to HJ my first PPTQ. Your mentorship has meant a lot, but there’s a big difference between words and action. You put your money where your mouth is giving me that opportunity and I’ll never forget it.
David Rappaport	Zeke Davis	Raps, your leadership and guidance at GP Minneapolis was amazing, and I really hope to emulate you. You truly are an amazing judge, leader, and person. I was starting to feel discouraged with the program, and you really turned that around with your understanding, guidance, and sage advice!
Devin Morrow	Ben Sturtz	Devin, I was fortunate to have you as my teammate at the Legacy SCG-PIQ in Columbus. You demonstrated great attention to detail in assigned tasks, which allowed our team to function perfectly. Your effort was above and beyond and I hope to work with you again!
Dylan Goings	Ryan Hughes	Dylan demonstrated exemplary leadership and initiative while we were judging on-demand side events together at GP Pittsburgh. The on-demand judges had been given a pager by the tournament organizer to let us know when a new event was ready to begin, and at the beginning of the day the pager was handed from judge to judge in an unsystematic fashion whenever a new event started. Not long into the day, Dylan took it upon himself to establish a hand-off chain for the pager, so that a given judge always received the pager from one particular judge, and always gave the pager to another particular judge after they had started an event. Dylan also worked to make sure that any gaps in the chain were closed when someone was about to take a break, so that everyone on our large team had a good idea of who they should be most attentive to throughout the day. Dylan making the effort to implement this system and get everyone on board with it helped the day go more smoothly for players and other judges.
Dylan Goings	Randy Tice	Dylan- GP Columbus was the first opportunity I have had to really observe you. You, by far, were in excellent form. On Friday we had the chance of working on ODEs together. I really was impressed with the way you handled taking instructions from myself or Dave Rappaport, and relaying very clearly to your team. You did a phenomenal job covering the events, always making sure you were in the area that needed the most help. As the day got a little crazy, you made sure to keep your cool and made sure the players all had an enjoyable time. This nomination is intended to recognize your hard work in making the event both fun and lively for both players and judges. Thank you for being an inspiration to everyone on the team!
Eric Kangas	Carmen Campbell	Eric, I have heard nothing but good things from Dave about the help and advice you’ve provided as he tries to get his store off the ground and restart the magic community up in Cedar Springs. Everything from judge related advice to your electricians expertise in improving the lighting in the store has been noticed and appreciated. Your passion for your local community is evident and we should all strive to be as active in our own community building efforts.
Ethan Greenberger	Jarrod Williams	Ethan, you’ve done a great job reaching out to the player community in Columbus and creating a judging community. You become a resource to players and gotten a lot of people interested in judging and are helping run judge classes to lead them towards certification. Keep up the great work.
Ethan Greenberger	Brian Rapp	Ethan, your commitment within the Central Ohio region to help foster and grow potential judgelings by working to develop and execute a local study group for L0’s that are aspiring toward testing for L1 shows a level of dedication and aptitude that you are applying yourself towards L2. Keep up the good work and keep mentoring others to improve and grow the community.
Frank Singel	Ben Sturtz	Frank, you are a constant source of support and sounding board for me within the program. I appreciate your ability to both take the lead or be a team player. This attitude has lead to the development of the Cleveland area with a number of judges that you have created! Thank you for your commitment to certifying new judges and giving them the chance to grow. You are a great mentor!
Heidi Sitten	John Temple	Heidi stepped up to organize the Great Lakes Region’s first regional conference. Reading over the feedback, all the hard work she put into the conference really showed taking time out of her busy school and work schedule to ensure that this would be the best conference ever in our region or the previous one. Everything from ensuring that we had interactive workshops to staff positions to personalized schedules for all of our attendees her attention to detail for this conference was outstanding. What really stood out was that all along the way she asked for feedback and was constantly open for suggestions on how to improve and implement her ideas and the ideas other presented to her. This conference has set the standard for conferences in our region moving forward.
Heidi Sitten	Jarrod Williams	Heidi, you did an excellent job at working to organize our regional conference. You created an excellent experience for conference attendees with a lot of great opportunities for learning. In addition, you worked with John to document the processes and built tools to enable others to organize conferences as well. This ground work will serve the region extremely well for a long time to come.
Heidi Sitten	James Risner	Leading one of the best larger conferences I’ve seen. Well organized. Plenty of things to do/learn/experience. It had to be a lot of work, because it was one of the best I’ve experienced.
Heidi Sitten	Dylan Goings	Heidi, I wanted to thank you for the incredible job you did planning the Great Lakes Judge Conference this year. Not only was the conference itself great, but it was wonderfully coordinated, and the communication before AND after was timely and useful. I know it takes a village, but I also know you did a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes for this event and it was very appreciated.
Heidi Sitten	Arthur Edson	Heidi did an amazing job organizing the Regional Judge Conference in Michigan. The setup was very well done with schedules for everyone who applied, and attendance sheets for each seminar/workshop that listed everyone that should be there. It was obvious that a lot of time and thought went into this conference. Thanks, Heidi!
Heidi Sitten	Andrew Doyle	Let’s throw this right out in the open: The Detroit Judge Conference, ran under your direction and leadership, was the most informative and fun Judge gathering that I’ve ever been a part of. Your organization and leadership enabled presentations that exceeded expectations through the the day. You made the role of a conference aid easy to understand and operate. Assembling clip boards with all of my presenters, topics, and locations was a highly functional idea. In addition, organizing 6 different presentations at the same time without any of them affecting the involvement of another was an amazing feat. Heidi, thank you for enabling a great day of learning for our region’s community.
James Risner	Ben Litz	James is always working to ensure the KY community is well served. He is willing to drop his personal schedule and drive 2 hours to run a PPTQ, often on short notice. Just thus summer James dropped his plans and jumped in with less than 48 hours notice to cover a Louisville PPTQ (3hrs. drive round trip) when another Judge was unable to make it. In a state like KY, where we are short staffed and spread thin; that type of commitment and sacrifice is invaluable. It’s much appreciated.
James Risner	Casey Barnett	James, thank you for continuing to help and guide me through any judging obstacles that have come up. You’re quick to answer any questions I have and do a great job with helping the local community of both players and judges. Continue your work and be and example to others like you have been to me.
Jarrod Williams	Thomas Fritz	It has only been a short period of time that the Great Lakes region has existed, and in that time, the Great Lakes region has gone from not existing to be far more developed than any region I’ve been in before. You have been no small part in that advancement!
Jesse Meiring	Billy Gilmore	I have known Jesse since we both was L1s working towards L2 and in that time I he has been a great supporter and he is always making me grow by challenging me in ways that I need to grow. I am nominating Jesse for the great job he did working with me renumbering the tables for the Columbus GP for Saturday. This was my first large assignment that was given to me with other judges to guide and accomplish the job and Jesse listened to the assignment that I gave and jumped into the job and when he found a huge mistake in the set up tables in one row he came to me with the problem but he had already had an idea and presented it with confidence and it made my job that much easier and it made me look and feel good that I accomplished the task with the help of my crew, and for this I am so glad I got to work with Jesse.
Joe Crawford	Matthew Karr	Hey Joe, this is to recognize how well you handled mistakes. In your first major event, you had a few calls that the ruling you made was incorrect, but instead of having this derail your whole tournament, you saw each as a learning opportunity to better yourself. This is definitely the attitude we want to encourage! You aren’t afraid of mistakes, so please keep learning and growing from them.
John Temple	Jarrod Williams	John, you did an excellent job at working to organize our regional conference. You worked with Heidi to not only organize an excellent conference but documented the processes and built tools to enable others to organize conferences as well. You also took point on organizing getting regional shirts ordered and organized. You made the experience easy for buyers and created a setup to enable future orders to happen as well. This ground work will serve the region extremely well for a long time to come.
John Temple	Maria Zuyeva	At GP Charlotte, when tournament got delayed for a long time, and no one knew what to do and how to help, you took the leadership role and started directing judges. You told us to go to players, show them we were there to help, talk to them, smile, and show that it was not the end of the world, things were going to be fixed soon, and make the overall impression that everything was not as bad as they could have thought seeing an unorganized horde of judges just wandering around the stage. You were the ‘island of stability’ in the chaos, something very needed in such situations. Thank you for your directions, and for keeping calm and being able to make decisions under stressful conditions.
John Temple	Leon Henderson	John, JT, Temple. Already so many experiences with you. Your feedback has a curiously addictive nature to it. You are very firm and are always willing to share what you have seen with the judges. And you see quite a bit. Always having your head in that notebook of yours. But you always give very honest and well thought out feedback. I never feel like what you offer for improvement is a major mistake or some egregious error that you really messed up on. this was evidence at SCG Indy and SCG Louisville. You gave me feedback and while I was a bit irritated at first, I realized that what you were mentioning was quite valid and that I had a lot to learn still as an L1. your feedback has made me into a better judge and I strive one day to be the same as you. Thank you for your continued support of your Region and all the work you do. and of course: thank you for being exemplary.
John Temple	Jacob Milicic	I asked a fair number of L3s I knew if they would vouch for me as a qualified judge to Head Judge an SCG Classic, John among them. John was the only one to challenge me by asking me questions and forcing me to defend the idea that I was ready for this and that I understood what I was getting myself into. Once again I find myself indebted to him for his mentorship and guidance, as going in I was uncertain of myself and his mini-inquisition helped to ensure that I was truly prepared. John, you are truly a treasure of the program and I am certain many judges will benefit from your actions like this for years to come.
John Temple	Tim Zimmerman	John, you spoke with me at SCG Columbus after I had a dismissive interaction with a player regarding a slow play caution. I appreciate your course correction, I often get very short with players when under stress (at EOR, or taking a complicated call) and it helps to be reminded that this is a customer service position. And while the customer isn’t always right, it is a big part of our job to understand their needs, and not be dismissive of players, even when under pressure.
John Temple	Raoul Mowatt	John, there are two main things I would like to recognize you for. First, your lifetime contributions to the Judge of the Week project. The project is by its very nature like herding cats. Nominees, interviewers and proofreaders all have their different schedules and obligations, and trying to get them all to cooperate at the level we need is challenging. So your successes over time should be acknowledged. Second, your work in setting up a regional store of judge merchandise for the Great Lakes Region is also commendable. One of the most important things we need to foster as judges is a sense of community and pride, and by establishing the store, you have done just that.
John Temple	Dan Milavitz	SCG Milwaukee was my first large event in a long time, and you did an amazing job making me feel welcome and appreciated. Your encouragement inspired me apply for more GPs over the summer and has stuck with me through my past few events. Thanks for being awesome, John, but especially thanks for letting me know that I can be too.
John Temple	Minh Vu	A kudos to Temple for pushing the boundaries of innovation with his End of Round procedure system using cell phones and electronic communication to coordinate the judges to reduce redundancy caused by excessive walking back to the stage. Judging needs to innovate to keep up with the growth of the events, and I think John Temple’s not only initial trial but his subsequent iterations on his ideas shows his dedication to pushing the judge program forward.
John Temple	Heidi Sitten	John, you’re everywhere in the program in our region- the gear that drives positive change and the glue that holds it all together. We wouldn’t be as good a region without you. You also saved my life helping organize our regional judge conference. I think we both slept about 4 hrs per night the week of the conference, so thanks for being my battle buddy.
John Temple	Terrence Cheung	John, I want to recognize you to thank you for teaching me various judging skills in GP NYC. I really enjoyed working with you. The setup for GP NYC was my first GP setup day, and you worked with me to ensure that all banners and pop ups are setup correctly. And thanks to you, I will always remember the things to watch out for when placing pop ups. For example, putting the Chandra pop up (or any pop up really) next to the fire extinguisher is a bad idea (Chandra makes it ironic though). I also find your teaching methods exemplary. On Sunday, you asked me to ask another judge what you told him in previous GPs. This method enhances the bonds between judges, and at the same time, reminds the teaching judge what he / she learned in a previous GP. Thank you for being a role model and a great leader in our community.
John Temple	Karl Weisling	John, for the last few events I have been attempting to find time to talk to you about some problems I’ve been having in the judge program. Despite not following through on my part, you sought me out after our Saturday shift at SCG Columbus and offered to talk because you knew it was important to me. Thank you for making time to listen and furthermore for providing some difficult feedback that is supremely useful to me.
John Temple	Patrick Cobley	John, what can I say, you are the definition of what I believe an L3 should be. You are generous with your knowledge, kind with your criticisms, and willing to go the extra mile to serve others. You even went as far as driving out of your way and spending 5 hours with me to make sure I could test for L2 before GP Charlotte. You are the type of judge that I aspire to be and one that I am proud to share the ranks with.
John Temple	Kevin Desprez	John, I’ve been impressed by the whole End of Round Procedure you’ve run in MSP Day2. From crafting a solid plan to bringing the appropriate tools to making it work with your teammates, I’ve had the feeling this was so much smoother than any other EOR procedure I’ve seen run. Congrats! Kevin.
John Temple	Alejandro Raggio	John, your work as Support Judge at SCG Indy was amazing, not only were you there to solve issues when needed but you also helped judges enjoy a great day by spreading your positive attitude.
Johnpaul Adams	Jarrod Williams	JohnPaul, at GP Minneapolis earlier this year you really shined to the stage staff. You were organized and able to handle multiple tasks at the same time while keeping all them moving in the right direction. During the event, you handled several stressful situations without losing your cool and were an example of the professionalism all judges should approach events with. Keep up the good work.
Johnpaul Adams	Carlos Ho	The PA at GP NYC was terrible and it was hard to understand whatever was said. During the player’s meeting, while several people came to tell Damián and I this, which was obvious and there wasn’t much we could do with the PA system itself, I spotted you out in the floor, relaying the info by shouting it to the players in your area. It was one of the few things that could be done to improve the announcements made during the players meeting and it was refreshing to see someone being proactive about it instead of us having to tell judges to do so. You had an idea on how to solve a problem instead of just focusing on telling the HJs about the problem. Thanks!
Johnpaul Adams	Damián Hiller	Johnpaul, during GP NY you showed great proactivity at making sure players understood what we were requesting from them during the player meeting. The PA was horrible and instead of coming to the HJs to state the obvious, decided to do something to make the tournament run. You started to relay the info by shouting what we were announcing in your area and that kind of problem solving is something great to see. Great job!
Johnpaul Adams	Alejandro Raggio	Great job leading your team on Saturday at SCG Indy, you were always on top of things and I didn’t need to check on your team, I could trust things were being taken care of. Then amazing work as HJ for the Classic event on Sunday, your event went very fast and without any issues.
josh schnepp	Bernd Buldt	You were working as an ODE-FJ at GP Columbus. I wish you recognize you for the dedication you brought to the job which showed in particular in the way you took care of floor coverage. There was never a moment I had to worry about it because, if no events needed firing (which you did, of course, too), I knew you were on the floor to take care of player needs: exemplary!
Joshua Ohlendorf	Bernd Buldt	You were working as an ODE-FJ at GP Columbus. It was your first GP. I wish you recognize you for the outstanding job you did: You displayed an attitude eager to learn, to improve, and to be there for the players. And, to top it all off, you’re a great fellow-judge to have around. I wish everyone’s first GP would be like yours: exemplary!
Justin Aiello	Johnpaul Adams	Justin, You did excellent work at managing the two largest pre-releases we had over the EMN pre-release weekend. As someone who has done this before, managing 100+ players over two events can be stressful for any judge. You handled these events excellently and I received no complaints the evening after. Great work and keep it up!
Linda Detwiler	Nicolette Apraez	Linda, I wanted to recognize you for your active participation in the L2 Advancement Class/Group. While it makes sense to be invested in your own education, you are always one of the first to start up a conversation, ask a question, or answer a scenario. You set a great example for what dedication to education, and respect for presenters time/effort should look like. Your willingness to take charge, speak up, and not be afraid to be wrong in class or online, is something that I think judges should be looking to emulate.
Marcos Sanchez	Joshua Feingold	At GP Charlotte, you showed outstanding positive energy as a team lead. Your enthusiasm and motivation were infectious, and it was awesome.
Marcos Sanchez	Randy Tice	Marcos- I want you to know how impressed I have been with your poise on any situation. You are a true leader among leaders. Recently, I was going through a rough time with the program, and you took the time to talk with me. You will never know how much this means to me! Please continue to be the awesome role model you are!
Marcos Sanchez	David Elden	Marcos, you prepared a wonderful presentation on GRV’s for the judge conference in July. You picked good illustrative examples, explained them well, and led a lot of great discussion that helped attendees get a firm grasp on a complicated topic. Well done!
Marcos Sanchez	Michael Anderson	Marcos, your effort to prepare for your first ever GP Day 2 team lead — on less than 48 hours notice, no less — was an inspiration to me on my first Grand Prix weekend. Watching the amount of extra work you were willing (and able) to put in on such a short notice gave me a guidepost that I will use in events ahead.
Marcos Sanchez	Cristóbal Vigar Guerrero	Thank you for taking in a such way the project of customer service. Your inspiration and lead has made that everyone retakes the motivation to make this project a huge one. Thank you for being a such good leader. The things I want to highlight are, approach to the members asking them if they want to continue. Make the review of where we was when Rob take the step aside. Start to guide the project in order to be more organized than before. Hope you’ll keep leading us and giving us the energy to continue.
Marcos Sanchez	Patrick Cobley	Marcos, what you have done in the short time that you have been a judge is astonishing. More specifically in the last few months not only have you been an excellent mentor for me personally, but you have uplifted our community with “Rulesday Tuesday”, revived the IPG for Players project and kept the team motivated to complete the project, and alsotook over the Player Experience Sphere. You are the definition of exemplary and if anyone deserves to be promoted to L3 it is you. Keep up the good work!
Marcos Sanchez	Bernd Buldt	I wish to recognize you for your team player qualities. When I proposed to turn your local “Rules Tuesday” edufun project into a regional resource, you surrendered, without thinking twice, what was “your baby.” Putting personal feelings on the back burner and the needs of the community first can be challenging; but you did it: exemplary!
Mathew Carlson	Randy Tice	Matt- I have been extremely proud of your judging career. You have done may things to help grow our local community, and that is what I am nominating you for. You have been running the commander league for the past five or six years. Most of the time, you are the one that has put your blood, sweat, tears and most of all your time to make sure our community grows. You have personally taught so many players how this game works, for no other reason than to just make sure they have fun! Thank you again Matt for your dedication to our community!
Matt Sauers	Trenten Novak	Thank you for being an incredible mentor for activities off of the event floor. Your constant motivation and help on non event activities has made me a better judge. You noticed that I have problems recognizing others for jobs well done and helped me improve in this area, resulting in me actually writing exemplar nominations this wave.
Matt Sauers	Brian Rapp	Matt, towards the end of the Exemplar #5 window, you reached out to your peers to help ignite that spark in recognizing behavior in others. You went out of your way to help ensure that “the little guy” would be seen, and heard. I commend your hard work and dedication to improving a process that you might not personally agree with.
Matthew Agin	Casey Barnett	Matt, you’ve gone above and beyond to judge the events in multiple shops. You always keep a positive attitude and do an awesome job of communicating with players. You show a willingness to learn and the discipline to take direction. I know if I ever need an L1, you’re my go to guy.
Matthew Soullier	Zachary DeLadurantaye	I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of anyone earning an Exemplar nod before they were a certified judge. At the PPTQ I tested you at, I was forced to essentially hand you the entire event during the last two rounds of Swiss so I could focus on conducting a sticky investigation that required a lot of my attention. Having zero experience on how to efficiently run a tournament or flip rounds, you proceeded to casually smash the job that was thrust on you as though you’d been doing it for years. Your round turn over time was on par with my own and you handled judge calls quickly, professionally, and in a very friendly manner. I received multiple comments on your performance from players. Two hours before you passed your test, you were already demonstrating an ability to adapt to the needs of the event and run the event like a seasoned veteran. Keep up the great work, Matt!
Meghan Baum	Yukio Victoria	Meg, throughout the weekend at GP: Columbus, I saw you go above and beyond when it came to mentoring one of your local L1’s and your judge buddy. You constantly gave them examples of rules and policy questions, explained why we did things in a certain way, and in general gave them as many learning opportunities as you could, regardless of whether they were on the same team/event as you. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!
Meghan Baum	Nicholas Sabin	Hey Meg, I just wanted to thank you for your help on Saturday at GP Charlotte. We were in the process of seating players for the Sealed Challenge that SCG added to the schedule, and I needed someone to be a link between me and the players on the floor. I looked for somebody I could trust, I saw you, and you did not let me down. You snapped to the task, you executed well, and you didn’t gripe or complain. In that moment, you saw the same thing I did — we needed to get this DONE, and NOW — and you executed. Thank you.
Meghan Baum	Kaylee Mullins	At GP Charlotte when the announcement was made we were allowing players to drop from the main event to receive a free challenge badge things got hectic very fast. Things could have been very crazy if a lot of judges and staff didn’t step up and get things organized quickly. You were one of the first ones I saw doing that, taking clear charge in front of the stage, being vocal, and making sure players knew where to go.
Meghan Baum	Carmen Campbell	Meg, I really appreciated the communications workshop at the Great Lakes judge conference. It covered so many things that often get overlooked or that are assumed to be on the job training and I loved the level of engagement that the audience had in all of the sessions. Thank you for not being afraid to cover the more controversial topics of compensation negotiation and awkward interactions with TOs. I am certain that everyone left the sessions having learned something important about how to interact with others as a judge.
Meghan Baum	Mitchell Wetherson	Meg, this recognition is due to how well you helped handle the situation that occurred during GP Charlotte. With all the issues and unforseen territory that occurred during the event, you were able to keep everyone calm and managed to step up with organizing the mountain of extra pairings and papers that came out of the printer from this. You also helped move everyone along in their lines in an orderly manner. There was a large number of people that helped Charlotte stay afloat and in my eyes, you were one of them.
Meghan Baum	Megan Linscott	Meg, Saturday of GP NYC, I noticed that you had stopped to speak with a woman in the convention center. She turned out to be the mother of one of the younger competitors. When I walked by the first time, you were in the middle of a rough description of Magic. She looked slightly unnerved by the crowd, but engaged in your conversation. By the time I walked back by, her body language had changed entirely and she was smiling and laughing with you, and another mother who had joined your conversation. Taking a few minutes from your day clearly had a huge impact on these women. Thank you for being a great ambassador for the game.
Meghan Baum	Angela Chandler	Meg, thank you for putting together the Next Step Program in your region. Putting together all the information that a brand new L1 needs in one place while empowering the L2s in your region to track new L1s and making sure they have all the tools they need to pass along is a fine example of leadership. This project fills a gap that has long been overlooked.
Meghan Baum	Benjamin Harris	Meg, when I casually asked you for feedback at the SCG Open in Baltimore after a particularly interesting call involving a player’s sideboard notes, you gave me some of the best feedback I’ve ever gotten in the judge program. With what seemed like no effort on your part, you gave me immediately actionable feedback on how I present myself to players – even going so far as to demonstrate it to me with a nearby empty table! Thank you!
Meghan Baum	Alejandro Raggio	When facing a very complex situation involving a problematic player at SCG Indy, you kept a cool head and you helped until the situation was finally over even if the problematic player was putting too much pressure on everyone involved.
Merrick Harding	David Elden	As you know, I go to a lot of FNM’s. So take it to heart when I say that you are the best FNM judge I’ve ever seen. Even when simultaneously handling multiple events by yourself, you work tirelessly, giving each one individual attention, ensuring efficient round turnover, and keeping the focus on players without letting any necessary administrative chores fall through the cracks.
Merrick Harding	Bernd Buldt	I had noticed it before but it became very clear at the ENM Prerelease and then two weeks later at the FNM. It’s not only that you run these store-level events with panache, diligence, and grace, no, what really impressed me was the way you get the attention of players when you need to make an announcement while everyone is chatting: In a very matter-of-factly tone and style you use your physical presence in the room to draw attention to the announcements and everyone gets it that it is tournament needs that makes you do this and not, say, a big ego. I find your way of communicating with players to be simply exemplary!
Michael Smith	Randy Tice	Mike- you have been an awesome addition to the Hillsdale community! I am proud that you have taken every bit of advice (whether from myself or another experienced judge) and used it to make you a better judge. Your true talent is speaking clearly when giving a ruling and helping a player understand how their mistake can affect the game! it is an absolute pleasure watching you deliver a ruling that could be upsetting to a player that was in the wrong, but yet you make them feel so at ease that it appears to have been their idea to receive whatever minor infraction the IPG has described! Keep up the great work!
Michael Anderson	Steven Briggs	Mike, you had an AWESOME performance on Day 1 of SCG Columbus. You led that team with a game plan and precision that was absolutely top-caliber. Your team caught several issues during the day, and you did a nice job of balancing your team’s needs versus the event’s needs. Keep this level of performance up!
Michael Anderson	Marcos Sanchez	Michael, this nomination for exemplar is, in a way, a highlight of the little things we can do as judges. During Grand Prix Charlotte, we were faced with incredible challenges and had to all figure out how to continue helping the players at the event the best way we could. When it came to the frenzy of players lining up to drop from the main event, and then get into a line for their Challenge Badges, you did a small thing that made a big impact. You wrote “End of the Line” on a clipboard, took it to the back of the line for the Challenge Badges, and held it up high in the air as a lightning rod for the rest of us to direct lost players to where the end of the line for receiving badges was. This is a wonderful example of quick thinking on your feet, and putting the event, and the players’ experience ahead of your own. These kinds of little things, especially in face of much larger challenges and difficulties, shows the kind of attention to detail you have which I hope everyone in the program can see and incorporate themselves.
Michael Anderson	Ben Sturtz	Michael, I was impressed with your ability to handle a potentially disastrous situation during Day 1 of SCG-Columbus. We lost a deck checks team member, which could have crippled our team. Your cool demeanor and leadership kept us on track and having a good time. Thank you for being a great leader even in the face of a tough problem!
Michael Guy	Spencer Cole	Michael, you did things the entire weekend of Origins that showed to myself and other judges that you were in it for success. You showed a work ethic that put you into another class of judge. You were the first on calls, you were ready to do any work that came your way, you were eager to learn from the higher level judges on staff. All of this with no complaints. Keep it up, and you’ll be L2 in no time at all. I look forward to seeing you at future events!
Michael Stafford	Bernd Buldt	You were a FJ at a SCG IQ. It was “your” store and it showed. Not only did you know the local routines inward out—knowledge you freely shared, which was a big help—no, what I found truly impressive was the way you were always a step ahead: I wanted to communicate the next thing to do and you knew already what it was or had already taken care of it. I’ve rarely seen a judge to be so on top of his/her game—exemplary!
Minh Vu	Steven Briggs	I threw everything I possibly could at you Minh on Day 2, and you were an absolute champ. Your effective delegation and management of judges was A+, and overall I observed nothing but outstanding positive interactions and great event awareness. Gold star sir, gold star!
Minh Vu	Nick Gajary	Minh, I was very impressed with your work at the SCG Open in Columbus this July. When Briggs ran you through the gauntlet on Day Two, you took to it like a natural, delegating tasks and coordinating breaks efficiently and with a smile on your face. As it was one of my first “team” leads (Head of Deck Checks), I particularly appreciated you taking the time to break down how your schedule would likely effect my beginning and mid-round checks; sticking to your recommendations led to a splendid, seamless day!
Nicholas Edens	Thomas Fritz	Even though it was your first time floor judging at a competitive event, you managed to handle many calls solo on the floor. I was over hearing comments from players that it was appreciated to have solid judges working these events.
Patrick Nelson	Sam Robinson	Pat is a constant, driving force for new changes and bigger things in our local judge community. More than the PPTQ spreadsheet that he runs to help us, he’s now an actually recognized area leader, and that has only emboldened his approach to helping out. He is now helping us plan mini conferences in the area, and working diligently to fill the gaps in our judge coverage in the area. I don’t know what we’d do without Pat, and that certainly seems exemplary to me.
Patrick Nelson	Randy Tice	Patrick- you have inspired and pushed me through so many barriers! Recently, I was going through a rough patch in my judging career. You were there for me to talk through my issues and lend advice. The best advice you gave me was to do better. A simple statement like that was the boost that I didn’t want to hear, but what I needed to hear at that moment! I have nominated you for you your compassion, understanding and advice when I was going through my trials. You are an inspiration to many, and I hope you will continue doing so! Thank you!
Phillip Konkle	Minh Vu	A kudos to Phil for his excellent job assisting the growing store in Hamilton Ohio. Rural judging doesn’t get enough credit, for partly through your efforts of assisting the owner of the store even outside of events and coordinating new ones, the store grew to large for its space and had to move into a new one.
Raymond Smith	Alexander Smith	Raymond, we worked a PPTQ in late July together. At the beginning of the day, you mentioned L2 advancement as a goal for yourself. To that end, we conversed extensively about the IPG and MTR throughout the tournament. You never shied away from a topic, especially the details of missed trigger policy. You were a great help all day while your interest in improving skills and follow through is impressive. I look forward to where the future takes you in the program and believe this exemplary behavior as a growth oriented L1 will take you there.
Richard Staley	Michael Anderson	Rick, your willingness to jump from playing in an event to judging an event when we had our largest PPTQ — our largest event — ever was a huge help for me. The fact that you left and found a black shirt to maintain your professional appearance as a judge was over the top for me. Your efforts and work are a great benefit to our Magic community, and I look forward to seeing more from you in your judging career.
Robert Havey	Alexander Smith	Rob, we worked together under exceptional circumstances in late May at a PPTQ in Ann Arbor. This event’s turnout exceeded expectation; necessitating a physical split of the tournament over two levels of the venue. Valuing a positive play experience and quality organized play in your local area more than your own competitive pursuits, you dropped from the event to floor judge before the first round. I appreciate your efforts, as did the players in the basement and the TO. Stepping up to the challenge of this event was an exemplary action that shows you are a true ambassador for the judge program.
Robert Havey	Dylan Goings	Rob, as a new L1 it’s easy to just take what’s given to you, but you immediately seized an opportunity to better your community. When Standard events were struggling to fire, you took it upon yourself to start a Pauper League, and engendered a very friendly and welcoming environment. I saw you reignite the excitement of players who’d lost their interest in social/competitive magic and bring new players into the community. Keep up the great work.
Scott Markwart	Bernd Buldt	You were a FJ at a Super IQ. You performed strongly on the floor and were an excellent team player. When we got a chance to discuss some rules/policy, you demonstrated an instant grasp of the pertinent details of the situation and from what angle to approach it in order to arrive at the right answer. But what I found to be truly exemplary was that even before the event had begun you asked probing questions in response to the briefing document I had circulated—way to go Scott!
Spencer Cole	Zachary DeLadurantaye	Never have I met a judge as universally supportive of those around him as you. Going to every tournament with you has been an awesome experience. Give is all you do; every time I have an idea, you support it and offer guidance or ideas on how to improve it. You go out of your way to help improve everyone around you. Up front, supportive, and invested: these are the qualities that make you an exceptional judge and an even better friend. You da bes. Keep doing everything you do to make the judge program a better place.
Thomas Fritz	Casey Barnett	For the past several months Tommy has went out of his way to insure I become the best judge I could be. He shared his compensation with me at PPTQs just so I could gain experience. While guiding me through all steps and requirements to becoming an L2, he remained patient and informative. I owe my recent advancement in the judge program largely to him. Great guy, judge, and friend.
Thomas Fritz	James Risner	Helps make my job easier in the state by handling much of the western part of the state, by doing an excellent mentoring judges in the area, and by helping provide excellent leadership in the area. I couldn’t do it all without him.
Tim Heckaman	Erik Aliff	Tim, this exemplar is for you establishing a habit of giving feedback early in your judge career. You worked with me at SCG Columbus (which was one of your first large events) and told me you hoped to write a review for at least one person, and hoped you could review me as your team lead. Many judges would be unwilling to put themselves out there like that and write a review of a more experienced judge. I hope to see you continue this trend–use every opportunity possible to provide feedback to those judges around you. It will make you and the rest of the program better. Good work!
Tim White	Sam Robinson	Tim is an outstanding leader in his community. He is the guy that does way more than just deliver rulings. He’s involved in helping players learn, getting players together on Facebook so that they can decide what formats they want to play in a given month, plus he’s the welcoming face for anyone new to his community. I went up there to test him for L1 a while back and you could very easily tell that the reason he was taking his test, was so that he could make his community better. I respect and look up to anyone who works that hard to make those around him happy because of this game.
TJ Clark	Riccardo Tessitori	TJ, my Amer… ehm, Brasilian friend. In GP Sao Paulo, I saw a passionate person, able to give his best to make the tournaments at side events run efficiently, even when overwhelmed by players, always with a smile and always with the desire of giving a great service. This is one of my best example of customer service: passion, energy and care for what we do. Well done!
TJ Clark	Lucas Horta	During GP São Paulo we had a 288 player Foiled Again sealed tournament on Friday and we were ridiculously understaffed — after distributing product, I believe we had an average of two floor judges per round. Somehow you managed to take care of that giant floor almost by yourself on round one. Your positive attitude throughout that day kept us alive and motivated. Thank you!
TJ Clark	Marcos Rogério	On the first day of the GP São Paulo, when I moved to the side events , I heard many players talking about a certain American ” crazy ” and fun. It was you , you conveyed joy to all present in the events he was at the same time fulfilling their duties in an exemplary manner .
Travis Traxler	Aric Parkinson	Travis, we met at GP Columbus, and it was truly a delight. You were working sides with one of the most excited, happy attitudes I’ve seen, and it made a huge difference to the players, even if they didn’t say anything. Then – and what was truly exemplary to me – was that you hung around on Sunday playing Commander and just generally being friendly while off shift. Travis, it was awesome meeting you, and I hope we have a chance to work on staff together some time!
Trenton Lemon	Jarrod Williams	Trenton, you’ve been doing great work in your community. Taking time to teach newer players the game and helping them understand how tournaments work and making sure they have a great experience. You’ve also helped a store begin their organized play programs as well as mentored a person towards L1. You’re making a big impact on your community. Keep up the great work.
Tyler Frauhiger	Eliana Rabinowitz	We worked together on the Super Sunday Series of GP Columbus, and you were extraordinarily aware of what needed your attention on the floor of the event. Even when the event got quite light on floor coverage, you were focused on what needed to be done and were always in the right place doing the right thing, without any specific direction. Being dependable and insightful about what needs to be done helped make the event run really smoothly, and it set a great example for the other judges on the event. Being able to independently determine where on the event you are most needed and effectively handle problems, tasks, and judge calls that come up without requiring direction for each task is a great skill, and you were very impressive on this event.
Vicki Knoer	Jarrod Williams	Vicki, you continue to excel doing community work in Kentucky. You have been an ardent proponent of the Lady Planeswalker Society chapter there in Louisville and when the store that was hosting the chapter closed suddenly you stepped up to ensure that the chapter continued to have support even hosting a meeting in your home. Your efforts are making a huge impact in your community.
William Wingler	Ben Sturtz	Will, your renewed focus on Magic and judging is exciting! I count myself fortunate for having been able to carpool with you to the recent regional judge conference. Discussion on some finer points of both the CR and MTR from both the players’ and judges’ perspective was beneficial for each of us. I will be rolling some of what we discussed into my L1 training material. I hope to see you engaged in more judging in the future. Let me know if I can help in any way!
Zachary DeLadurantaye	Casey Brefka	Zach – I keep seeing your posts on facebook for your weekly judge chats. I always look forward to reading them, because they usually have some kind of stupid joke in them that makes me laugh. More to the point, I also enjoy reading them, because I love how devoted you are to the education and training of other judges. It is something I have admired in you since we first met, and these weekly judge chats are another way you’re really going above and beyond for the global judge community. Keep up the good work!
Zachary DeLadurantaye	Jarrod Williams	Zach, I’ve been impressed with your work since making L2. You’ve embraced mentoring and I’ve seen you hosting weekly judge chats online. I’ve really been impressed to see you in action working with other L1s that are thinking about L2. You focus on helping them see how achieveable it is and putting forth effort to get them there. At Origins I watched you interact with several L1 staff members and you got them to focus on shadowing andd providing feedback. You gave them the tools to improve and build their own tools to provide feedback in the future. You are doing excellent work in the community. Keep it up.
Zachary DeLadurantaye	Leon Henderson	Zach D! You sir are a rock in the program. You took to your roles so quickly and rocketed up to 2. but did you waste time sitting on your laurels? Nope. you keep rapid firing events and knocking them out of the park. from your events in Michigan that I hear nothing but positive things about to driving so far for events, you are an all around judging all star. At GP Columbus, I watched you take a very difficult call involving differing life totals. You handled it with all the skill and finesse of a seasoned pro. You are always friendly, jovial, and quick with a joke or a ruling. You are always professional yet helpful and walk the line of those very closely yet flawlessly. Your attitude is positively infectious and events and we need more people like that. All in all Zach, you are a tremendous judge and one I expect great things of. thank you for all you do for your region. and as always: thank you for being exemplary.
Zachary DeLadurantaye	Marcos Sanchez	Zach, I’d like to recognize you for your questions which you asked the weekend of GP Charlotte. It’s extremely valuable in the judge program to be able to objectively and honestly assess your skills, both in your strengths and weaknesses, and you asked everyone you encountered “What do you think you do better than everyone else in the program?” – which was INCREDIBLY thought provoking. I genuinely believe that type of introspection and self evaluation should be encouraged, and I have to thank you for making sure to not only ask the question, but press until you got a real answer from whomever you asked. If more people thought to ask these types of thought provoking questions, we’d end up with a noticeable increase in well informed and self aware judges.
Zachary DeLadurantaye	Casey Primm	At Origins, you went well beyond normal expectations. You singlehandedly took a mind-numbingly slow event and turned it into a mini judge conference.