Brook Gardner-Durbin – Candidate for Board of Directors 2024

Note: This is a candidate page for a Judge Foundry Election. Information on this page is provided by the candidate, and does not represent the opinions or positions of the Elections Committee or of Judge Foundry. For more information about this election, see the schedule and index for the 2024 Regional Advocate Election.

Nomination Statement

I am running for the Board of Judge Foundry because I want to help judges. Judging has been an enormous part of my adult life, and I have been lucky to be helped along the way by a series of amazing mentors; I want to pay that forward and help other judges.

During my time judging, I have found I deeply enjoyed mentoring others. There is nothing like helping judges accomplish their goals, whether that is a new level, a first time team leading, or whatever else.

I believe Judge Foundry has great promise but is not yet delivering on that potential. I am running because I believe it can be better and do more to help judges of all levels improve, while creating a sense of community.

Every judge owes a great deal to the initial Board. They invested significant time and energy for the good of all others, and that deserves respect — whether we agree with them or not.

That said, there are some areas for significant improvement. I would like to see some substantial improvements to the way tests are taken and administered. I believe Judge Foundry has not shown enough focus to LGS-level judges. Lastly, I do not believe Judge Foundry has done enough to answer the fundamental question facing potential judges: “what do I get for my monthly dues?”

If elected I would want to spend my time focusing on ways to answer that question.

Q1: Specializations / Focus Areas

Question: Board Members work on a wide variety of tasks and projects. What would your “specialty” or main focus area be as a Board Member?

I would be best suited and most interested in engaging with the community and trying to build interest. I want to focus on trying to rebuild a sense of community and common cause among judges — something I felt existed much more strongly when I started judging and has fallen off in recent years.

One of the best things about Judge Foundry is the dedication to transparency and being responsive to the needs of the community. Never before have judges had this much say in what the judge program would look like. I want to continue that and build on it. Judge Foundry has great potential, but that depends on having good outreach to the community and responding adequately to its needs. I would like to take point on that.

Q2: Certifications

Question: Many questions related to the value of Judge Foundry membership. First, regarding certifications: How would you ensure that Judge Foundry Certifications have value in the eyes of TOs and other stakeholders?

While I am happy to reach out to large Tournament Organizers and see what Judge Foundry is capable of doing to appeal to them, at some point we have to consider that fight lost. At the moment I don’t see a lot of hope for WotC or large TOs going back to the idea of requiring different judge levels for certain events or roles.

I don’t see that as cause for despair, however. Sure, WotC can choose to staff anyone of any level for the Pro Tour and any LGS can choose to staff an L1 as HJ for their large competitive event, but those aren’t necessarily great ideas. Good TOs want good, experienced, trained judges for their events. That doesn’t change just because they don’t care about the title. Working to go up a level will always involve improving one’s understanding of rules and policy, will always mean getting better practiced in giving and receiving feedback, and will always mean becoming a stronger overall judge.

Whether WotC or any TOs specifically say “you need this certification to be staffed for this role” or not, I believe there will always be value in working to become a better judge than you were some time ago.

Q3: Member Benefits

Question: Second, outside of certifications, how do you think Judge Foundry should best use its limited resources to benefit the members?

This is where I’d like to focus my energy over the next year, if elected. The most pressing issue facing Judge Foundry at the moment is answering “what does being a member do for me?”

I would like to see more attention given to conferences. Judge Foundry should be supporting conference hosts and presenters, and generally promoting conferences — both in person and online.

I’d also like to put some energy into thinking about how to promote judges working LGS level events. Judge Foundry should be doing more to bring new folks into the fold, and that starts with prereleases and RCQs.

It would be dishonest to pretend I have a perfect plan for this and it will kick in on day one if I’m elected. This is a large, complicated question and any improvements are going to take time to consider and implement. I don’t yet know what the best options are, and I won’t promise to make everything an Eden if elected.

My promise is that I will continue to work on improving things for Judge Foundry members of all levels for as long as I am on the board.