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.
- Name: Kyle Evans
- Location: Katy, Texas
- Election: Regional Advocates 2024
- Running For: Southwest RA
Nomination Statement
Hi! My name is Kyle Evans, I’m from Houston, TX, and I am running to be your Regional Advocate for US-Southwest! I have been a Judge since 2011, and a Level 2 Judge since 2015. I have served on a few different Leadership teams including East Texas Area Captain, as well as working with the Judge Foundry Regional Definition Proposal Project.
I see the role of Regional Advocate as a master communicator, someone who knows the best ways to get people motivated in their areas, namely by appointing Area Communicators to be an extension of the local areas since the Advocate can only be in one place. I also believe that it is vitally important that basic and foundational communication groundwork be established to bring our section of the country united and unified with our primary purpose: To enrich and develop our Region for the benefit of our Judges, and our Players.
I believe our Region is strong, and has some great judges, but I also notice some areas that could use more support. Texas, as an example, has lots of isolated areas that could use more judges, and I want to be able to give those areas the support they desire. Our region is full of large states with spaces in-between, as such we don’t have quite the luxury the east coast has with closer metro areas. As a teacher, education is paramount to me and I want to help you and your area be the best they can be. I will be at the forefront trying to set up Conferences and finding ways that our region can come together and be stronger than ever. My door is always open and I’m always willing to have a chat with you!
My pledge to you: if you elect me your Regional Advocate, I will do everything in my power to build a foundation based on communication and education that will support the Southwest region for many years to come!
At the end of your first six months as Regional Advocate, what does “success” look like?
To me, success in the first six months will include:
Developing a Region-Wide communication avenue.
Have Area Communicators in place for most if not all areas.
Hit the ground running on establishing a Conference or Meetup.
Talking with Communicators and addressing needs their areas may have and how I or
Judge Foundry could help them.
As the first round of Advocates, RAs have an exceptional job ahead of them as they need to plant the building blocks to either a new region or a region that has shifted areas. Success at this position is going to be that important job of developing our regional infrastructure, so that when or if they are succeeded that person put in to be the Advocate already has the tools and methods laid out, and only needs to tweak to suit their tastes for the good of the Region.
What skills/experience do you bring to the role of Regional Advocate?
I bring a lot of experience to the table. As East Texas Area Captain, I foresaw my area which included the east side of Texas including Houston, but also assisted with judges across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. I visited stores, judges, and players to see what kind of things judges could do to improve events and communications with stores and judges. I worked closely with US-South Leadership in 2018-2019 to advise on how we can grow our areas in quality and quantity. I wrote an old article on the benefits of communicating with stores for PPTQs, and even though PPTQs no longer exist, their replacement has similar ideas and thoughts and I have used that idea to help judges advocate for themselves when working with stores. Recently I was in the Region Definition Project that was key in developing the regions that we reside in today. I am willing to do whatever in my power to help grow and develop our program to its fullest potential.
Describe your plans to recruit and utilize Area Communicators.
My plan for Area Communicators is simple: begin by putting out calls to action for those interested in the role. This might be via a short Google Form to show interest with a goal for at least each metro area to have at least 1 Communicator. Once I interview and select Communicators, I will be looking at underrepresented areas, and reaching out to people in those States/Areas to gather additional information, or possibly judges that I can talk to about the opportunity. By appointing strong Communicators, I can focus more energy on the underrepresented areas and try to get them their own Communicator, or talk to nearby areas and see if we can all share the bandwidth of those areas. No area should be neglected and no Area Communicator should feel like they are alone because of lack of representation, even if I have to pick up some slack in those areas until someone suitable can be found.
Another RA has proposed a “Judge Growth” competition between your region and theirs. Would you participate, and how would you design the event to avoid quality issues or creating more judges than Organized Play in your region is able to support?
I believe that solidarity and camaraderie between Regions is important so I would absolutely participate. I also think sometimes a little competitiveness can be a good thing and a solid motivator. I would stress to my Communicators and the rest of the Region that to focus on those that are true candidates. At the end of the day we can never completely gauge someone’s progression through the program, even in the best of circumstances. I would create a simple Google Form for candidates and/or mentors to fill out so I can keep track of who we are working on, and maybe reach out to those mentors with a large amount to lend a helpful hand, thinking maybe they need additional mentor support, or maybe we can host a mini-conference in that area to harness the strong desire for more Judges. From there I have always been a firm believer of “training your replacement”, an ideal I learned from my mentors. It is my goal to develop Judges so they can be as good or better than I am, for the good of the Program for our Judges, Players, and Stores. If there’s a hotbed of candidates, then I can create a seminar or mini-conference either in person or online so candidates can ask questions and learn about what it’s like to be a Judge.
To answer about creating more Judges than an area supports, I’ve found, except for the most remote areas, it’s difficult to be over supported. L1s can support each other in numerous ways at the FNM and store level, and higher level Judges have backups for RCQ level events among other potential opportunities in an area. It’s also a known fact Judges can always move, or lose interest, and in those situations it’s a lot better to have more Judges than a lack thereof. In the rare case we are oversaturated, I can try communicating with local areas to see if there are shops that need Judges, or making arrangements with nearby areas so that Judge has at least something they can champion. The key is communication, my door is always open to help those that seek it.
What is your plan for reaching out to and helping judges in Organized Play dead zones?
Living in Texas all of my life, I know all too well that while there are peaks with huge sprawling metro areas, there are also valleys with more isolated areas, and those places certainly exist in the Southwest Region. First and foremost we need to identify the problem, through communication avenues such as Discord, Facebook, and a central RA-Southwest e-mail, I will be available to any Judge who needs assistance forming a relationship with a store. If there is a remote store that isn’t WPN that is interested, I have experience as a former LGS Manager and can help guide them to success. They might be able to set up simple drafts or a “game night” at a local library or restaurant, and from there work up to doing events at nearby stores such as prereleases. The number one thing I’m always going to stress is communication. If any Judge has any kind of issue finding work or meeting with a store, then I will use any means I can find to make their voice heard and help when I can.