Hello everyone!  We continue our feature on the Regional Coordinators of the Magic Judge program, and this week we head across the pond to feature the L3 Judge that launched a thousand memes with a single finger!  She is the RC for the United Kingdom and South Africa, and is making her second appearance on Judge of the Week to boot!   Say hello to Kim Warren!

Where are you from?

England, but I am currently studying in France.

When did you become a Judge?

I made level 1 in September 2009.

Why did you become a Judge?

After I failed to make day 2 playing at PT Kyoto, the Judges present had a lot of time to work on me and to convince me that it would be a thing worth doing!

What advice would you give to members of your region?

Get in touch! We have a thriving community forum with a number of ongoing projects such as rules quizzes and primers to help people to connect with one another, as well as ways for Tournament Organizers to advertise for Judges when they are trying to staff events and information about the Judge Conferences that we hold a couple of times in the year. I strongly encourage people to be involved in the regional community.

What advice would you give to a Judge growing up through the program?

Take things at your own pace. Some people progress very quickly, and that can make others feel pressured – but there is no right or wrong way to grow through the program, and comparing yourself to others is more likely to add stress or dissatisfaction than anything else. And if there is anything that you are concerned about, get in touch with your Regional Coordinator – that is what we are here for!

Could you recognize a few outstanding members of your region?

We do regular recognitions coinciding with each Pro Tour and with our Regional Judge Conference, where I get input from members of my region if they think that they have seen something particularly impressive. These go to a variety of people, so I don’t feel too comfortable calling a limited number out here.

What’s the farthest you have ever traveled for a Magic event?

The farthest that I have ever traveled for a Magic event was to play in PT Kyoto – though to judge, it was probably GP Kuala Lumpur (unless something like GP Las Vegas is further away – my geography is a bit rusty at times). Ignoring flying, though, I drove to Manchester and back on the same day to head judge a PTQ, which is just under 200 miles each way. That was a very long day (and a stupid, dangerous idea — not enough coffee in the world…).

Does your family travel with you?

My family doesn’t, but my partner often does – there are certainly benefits to dating another Level 3 Judge!

How do you not lose your mind as a RC?

I have a very well developed delegation network, with regional captains stationed in Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa, and coordinators for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 certification. I also solicit a lot of feedback from the other Level 3s in my region on most matters. This helps to spread the load a lot!

What do you feel needs to be improved in the Judge program?

I think that there is a lot that can be done to improve communication in the Judge program, particularly with respect to helping people know what resources exist and where to look for them. This is something that I have been working on intermittently!

What has been your best experience in the Judge program?

It is hard to nail down a single best experience – the Judge program as a whole is an incredible organization to be involved in, and has done a lot to help me get close to being a well rounded and functional adult!

What motivates you to continue being a Judge?

I love the challenges that you can find in the Judge program if you choose to look for them. It provides so much exposure to awesome people,  many hard-to-find experiences (I’m a student, so being able to say to employers that I have taken charge of teams to help coordinate events with many hundreds of players is pretty cool) and opportunities to travel to new places and try new things, too.

What hobbies do you have outside of Magic?

Outside of Magic I am currently studying bioinformatics, and am passionate about evolution. This takes up a large amount of my time, which limits how much I have for other hobbies. I play a variety of other games, including other online card games like Ascension and Solforge, Game Boy games (Pokémon…) and other computer games (Skyrim!). I am also an avid reader, particularly of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and love listening to music and getting to live music events when the opportunity arrives. One thing that I have not being doing recently but which I hope to get back to is playing rugby – in the downtime, I live close enough to a team I can join, I am running regularly to try to keep in shape.

How often do you Travel for Magic?

I travel for Magic at least once a month, and often more. Most of the time, this involves going internationally – I go to most of the European GPs as either a Judge or a player, I try to go back to the UK at least once per PTQ season, and I tend to do a couple of big trips to judge further afield a year. Suffice to say that I am now SkyTeam Gold/Elite Plus on segments rather than on miles…

What are some of your Regional Goals?

For a while, our regional goal has been to get more recruitment to be able to supply the demand of a massively increasing Magic community (we have gone from 60 player PTQs being really incredible attendance to 200 player PTQs being the norm in 4 years or so), especially of L2 Judges. We now have more than 25 L2s, and so are particularly focusing on trying to get more Judges in underdeveloped regions, such as Cornwall and Wales.

What’s one thing in your region which makes playing magic special?

Well, we all have those awesome accents…

Tell us an embarrassing story that you’re not afraid of everyone knowing.

So, I am clumsy, and am also one of those people that improbable things just kind of happen to. This lends itself to a wealth of embarrassing stories which it is hard to specifically think of right now, but if you spend much time with me it is certain that you will get to be a part of one at some point!

How has being a Magic Judge influenced your non-Magic life?

Being a Magic Judge has had a significant effect on my non-Magic life. Apart from dramatically reducing my spare time and introducing me to my partner, it has helped me develop a lot as a person. I am much more competent and confident than I was before I started judging, which has particularly helped in, for example, interviews. I used to stammer a lot when I got nervous, which made getting through interviews successfully pretty problematic, but interacting regularly with so many people has helped me get over that so much that interviews no longer pose any kind of problem – and so I have finally managed to secure a PhD position to start next year!

How do you have fun during events?

I make the fun! I am a pretty energetic and enthusiastic person, which helps to buoy up people around me and starts a massive fun feedback loop to carry us all through the events. I’m not afraid to look a bit silly, which means that I am happy to take opportunities to make people laugh or smile. And it is hard to not have fun if you are making other people enjoy themselves.

What is the proudest moment of your Judge life?

I failed my Level 1 test and my Level 2 test the first times that I took them. Passing my Level 3 test on the first attempt is pretty unparalleled in terms of pride (and, uh, relief).

What is your favorite “after event” story?

At one of the PT Amsterdams, it was Darren Gamble‘s birthday. He wanted to go to see the red light district, so at the Judge dinner a group of us decided that we would do this afterwards. When we were done we all headed out and wandered along chatting, with everyone happily following the person in front. This was unfortunate, because the person at the front was not part of the group who wanted to go to the red light district and was on his way back to the Judge hotel – a substantial enough walk in the opposite direction that when we found ourselves there, we gave up on the whole idea and just played EDH late into the night.

And on that note, we’ll just be moving on…

Our sincere thanks to Kim for taking time to talk to us this week and for being such an awesome RC!  Keep up the great work!  We’ll see you all next week when the spotlight falls on our next Judge of the Week!