Editor’s Note: This article is part of our series of highlighted exemplar recognitions. See our introduction post for all the details, or view all the posts in this series. This article was written by New Jersey Area Rep Dan Collins.

Paul Baranay is a Level 3 Judge from New York, New York. His recognitions reflect his activity in the region, especially as the L2 Candidacy Coordinator, online, through his blog, Bearz Repeating, and his activity at events:

Bearz, the work and impact you have on the program is obvious and immense. From being a leader at events and conferences, keeping one of the most active blogs in the program, and leading the charge of bringing up new L2s, you’ve helped drive all of us judges, especially those you touch in the northeast, to new heights. But what I want to recognize isn’t something you’ve done for the program, but something you did for me on a personal level. After I handled a particularly difficult situation at a GP that really shook me up, you followed up personally at the event and afterwards, including multiple phone calls at ungodly hours. It really helped, and turned a situation that could’ve soured my experience with large events into something I could deal with. Thanks for being there for me, and so many others. – Chase Culpon

Paul, I wanted to recognize your efforts with the L2 candidates in the region. You have helped them organize their pre-test requirements with the submission form. You have welcomed to Level 2 with an informational letter. You have made sure that good L1 judges that wanted a new challenge would get to where they want to be. Thank you for all your hard work in this area (and many others). – Shawn Doherty

Bearz, I’m absolutely blown away by your blog, not only are the topics relevant, but they are varied in scope/subject, well written and, and this is the most amazing part, weekly! So many efforts begin with good intentions but die off. You have been able to maintain the same level of quality and excitement, after many months. Your ability to set a goal and follow through is outstanding. I especially appreciate that many of the topics are relevant regardless of Judge level; that alone shows you put a lot of thought into your topics. – Bryan Prillaman

There are some people which you know well. People you know you can toss them any task and next time you hear about it, it’s going to be about it already been done, perhaps how it was done. And as HJ of an event where you have many things coming in and out of your plate at the same time, this kind of people are most valuable. Now, there’s people you don’t know can do that and impress you thoroughly and that’s what you’ve accomplished in GP Vegas. As TL of logistics for my split, I dropped more than I would usually ask from any TL and you fought back with great work ethic and solutions always taking problems away from me rather than bringing me others. This along with your great work as one of the organizers of the very large NE judge conference and a great report following make it no question for me to recognize you in this wave. I’m very happy to see the judge you’ve gotten to be and hope to have been in some way of help along the path since I’ve met you and decided to appoint you as XO back to GP Miami from two years ago. Keep up the great work Bearz! – Damián Hiller

Here’s what Dan Collins had to say about this recommendation:

I don’t think I need to introduce Paul – it seems that the name Bearz echoes throughout the region. Currently from New York City, he is best known as the host of Bearz Repeating, a blog on the magicjudges.org network where he writes about all aspects of judging. We chose to highlight these exemplar recommendations to show the many aspects of his involvement that were noticed and acknowledged by the many judges who wrote recognitions for Paul.

Even in this small sample of nominations, he is recognized for work on the floor of events, from XO at a GP two years ago to Team Lead at the largest Magic: The Gathering event of all time. He has written content for many parts of the Judge program, from his own blog to a report on one of the Northeast’s very large judge conferences last year, a feature unique to our region which he also helped to organize. His work in the region also involves guiding L2 candidates as the L2 Candidacy Coordinator, another area in which he was recognized for going above and beyond. Paul’s leadership also extends to this blog, a project for which he has been a significant driving force. I can always trust that I’ll come away from a conversation with Bearz with new knowledge or new ideas, and I look forward to working with him in the future!