Exemplar 4 - USA - Northeast - Northeast USA Judge Family

To Abby Kraycar Recognized by Nicholas Sabin	Abby, I wanted to thank you for your professionalism and your work ethic at Eternal Extravaganza. That was an event that would have overwhelmed many judges, but you were always ready to step up and face a new challenge. I think your attitude at shows is great, and I hope to see it at more shows to come. Keep up the good work!
To Abby Kraycar Recognized by Alex Stratton	“Abby, While working on the GP Pittsburgh SSS, you were very helpful completing deck checks with me throughout the day. Being a newer L1 on a grand prix staff can be a momentous task, but you handled it with ease, and I heard multiple positive comments from other judges throughout the day on your performance. I never once felt nervous if we would finish a DC on time or if inexperience would case a delay, you were perfect all day and the event ran like clockwork. Thank you so much for making this event run smoothly with me and I hope to see you on more GP Staffs as you continue to progress in the program. “
To Abby Kraycar Recognized by AJ Kerrigan	Your constant growth throughout the few months that I’ve known you has been truly inspiring to watch. You are constantly willing to learn new things, apply what you’ve learned, and analyze your own mistakes when they come. This productive self-awareness is critical in growth, and I only expect to see more of it as you continue in your time as a judge. A particular event that represented this was at Eternal Extravaganza 3, where I approved a Game Loss for you and then later realized that it was incorrect. You listened to the feedback I gave, analyzed the mistake, and learned from it, which also helped me learn to be a better team lead in the process.
To Abby Kraycar Recognized by Paul Baranay	Customer service. Perseverance. Friendliness. Determination. Abby, these are just a few of the words I would use to describe you. You’re doing a phenomenal job at events on Long Island and elsewhere. Keep it up! I know you will go far.
To Abby Kraycar Recognized by Christopher Wendelboe	Having you as a judge buddy at Pittsburgh was one of the best experiences of my judging career. It helped me understand how much I enjoy mentoring, and your thirst for knowledge was very impressive. I look forward to seeing where the program will take you.
To Adam Daniere Recognized by Riva Arecol – Nathan Rich	“Adam, You and I worked together on the scheduled sides for SCG Worcester. Between the two of us, we managed four full events, and despite some setbacks and difficult feedback, got through all of these events cleanly. In particular, I know that the events we managed weren’t your forte’, format-wise, so being willing to step out of your comfort zone will be a huge tool in pursuing advancement in the program, I’m sure. Keep pushing yourself.”
To Adam Eidelsafy Recognized by John Temple	For all your hard work and dedication to Judge of the Week. As one of our newer members you have stepped in and taken on your role as a writer head on! Thank you for your continued contributions to Judge of the Week!
To Adam Eidelsafy Recognized by Rob Blanckaert	Adam, your Wednesday judge class has been wildly successful at turning enthusiastic players into judges. This is not only exemplary in terms of the time you invest planning and running the weekly class but also in your ability to create this amazing educational resource seemingly out of thin air.
To Adam Eidelsafy Recognized by Nicolette Apraez	“Adam, At SCG Columbus you did a great job on Sunday Coverage. It’s easy to feel isolated while in that position, but you were actively engaged in the entire event, and always willing to help if whenever you could. In one particular round, I was passing off duties to another judge to go on break, and you volunteered to take down feature match tables to make it easy for him to manage the large amount of beginning of round tasks. This was great because it allowed him to focus on the tasks that he was filling in for while I was on break, while ensuring that everything got done in a timely manner. Additionally, you take more tablenotes that anyone I’ve seen. It’s clear you take your job seriously, regardless of what task you are assigned to, and I really appreciate that. I’d like to see more judges understand their role in an event, and own it the way you do. Thank you for being a great rock on any event I’ve seen you on. “
To Adam Lugibill Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Adam, I wanted to recognize you for your efforts as judge of the prerelease at Comic Swap. You were able to create a welcoming environment for new players, including the new mechanics and structure of the event. You did such a fine job running the event that one of your local players felt the need to share this through the Judge Feedback Form. Keep up the good work creating great experiences for players at your local events.
To Adam Pin Recognized by Terrence Cheung	Adam, I want to thank you for being exemplary on 1/31’s PPTQ in Nebulous Gaming. For you first Comp REL event, you have shown preparation work by reviewing the IPG and MTR in detail. I especially want to thank you for 2 incidents. First, you provided exceptional customer service by reporting to me that a young player was leaving his belonging unattended. Although we are not responsible for the lost of articles, we do not want young players to lose items and be discouraged for tournaments. And second, you corrected the L2 judges (me and Chris) that TOP 8 draft positions cannot be replaced by the 9th place player when there is a drop in TOP 8. Because of your MTR knowledge, we were able to run the TOP 8 draft according to the policy. I also want to thank you for staying through the TOP 8 even when I told you that you can be dismissed. Thank you for being an exemplary judge. Please continue to work hard, and I hope to see you as an L2 one day.
To AJ Kerrigan Recognized by Rob McKenzie	AJ, your work on data gathering and assembling the survey results for the BFZ prerelease article from the Customer Service Project was exemplary – I was impressed with the data gathered, the amount of people you engaged, and your really solid takeaways.
To Alex Bastecki Recognized by Brian Coval	Alex, you recently moved back to Western PA. As a result you relinquished your position as area captain for central PA. You offered yourself to me as an alternative to take over the western PA responsibilities, which we both know is mostly just thankless extra work. You had a chance to get out but instead you just asked for more. You’re a glutton for punishment and that’s exactly the kind of grit I like to see from my area. Welcome back, we’re excited to have you.
To Alex Bastecki Recognized by Chris Stagno	Alex recently moved back into the Pittsburgh area and has already expressed interest in how he can help grow and support the community here – offering his support wherever it is needed.
To Alex Mullins Recognized by Mike Noss	Alex, I was Head Judging a PPTQ and as I do for every PPTQ I HJ, I went and looked for the FAQ document you wrote for PPTQ winners. Not only did I find the link you originally posted two seasons ago, but I was pleasantly surprised to find you had already updated it with the most recent and relevant information for the current season. I never saw anyone ask for your immediate action because they had an event coming up, but was very appreciative that you’ve been staying on top of this document that answered a lot of the questions my players were asking in the finals of the event. It made everyone’s life easier so thank you for being proactive in providing supporting documentation!
To Alex Mullins Recognized by Benjamin Coursey	Alex, I want to recognize you for the work you did here in NH. This state was a judge Ghost town for many years. You played a large role in the overall growth of the program here. I also greatly value our numerous discussions, on rules, policy, the program and more.
To Alex Mullins Recognized by Bryan Hare	One of my favorite things about you is that you know how to identify a problem, and you know when you aren’t the best person to solve the problem. It take a lot of restraint to not step in and be the hero, but in the end it often helps make difficult situations better. Its all the better that when you do find a problem you are suited for you knock it out of the park (like your work on sides of GP’s). Thank you!
To Alex Stratton Recognized by John Shannon	You stepped up when we had a judge that cancelled for the regional PTQ and came in to judge. Your enthusiasm for Magic and willingness to help is a great example for other judges and players.
To Amanda Stevens Recognized by Byron Calver	This is a bit of a ‘better late than never’ recognition. When I was stressed out and floundering with my first grinder at GP-Ottawa just over a year ago, you took over. It was a very crucial save in what was a pretty messy weekend for me as a judge. Further, you demonstrated your experience and showed leadership in actively working to make sure that the logistics were sound for future grinders that day. You also reached out to be supportive last year after Adam passed away, and I really appreciate that.
To Amin Younes Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	With both of the other L2 Judges being taken away (temporarily) from Judging due to life priorities, Amin Stepped up in the Rhode Island Area. He ran all of the desired pPTQs for almost 2 full seasons and made sure that stores had the judges they needed for their events. Amin, would have preferred a less active role in the judge community stepped up when others could not.
To Anthony Hullings Recognized by Vincent Roscioli	“Krug, My favorite quality about you is that you are full of energy and that you are able to direct this energy into being proactive about ensuring the event runs smoothly. I notice your positive attitude and your experience running events every time we work together.”
To Anthony Hullings Recognized by Ilan Seid-Green	Anthony’s work with the judges and and community in his area is exceptional. He is constantly mentoring, helping, and answering questions. His skill and excitement about mentoring is high enough that he is my first choice when someone wants to learn to do those things. Multiple people have assumed he is the area representative, which speaks an immeasurable amount to his level of involvement with other judges. Anthony is, to say the least, an outstanding member and mentor of the local community.
To Anthony Hullings Recognized by Dan Collins	For being the most enthusiastic and genuinely invested L1 and now L2 I’ve seen. Your involvement in mentoring a group of candidates from Nerdvana, both directly and indirectly, goes far beyond expectations, especially since you aren’t even from Jersey! Congratulations on making L2 and I look forward to seeing the great contributions you continue to make to the Northeast!
To Anthony Hullings Recognized by Mike Noss	Anthony, at our Oath of the Gatewatch Prerelease, we had a large amount of young children new to the tournament environment. They were excited and eager to play all day, their parents on the other hand were a little nervous and apprehensive about the whole day’s activities. You spent a considerable amount of time with the parents talking to them about how great the game and community are. Their looks of apprehension quickly turned to looks of happiness and appeasement. Thank you for taking the time to be an incredible ambassador for our game and our community and in helping support the next generation of Magic players.
To Anthony Hullings Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Krug, you have been a great help on developing the judge community, especially helping judge candidates. Charles Featherer pointed out that you created a judge group on Facebook Chat to help the development of L1s. He also mentioned that your work inspired him and another judge to create similar groups for mentoring. A good leader not only shows his worth through his actions, but also for his ability to inspire others. Your efforts have done just that and I wanted to recognize your work in this area.
To Anthony Swyryt Recognized by Matthew Foster	I was really impressed with your leadership within the local online community with regards to recent changes and decisions handed down by Wizards this past fall. Keeping doomsayers and toxic voices in check in the community is important and your actions establish you as a central leadership pillar in the community.
To Ben Eldridge Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Ben, I wanted to recognize you for your efforts to help the judges around you be successful. You seem to take the time to help fellow judges understand situations and use your experience and knowledge to better those around you. Your work at the Judge Conference testing L1 candidates was an example of that. Another example of this was shared by Adam Daniere: â€œI can’t remember the specific SCG open, but I do remember that there were two L1s (one experienced, and one fairly new) who had discovered a problem with the deck lists and were also missing a chunk of them. They were scrambling to get things fixed. I was on deck checks that day and at the time I was busy checking a deck. I noticed Ben, who had just finished his lunch, walk over to the L1s who looked terrified that they had misplaced a stack of lists and that it was stalling their sorting. After hearing their situation, Ben decided to get off his break 30 minutes early and donned his judge shirt. The first thing he did was calm them both down, telling them that it was OK and that the lists could be found, and that these things happen all the time at events. He did an excellent job getting everyone to keep a level head and focus on the task at hand. By the end of that round not only had they retraced their steps and found the lists, but had fully sorted the DLs by the time the Deck Check team lead returned. They two L1s were both extremely grateful to him, and the entire event showed how dedicated Ben is to both the efficiency of the event and the well-being of his fellow judges.â€ I hope you continue this type of selfless behavior at events in the future. Focus on the things that help the event move forward. Focus on helping the event and the people involved succeed. Keep up the good work.
To Benjamin Higgins Recognized by Benjamin Klein	Ben this morning when I didn’t show up on time to run the PPTQ you took charge while you had other responsibilities with your own event (the Star Wars Armada Prerelease) and got the PPTQ started and the players to register their card pools so the event could proceed while I was making my way to the store. You did all this calmly and with poise without showing the stress you were under to the players (and I recognize it was stressful.) You consulted other judges on Facebook forums to figure out what information you needed to share with the players and what you needed to do even though you had to pick up the start of this event without any notice you would be called on to do this. Once I arrived you did a great job bringing me up to speed on where the event was and what you had and had not yet done and you let me easily slip into my roll as head judge so the event could continue as smoothly as you had started it. You were not done yet though; you also were instrumental in making sure that when the store lost power that we figured out how to continue with the tournament and get it started again while you were dealing with the same issues with the Star Wars event you were running around the corner. You also helped me with the process of using paper and pen to record the needed information from round one and get round two under way while the power was still out. You were also helpful to me by being available to bounce some thoughts around with concerning a decklist error I discovered prior to the start of our issues with the power. All of your work went a long way to making this PPTQ successful through all of the obstacles which happened today. I recognize that you could have instead left the Magic event in the hands of the TO (and eventually myself) while you were focused on the Star Wars event because that would have been enough plenty for you to handle, but you behaved professionally and like a great Magic judge by stepping up in a big way and that is exemplary behavior Ben.
To Benjamin Klein Recognized by Charles Ferguson	This is for your coordinated effort to return my belongings left in our hotel room at GP Madison. I had written them off as lost, but when I heard you had coordinated/ensured their travel through the GP kit, myself receiving the items literally 3 Grand Prix events later, from a judge I had never met before; well, it has became one of those stories that serves as proof that the Judge program is not just a collection of people who love MTG a lot, but a… a… Judgehood(!) that I haven’t ever been more proud to belong.
To Brian Coval Recognized by Alex Bastecki	Thank you for stepping up and persevering as an L2 during this challenging PPTQ system that has burnt out a lot of the judges in the area and program. Your hard work and enthusiasm will ensure that the program will continue on through the next generation of judges and beyond.
To Brian Coval Recognized by Chris Stagno	As we move into 2016, I have seen Brian take a continued and more involved role in managing our region, as well as verifying that stores receive continued coverage for the PPTQ program in the face of several judges stepping back from Level 2, including making time to judge events in leiu of events he would have preferred to participate in to make up the difference.
To Bryan Hare Recognized by Daniel Jackson	Bryan many thanks for connecting the region in a way that Facebook and the Judgeapps forums weren’t doing. The slack chat was a genius idea, it has us talking all sort of policy and rulings. A lot of communication is a positive thing, and this is exactly what we needed.
To Bryan Hare Recognized by Alex Mullins	For taking the initiative and advocating for the Northeast slack and working to get it running. It’s been a great communication tool already and has fostered a lot of great discussions amongst judges who otherwise wouldn’t interact as much.
To Bryan Li Recognized by Ian Taylor	Last year, a local TO in New Hampshire had forgotten to secure the services of an L2 for a scheduled Competitive-level tournament. Bryan, a talented though inexperienced L1, stepped up, and not only knocked it out of the park, he managed a Competitive sealed event with a top 8 called draft, having never done either before. He’s L2 now, and rightly deserved, but that tournament performance needs some recognition.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Emilien Wild	“Thank you Charles for your message “”Post: A Love Note for Newer L1’s and Judge Candidates”” on the Community Corner of Judge Apps : http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/22547/?page=1#post-146174 This really dynamic message is so full of good tips and advices that any judge is likely to find something that he or she could apply immediately, making sure none of us is left alone. Please accept this recognition as an acknowledgement that you had an impact far beyond your own region.”
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Nicola DiPasquale	Charles, you struggled during your certification process, but since then you have made a huge splash here in the region, Working on various events and working on some bigger picture projects (the judge booklet first comes to mind). There are a lot of judges whose respect you have earned as a valued member of the community. Keep up the outstanding work and keep reaching for the stars!
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Rob McKenzie	Charles, you have been kicking ass online lately. Lots of good content, including being one of the core people on the CS prerelease helper content for BFZ. Color me impressed.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Christopher Cahill	Charles, I want to thank you for your voice during the “suspension crisis.” You were one of the few people I came across on social media calling for calm and looking for more information before pulling out the pitchfork. Although your opinions weren’t welcomed publicly, your voice made a difference and you deserve to be recognized for speaking out.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Riki Hayashi	While browsing through judgeapps, I came across your profile page and specifically your entertaining and informative “About Me” section. (http://apps.magicjudges.org/judges/wcstormcrow/) This is an underrated and underused part of the profile page, and you’ve used it here the best I’ve seen so far. It’s honest, introspective, and something that I hope other judges will spend more time emulating.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Christian Gawrilowicz	Thank you for restarting the Judge Booklet project! But this is not why I want to recognize you. I want to recognize you, because you tried to continue the project and not invent the wheel again. You reached out to the original project lead and when this failed you did not give up. And after you learned that other people are also working on the same project independently from you, you included them. Well done!
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Dan Collins	You were actually a fellow judge candidate at the very first PTQ I worked all those years ago (just kidding, it was 2014) – though you didn’t test that day, I was pleasantly surprised when you popped back up on my radar with your guest posts on Bearz Repeating and your presentation at the Amherst conference, and more recently with you leading a group of Judge Candidates from a local store. You are a natural leader and a great public speaker, and your contributions so far have impressed many people. I look forward to seeing you more around the region!
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Jacob Kriner	Charles, I wanted to recognize your efforts in resurrecting the Judge Booklet Project. This resource is extremely valuable for newer judges. You took a large initiative in reaching out to previous project leaders to restart the project and recruiting new support to translate the project for other languages.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Joe Hughto	I have a feeling this is going to be a big wave for you. You’ve come onto the scene and very quickly made a name for yourself. You’ve been incredibly active in all sorts of places and it seems that every time, you gain more and more support. Your drive is truly incredible and you seem to be purpose-built for judging. All of the project work that you do coupled with all of your enthusiasm is a thing that all of us should try to emulate.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Fabian Peck	“I’d like to recognise your interactions in the Tournament Reports forum. Often reports are just shot off and don’t help much, but your engagement with, and questioning of, helped make them into a thing of great value. “
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Sophie Pages	Charles, thank you for your involvement in the judge booklet. Your ideas, your synthese helped us a lot to make this project alive. I really enjoyed work in team with you, I admired your diplomaty and your input and i am sure we will make a wonderful document helpful for every judge.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Charles, I wanted to thank you for your active role in the judge community, particularly within the region. You have taken on projects and worked in groups to develop a wide variety of useful content for judges. In addition, you have been willing to share your thoughts and feedback with others. When I asked for suggestions of people that deserved to be recognized, you provided several names of deserving judges and included great details of the work. These recommendations not only show the dedication of those judges, but also show your own devotion to the judge program and its members.
To Charles Featherer Recognized by Adam Eidelsafy	“Hey Charles, We haven’t worked together much but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying your fine work. During the New Year’s Holiday, many L2s submitted their TRs to stay certified. The fact that you left well written and thought provoking on most (if not all) of them is worthy of recognition. Don’t even get me started on your ‘About Me’ page Great Work, -Safy”
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Raymond Fong	This recognition is for your efforts for Day 1 of SCG Philadelphia. I was responsible for ensuring adequate staffing level for public events throughout the day. As one of the assigned public event HJ, I was able to confide in you at regular intervals to ensure this level was constantly met (plus all associated logistics such as breaks etc.). Thank you for the assist!
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Vincent Roscioli	“Chase, I always enjoy working with you at events because of your ability to take command of situations. Whenever I see you working on a task, you are calm and meticulous, taking care of business and not panicking if something starts to go off-track.”
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Elliot Raff	Chase, it’s very hard to overstate the sheer amount of work you have done for the Northeast Region with your PPTQ project, which has directly made an enormous impact on players by making sure that the Area Reps have easy-access tools to staff PPTQs in the area. Your hard work has made it tremendously easy to serve the players and stores in my area. Thank you for all that you do.
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Brian Coval	Chase you’ve been organizing the region’s PPTQ’s for a few seasons now. Coordinating these things within my area is the worst part of my area rep job, so the effort you put into coordinating the region is not lost on me. I’m not the most reliable updater of your PPTQ form, but please know that I use it regularly and it makes my job that much easier every season. Thanks for the above and beyond work you put in.
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Joe Hughto	To put it succinctly, PPTQs in the Northeast are successful because of you. The work you do is really great for making sure things are organized, and the area reps are prodded appropriately. The best part about all of this is that you’re also incredibly humble about it, too. I’m constantly impressed by you.
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Kush Singhal	Chase, thank you for going above and beyond in taking the initiative to coordinate PPTQ planning and host/organize social events. These are great for the community, and it was great to see you be officially recognized as an area coordinator! Great job, keep it up!
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Daniel Jackson	Thanks Chase for your hard work keeping the Northeast PPTQ schedule together. It’s a wonderful tool that you use to let us know what’s happening and whose Judging what. Also as a area rep, it has helped me help the store owners in my area make their pptqs happen. Thanks for all you do
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Chase, I wanted to think you again for your work to coordinate the PPTQ judge listings for the region. It has been a valuable resource both in preparation for the events and as a summary after the events. I am also glad to see that you are getting more involved in your local area by becoming co-Area Rep with Sam. I think youâ€™ll be a big help growing the NYC area.
To Chase Culpon Recognized by Christopher Rumore	Thank you, Chase, for driving to SCG Providence. After getting into a car accident, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to drive us four judges to the event. You quickly took control of the situation and nabbed a rental car when I was acting indecisive.
To Chris Bilbo Recognized by Jonah Kellman	Your help at the GPT/PPTQ day was incredibly useful. Throughout the day you showed a willingness to learn and improve as well as to put yourself in new situations. Beyond that, offering to run unplanned side events that the players at the event wanted to have made the experience for everyone – players, TO and myself better.
To Chris Connett Recognized by Terrence Cheung	Chris, I want to recognize you for mentoring me for these 2 years. Not only did you provided with me resources like JudgeCast, you’ve my answer phone calls at random times to discuss rulings and policy updates. Even after I made L2, you’ve continue to guide me in subjects such as tournament operation, scorekeeping, and head judging, especially with the Nebulous Gaming 1/31 PPTQ. First thank you for being my standby judge. Second, thank you for shadowing the L1 that I certified. Third, thank you for being the scorekeeper and the paper team. Fourth, thank you for helping me with the TOP 8 draft bracket, which I have no experience in. And lastly, thank for being extra prepared by bringing the match slip sign, USB scorekeeping numpad, timer, basic lands, and paper cutter.
To Chris Stagno Recognized by Alex Bastecki	Sometimes it is difficult to realize that one should step back a bit from the program. It is exemplary to know when to know that moment, as a good number of judges will just try to continue and become unhappy with themselves, becoming a detriment to the program at times.
To Chris Stagno Recognized by Brian Coval	You and I have been holding it down together as the last of the L2’s in Western PA for a few years now. Whenever I feel the frustration of being stuck between two regions, a PPTQ system that asks too much of too few people, or anything else that threatens to make judging less fun than it should be I can count on you to blow off steam with then get back in there and make the system work. Your social contribution to maintaining the sanity of this area rep is worth more than you know. Thanks for always keeping it real.
To Christopher Cahill Recognized by Justin Purcell	Chris, you helped to establish a series of monthly judge meetups in western Massachusetts, each of which will have a set topic with a discussion leader. This should help judges who want to stay involved, and help keep the judges who aren’t able to get to many larger events up to date with happenings in the judge program. I think it will be very useful given the density of judges in our area.
To Christopher Hartman Recognized by Brian Coval	Chris, you and I are among the last of the dinosaurs roaming in western PA. Several of our other contemporaries decided not to complete their annual checklist this year, knocking our area from 6 L2’s to 3. With the PPTQ system being what it is you understand the implication of that small number. As your area captain I truly appreciate every poorly-advertised, short-noticed, store-you’ve-never-heard-of, town-you-didn’t-know-existed PPTQ you give up your Saturday to support. You’re among the last of the diehards, and I appreciate you sticking with me for at least another year.
To Christopher Vincek Recognized by Daniel Jackson	Thank you for running our weekly drafts for the last year. Numerous players have told me that you helped the learn to draft, including taking time out of your own build to help the come away with something playable. You always remind the new players about the secondary value of the cards, and stop the sharks from preying upon them. I know you’ve stepped back from Judging due to life, but hope to see you come back even stronger someday
To Christopher Wendelboe Recognized by Benjamin Coursey	You do a lot of work here in NH. Like A LOT. Between judging 95% of the PPTQs, and keeping up with Area Rep duties, you are a busy guy when it comes to Judging. But you do it all and you do it with excellence.
To Christopher Wendelboe Recognized by Dan Collins	You’ve really jumped in to helping with the Northeast USA Judge Family website, writing a great summary tutorial for JudgeApps and committing to a monthly update series. Thanks for the help!
To Christopher Wendelboe Recognized by Jeffrey Emery	I was woefully unprepared for PPTQ Sydney. You kept everything from falling apart. You ensured that the event ran as smooth as it could. You let me make my own decisions, my own mistakes, and never tried to take over the tournament. It was your coaching and guidance that has lead to me looking back at the event as one of the best learning experiences of my Judge career thus far.
To Christopher Wendelboe Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Chris, I wanted to thank you for becoming a leading force in the New Hampshire area. Not only have you taken over as Area Rep after Alex moved, but you have been head judging most, if not all, the PPTQs in the state. Also, you have been expanding your role in the region by getting involved in the regional blog. I also enjoy seeing your participation on the Judge Forums. I look forward to seeing your continued growth in the program.
To Christopher Wendelboe Recognized by Megan Linscott	Chris, youâ€™ve really stepped up to help me adjust to my role as an L2. You made sure to message me words of encouragement the morning of my first PPTQ, and to remind me that you were on call if I needed anything. Knowing you had my back took off a lot of pressure. When I became Area Rep in Maine, you contacted me immediately to congratulate me and start sharing ideas. Youâ€™ve been unfailingly available for advice and support.
To Corwin Knight Recognized by Daniel Jackson	You’ve made SUNY Albany and Flights safe places to play for many players. You are quick to stop any negative talk, but still keep a smile on your face. You teach the rules to the commander group that asks the same question a thousand times, and never get mad when they don’t get it. Keep being awesome.
To Craig Stambaugh Recognized by Daniel Lee	I will not forget the conversation you and I had at GP SeaTac, CJ. It’s on the short list of conversations that have shaped and encouraged my path towards L3. The effort you put forth to help me understand the responsibility I would be accepting as an L3 was above and beyond the call of duty, and I wish to recognize that.
To Craig Stambaugh Recognized by Andrew Doyle	The hardest part of our program is looking back on our performances and recognizing your own faults, which most of us can’t do very well. That’s why a great deal of people have a lot of trust in you CJ; your ability to provide clear feedback and constructive criticism isnâ€™t very common. Your assistance at Grand Prix Pittsburgh was much appreciated, and our debrief afterwards provided a direction for my own improvement. The more I thought about the attention you gave me throughout that Super Sunday event, the more I realized that what our program needs is for us all to grow in our ability to asses our peers in the way that you do. Thank you once again for not only providing me with an excellent learning opportunity, but for all that you do within the program.
To Dan Collins Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Dan, Thank you for taking an hour after an event to go over your feedback for me. Dropping a big review on me would have helped quench my thirst for feedback, but taking that time to go through the review and give me possible paths for improvement was even more helpful.”
To Dan Collins Recognized by Christopher Wendelboe	It was great seeing how involved you were with clarifying the Hidden Card Error infraction. There was a ton of discussion about this through Slack and the forums and you really took charge of making sure we got “o” responses and then getting that information out to the group at large.
To Dan Collins Recognized by Abraham Corson	For asking the tough questions about recent policy changes. Dan’s JA forum participation recently has helped shed light on some of the unintended consequences of HCE.
To Dan Collins Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Dan, I wanted to recognize you for your work on the Welcome Wagon and conference planning. Since taking over the Welcome Wagon from Joe, you have done a great job keeping it updated and relevant to the changing aspects of the program. I know that it has been a valuable resource to many new L1s. In addition, you have already put a great deal of work into the upcoming Judge Conference. Though you still have much work to do for the conference itself, I wanted to recognize the work you put into the conference proposal. You gathered a great deal of information about the conference you wanted to organize. This information was valuable in determining if the proposed conference made sense going forward. I look forward to seeing the work come to fruition.
To Dan Huber Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Dan, Thank you for requesting to help with a presentation at the conference. It can be daunting reaching out to a bunch of strangers (even though we have something in common, 200 is still a lot of people!) and asking for help/to help. Presenting at a conference is a great way to grow, it’s a different form of communication than judging at an event uses, and it’s a great way to help others grow and learn from your experiences. I look forward to doing a great job together on our presentation!”
To Daniel Jackson Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Dan, I wanted to recognize your efforts in putting together a proposal for a potential Spring Judge Conference. You provided many details which laid out how the conference would be run and the different logistical aspects of putting it on. It allowed me to make a fair assessment of what I could expect the next conference to look like. Now, although, I didnâ€™t choose your proposal as the one to move forward with, your proposal is something that will be a great resource for planning future conferences. Thanks for your hard work on this proposal.
To Daniel Regewitz Recognized by Brian Rapp	Dan, your hard work and diligence in compiling your binder of judge-goodness, goes a long way in helping keep you organized and professional while at events. This organization help keep the events running smoothly, and is something that I will be adapting as well. Thank you for all your hard work, and I look forward to working with you in the future.
To Daniel Villamizar Recognized by Jonah Kellman	Dan, I wanted to recognize you for your help with the Disqualification at the OGW prerelease. You provided valuable insight and experience with investigations. Furthermore, we’ve had many interesting discussions regarding policy and tournament operations. You regularly challenge my understanding and cause me to better understand policy to defend my position.
To David Haass Recognized by Matthew Foster	Thank you for managing to restaff the RPTQ in October when I was had a personal matter come up. Knowing you had things taken care of lead me to have a much easier time tending to my business without worry that I was causing a hardship for the event staff.
To David Haass Recognized by Christopher Rumore	David, at the RPTQ, you stepped in as Scorekeeper and took care of a fairly large tournament while also taking the time to hit the floor and answer calls. At the PPTQ a few weeks later, you helped me handle a tournament that I was a bit under-prepared for. Thanks for helping me focus on the tournament and for our policy discussions.
To Drew Herr Recognized by Jeffrey Emery	You are the primary catalyst for our state’s growth within the Judge Community. You deserve more thanks for one of the more thankless positions in our community. Thank you for being an amazing area coordinator during your tenure.
To Dylan Lesnewski Recognized by Christopher Wendelboe	You showed great initiative with your plan to work with a certain player/judge-hopeful that could use help with his people skills. Identifying the need for this and being willing to put in the effort speaks highly of you as a mentor.
To Eli Shiffrin Recognized by Kush Singhal	Eli, thank you for your contributions to Cranial Insertion! While you are currently retired, you were going above and beyond in answering questions for the global community! Your articles were instrumental in fostering my development as a judge, and I continue to read the spin-off-products-of-your-handiwork today! Great job, and thank you!
To Ellen McManis Recognized by Joseph Steet	Ellen, at GP Vancouver you were constantly asking good questions about rules and policy to improve your knowledge and skill set. It was very impressive work ethic and occasionally quite challenging for me. It makes me happy to see a judge work so hard on themselves.
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Robert Romine	Elliot, Thank you for your support @ the Eternal Weekend in Philly. You were a very solid rock for me to lean on as I was very easily overwhelmed by my first Deck Check lead. I hope to be able to learn from you at future events.
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Eli Meyer	Elliot, you put a lot of effort into nurturing my growth–feedback, staffing me on events, reviews, and recommendations. I wouldn’t be the judge I am today without your mentorship, and I certainly wouldn’t have made L2. I appreciate your openness and your willingness to answer questions on any topic at pretty much any time.
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Jon Goud	“### summer recognition ### Elliott was a life-saver for me on two occasions. Earlier this year I had the priviledge to head judge my first StarCityGames.com Premiere IQ, and I asked Elliott to be my unofficial XO. Without as much experience with the SCG crew I knew I would need to leverage his experience in order to navigate SCG-specific procedures while still being able to maintain the perspective necessary to be at the helm of such an event. Discussions before the event helped guide my preparation, and he was an invaluable at the event. Elliott also was able to lobby on my behalf and get me on staff for GP Providence after the window had closed – which then created an opportunity for me to panel for L3 4 months earlier than I was expecting. His dedication to the program, I believe, is vastly above and beyond the expectations for an L2 and the entire program benefits from his hard work.”
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Chris Lansdell	Elliot, you have been a consistently positive presence at every event at which I have worked with you, but the main thing that encouraged me to write this recommendation is a conversation we had in Las Vegas where you opened up about some of the challenges you were having in judging and how you were going to address them by asking for hyper-critical feedback. That conversation caused me to have a huge revelation and has set me back on the right track for judging. Your willingness to share information that can help others is a rare trait and one that should be encouraged and propagated.
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Jeff Morrow	Your request for lots of feedback at SCG Vegas was excellent to see. It shows that you take your improvement seriously – you know that it takes work, and that it won’t “just happen”. This will serve you well on your way to L3. Thanks very much for being proactive on this.
To Elliot Raff Recognized by Christopher Rumore	Elliot, to say you are a good judge would be a disservice to you. At every event I’ve ever been with you, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything close to a falter. You’ve shown time and time again what a good Judge looks like, and I believe that deserves commemoration. You’ve given me countless great advice over my judging career. Please continue to inspire greatness.
To Eric Smith Recognized by Dan Collins	At the Star City Games Open in Philadelphia, NJ, you had a very long day, including one particularly complex investigation. In spite of some hiccups, you stayed calm and on point and handled the investigation and aftermath professionally.
To Eric Smith Recognized by Raymond Fong	This recognition was for showing grace under fire as HJ at SCG Philadelphia. It is not easy when an individual goes to extreme lengths to undermine your authority and the method you used to remain neutral in your DQ decision and maintain the perceived integrity of the event was admirable. Thank you for this and sharing the discussion amongst the present L3s.
To Eric Smith Recognized by Mike Noss	Eric, your handling of an unruly and unrelenting player during the SCG Open in Philly was truly admirable. Most Head Judges in your position would not have handled that situation with the level head and patience you demonstrated. Thank you for being a great example of how to handle stressful situations and players with grace.
To Eric Smith Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	Eric, you’ve been a mentor for me since you certified me. I continue to look up to your experience, and the invaluable perspective that you bring (from your many years of contribution to the Magic community – players and judges alike – here in the Northeast). At SCG Philadelphia, I saw you display an incredible amount of integrity and dignity in the face of a very, very thorny situation. It’s no surprise that great judges continue to look up to you, and sign up for events when they know you’ll be running them. I hope to see you at many more, Eric. Thank you.
To Erik Halverson Recognized by Terrence Cheung	Erik, I want to recognize you for all the effort you put in the last two years for training me. It’s because of you that I became an L2, and it’s because of you that I now know how to train candidates into L1’s. You also do an excellent job in explaining the philosophy behind policies, and I look up to you as a role model. Not only did you share calls you got right with me, you also shared the ones you got wrong, and the ugly DQ ones. Although we only worked closely together in 1 PPTQ, I want to thank you for all the preparation that allowed me to go out alone and meet new judges. You are truly an exemplary judge, and your impact on me and the community cannot go unnoticed.
To Evan Carrier Recognized by Brian Coval	Hey Evan! We don’t interact much, but I see you everywhere. I honestly didn’t even realize you were in the area I oversee until embarassingly recently. I see you at every major regional event and just assumed you were a traveling L2 who just goes to everything. But it turns out you’re actually a quiet local all-star secretly stacking up tons of experience by working all the big regional events. Working that hard and supporting regional Magic without drawing a ton of attention to yourself about it is an exemplary quality in my book. And despite your best efforts, I’ve noticed. Keep it up.
To Garrett Fehon Recognized by Ilan Seid-Green	Garrett is the sort of judge I believe all local judges should aspire to be. His work in Redcap’s Corner goes far beyond what one could expect from a store employee, or what one generally sees from other L1s in their local store. He is constantly working to improve things for the community; changing events, event and prize structures, streaming events, answering questions, providing advice, and the entire time offering an extremely friendly persona. I have yet to meet a single person who does not like Garrett and believe he is always doing his best to make things better.
To George Roehr Recognized by Nicholas Sabin	George, I commend you for your inexhaustible professionalism and work ethic at events. I’m always glad to see you on staff for one of my events, and appreciate your willingness to get things done. Thanks for everything you’ve done to improve the events you’ve attended. I look forward to working with you more in the future!
To Gilbert Medeiros Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Gil, I wanted to recognize you for you work to mentor and support judges in your area. You have been a hard-working judge and have been a great mentor for up-and-coming judges. In addition, you have taken on the Area Rep role after Tim stepped down, which has allowed you to expand your impact in supporting local judges. I hope to see you continue to grow in this role.
To Gilbert Medeiros Recognized by Ryan Scullin	The amount of work and ambition you’ve shown in organizing PPTQs in our area this season has been incredible. You single handedly took it upon yourself to ensure that none of the PPTQs in our area conflict and that local players will get to play as much Magic as possible. I hope that eventually other areas mimic your efforts, and I look forward to continuing to work with you on them.
To Hank Wiest Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Hank, you have been an active participant on the Judge Forums, which is a great way to learn and become a better judge. You have been willing to pose questions when you donâ€™t know an answer. Yet, you have also shared your opinions and thoughts on different discussion topics on the forum. I hope you keep participating in those discussions, since it will help you be a better judge and help you continue to support the Erie community.
To Hewitt Coleman Recognized by Ryan Scullin	In a world where many L1 judges are complaining that there are not enough opportunities for them to get experience, I’ve been very impressed by your drive and success in finding local competitive REL events to work. I hope you bring that motivation and drive with you to other aspects of judging as well.
To Ian Marcellana Recognized by Dan Collins	While at Stevens, you’ve worked a lot to grow the community there, including going so far as to get several others interested in judging and helping them become certified. I also appreciate your initiative and energy first in getting myself and others on board with the our Spring 2016 conference proposal, as well as helping with organizing it.
To Ian Taylor Recognized by Nicholas Sabin	Ian, I wanted to take a moment to recognize you for your work as a teacher and a mentor. You have tons of experience in the program, and you’ve been wonderful about imparting that knowledge to newer judges (“newer” meaning “pretty much everyone”). I wish you could bring that knowledge to bear in my region, but hope you’re happy and thriving where you are.
To Ian Taylor Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Ian, Thank you for being the only person to congratulate me on my 10th anniversary as a judge. Recognizing milestones is a great, albeit indirect, way to celebrate the accomplishments of someone. On a personal level, you taking the couple of minutes to message me made me feel appreciated, and it helped me feel a bit more connected to the program.”
To Ilan Seid-Green Recognized by Joe Hughto	You did a ton of work to contact people to make sure that the shirts and polos happened for people in the region. If it weren’t for you, we likely wouldn’t have NE shirts right now, to put it simply. I’m sure you’ve noticed just how much people have really liked all of the swag stuff and how it’s helping solidify our identity as Northeast Judges. All of the time and energy you’ve spent on this is very much appreciated.
To Ilan Seid-Green Recognized by Charlotte Sable	Ilan, your contributions to the Judges for Diversity project can’t be overstated. Without your help and vision in the reorganization process, we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are now with the project. Your passion and desire to help have been truly exemplary.
To Ilan Seid-Green Recognized by Chase Culpon	Ilan–I wanted to recognize you for one of the briefest interactions I’ve had with a judge. I used some language carelessly while we were interacting at a recent event, and you called me on it immediately. You managed to do so privately, directly, and clearly–bringing it to my attention, without it coming across as an attack. That kind of dignity & grace in this short interaction is a reflection of your diplomacy skills & your values overall. Thank you for being an advocate.
To Jacob Janssens Recognized by Ian Taylor	Jacob, you’re one of the best L1’s I’ve ever known. You dominate your LGS, acting not only as a rules guru, but a community leader. I know you’re frustrated trying to get on events, but this never shows in the way you deal with players and events. You are more of an L2 than most L2’s I know. You’ll go all the way, and I’m happy to be part of your origin story.
To Jacob Kriner Recognized by Rob McKenzie	Awesome work on the CS Project – you made some solid content with the leaflet and helper, and revised it smartly for OGW. I’ve been happy and impressed.
To Jacob Kriner Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Jacob, I wanted to thank you for stepping up in a variety of areas, especially since you got your L2. You continue to be the manager of a great document published for each release, guiding stores and judges in their announcements. In addition, you have taken on a big role in the Judge Booklet project, which Charles Featherer was quick to praise your efforts on. Finally, you have taken on the mantle of Central Pennsylvania Area Representative after Alex moved out of the area. In each of these roles, you have shown hard work and dedication. To quote Charles: â€œI tip my hat to his dedication and I wish every Judge I worked with had his drive.â€
To James Albert Recognized by Chris Stagno	While I have not been judging with James directly as of late, I have been at several events where I have seen him following up on strides towards his goals for attaining L2, reaching outside of his comfort zone to apply for a wide variety of SCG event as well as GP’s within the region. I have heard positive feedback on his performance as well from peers who worked with him at these events and hope to see his continued forward momentum in 2016.
To James Eveland Recognized by Shawn Doherty	James, you have been doing a wonderful job working events in the Eastern PA area recently. This work has inspired at least one local to write to this through the Judge Feedback form: â€œJames Eveland is a workhorse and makes so many PPTQs in the Philadelphia Area go off without a hitch! I definitely think he should be recognized for everything he does for the magic community in our area. Over the summer he salvaged a 103 person PPTQ when the HJ couldn’t make it and he was planning on playing. He has been judging around one event per weekend, sometimes two, and they are all just great events.â€ It is one thing to run an event that makes players leave happy. It is another to do it consistently enough to motivate them to share their happiness with others. Keep up the good work at these events.
To James Jerman Recognized by Shawn Doherty	James, I wanted to recognize your efforts in helping the Delaware Magic community. You have provided a presence downstate, where you have organized events and provided information to potential judge candidates. While doing that, you have still managed find time to run events upstate, which has been helpful for the Magic community there as well. I hope that you continue to improve as a judge and continue to help the local community.
To James McElwain Recognized by Benjamin Coursey	James, this recognition comes from a recent prerelease where you able to help out your LGS when they needed it most. The event was immense, and you handled it well. Good job!
To James Sanderson Recognized by Eli Meyer	Ironically, a completely non-Magic thing is what cemented you in my mind as an excellent Magic judge. When no one working in our FLGS knew how to play Yu Gi Oh, you spent your own money to buy a stack of cards to you could be an informed community leader to that group of players. That love of community–especially the magic community, which benefits every time you run an event. You are genial, friendly, and deeply concerned with making sure everyone has a good time. It’s always a pleasure to work with you, and I hope you continue working events as you work through your studies.
To Jason Corrigan Recognized by Alex Stratton	“Jason, When I was asked by a TO to abruptly judge a 2K in a region in which I was not very familiar with the staff, I was nervous. Luckily, someone I did know in the region was able to point me in your direction for the event. You did a fantastic job as my second in command all day and I never once felt nervous during the event when I had to make the “”trek”” across the Con hall to the restroom. I really appreciate you working with me for this event and I hope to see you make the jump to L2 soon. “
To Jason Riendeau Recognized by Sam Barrows	“Jason, In order for judges to advance through the program, they need an opportunity to show off their skills. I consistently see you choose to staff events with this in mind, pairing younger judges with more experienced ones and giving judges an opportunity to demonstrate their growth and skills by putting them in new positions. Even a judge with all of the knowledge and skills he or she needs for the program still requires and opportunity to demonstrate that, and you provide those opportunities consistently to judges of all levels. “
To Jason Riendeau Recognized by Jeffrey Emery	You have always been an amazing mentor for me. You exhibit qualities that I respect and strive for. Specifically, I would like to thank you for your leadership at SCG Regionals 2015. I appreciated how well you managed us when we ended up across three different rooms on two different floors. The entire tournament ran more smoothly than it had any right to, primarily due to your organization and composure.
To Jason Riendeau Recognized by Elliot Raff	“Jason, your decision to forfeit your spot on staff for SCG Regionals for the good of others’ experiences was selfless and exceptional. You put the needs of the region and the area ahead of your own in a time when large event experience is something that comes by so rarely. You went above and beyond your personal wants and did what you felt was best, and someone’s day was made because of you, even if they didn’t know it. Thank you for your dedication to the program.”
To Jason Riendeau Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	Jason, as HJ of the SCG PIQ a couple months ago you provided a great opportunity for everyone on the staff to learn and be involved. It was a very interesting tournament and I believe that with your leadership the event went off very well for the players and extremely well for the newer judges on staff.
To Jeremy Smith Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Jeremy, Thank you for running 20 PPTQs in the New York area last year. That’s a serious commitment in time and effort. The new PPTQ system puts a lot of pressure on L2s to judge a ton of events. You’ve stepped up to make sure that players in your area can win a trip to the RPTQ.”
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Maria Zuyeva	The Google Form you made to gather info for GP Atlanta was awesome. We gave everyone a chance to express their preferences, and almost every judge was assigned to a job they wanted! This is a great way to make event better for everyone. Thanks for helping to organize preparation process, we were able to get ready in advance, judges knew what to expect, and leaders could pay attention to other, more immediate tasks.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Elliot Raff	It’s hard for me to pin down one specific example of you being exemplary, Joe (there are many!), but one interaction that will stick with me is you taking the time to sit down with me and talk about a rough Outside Assistance situation at SCG NJ. You advised me to keep a level head and logically walked me through something that you saw was bothering me. I wasn’t even on staff at the time, but you donated your time and effort to make sure I was okay. Thank you for being a fantastic judge and a wonderful friend.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by ThÃ©o CHENG	Joe, in SCG NJ Somerset, we talked quite a bit and you gave me discrete however useful advices during the day, from the activities of the team you were part of to a situation where you helped me reconstruct a situation of life discrepancy. As it was one of my firsts team lead position, you made my day way easier. That, in addition of your activities of coordinating the shirts and playmats of Northeast region, is I believe an examplar behaviour (because we write it like that near UK). Thank you again.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Olivier Jansen	Recognizing Joe, for an exemplary open-door policy during the judge suspension issue. He was able to talk with everyone who came to him looking for help or someone to talk with, and an excellent example of leadership.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Kevin Desprez	“Joe, At some point, I came to noticing there was a project in the NorthEast region that’s about promoting Exemplar Recognitions. After investigating you had the idea, your name appeared 🙂 I really wanted to highlight this as I do believe Exemplar has a huge potential for driving positive behavior and, for this, it needs to be spread 🙂 Thanks for initiating this project! Kevin.”
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Alex Stratton	“Joe, As you know I struggle with social issues at times, and it can impact my event performance. I want to thank you so much for having such an “”open door”” on multiple occasions both through social media, and “”man to man”” at events. The talks that we have had have really helped me become a better judge and person as well as learn to better myself socially. I hope to continue working with you, and thank you so much for this help. “
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Christopher Wendelboe	So first you organized this awesome North East judge swag order. Then you organized delivering it to people at major events, and sank a ton of time into this process. Plus later mailing out the ones you haven’t been able to deliver in person. You’ve done an amazing job making sure the North East really feels like a great community really impresses me, and that aspect of community is loved by everybody I know. Keep it up!
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Jacob Kriner	“Joe, I want to thank you for your efforts in being an advocate for concerned judges during the “”Great Judge Suspension””. You dedicated a large amount of personal time to talk with and help judges who were affected by this ordeal. “
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Raoul Mowatt	Every time I work with a judge candidate, I’m so glad to have Mystical Tutor as a resource to refer them to. I have watched quite a few of the videos and thank you and your team for making them clear explanations of complicated topics.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Eli Meyer	Joe, thank you for being a bastion of calm in a major storm. When the entire program was up in arms over the suspensions, you made sure that you were available to talk and made sure to present a cool head to those lost in the heat of passion.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	Joe’s work introducing Slack to the Northeast Areas communication channel has been very successful. Through it we are more easily able to ask questions and have good discussions about Judge related topics. Also, the Judge program has been going through some rough times recently, if it wasn’t for leaders like Joe with sanity checks it could have been much worse.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Daniel Jackson	Thank you Joe for continuing to be he great resource of judges that you are. Between Mystical Tutor and the Slack Group, you share a lot of wisdom. The thing that I want to highlight the most is the way you took it upon yourself to become a sounding board for anyone who needed you in the wake of the judge suspensions. There were many people upset with what had happened, and you gave them a outlet to share their frustrations and fears. It’s shown me what it means to be a positive member of the community.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Chase Culpon	Joe–many people claim to always have an open door, and few actually do. For the last few months I know you’ve spent countless hours communicating with judges throughout the program, and even helped establish a new slack channel for free-flowing discussions. In our chats, you’ve been consistently thoughtful and patient, even when fielding some of my more off-the-wall ideas. Thanks for being a great anchor in our area.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	In the wake of the bannings this winter, and the subsequent JudgeApps outage, many judges were calling for solidarity. You, however, demonstrated it – at a real, practical, individual level. When you did comment publicly as things were unfolding, you showed remarkable tact, and encouraged consideration and empathy – valuable messages, magnified by your position within the program. You also invited judges to talk to you about the situation, just to talk, and later mentioned just how many other judges took you up on that. When emotions were running high – and many of us felt too mad, or too uncertain, or just too drained to be that pillar of support for other judges – you stepped up. This recommendation isn’t just for well-written messages on Facebook. It’s for actually being there for other judges. That was mighty cool of you. I aspire to someday be able to learn that level of productive and compassionate cool-headedness.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Joe, I wanted to thank you for the work you have done to build the community in the Northeast US region. You spearheaded two projects that help grow the community in different ways. The judge swag brought people together and made them feel more of a part of the group. The Slack channel has allowed for another avenue of communication between judges in the region, which has facilitated conversations, both serious and silly. I hope you continue to push for more and better ways of communication.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Bryan Hare	Thanks for running with ideas for new judge programs in the northeast. By throwing your weight behind ideas and listening to suggestions you make it easy to invent new ways to help the judge program be great. By following through on the execution of a lot of these ideas you take on a huge amount of work, and I appreciate it. Thank you Joe.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Adam Eidelsafy	“Hey Joe, I wanted to recognize your style of feedback, which can be both blunt and genuine. Everytime we’ve spoke has made me seriously challenge how I approach judging. It is easy to get complacent when I judge so many events. So I’m glad I have someone who can bluntly and honestly challenge me to change for the better. Thank You, -Safy”
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Christopher Rumore	“Joe, on SCG Invitational Weekend, I was on end of round holding the clipboard for the first time. You were able to grab two slips that had gotten past me to the scorekeeper, and we hadn’t noticed the tables were missing until a time that would have held up the next round had the slips actually been missing. Afterwards, you gave me a lesson on responsibility. You were blunt, you were honest, and that was exactly what I needed. Even if it didn’t look like I appreciated it then, I do. Thank you. Also, PS, the North East merchandise was great. Thank you for handling that, too. “
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Craig Stambaugh	Joe, I know you continue to hear this, but you have helped the northeast become so much more connected and focused over the past few months. You’ve put in a lot of hard work, and it shows through the community becoming a better place.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by Thomas Davis	Joe, your hard work in arranging the Northeast swag was definitely appreciated. Handling an entire region’s Tshirt, Polo, and Playmat orders must have been hectic, and your patience and willingness to work with other judges to get them their supplies was awesome.
To Joe Hughto Recognized by David Zimet	Hug-ho, I was really impressed by the energy and leadership you demonstrated in the NE area captains group. The culture of your group is very different from what Southwest has going on, yet no less excellent, and it felt to me that you had a lot to do with that.
To John Alderfer Recognized by Rob McKenzie	So, at GP Indy I was slated to be tech setup and stage lead…then my grandmother died. It was rough, and I was unable to make the event. You were the other scheduled stage lead, and from the reports I have, you stepped up and covered for me when I was not there. John, thank you so much.
To John Alderfer Recognized by Gavin Duggan	John’s someone I’ve respected for years, and that continues to be the case. He shares his skill and knowledge freely and generously, and is famously patient with those in his charge.
To John Alderfer Recognized by Jared Sylva	“John, I never cease to be impressed at your work and dedication. You are the “”first in, last out”” judge and the example you set is one that even the best judges strive to achieve. I routinely throw the most difficult tasks of an event your way and I have the utmost confidence that you will be able to succeed in any task set before you. From limited event logistics, to managing Preregistration Service for 1,500 players, to set up and tear down, I can always count on at least one section of my event being managed well. Thanks for being awesome! – Jared”
To John Weldin Recognized by Alex Stratton	You did a fantastic job floor judging the Cloud City Games PPTQ on the Sunday after Halloween with me. All of the judges decided to go with a wrestling theme to entertain the players and provide a unique experience. You had the best costume by far out of all of the judge staff, and really gave the players an event to remember. I remember specifically a player that had not done quite as well as they had hoped mentioning how entertaining it was to have you answer their judge call, but also mention how professional you were. I hope to work with you again soon.
To Jonah Kellman Recognized by Mike Noss	Jonah, your performance on sides at the SCG Open in NJ was quite exemplary. Throughout the entire day, you performed your task protectively rather than waiting to be instructed to do so. Additionally, you spent the overwhelming part of the day mentoring while not letting it impact your duties. As your team lead, I can say you made my day easier by aiding me in staying on top of the ODEs with the map, being available to assist with the scheduled events, and by focusing on mentoring Chris and Rodney. On top of all of this, you voluntarily swept for trash throughout the day without being asked and you eagerly jumped up to assist a lost late player in getting to their seat without even being asked by the stage staff. Your overall positive attitude towards sides is truly beneficial and always welcome. Keep up the great work!
To Jonah Kellman Recognized by Joe Hughto	You never cease to amaze me. As you know, I’ve been relying on you for keeping the Prezi stuff at Mystical Tutor up to snuff and you’ve also been amazing locally. This time around, however, you absolutely floored me with the amount of time and effort you put in to making sure that the presenters from the judge conference got their feedback in a timely manner. I knew that I could rely on you to get things done, but I never expected you to type up EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. and especially not as fast as you did. Keep up all of the great work you’re doing.
To Jonah Kellman Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	Mystical Tutor is an awesome project and an invaluable resource, and you’ve done some really, really impressive work keeping it running, and moving it forward. It’s little surprise – your passion for helping others learn shows, from your enthusiasm working with others at events, to the little judge factory you and Joe run up in your neck of the woods. Your efforts in keeping this particular project running, though, are nothing short of exemplary.
To Jonah Kellman Recognized by Megan Linscott	Jonah, not only do you take on a huge amount of work yourself for the Mystical Tutor project, you also coordinate the rest of us to make sure we consistently put out lessons on schedule, and you always do it in the kindest way possible. Your gentle leadership is what keeps us going.
To Jonah Kellman Recognized by Johnpaul Adams	“Jonah, It has been wonderful to work with you on Mystical Tutor and thank you for helping me get involved with the project. You’re one of the most organized judges I’ve worked with and have dedicated an IMMENSE amount of time to making sure all the scripts, voice recordings, and Prezis are all ready to go and be uploaded by our due dates (specifically making sure I’ve got all the recordings for my episodes in on time. 😉 ). Thanks for taking so much time planning and organizing on this project and I look forward to continue working with you on it in the near future for Series 2!”
To Jonathan Burgess Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Jon, since becoming a judge, you have been participating in Knowledge Pool scenarios on the Judge Forums. This type of participation from a Level 1 judge shows an appreciation for the rules and sharing information with other judges. I hope to continue to see this sharing of information by you on the forums and at events.
To Jonathan Celso Recognized by Justin Purcell	I worked a double-PPTQ day with Jonathan, and he put tremendous effort into writing a review of me after the event. He discussed my decision processes after the event, and followed up with me several times to make sure his review was accurate and detailed enough to be useful in the future. Some judges simply submit reviews via the website, but Jonathan made it into a discussion that we could both learn from.
To Jonathan Celso Recognized by Craig Stambaugh	Jon, you have been one of the rising starts of Connecticut judges. I have seen nobody as friendly and genuine on the floor as you have been since you became a judge. You seek knowledge more and more, and it benefits you a lot. Keep up the great work.
To Jonathan Engel Recognized by Daniel Regewitz	Jon was by my side for several GPTs this season, not because he had to, but because he had a general curiosity about event workmanship, and the intricacies of Competitve REL. I have seen him grow far from what I would consider a ‘new’ lv1 to someone I would not hesitate to HJ a GPT on his own. He also helped grow our little community by directing a judge canidate to me. The fact that all this happened in a short time, and on top of what I see as a rather demanding personal workload – makes Jon exemplary.
To Jonathan Jones Recognized by Joseph Steet	Jonathan, you’ve shown a huge drive recently to work your way up the judge program. You’ve been judging as often as you can and asked for help getting into some larger events. I’m very happy to see this motivation from one of my locals!
To Joseph Achille Recognized by Craig Stambaugh	Joe, you have worked very hard to make sure that events in Connecticut run and to help judges in Connecticut be the best that they can be. Keep up the great work.
To Joseph Harrington Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	Joe, you have been a great Judge for your local store Game On for a long time. As one of the few Judges operating in the RI/SeMA area you have maintained a quality of event that is unfortunately rarely seen. Thank you for being the definition of a great local judge.
To Joseph Harrington Recognized by Ryan Scullin	You’ve been judging for a long time, and it shows. Thank you for your help in setting up Game On’s PPTQs and for helping Jeff and Hewitt get experience in your store.
To Joseph Steet Recognized by Nick Cook	Thankyou for all of your efforts on my behalf while i was trying to reach my level 2 goals. Without your help finding events to attend and your advocacy with judge managers encouraging them to staff me I never would have been able to reach those goals. You always made yourself available to answer questions and provide guidance any time i needed it and i honestly don’t know how you could find the time but i truly appreciate it. I feel like you just bent over backwards to help me out and you made me feel important and valued, i find it difficult to put into words how much that means to me.
To Joseph Steet Recognized by Jason Lemahieu	“Hey Joseph, In Oakland, you were the Head Judge of a 2HG event, and came to me with an idea use the tables more efficiently. I thanked you for the idea and your an off to get it taken care of before your event started. The truly exemplar behavior here, though, was following up with me over email to make sure proper credit was given to the person who’s idea it really was: Phillip’s. I love that, in the urgency of the moment, you focused on what was most important: the event. Following up later, when time wasn’t an issue, to make sure proper credit is given, is just awesome. Cheers! – Lems “
To Justin Huffman Recognized by Alex Stratton	“Justin, I want to thank you for helping me staff an event last minute in the Syracuse area by helping point out good floor judges in an area I was not familiar with at all. Meeting new people is always a scary thing for me, but you helped make this a great experience, which led to a great event. “
To Katie Bishop Recognized by Nicholas Sabin	KB, I wanted to thank you for our chats at GP Pittsburgh last year. You spoke enthusiastically about making the program more open to people, and more welcoming, and it opened up my perspective on what we can do to become more inclusive and inviting. I hope you’ll continue talking and working and advising; the program benefits from your voice.
To Katie Bishop Recognized by Jonah Kellman	KB – Your work on the SCG Philly side events was great. You were handed a very complex situation, with a large number of events firing and no space to put them. You managed to adapt on the fly and were able to control the space you were working with. You also kept on top of communication with myself and the other side event Judges, which allowed for smoother events. Keep up the good work!
To Katie Bishop Recognized by Chase Culpon	KB–you did an excellent job working on sides at SCG Philadelphia. We were at or near capacity for much of the day, and you stayed continually organized with the clipboard, and managed the play-space masterfully. Despite the waves of work that come with side events, you were calm and consistent all day. Excellent work!
To Katie Bishop Recognized by Ryan Stapleton	KB had his first GP experience at GP Pittsburgh. This first experience showed his willingness to do whatever it takes to get things done. His energy never wavered after several delays we had no control of. Once space had opened he was right there helping us fire over 60 events in around 2 hours! This was an outstanding performance for your first GP!
To Kush Singhal Recognized by John Brian McCarthy	Thanks for writing such a great tournament report, Kush! Your report (http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/23507/) was one of the best of the year – as I commented, “I think you did a terrific job of articulating what a lot of judges forget: ‘customer service’ means that if a player committed an infraction, you issue the penalty, even if it ‘feels bad.'”
To Lanae Glover Recognized by Brian Coval	We spoke on Day 2 of Grand Prix Pittsburgh, your first GP. It was clear that you were having a blast with your experience. You’ve messaged me a few times since to figure out your next steps toward L2. In this area full of old-head dinosaur judges your enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air. You are a new judge full of youthful energy, but it is focused within the range of healthy, useful questions and true consideration and reflection upon feedback received. Whether you know it or not, people like yourself are the future of the program and I love fostering your growth any time you contact me. Keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll be a community leader one day.
To Mani Cavalieri Recognized by Joe Wiesenberg	“Mani, Thank you for your really in-depth tournament report from your BFZ standard PPTQ. That event was clearly very educational for you, but you took time to do some very deep analysis on the difficult interaction you had to mediate between father and son. Thanks for taking the time to break down that situation and highlight it in an honest way that can help other judges to learn from it, too: http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/22220/”
To Mani Cavalieri Recognized by Raymond Fong	You demonstrated great aptitude as a Team Member, assigned Mentor and Head Judge over two days at SCG Philadelphia. Within each role, you knew your boundaries, yet showed flair for the other two role. I think this is a fantastic strength in addition to your embracing positive personality. Why didn’t I meet you sooner?! 🙂
To Mani Cavalieri Recognized by John Brian McCarthy	Mani, your Tournament Report (http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/22220/) was one of the best of the year. As I commented on the report, “I really like how you focused in on the most interesting thing to happen at your event […] and drilled down on it – it’s clear that you learned something here, and that there’s a lot here for others to consider as well! Plus it was a good story, and told well – your reveals of the plot twists surprised me, and helped put me in your shoes when you discovered these facts.” Thanks for writing such a terrific report!
To Matt Cooper Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Matt, You’ve been one of the big drivers of discussion on our new NE Judges Slack channel. You’ve brought up a number of topics, most recently a lot of questions on the new Oath of the Gatewatch IPG changes. Discussion is an important part of how we learn, and you’ve brought up scenarios and questions that created a lot of it. Thank you, and keep keeping #policy busy!”
To Matt Cooper Recognized by Thomas Davis	Matt, since becoming an L1, your level of communication with other judges is commendable. Specifically, taking time to regularly contribute to the JudgeApps forums and the Northeast region’s Slack chats has not gone unnoticed by myself and other judges in the region. That level of involvement is something that can only help your growth, and your dedication to the program from the get-go is impressive. Kudos!
To Matt Cooper Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Matt, although you have only been a certified judge for a few months, I wanted to recognize you for your involvement on the Judge Forums and other social media. You seem to have jumped in with both feet, posting in different forums and participating in the Knowledge Pool discussions. I hope you continue to share your thoughts with others and learn what others have to teach.
To Megan Linscott Recognized by Jonah Kellman	Megan, I wanted to thank you for your work on Mystical Tutor – you’ve been reliably producing top notch content as well as doing your darnedest to protect my hair. Beyond that, at events you’re always willing to trade teaching tools – I still use “Warning Bingo” to help explain penalties. Keep it up!
To Megan Linscott Recognized by Raymond Fong	Megan: this recognition is for your performance on Day 1 of GP Quebec. You were slightly unsure of your capabilities during the team brief, but excelled in carrying out deck checks proactively and professionally, including two positive examples as discussed in your review. Well done!
To Megan Linscott Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Megan, thank you for your work to support the judge community, both on Mystical Tutor and as Area Representative. Though your work on Mystical Tutor is primarily behind the scenes, it has been a valuable part of making the project a success. In addition, you have recently accepted the role as Maine Area Rep, which will be a great help to your state.
To Michael Stromley Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	Micheal, I was very impressed at your preparation for the pPTQ I ran at your store (Reality Shift Games). I showed up early expecting to set up only to see that you had everything ready to go. Since then you have constantly brought a great play experience every time to the Southern RI Area.
To Mike Brum Recognized by Daniel Clarke	I want to thank Mike for taking initiative during our most recent judge conference in Maui. He was a gracious host, helpful and knowledgeable. He used his own personal product to ensure there would be enough packs for our Judge draft and organized with the local shop so we would have a place for our meeting.
To Mike Brum Recognized by Yonatan Kamensky	Mike, I want to be honest with you: I haven’t seen you work firsthand. However, it’s abundantly clear to me from our conversations, as well as what I’ve heard from others, that you care very deeply, both about the community you found yourself in – and, to some extent, helped establish. Hawaii presents unique and daunting challenges to any sort of organized play; the efforts you’ve undergone speak to your dedication, vision, and generosity of spirit. Thank you!
To Mike Noss Recognized by Nicola DiPasquale	There is no question you deserve this recognition. Your unwavering commitment to assist me with testing Anthony even to the point of spending a serious amount time and effort during the exam process, staying with me the entire time (and that was not the only instance where you and I worked together to try and bump Anthony up). It was way above and beyond anything most others would have done for someone else, and an exemplar recognition is the least that can be given back to you for what you have given to the community, time and time again.
To Mike Noss Recognized by Steven Zwanger	Mike, at SCG Somerset you did far more preparation for your Sides Lead role than I had expected: you asked for the floor plan ahead of time, created a binder of cards to denote table rangers, and kept all the events super-organized.
To Mike Noss Recognized by Rob McKenzie	At SCG New Jersey over Thanksgiving, I watched Mike make a plan to help Krug test for L2. He and Nicola DiPasquale found all the physical cards on an L2 test, and gave the test to Krug via physical cards and asking him questions rather than having him answer on paper. Mike drove a lot of this, and was so invested in Krug that he and Nicola snapped at each other about who was going to be telling him…then had tears in his eyes when Krug got the news. Mike, I was thoroughly impressed.
To Mike Noss Recognized by Alex Mullins	Mike, you went above and beyond to help provide a good testing environment for a level 1 that struggled with test taking. I got to watch the entire sequence of events unfold at SCG NJ and it was an amazing thing to watch. You’re a great judge and you really care about the judges around you. The effort you put into this was way beyond what we should expect of anyone. But the judge testing had issues with test anxiety and you did a lot to help negate that, and it worked. It’s really one of the best moments I’ve witnessed in judging. I wish we had more judges like you.
To Mike Noss Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	Mike, what you and Nicola did for a judge you tested recently was awesome. You two went above and beyond in your roles as mentors, by finding an alternative presentation of a standard judge exam – to help that judge past their difficulties with the standard test format, while still ensuring that they meet the requirements of the test itself. People learn (and demonstrate what they’ve learned) in many different ways, and you recognized a place where the system needed to flex a bit to accommodate a clearly qualified person. That took initiative and cleverness to execute. You did something very awesome for that judge (and the community at large), and you & Nicola did it in a very cool new way. It needs to be recognized. Well done.
To Mike Noss Recognized by Thomas Davis	Mike, your efforts with Nicola to provide one of our region’s judges as stressless a testing environment was amazing. Their level met their skill-set as a result, and this uncanny “trick” turned out to be an amazing tool to keep a colleagues’ nerves to a reasonable level to promote success. Bravo.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Mike Noss	Nicola, thank you for your unrelenting efforts in helping Krug advance to level 2. You know as much as I do how much that means to him. I especially appreciate the trust you put in me to help you help him when it came time to test. Your dedication is a testament to the amount of effort the Judge Program is willing to put forth to work with and accommodate people with various challenges in their life. Thank you.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Daniel Jackson	You a wonderful teammate at SCG: NJ. It was my first time TL at a big event, and you gave me a lot of advice on keeping things smooth. Your feedback after the event was honest and helpful, showing me where I can improve for next time, and for that I thank you.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Rob McKenzie	The single best emotional feel-good movie I watched this last year was when you tested Krug for L2 at SCG NJ. You had tears in your eyes when you finished his test, and more when you told him he passed. You spent so much effort and care on this, it was amazing.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Alex Mullins	Nicolla, you went above and beyond to help provide a good testing environment for a level 1 that struggled with test taking. I got to watch the entire sequence of events unfold at SCG NJ and it was an amazing thing to watch. You’re a great judge and you really care about the judges around you. The effort you put into this was way beyond what we should expect of anyone. But the judge testing had issues with test anxiety and you did a lot to help negate that, and it worked. It’s really one of the best moments I’ve witnessed in judging. I wish we had more judges like you.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	When I heard what you and Noss did for a judge that you tested recently, I was blown away. It was innovative, it was cool, and it showed a powerful commitment to helping others grow in the program – exactly the type of investment and involvement that we want to see in our L3s. Finding an alternative way to present a test to someone who had their own difficulties with the standard test format was just awesome. You and Mike Noss didn’t just do a normal judge duty in an exemplary way – you went further, and found a novel way to champion the spirit of mentorship in our community. Well done.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Nick, I want to thank you for your efforts in helping Krug complete his Level 2 certification. I know that you were not the only person who was part of this process, but I wanted to call out your efforts. As the certifying judge, you were willing to look at unconventional methods to help him through the testing, yet you always kept me in the loop, so that you were sure you were within proper policy. I know your efforts werenâ€™t just appreciated by Krug, but by many others who could feel the personal dedication you showed to his progress.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Christopher Rumore	Thank you, Nicola, for two things. First, for out conversation at GP Pittsburgh, which lifted my spirits as towards judging large events in the future. Second, for yours and Mike Noss’s testing and certifying Krug for Level 2. Your efforts to work out a testing scenario that wouldn’t trigger his test anxiety was inspiring and righted a wrong that the North East region faced for quite some time.
To Nicola DiPasquale Recognized by Thomas Davis	Nicola, your efforts with Mike to provide one of our region’s judges as stressless a testing environment was amazing. Their level met their skill-set as a result, and this uncanny “trick” turned out to be an amazing tool to keep a colleagues’ nerves to a reasonable level to promote success. Bravo.
To Niko White Recognized by Elliot Raff	“It’s hard to overstate the effect Niko has had on the Boston Magic scene over the years. He has revitalized and grown the weekly Magic scene in Boston through his work at Pandemonium Books and Games, works over 200 events a year running weekly events, and provides opportunity for outside judges on a weekly basis. He is always looking to get judges more opportunities and experience, and works with his network well to make sure the local scene is thriving. Thank you, Niko, for all that you have contributed to the continued growth of Magic and the Judge Program in Boston.”
To Niko White Recognized by Yonatan Kamensky	Niko, I want to express here what I firmly believe so many would readily ratify, that you have been an absolute pillar for the Boston Magic community. You do a hell of a lot of work to maintain a positive play space for Magic and so many other games, and you go even further by helping develop the local judge community as well. I see so many nods going to high-profile individuals and endeavors, and rightly so! This one, however, is no less earned. Thank you.
To Niko White Recognized by Eli Meyer	Niko, thank you for demonstrating great flexibility as a TO and judge manager. When scheduling PPTQs, you are always conscious of which judges need certain types of events to advance their judge careers. Your flexibility and willingness to staff judge candidates helped me advance two great new judges, who otherwise would have struggled to get real event experience.
To Oliver Beaumont Recognized by Benjamin Coursey	Oli Oli Oli! You have been a tremendous help over the years. From massive midnight prereleases, to TCG States, you are someone I can count on. Not only to judge the event, but help the event be the best it can be. Whether it’s being a top notch judge, or helping with other aspects, I can count on you and your valuable input when working things out (like logistics, prizes, whatever). Your input is a valued commodity to me. Thank you for all that you have done.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Eric Smith	Paul was an amazing support judge at my SCG:Philly event who ended up going well beyond the call of duty when I was handling a lengthy investigation. He has also shown himself to be a great L3 for NYC and our region and is very active in the program.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Jason Lemahieu	“Paul, Your handling of Scheduled Events at GP Oakland was top notch. You clearly did your prep work, and made sure to work with me ahead of the event to get answers to your questions. On site, you were always 100% on top of things. You did a great job of managing the judges assigned to Scheduled Events, and it was clear to everyone that they could come to you if they needed anything. It was a blast working with you regarding planning and problem-solving. You brought a lot to the table in addition to serving as an excellent sounding board. Thanks for a job expertly done! – Lems “
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Alex Mullins	Paul, you set out with an ambitious goal of writing a blog post each week. And you’ve consistently delivered with enlightening and diverse topics every week. You’re a great judge that provides a lot of great feedback and insight in the program. And a lot of judges look up to you for guidance.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Simon Freiberg	Bearz, your dedication to the MTG Judge Apps project through a tough period is inspiring. Despite my inactivity, I’m proud to be a member of the project and I believe many other projects could benefit from your example.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Chris Higashi	I have now worked with Paul twice that I can recall. He is a really good leader. Paul is well organized, has a plan for the day, and is great at motivating you to set goals. Paul has made me start to think about what my goals in the judge program are. I hope to work with Paul more, I feel I can learn a lot from him, especially about team leading and moving forward to become an L3.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Eli Meyer	Paul, you’ve been a great mentor to me and to the community. You have always been available to answer questions and solve problems practically 24/7, and your blogs and articles are an invaluable contribution to the judging body of knowledge. It’s always a pleasure to be at events with you. Thanks for all you’ve done.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Chris Lansdell	Bearz, you are quite simply a gift to judging. You have so often been available for me to bounce difficult scenarios off when I am running events, and your advice is always top-notch. This recognition is more for the feedback session we had after SCG Vegas where you opened my eyes to some issues that had never been brought to my attention. Your willingness to give feedback to anyone at any time is crucial to the program, and coming from someone as respected as you it carries an enormous amount of weight. Thank you.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by John Shannon	Thanks for reaching out to me (and others) for the judge conference. Your proactive work will help make the judge conference better for all. For me specifically, you gave me a push that reminded me in time to be a part of the judge conference, the deadline of which I might have otherwise overlooked.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Chase Culpon	” Bearz–you continue to put a staggering amount of work into the judge community. I don’t know of anyone who writes as much and as thoughtfully about the judge program and larger concepts, on top of all of the work you do as the L2 testing coordinator (oh, with a few conferences thrown in for good measure). I don’t know how you manage it all, but I’m very appreciative that you do.”
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Darcy Alemany	Your recent response to my questions about the current state of Level 2 was enlightening and helped provide me with a lot of direction.
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Kevin Binswanger	“Bearz, You’re one of the best positive role models I know of in the judge community today. It’s not just that you do a lot of good work (the Judge subreddit is probably a pain at times, Bearz Repeating is consistently some of the best and most regular content). You’re unflappably positive. Your separation of personal and public Facebooks is a good way to walk that line. I’ve never seen you be anything but a voice of calmness and reason, and I think we need more of that.”
To Paul Baranay Recognized by Christopher Rumore	You do a lot. I mean a LOT. Every issue I’ve ever come to you with and every time I need advice on a situation you help without a second thought. If I wrote out an Exemplar Nomination for every time I think you’ve actually deserved one, I’m sure the number would be in the double digits. For your mentorship, your advice, and all of the work you do for the program, thank you.
To Quintin Mirick Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	In the past, I’d heard my mentors tell me that some judges “just get it”. When I got to work with you at SCG Philly, it was clear to me that you were one of those judges. You learned tasks and team structure quickly, and immediately looked for other places and ways to help. You were quick and on-point – to a level that you rarely see in brand new judges. We may not work many events together (though I certainly hope to see you at more!), but I still want to encourage you to keep going, as much as I can. Welcome to the family, Quintin 🙂
To Raymond Cheung Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Raymond, I wanted to recognize you for the excellent tournament report you posted in the Judge Forums. It shared your experiences from the event, including things you learned and things you can improve on. You also replied to comment about your report that added more detail. I am happy to see this kind of participation from a Level 1 judge. Your tournament report and posts to Knowledge Pool scenarios are both great ways to share your experiences and opinions. I hope to continue to see these things as you grow as a judge.
To Rich Bourque Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Rich, I wanted to thank you for your dedication to the Magic community in the Syracuse area. I know that you have been stretched thin at times with life, work, and Magic, but that you have continued to support the local community. You have been a great help in working both with stores and with judges on how to run events better. I hope to continue to see you as a presence in the Central NY Magic scene for a long time to come.
To Rich DiLeo Recognized by Elliot Raff	Rich, at SCG NJ, I was a player. I still saw you hustling like nobody else, performing tasks, making sure that everyone was having a good time. Even when something went wrong in the case of a side event draft getting messed up, you knew that it was something that you needed help on, and acted accordingly, making sure the players knew that they were in good hands. You went out of your way throughout the weekend and kept the players happy in a difficult situation.
To Rich DiLeo Recognized by Ilan Seid-Green	Rich was one of the three (3) Judges on my team (including myself) on Sunday Sides of SCG Somerset. Half of the day we only had two (2) people because someone was on break. We ran 40 events over the course of the day, and there is no way we could have been so successful without the skill and effort of both team members. Rich’s willingness to adjust to change when I realized I was making mistakes, his hard work, and his application of Judging skill throughout the day was invaluable. I hope to see him doing equally exemplary work in the future.
To Rich DiLeo Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Rich, I wanted to recognize your efforts to share your experiences as judge with others. You have been involved in the community with events, but you have also shared what you have learned at those events. In the past few months, you have written two excellent tournament reports that shared what happened at the events, but also explained what you learned from these events. Iâ€™m sure that these have been useful to other judges that have read them. I look forward to seeing more of these in the future as you have even more to share with us.
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Mauro Bongiovanni	Rick was judge manager at GP Quebec, with all the changes in the compensation model we were exploring unknown territory, there was some resistance at first and Rick was very professional in how he handled the critics. It was then decided that we would do early acceptance to speed things up on the projections of a 1200 players event. The event turned out to be much less popular than expected with less than 300 players registered 1 week before the event, we had many great candidates applying last minute, the difficulty was to increase the quality of the judge staff while making sure we would fulfill all the requests from the already accepted candidates, the new ones and this working with a very tight budget and on very short notice. It turned out a lot of players signed up late and we ended up with 800 players, which was the perfect number for the staff we had.
To Rick Salamin Recognized by David de la Iglesia	You work tirelessly on the Premier Event Staff Lists & Photos project, delivering excellent results and a more than remarkable efficiency in running a project that coordinates staff pictures being taken at Grand Prix worldwide. This task is quite a big deal in itself, but on top of it you deal with the occasional problem with diplomacy and a constructive, positive approach. Very well done 🙂
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Antonio Zanutto	“Rick, dare I say it, you are the best Judge Manager I’ve worked it. No, this is still not enough, you are one of the best people I’ve worked it. Yes, that sounds better. Several times you’ve showed that you cared personally to other people, as a simple example, we were at Gen Con and you asked me if I’ve seen a person because you were concerned with something that person posted in social media about an embarrassing situation that happened to her. Not to count all your guidance and patience helping out the Judge Staff the best way possible and creating a bridge between Judges and the TO. If people were 10% as solicit and caring as you, I’d think to myself, what a wonderful World.”
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Tiago Lopes	Rick, thank you for the time you spent with me so that I could attend the GP Vancouver. You lost time figuring out the best flight routes and applying cambio rates and you gave me almost a tutorial on how to get there and how much I would spend. Without you I wouldn’t be in the GP. Thank you for your help
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Louis Fernandes	Rick, your efforts during GP SeaTac on Sides on Sunday made my position irrelevant. I got to sit on the stage and look serious while you did the hard work of corralling judges to the right locations. Your experience and knowledge not only made my life easier, but ensured the players had a top caliber experience. You paid back my trust in you a thousandfold. Thank you!
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Jared Sylva	“Dear Rick, You are, quietly, one of the best Level 2s in the program. I have been excited to see you stepping into some larger roles and taking on bigger challenges around events. I was particularly impressed with your work as the staff manager for Grand Prix Vancouver especially as the event grew and you were put in a position to bring in additional staff. Your communication around additional staff was always clear and timely, and I was impressed by the group of judges that answered your call. On site, I continued to be impressed with your work managing the often hectic role of judge manager. I look forward to seeing you continue to take on new challenges withing the judge program. – Jared”
To Rick Salamin Recognized by Chris McGuire	Thank you for the job you did as GP Vancouver 2016 Judge Manager. I know the job is difficult at the best of times, but you handled the staffing issues of the event very well, with even more of your positive attitude and diplomacy than normal. I don’t believe I saw you upset or frazzled once.
To Riva Arecol – Nathan Rich Recognized by Pedro Mathies Vilela	“Riva! you made my first GP a great GP! you helped me alot with the rullings, Making questions and quizzes made me learn something new, because of you i was a less nervous at my first GP and got a new friend! I’m hoping we get to work together again! Thank you!”
To Rob Blanckaert Recognized by John Temple	You went above and beyond setting up Datatog for our region’s Slack. This tool will allow our user much more freedom to work through slack! Thank you for your hard work and efforts!
To Rob Blanckaert Recognized by Joe Hughto	A while ago, you set me up with your wonderful website to use for our store (which never ended up happening). Now, you’ve also written a bot that pulls from your website and it seems like there’s an instance of Datatog in every region’s Slack. The amount that your services do to help others is pretty impressive and more people need to know about it.
To Rob Blanckaert Recognized by Paul Baranay	Rob, thanks for your work on improving event applications on JudgeApps. Let’s squish the remaining bugs!
To Ryan Scullin Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	Ryan has been a important part of the growth of the Ri/SeMA area, he has constantly made himself available for events and has constantly striven to be better and make the community around him better.
To Sam Barrows Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Sam, Thank you for being an ambassador for Magic in your hometown of Salem. You are starting a Magic league at the local Boys and Girls Club there, and introducing 10ish year olds to a great game. You are also providing a lot of starting product for free. A structured activity is doubly important in a town like Salem, which is not very well-to-do. It gives children a chance to do something safe and productive that involves everyone, not just the kids who get lucky with a growth spurt, and it gives them a safe, welcoming place to do so. Magic teaches many skills – arithmetic, strategy, lateral thinking, being social with others. All of those skills are important, and I hope that the young players enjoy a chance at a better life because of your league.”
To Sam Barrows Recognized by Giorgos Trichopoulos	“Hi Sam, me and David would like to thank you for your willingness to mentor a candidate from the other side of the world, Zaid will be a great judge thanks partially to you. We also would like to thank you for being professional by bringing this candidate in contact with us. Now we can be able to help him even more.”
To Sam Marr Recognized by Jeffrey Emery	You were incredible at PPTQ Sydney. At one point, you were manning the cash register, score keeping, floor judging, and still managed to make sure that the event ran as smooth as possible. If I had to nominate you for one thing, it would be your absolutely exemplary prowess for logistics. I learned so much by just watching you work. My first PPTQ would have been a much different experience if it weren’t for you.
To Samuel Nathanson Recognized by Rob Blanckaert	Sam, I’d like to thank you for the exemplary way you take care of judges in you area. In one of numerous examples of this behavior, another judge and I had missed our train. You made sure we were taken care of, and with no hesitation offered cart us back to the city personally.
To Shawn Doherty Recognized by William Anderson	“I’m highlighting your exceptional willingness to make time to talk to judges and provide valuable mentoring skills– even at odd hours. The willingness and availability of experienced judges to talk to people and engage in in-depth discussions of rules and policy is invaluable to our program. On the mentorship of individuals, you expounded that we should look towards their future best self, how that can be achieved and to focus on the derivative of their actions as opposed to any individual action at any individual point. That mindset is exemplary and one which I wish to see shared with the entire program (as it’s critical to the growth we, as a program, need).”
To Shawn Doherty Recognized by Matt Sauers	Shawn, I was delighted to see you in action at GP Indy. Your on-floor presence and effectiveness at managing and operating the large and simultaneous SSS events reduced the total need for judges on those events. The players reacted well to having you there, a true hallmark of your prowess. Thank you for your attendance and participation!!!
To Spencer Carver Recognized by Mani Cavalieri	The last PPTQ we worked together gave us a very difficult, very complications situation to manage between two players – a father and son. At the end of the day, both those players walked out happy, and despite the 20+ minute delay in the event, multiple other players in the event came up to me unprompted to compliment us on the running of the event. I couldn’t have handled that situation well without you present. You kept your cool throughout it, you helped the players calm down while I carried out the investigation, and you helped ME stay calm – and helped me work through what we had learned, and arrive at a good ruling. If you can keep it together in a situation like that at your very second event, then you can definitely be a great asset to the judge program – and to the player community here in the Northeast. Glad to have you.
To Stephen Roth Recognized by John Shannon	Thanks for being personable and nice to new players, and always helping out judging when we had multiple FNM events. You are always willing to step up and explain things clearly to new players (and old players).
To Steve Guillerm Recognized by Dan Stephens	Steve, I really respect and appreciate your maturity on literally every social media platform I frequent. Many judges and players get worked up over various changes and policies that get announced, and there have been countless times where I see your name pop up as a voice of reason explaining things like investigations, new policies, and the exemplar program. If more people echoed your attitude to online discussions, the world would be a better place.
To Terrence Cheung Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Terrence, I wanted to thank you for your work mentoring and testing new L1s in the NYC area. In the couple of months at Level 2, you have already tested a couple of candidates and have others in the pipeline. You have been dedicated to providing these candidates the proper training and worked with them to get incorporated into the judge community after they certified. I encourage you to continue to be a good teacher and mentor to the people around you.
To Thomas Davis Recognized by John Brian McCarthy	Tom, your tournament report from last year (http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/20720) was one of the best of the year. As I said on the Mid-Atlantic Facebook group, “Tom’s honesty about his personal interactions, the way he laid out a detailed case for why he made the choices he did, and his drive to seek out feedback make this report one of the best I’ve read.”
To Thomas Davis Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Tom, I wanted to thank you for your support of the Rochester Judge community. Since moving there in the middle of the year, you have been a great help with running events, working with local stores, and training new judges. The area was lacking in leadership and experience, so it had greatly benefited from your effort.
To Thomas Smiley Recognized by Jason Riendeau	“Tom, We ended up being short your team lead for the Acton 5k November 2015, so you were thrust into a position of being team lead without any prep time. That’s a difficult position for someone to get thrown into, and you did a good job with making sure that things were done correctly in a timely fashion. There were a couple of small bumps on the way, but you learned on the job and applied what you learned that day.”
To Thomas Smiley Recognized by Gilbert Medeiros	At the SCG PIQ 2 Months ago you were extremely professional on the calls I shadowed you on. At all of the events we have judged together you always arrive on time and ready to help with whatever is going on. You constantly strive to be the best judge and provide a good experience to everyone you interact with.
To Thomas Smiley Recognized by Bryan Hare	At the last event we worked together I gave you a pretty huge responsibility with little notice. When presented with this challenge you stepped up and performed exceptionally. I am excited to see you continue the judge in the future and become a great judge in the region. Thank you!
To Timothy Mack Recognized by Shawn Doherty	Tim, you have been a positive influence on your local community. So much so that one of your locals submitted this praise to the Judge Feedback Form: â€œTim is a universal quality judge and player, encouraging his local community and encouraging the game and development of players – both as participants and pushing those who have interest/show potential to being future judges themselves. He embodies a sense of “learn why and how to manage your reasoning, rather than just ask for an answer” that I greatly appreciate.â€ I hope that you continue to be an example to your locals, both as a player and judge.
To Tony Houst Recognized by Christopher Wendelboe	You saved the day at the Nashua PPTQ! When the event ended up twice as large as expected, the prospect of 1 judge to 58 players was pretty unrealistic. You stepped up to give us a more manageable players to judge ratio and excelled at every task asked of you! This event was so much better than it could have been due to your involvement. Thank you so much once again!
To Trevor Gulley Recognized by Nicola DiPasquale	Trevor, in the past you have had some issues while working at events, particularly with focusing on the event at times. But you have been making strides to overcome that, as well as become a bigger part of the community with organizing the holiday party. Putting the effort to get that together was a great extracurricular way to build up the local community! Keep up the good work!
To William Anderson Recognized by Paul Baranay	Will, thank you for the various suggestions you’ve made over the past few months — such as a replacement Mibbit gateway while magicjduges.org was down, and rotating the pinned message in our Northeast Facebook group. You tend to make these suggestions quietly and privately. I wanted to take this opportunity to publicly praise you for speaking up when you see things that can be improved, as I hope others are inspired to do the same.
To William Anderson Recognized by Toby Elliott	Thanks for your thoughts on the role of tournament staff (and how they might also screw up). I already know of at least one situation that’s been improved by your suggested change!
To Yonatan Kamensky Recognized by John Shannon	Yoni, you are always trying to become a better judge and trying to make the community better. I specifically recall you seeking advice and sharing what happened with side events at a recent GP. Although you thought you were just helping your community and yourself, you helped me clarify my thoughts on how side events should be run by a senior judge, so you helped me become a better judge too!
To Zachary Apony Recognized by Bryan Hare	We met at a PPTQ that was overcrowded and beyond capacity. Without knowing me you joined me on staff for the event. By being part of the event you helped make what was easily one of my most successful events. Your willingness to help and solve problems are traits I admire. I hope I have the chance to work with you more. Thank you!