To Paul BaranayRecognized by Abraham CorsonExemplar Rec ID: 7

“Paul,

A lot of my recognitions this go-around have been a long time coming, and this one is no exception. There are a lot of reasons that judges in this program rightfully praise you for your accomplishments, but today I am choosing to recognize your continued care of your colleagues both on and off the tournament floor. I am thankful for you reaching out in a few of my recent times of need, if nothing else than to check in and tell me that you care.”

To Jonah KellmanRecognized by Jon GoudExemplar Rec ID: 24

“Jonah – your persistence and dedication to the Mystical Tutor project is admirable. Given my unpredictable work schedule and “”stretching”” submission deadlines I think that other project managers may have eventually given up on me and let things slide – or worse approach the situation judgmentally or in a chastising way.

You recognized that my heart was behind the project and provided many gentle nudgings when deadlines were approaching. The result is I was able to contribute to the project, things got done, and noone got angry or upset with each other. I believe that you handled this with a great spirit of teamwork, alot of maturity, and with great diplomacy. hmmm … why does that sound familiar? ;)”

To Ilan Seid-GreenRecognized by Scott NeiwertExemplar Rec ID: 31

“Ilan,

At GP London, you successfully earned your Team Lead check on Sunday. More importantly, you were able to not just successfully work with but lead a multi-national team smoothly at what I believe was your first international Grand Prix. The level of flexibility and understanding needed for this is exemplary, and I wanted to recognize you for it. Thank you!”

To Ilan Seid-GreenRecognized by Joe HughtoExemplar Rec ID: 35

“We’ve done two waves of shirts and polos for the NE region now, and both times you’ve been the one I’ve gone to in order to make sure that all of the legwork of contacting manufacturers and the like is getting done. You’ve done a great job with that.

This time around, I completely forgot to run stuff by brand after we made a new logo, but you made sure that this wasn’t missed and forwarded stuff onto John as needed.

Thanks for all that you’ve done to make sure that people in the region get to feel like they’re truly part of something by wearing stuff that you helped create.”

To Gilbert MedeirosRecognized by Abraham CorsonExemplar Rec ID: 36

“Gil,

I’m recognizing you today for your exemplary diplomacy, as observed during GP Providence. Dealing with upset players is never a fun time, but you seemed to leave one player that I sent you a little better off than he was when he started. I appreciate your observation that sometimes all a player wants to do is be heard.”

To Paul BaranayRecognized by Jason LemahieuExemplar Rec ID: 46

“Paul,

Fantastic job orchestrating the recent online developers meetup. From start to finish – and even with a summary after the fact – you helped keep developers engaged, feeling like part of a team, and it led to some real development.

Keep up the fantastic work!

– Lems”

To Joshua HudsonRecognized by John AlderferExemplar Rec ID: 53

“Forwarding for Timothy Mack:

“”Josh, due to my recent failure on my L2 practice exam, I was severely doubting my abilities and my place in the judge program. When I contacted you to discuss this, you immediately reminded me of the kind of judge that you think I am and the kind of judge you think that I can be. It truly helped me get past my failure (something that can be extremely difficult for me sometimes). You’ve been an amazing mentor for me and I look forward to proving you right soon.”””

To Jeffrey EmeryRecognized by John AlderferExemplar Rec ID: 54

“Forwarding for Charles Hartford:

“”I recently had to solo TCGplayer states.
As a fairly inexperienced judge this was pretty intimidating to me.
Jeff was kind enough to make himself available all day for me to call if any situations came up where I was unsure what to do.
I had to call several times and he never seemed anything but pleased to help.
It made things worlds easier knowing I had him to fall back on.
THANKS JEFF!!!””
“

To Rusty PotterRecognized by Simon CooperExemplar Rec ID: 59

“Firstly, I am very impressed with the way you have progressed this year having got yourself out into the big wide world beyond the store a few times, and I now think you’re a solid candidate for level 2.

But real recognition must come for the way you helped me with a recent PPTQ, where there were some unusual challenges, but overcome fairly simply by the accommodations you made.”

To Katie BishopRecognized by Nathaniel LawrenceExemplar Rec ID: 60

“Katie,

At the Somerset SCG Invitational, you approached me to ask about how I felt about pronoun usage for the sake of educating your peers on how to address me as a queer judge. I appreciate you going the extra step not only to check in with me on the issue, but more importantly that you would take the time to educate others on a subject that is critical to our role as community ambassadors, and in doing so also promoting camaraderie between judges!

Thank you! <3"

To Alexandra YangRecognized by Eli MeyerExemplar Rec ID: 67

“Hi Allie,

I wanted to recognize you for your hard work at GP Providence.

As you know, Russell Deutsch gave you positive feedback at the event. I wanted to give you some context for that. Russell was discussing how he was frustrated with some of the judges on staff were spending most of their time on Friday talking with each other rather than finding things to do like cleaning up draft chaff, pushing in chairs, chatting with players, and generally being event-focused. However, he was concerned about being seen as domineering if he started criticizing judges for doing nothing. I told Russell that a good compromise was to focus on POSITIVE reinforcement, praising judges who were doing the things he thought judges should do. I asked him if he had noticed that a certain judge (you) doing exactly the thing he wanted judges to do, working the floor and making sure that everything looked clean and professional for the players. He said “”yes, Allie is awesome, she’s the only one doing these things while everyone else is hanging out chatting”” to which I replied, “”then tell her that!””

I kept watch for the rest of the event and confirmed that he was right. Judging isn’t just about knowing the rules; it’s about running a great event. You picked up slack from your team and volunteered yourself for inglorious tasks for the benefit of the players and TO. You didn’t just assume that, because you had no events to watch and no calls to take, you had nothing else to do. You kept looking for ways to make the event better. I want to recognize that with this nomination.”

To James SandersonRecognized by Eli MeyerExemplar Rec ID: 68

“Hi James,

I wanted to nominate you for your excellent handling of the unfortunately DQ at a draft in early October.

Bribery DQs are hard to handle, because often players have no idea that what they did was wrong. A judge who has to handle these situation has to balance firmness in applying the penalty; sympathy towards the player; and clarity of explanation. You hit all three out of the park. You made it clear that the DQ was something you had to do, despite the player’s insistence that it was just a ‘casual’ game and his attempts to just drop; you provided a clear explanation of why the DQ *had* to be issued to maintain the integrity of tournament structures and rating systems; yet you still were sympathetic and understanding to a player who was receiving a very harsh penalty from an offhand and ignorant comment.

What’s more, you followed up by pulling me aside for feedback. Even though you handled the situation well and I told you as much, you still desired to better yourself and improve as a judge. This reflected very well on you.

Thanks for being an asset to the local community!”

To John AlderferRecognized by Eli MeyerExemplar Rec ID: 100

“Hi John,

I want to thank you for spending so much time helping me out with the situation I caused at my local game store. I know that your responsibility as RC is to deal with situations like mine, but in my opinion you went above and beyond the call of duty. You provided me with in-depth feedback on policy, philosophy, and conflict resolution, while simultaneously dealing with a player whose problematic behavior was made that much harder to resolve by my policy error. Through all this you were also sympathetic to me; as we discussed, part of the issue behind my mistake involved unpleasant experiences in my past, and I felt that your response to that history was accepting and genuine.

Thank you, and I look forward to continuing to work with you (though hopefully under better circumstances!)”

To Paul BaranayRecognized by Russell DeutschExemplar Rec ID: 107

“Paul, I’m sure you will receive many exemplar recommendations this season. Some will be for your ongoing work on JudgeApps and some will be for your excellent leadership and mentoring abilities; and they will all be well-deserved. The effort you put into the program creates a monumental positive impact and you help shape what it means to be a Magic Judge. But this recommendation isn’t about any of that. This is about your more personal qualities.

I would like to specifically point to your patience as being exemplary. You and I haven’t always had the easiest relationship in this program. There were several times (both in public on these forums, and in private) where I gave you reasons not to like me. In your L2 interview review of me you called me an iconoclast. I laughed out loud when I googled the definition of what that meant. I wouldn’t say you’re wrong.

But despite all that, you never walked away from me. You somehow saw the good I could bring to this program and moved forward with our (albeit short) mentorship together. The patience and understanding you displayed while dealing with me as a difficult L2 candidate was truly exemplary and I think that all judges, myself included, should follow your example.”

To Alexandra YangRecognized by Riva Arecol – Nathan RichExemplar Rec ID: 108

“Allie, you and I have been working together for a few months at various events, but I think you did an excellent job to make up for past mistakes and leapfrog to success at GP Providence. You learned the new paperless ODE system, taking to it quickly, despite it being new to all of us. I got a lot of good feedback about your part in making the events run smoothly. You’re going to run into a lot of these challenges as you continue to pursue L2, but I have confidence that you’ll continue to succeed.

Thanks for all your hard work so far. There’s more to come.”

To Nick CasaliRecognized by Riva Arecol – Nathan RichExemplar Rec ID: 109

“Nick, you went from zero to 100 very fast, between the Lake Compounce tournament and GP Providence being your first experiences at CompREL. You stayed on task and cool at both events, despite getting incredibly slammed at the GP. The paperless ODE system was new to all of us, but you learned it very quickly, and you handled crowds upwards of sixty times what we had at Compounce. I think your aptitude and adaptability will serve you very well in this regard, but be warned, you’re going to find them tested more and more often in the future.

Best of luck, and I look forward to working with you on your road to L2.”

To Megan LinscottRecognized by Chris LansdellExemplar Rec ID: 115

“On Friday at GP Providence, I came to you with a potentially unpleasant situation. You were the Swiss lead, and we were heavily overstaffed. Some judges had been complaining about the perception that other judges were doing nothing, and the whole thing had the capacity to blow up as tempers were getting a little heated.

Not only did you quickly address and diffuse the situation, you did so without letting anyone know that there could have been a problem. That sort of conflict management and people skills is, in my mind, exemplary. There were big egos involved, and at least one person was already upset by the situation. Well handled!”

🙂

“

To Matthew FosterRecognized by Anthony HullingsExemplar Rec ID: 121

“During the 2016 Somerset NJ Invitational, a player got quite upset with a ruling Matthew had given. Time had been called. So the active player passed the turn. The nonactive player began untapping assuming he would be turn 1 and simply waited. Matthew explained that this was not stalling but could have been if taken further. Matthew took time to sit with the upset player after the match to explain further and offered an appeal to ensure the player was comfortable.

Showing this level of diplomacy with the players and ensuring they have an enjoyable tournament experience even after a ruling they don’t agree with is a great skill. It speaks an immeasurable amount about you. This is the exemplary behavior all judges can look up to as an example. Keep up the great work Matthew!”

To James EvelandRecognized by Max PerlmutterExemplar Rec ID: 122

“I could write you an Exemplar recognition for like twenty-five different things about your mentorship skills especially towards me or how you are a Force of Nature when it comes to PPTQs in your local area. This recognition is about one of the little things

At Eternal Extravaganza 4 back in June, it was HOT! Standing up near the top tables was a humid deadly heat that caused numerous judges to have to sit and rest after being there for just a single round. On your later break during that long day, you personally went to Rita’s Water Ice and bought a huge container of water ice for all of the judges to share so we could cool off with a sweet treat in a sweltering hot venue. This small act really helped me push through the long day and kept the overall morale high amongst the staff. “

To Megan LinscottRecognized by Jonah KellmanExemplar Rec ID: 123

“Megan, you’ve recently lead multiple discussions that shed light on the challenges of women in Magic. Your willingness and ability to discuss this topic and to share personal experiences is incredibly important. You have increased my awareness and you continue to make me a better judge and person.

Above and beyond that, you continue to be one of the most enjoyable judges to work with. You have nigh boundless energy, are willing to do any task and excited about learning.”

To Kush SinghalRecognized by Jason RiendeauExemplar Rec ID: 142

“Kush,

You were the ODE Night Lead at GP: Providence. You did an awesome job of being prepared. You showed up Thursday night, sat down with Gil, brought a folder of questions, and worked out a plan with him the night before the event.

Packout was smoother because you were on top of what was where and you worked to make sure that events started to fire in contiguous spaces, which let me have judges grab tablecloths from entire blocks of tables.

I’ve seen too many judges show up to an event and try to figure stuff out the day of, and that can work, but it requires more effort.”