Over the past few months, I’ve formalized my “executive team” for handling the processes around L3 testing. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce them and their roles.
Pre-application assistance: Jason Reedy
Jason is in charge of several things. If you submit a self-review for approval, it goes across his desk. If your L3 application is rejected for whatever reason, he’s the one charged with helping you improve it so that it’s accepted the second time around. Finally, he’s in charge of monitoring the progress of some quality L2s in areas where we’d like to encourage program growth by trying to make an L3 there.
Verification Committee lead: Nathan Brewer
, and assistant: Ben McDole
Australia’s Regional Coordinator Nathan is in charge of the Verification Committee, so L3 applications eventually find their way to him. And while Nathan steers the committee, Ben steps in from time to time to make sure that the committee is moving along at a decent pace. Together, they ensure that L3 applicants meet our standards, and that they get an answer soon after they submit their applications. When an application is approved, it gets passed along to the…
Pre-Event Interviewers lead: Gavin Duggan
As if being Canada’s Regional Coordinator wasn’t enough, Gavin also helps immensely with the process of making new L3s around the world. After an application is approved by the Verification Committee, he finds an available L3+ who will handle that candidate’s Pre-Event Interview. It’s his job to ensure that the process goes smoothly and relatively quickly, so that a candidate can be scheduled for a panel interview.
I am the one who arranges panel interviews at Grand Prix events. In some cases, these interviews result in a new L3. However, when they don’t, the candidate is handed off to the…
Supplemental Activities Manager: Jared Sylva
Our newest L4 is already plugged into a number of important areas of the judge program, including this one. When an L3 candidate fails their panel interview, it’s Jared’s job to work with the panelists and other stakeholders to craft a set of Supplemental Activities that are designed to help the candidate improve on their weak areas. These Supplemental Activities are linked to the Qualities of Regional Judges in which the candidate was found to be deficient, and are meant to be actionable, objective, and focused on helping the candidate improve. Constructing these Supplemental Activities can be a difficult task, so I’m very glad to have Jared leading this effort.
So, that’s my team! In addition to each of us having our areas of influence, we also have discussions around L3 testing policy. Finally, we talk a bit about what we are all doing and help each other out. For example, Jason is leading a PEI for Gavin right now, and Jared recently worked with Ben on a set of Supplemental Activities. By helping each other out, we are all getting a good view of the other parts of the process. This is very important in a volunteer organization, where it is not uncommon for someone to have to disappear for a little while due to work or family obligations.
And speaking of volunteer organizations, let me take this opportunity to give a big, public THANK YOU to each of the guys I mentioned above. Each of them not only has a day job and a life outside of Magic, but, in fact, they all do substantial other work for the judge program in addition to what they’re doing for me. Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it.
Anyway, I hope this article has shed a little more light on what we do and how we help get people to L3! As always, if you have questions, post them here or contact me privately!
-J-Mo