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DCI Judge Newsletter

Judge Pyramid

As you all know, recently we had a “renewal” for all the level 2 judges, during which those L2 judges had to take a written exam and be interviewed with a level 3 judge. I volunteered to coordinate that process outside Europe (where Riccardo Tessitori had already taken that initiative).

What struck me the most about that process was that a lot of level 2 judges were quite isolated and had no regular access to a higher level judge. The problem was quite simple: we had a lot of difficulties getting in touch with those judges, and several of them, although very eager to renew, had no clue who they could contact. Several level 3 judges volunteered to take care of those “remote” judges, and we managed to successfully put in contact all the level 2 with a level 3 before the end of the process.

However, it was very striking that we had to do something about this. Yes, they could renew, but what now? As level 2 judges, they are now able to test new judges for level 1, but who is going to teach them how to do it? How are we going to give them the tools they need to grow their community? Who is going to help them grow as judges, or on their way to level 3 if they are willing to go in that direction? Because of the WPN, there are new organizers/judges that are created, and the L2 judges community is now the easiest link for all those people, but again, how can they know where to go next?

Therefore, the high level judges came to the conclusion that we needed to strengthen the link between the L3 judges and the L2 judges, and decided to set up the Judge Pyramid program. The principle is easy: each level 2 judge is assigned an official level 3 mentor, accountable for making sure that this judge is in touch with the global community. That level 3 judge is a contact that the level 2 can use at anytime to help him with any of his judges’ duties.

You might think that only a few guys from Asia or Latin America have no contact with a level 3, but that’s unfortunately not true. There are “isolated” level 2 judges all over the world, and that includes mainland USA and Europe. We sincerely hope that those judges will benefit a lot from this program.

One could argue that not all L2s are isolated, and that some already have permanent access to a higher level judge, because they are in the same city, judge the same events, etc. That’s true; however, it’s always good to get different perspectives. Level 3 judges are all very experienced people, but with different backgrounds, different approaches and different styles, and it’s extremely profitable for a more junior judge to be exposed to these differences. We are obviously not asking that level 2 judges stop referring to their local L3 if they have been assigned a more remote one, but now they cam get inspiration from multiple sources…

The second layer of the Judge Pyramid is the L3-to-L4+ link.  Given the number of L3s compared to L4s, we made two decisions. First, we decided to not extend to a third layer (L4-to-L5), instead considering L4+ for the purposes of the pyramid together. The primary reason is that all the L4s and L5s already frequently talk and discuss things. We decided that the L5s as a group would  mentor the L4s as a group.

Second, we decided to divide up, as evenly as possible among the 13 L4+, so that each L3 as much personal attention as possible.  If you're wondering about the math, since there are 4 L5s and 8 L4s, Judge Emeritus Gis Hoogendijk leapt at the opportunity to be added to the list, hoping to provide an opportunity to give more back to the program.

Dividing up the L3s was a time-consuming process. Sheldon took about a week to balance and rebalance the list, considering factors like geography, existing relationships, particular skill sets of the L3s, levels of experience and exposure, and more.  Each choice was painstakingly considered-again, to ensure the highest level of support possible for each L3.  Nothing should be read into which L3s have L5 mentors vs. L4s, other than we felt as though the particular talents of those two individuals matched well.

As you know, 2009 is the year of the DCI Family. We hope that this program will help in creating stronger links inside our family. Having a closer relationship with a judge based in another country or even another continent is a fantastic aspect of this program. After years of judging, many people have made friends all over the planet, and we really hope that the Pyramid won’t only be a business thing and that a lot of great friendships will arise from it!

 

Thanks to Ingrid and Sheldon for input and proofreading.

Part the Veil

By David Vogin