Part the Veil
Part the Veil
What we're up to
A question that sometimes gets asked of me when I’m at large events is “what do you guys DO?” The question is generally one posed in regards to the activities of level 4 & 5 judges, whose activities both inside and outside of events can be quite different from those of other judges. As it’s a question that I get with some frequency, I thought I might take a moment to “part the veil” and let you all know what we as senior judges spend our time doing when we’re not dealing with either “real life” or the immediate demands of a tournament we’re involved in.
Like every other judge in the program, our jobs, families, and other “real life pursuits” often dictate how much time each of us can spend working on Magic and judge-related issues. That said, each of us makes a fairly solid commitment to maintain an active watch on the various email lists that frequent all of our mailboxes, including the DCIJudge-L and MTGRules-L lists. There is also a list specifically for Level 3+ judges and another for Level 4+ judges. It is the latter of these forums that gets the attention of most of us most often. The L4 list is a very active place that sees discussions (at times heated ones) occurring on a daily basis. It’s not uncommon for me to come home from work with dozens of emails in my box, having to catch up on some lengthy conversations that I’ve missed earlier in the day.
Beyond that, most of us have one or more “projects” in the works at any given time. Some of these are fairly obvious and public, such as Scott Marshall’s daily presence as [O]fficial NetRep on the DCIJudge-L list or Toby Elliott’s regular updates to the IPG. Others are slightly more behind the scenes. Mark Brown manages content in the Judge Center, while Seamus Campbell works on its overall development. David Vogin coordinates DQ follow-up investigations, which also involves getting those of us who are part of the investigations group to actually follow up and get our recommendations submitted in a timely fashion (no small task, I assure you). He also, with the help of others, keeps track of the connections in the Judge Pyramid (for L2-4 judges) and maintains the DCI Family website. Adam Cetnerowski manages this newsletter.
All of those jobs alone eat up plenty of hours, but there are also certain “pet projects” that keep some of us occupied as well. Some of these are broad areas of focus, while others are more specific. Kevin Desprez is currently working on GP/Large Event logistics documentation to help streamline our management of big events. Mark, Seamus, and I have all been tweaking the Level 3 testing and certification procedures. Sheldon Menery focuses on Judge/Player Outreach initiatives. These are just a few examples of the jobs and efforts that the L4+ community busies themselves with outside of the events that we actually have the opportunity to attend. And that says nothing of the planning and follow-up reporting that goes into those GPs and PTs that we actually head judge.
While all of those efforts may seem like a sizeable list of tasks, it does need to be mentioned that they only represent a small amount of the extra work that is done by judges outside of tournaments. The list of NetReps, Translators, Judge Center content contributors, editors, R&D reviewers, article writers, etc. Is quite long, made up of fantastic and hard-working judges from around the world. Perhaps a rundown of all their hard work will make for a follow-up article, but I won’t end without at least thanking all those judges who are involved with those behind the scenes jobs for their tireless efforts.
by Jason Ness
