Western Canada Regional Judge Conference 2015

It's time for the 2015 Western Canada Judge Conference! The theme for this conference will be "PPTQs and RPTQs: Where do we stand?"

UPDATE: Schedule

Saturday
4:00pm: Seminars on Helping PPTQ Players, including
   Morgan Wesley (Washington), "The PPTQ as an Introduction to Competitive REL for Players and Judges"
   Ronald Thompson (Washington), "Complex Interactions in Modern (and Standard (and... Limited?))"
   David Poon (British Columbia), "True Customer Service"
   Darren Gamble (Alberta), "Investigations, and How to Catch a Cheater"
7:30pm: Judge Dinner (pay your own way) @ Zabb Thai (Kelowna Rutland Area | http://www.zabb.ca/)
9:00pm: Judge Draft @ Quantum Games

Sunday
10:00am: Seminars on Judging PPTQs, including
   Niko Skartvedt (British Columbia), "PPTQ Logistics"
   Abeed Bendall (Alberta), "Multiple Judges"
   Brendan Capel (Alberta), "Events from a TO perspective"
   Scott Neiwert (Oregon), "Coordinating PPTQs: What Works, and What Doesn't"

UPDATE: Accommodation

A block of rooms has been reserved for us at the Okanagan Seasons Resort (http://okanaganseasons.ca/). The hotel is located 5 minutes away by car or a 20 minute walk along Hwy 33 from Quantum Games. The group rate (assuming double occupancy) for rooms with two queen beds is $144 + 15% tax; rooms with a single queen bed are $124 + 15% tax; larger rooms are subject to availability; additional occupants are $10 each. Call 1-800-665-1264 or 250-860-5707 to book your room, quoting Group #401: "Magic Judge Conference".

Other hotels/motels are clustered around that area (intersection of Hwy 97 and Hwy 33) if you wish to book alternate lodging.

This year's conference will be held in beautiful Kelowna, BC, about a 5 hour drive from Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA; and about 7 hours from Calgary, AB. As this is a regional conference, registered attendees will receive a pack of six judge foils for participating. Travel and accommodations will not be covered (though we're working on arranging some shared accommodations); and meals may or may not be covered (though we'll make sure you don't starve).

Attendance at this conference will be very limited, so be sure to indicate in your cover letter not only how this conference would benefit your own personal growth in the programme, but also the benefit for your local community. Applications will only be accepted through Friday 24 July.

Tentative schedule:

Saturday, 11am: MOJO Iwazaru while driving to Kelowna for bragging rights...
Saturday, 4pm–8pm: Seminar sessions on PPTQs and Players (with dinner)
Saturday, 8pm: Judge Draft

Sunday, 10am–2pm: Seminar sessions on PPTQs and Judges (with lunch)
Sunday, 2pm: Something Fun

We are also looking for presenters! The theme for this conference is everything to do with PPTQs: player perspectives, judge logistics, the path to the Pro Tour, communities and their Magic events, and everything in between. If you are interested in presenting, please email David Poon by Friday 17 July directly with a brief abstract of your proposed presentation and why you think it is an important topic to present. If you do not have a particular topic in mind, please indicate what you are passionate about as a judge and we will try to match you up with an appropriate subject.

Judge testing for L1/L2 will be available at this conference. Please email Niko Skartvedt if you are interested in testing.

Pictures

Viewable at the MTGJudge.ca group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.873254712764080&type=1

Presentation slides

4. Gamble: Investigations, and How to Catch a Cheater
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12C54pdosx4O_WvDP_6C-RUyftCgW-LptkCVMDzadVH8/edit?usp=sharing

5. Skartvedt: PPTQ Logistics
http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2013/05/14/murphys-tournament/