This thread is for discussing the article Writing Effective Cover Letters by Paul Baranay & Evan Cherry.

“Regardless of whether you were accepted or not, please refrain from sharing your acceptance status on social media or the JudgeApps forums. If your application was accepted, sharing this can come across as insensitive to those who were declined. Likewise, posting about being declined will often be perceived negatively by others. Saying nothing is the most professional and courteous option.”

Personally, I strongly agree. I wonder if there's some counterargument to consider, however. Perhaps the value of social media in coordinating plans and logistics?

Originally posted by Yonatan Kamensky:

Perhaps the value of social media in coordinating plans and logistics?

Many - perhaps most? - GPs now enable this through the JudgeApps' forum for that event. Shared spreadsheets, discussion threads, etc., all serve very well to accomplish what you're suggesting.

Now, maybe you're part of a local community on Facebook (et al), and you want to post “anyone driving from FOO to BAR for the GP? can I catch a ride?” or something - and sure, that seems fine. But first, I'd turn to the tools offered by JudgeApps, and use other social media as a Plan B.

d:^D

Originally posted by Yonatan Kamensky:

I wonder if there's some counterargument to consider, however. Perhaps the value of social media in coordinating plans and logistics?

I could see the value in attempting to coordinate plans with players via social media, but it is likely better practice to: (a) just say you're going to the GP and ask if anyone is available, rather than exclaim your acceptance; (b) if you are part of a smaller group on FB, you can ask there; © ask people individually; (d) use Judge Apps!

I am a Recent judge, but in my opinion this was very helpful and I am sure that it was very helpful for other people. I really agree with the social media part. It looks really unprofessional when people post about not being accepted and getting a bit mad (I have seen some cases on my facebook). I really liked it.

I'm going to have to disagree on the social media comment. There is no hard and fast rule on what you should and shouldn't post on Facebook or Twitter or whatever, but we should all act like adults when making decisions about what to post and how to react to it.

Originally posted by Evan Cherry & Paul Baranay:

If your application was accepted, sharing this can come across as insensitive to those who were declined.

This is true, but it depends on context. In reality, the most likely judges to post about getting accepted to a GP are those who haven't judged a GP before, or who are super excited about this specific event. We should let people be excited about judging magic. I know several new local L2s who would be very excited about getting accepted to their first large event, we shouldn't rain on their parades because some people are sensitive. Be happy about people succeeding in the judge program, we're all friends!

That being said, there are bad ways to approach this. Posting “Sweet, get to do another Grand Prix cha-ching!” on Facebook is a bad idea. Be mature and considerate, be aware that other people may not have gotten accepted.

Originally posted by Evan Cherry & Paul Baranay:

Likewise, posting about being declined will often be perceived negatively by others. Saying nothing is the most professional and courteous option.

This is almost always true. However a post like “I was super excited about the chance to judge at <Event>, guess I'll just have to take it down with <Deck> instead.” is likely safe, and not going to upset anyone.


Basically, I agree that in general playing it safe on social media is a good plan, but I don't think the judge program going around stifling everyone's ability to say anything is a good path. We have seen a lot of these scenarios lately that seem to either reflect badly on specific judges, the whole program, or just cause bad feelings. Making it policy or suggested behavior to simply not use social media is a bad approach which holds back all of the fun and interesting things that do happen in those places.

Edited Joe Klopchic (Sept. 4, 2014 10:50:27 AM)

I admit I am surprised that the suggestion is to post nothing about acceptance to an event. Word of mouth is one of the best and most effective forms of advertising, especially for smaller-than-GP events, which seems like a large majority of events. This artice's recommendation appears to specifically foil the best advertisement channel for the event, which is literally harmful to the events most important aspect: attendance.

A purpose of social media is to more effectively reach a wider audience with one's personal thoughts and feelings, so while there are work-arounds to this suggestion including PMing each potentially interested party or simply announcing the event and not mentioning you're judging there, I have been told by some of our local players that my judging there is a factor in their decision to come to that event.

While I agree that “SUCK IT, B****ES!!” post on FB for event acceptance is juvenile, I look at this as an opportunity to personally educate that judge rather than simply suggesting to not talk about events you're working coming up. Either we treat each other a humans with faces and lives and talk to them, or we can simply wait for people to violate our idea of appropriate bahavior and exclude them. It seems the former is more about building a community and an effective program than the latter.

Talking about upcoming events is fine. I don't think that knowing which judges will be on staff has much impact on event attendance though. I don't that there is any claim that saying “You guys should come to this event I'm working this weekend.” is wrong. The message is mentioning specifically about the acceptance or denial to the event. These are the posts that say “Yay! I'm accepted to work GP XXX” or “Guess that's another PTQ I'll not be judging”.

Through the course of judging, we're subjected to many difficult situations and adversities. I've had players and other judges yell in my face, I've been asked to help with events in progress that were complete dumpster fires, and I've been asked obscure rules questions at points in tournaments where my ruling will make a big impact. Along with these items it is our responsibility to manage logistics, provide customer service, and be the biggest factor that determines the success of a tournament.

With all the responsibility and maturity it requires to handle the situations we're frequently put in, I'm a little surprised we are so concerned about some judges being so insecure. If you can't see a post by someone that you are FRIENDS with on Facebook and not be happy for your fellow man, it seems that you may struggle with other disappointments you might face during the course of an event.

Multiple times per week I see the judges I'm friends with post that they were accepted or are heading to an event. I'm glad they have an outlet to share their interests and what makes them happy. If it made me that jealous that they got the toy that I wanted, it might motivate me to write better cover letters and stand out at events. Jealousy and bitterness over someones “I'm going to Disney World” post seems far from Exemplar.

Eric: This should be carved into stone!

Eric, that's a very strong point, and I'm glad you made it. I agree with you that jealousy and bitterness are not ideal, and that it is the individual's challenge to change their reactions.

This is the ideal, however, and not the reality for many judges. We're all growing in our own ways, and even the most successful adherent to Attitude and Maturity did not start out that way. We need to be mindful of all those who simply aren't there yet. We can't hold people to the standard of an ideal, only to the pursuit of it.

Humans tend to be insecure. Rejection is universally painful. Even if we avoid bitterness and jealousy in our expression if not in our reaction, we still feel pain. I bear no ill will for the success of my peers, but their exultation reminds me that at least in this small instance they may have been accepted in my stead. Being sensitive to that is a far greater measure of A&M than denying the validity of a very human emotional reaction.

It is a sad fact that we can't accept every qualified judge to every event. People are going to get upset because they aren't staffed to an event they were very interested in judging. To these judges, each “I GOT ACCEPTED!!” post can be another painful reminder that they didn't get accepted. There are two ways to handle this situation, and I choose the one less likely to cause emotional distress.

Kevin Binswanger

Kevin, would you mind expanding on what those two ways of handling are?

We can either accommodate judges by refraining from making certain classes
of posts that could be upsetting, or we could choose not to moderate our
behavior and not worry if some people could be upset by postings.

Kevin

Originally posted by Kevin Binswanger:

There are two ways to handle this situation, and I choose the one less likely to cause emotional distress.

Emotional distress seems pretty severe for seeing one of your friends getting accepted to an event. Personally, I find it way more painful when my LGS posts FNM standings on Facebook and I'm not in the top spot every week. I am happy for someone though when they make the top of the list for the first time and they are excited.

Perhaps it is because I'm older than the majority of judges and have a lot more life experience. I've had a successful, yet roller coaster career as a Software Engineer, I've had ups and downs as a musician, and I have an autistic child. In terms of the things that can go wrong on a daily basis, not getting accepted to an event is barely a blip on my radar. I don't believe that shielding everyone from every possible disappointment in their life is the way to produce emotionally stable and well rounded individuals. We can't all receive a trophy every time.

While we are on the subject, what happens when other judges get foils through the Exemplar program? Aren't we going to see them get posted and talked about. That will sure remind everyone else of the significant monetary value they missed out on.

Just to be clear, I see your side of the argument. I want to insure that my tone here isn't too strong. I think I just disagree with thought that we need to protect everyone. People just need to suck it up and rub some dirt on it. That is what will make us stronger people.