NRG Series Chicagoland Showdown Weekend – February 2024

Nerd Rage Gaming is excited to present the staff solicitation to work at the NRG Series Chicagoland Showdown Weekend on February 17th-28th, 2024

Saturday: $10,000 Pioneer Showdown; Head Judge Steven Zwanger

Sunday: $5,000 Standard Showdown; Head Judge Sierra Black

Please read, understand, and apply accurately as decisions will be made relying upon your answers.

Roles

We are accepting applicants for many different roles at this event. You may apply for more than one role. In your application, please specify which role(s) you are applying for.

Floor Judge: We will be accepting 8-10 main event floor judges for each day and 1-2 designated side event floor judges.

Floor Judge (extended Sunday shift): This role is for judges who are willing to stay throughout the Top 8 on Sunday night. We will be accepting one extended Sunday shift judge per weekend.

Prize Wall: This is a role for judges who are willing to come in later and assist players with redeeming their prize tix. After the prize wall is closed, a Prize Wall judge will assist with tearing down the prize wall.

Main Event Team Lead: Please note in your application if you are interested in a Main Event Team Lead position.

Standby: We will be accepting a limited number of judges in a standby role. More information about this role can be found below.

Expectations

All Staff: All judges are expected to act in a professional manner as a representative of Nerd Rage Gaming Ltd. Staff members should be wearing a Magic Judge black shirt, NRG Series judge shirt, or Judge Academy polo shirt along with an undershirt, black belt, black pants, black socks, and comfortable, close-toed shoes. If you do not have any of these shirts, a plain black button-down works fine. A typical shift will cover all rounds of Swiss. This shift will last approximately 8-10 hours, with a full-round break and a half-round break given at the head judge's discretion.

Floor Judge: Roles that this staff member may be asked to do include, but are not limited to:

• answer calls and deliver rulings at Competitive Rules Enforcement Level.
• answer calls and deliver rulings at Regular Rules Enforcement Level (side events).
• conduct deck checks at Competitive Rules Enforcement Level.
• assist with player inquiries about MTG Melee tool.
• help maintain a safe play environment consistent with Nerd Rage Gaming standards.
• minimal tear-down tasks, such as collecting table numbers

Team Lead: In addition to the duties of a Floor Judge, team leads are asked to:

• lead a team of 2-4 other judges in an area of tournament operations, such as Deck Checks, Paper, Floor, etc.
• communicate with the Head Judge to delegate tasks to staff members

Prize Wall: Prize Wall judges are asked to:

• Occasional preform the duties of a floor judge in the side events area
• Assist players with receiving their prizes
• Staying on site until the prize wall has closed and is torn down completely. 

Compensation

All staff members will be compensated based on their role. They will receive their compensation via Paypal upon the conclusion of the event and must complete appropriate tax paperwork (W-9 for US citizens). Judges may opt to receive store credit or MTGO Tix instead of cash compensation. Store credit can be spent at the vendor booth, in-store, or at nerdragegaming.com. Choosing to take compensation in-store credit will apply at 20% bonus.

In addition to their compensation, all Floor Judges and Team Leads will be paid out a $15 lunch stipend each day they work. This is known as "Hot Dog Money."

All judges also receive NRG Judge Rewards points upon the conclusion of the event. These points can be redeemed in the NRG Judge Rewards program. For more information on points and swag, check out our website.

Standby

Nerd Rage Gaming uses standby roles at some of our events to be able to adjust the size of our judge staff based on attendance. Standby judges should come to the event ready to play with a deck of the appropriate format, but should also bring their judge uniform in case attendance exceeds our expectations. Should a standby not be needed to judge, they will receive free entry into the main event. Should a standby judge become activated, they will be compensated at the typical floor judge rate based on their role. We will try to notify standby judges in advance if we anticipate them being activated, but all activation decisions will be based on the tournament organizer's discretion at the event. Please specify in your application if you would be willing to accept a standby role.

Misc.

All questions or comments about this application can be directed to NRG Judge Manager Landon "Libby" Liberator at libby@nerdragegaming.com.

Applicants will be notified regarding their acceptance or declination by January 20th, 2024.

We expect applications for all NRG Series events to be fairly competitive. If you apply and are not accepted, please apply again in the future!

COVID-19 Policy: This event will be run in accordance with any COVID-19 health and safety protocols as directed by the venue, municipality, state, and country. We also reserve the right to cancel this event at any time. Nerd Rage Gaming Ltd. is not responsible for covering any outside costs incurred by event attendees, such as hotel, travel accommodations, or other purchases. We urge attendees to only book travel that is 100% refundable.