St. Louis Citywide Judge Conference

Hello! Thank you for applying to the St. Louis Citywide Judge Conference. This conference will be held on August 20, 2017 at Star Clipper, a game store in St. Louis City. This conference will not be foil supported, but some form of compensation/door prize will be available for all participants. This event is open to all, and judges who live in the Greater St. Louis area are strongly encouraged to apply.  

The theme of this Judge Conference is building a strong Magic community. Within 60 minutes of the Arch, there are thirty-two game stores that run FNM, thirteen of which run Prereleases. At last count, we have fewer than fifteen judges in the area, and attendance at local events for these stores is often less than twenty players. That being said, the existence of so many stores demonstrates that the area is strongly entrenched in Magic and trading card games.

Rather than having presentations, we're going to have a group discussion in a couple of parts on how judges and stores can partner to strengthen the St. Louis region. Local game stores have been invited to this conference, and hopefully will provide their input on how the region is going.

The tentative schedule for the day will be as follows:

Welcome: 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm

Judge and Store Introductions: 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm

Discussing Regional Organization: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Organized Play Introduction (This will be a seminar presented by an L2): 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Judge Distribution and Event Organization: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

There will be time for a draft after the conference. Dinner will be planned at a nearby restaurant afterward, as will an Escape Room should there be sufficient interest.

Some questions to consider before the conference:

• What goals do you want to achieve in the Judge Program?
• What goals do you want the St. Louis area to achieve with respect to Magic?
• How do you want stores and judges to be organized in St. Louis? How much communication do you want between those two entities?
• What criticisms do you have of the region or the Judge Program? How do you propose to fix those problems?
• How can we increase attendance at Magic events throughout the St. Louis region?

We look forward to seeing you!