This past March on a trip to Australia I had the pleasure to finally meet one of the few L3s in the world that I had never met before, Mark Brown. This was especially surprising, as Mark has been an L3 judge, or higher, for 15 years. I have been involved with the judge program for some time and that is an astounding accomplishment to me. Mark has realized that he is not able to stay involved as he has in the past, and decided to step down. I didn't feel that the judge community could let this go without some commemoration and thanks.

Here are some comments and thoughts by some other members of the judge community Mark:

Originally posted by L5 Scott Marshall:

I got to know Mark through IRC, where we became close friends.  The times when we actually arrived in the same city, for the same event, were very few and far between - but always a true joy, both for the friendship and the interaction as judges.  Mark has provided countless hours of service to the program, including helping with the thankless task of maintaining sanity on the multitude of Judge-centric social media.  I know how much I lean on him to supply wisdom from his “opposite time zone”, and can't express enough my appreciation for his contributions.

Now, more than ever, I am determined to visit his home - maybe for a premier event? - and renew that old, treasured friendship!

L5 Toby Elliott
We're losing a titan of judging. Mark is one of the true veterans of the program, and has the stories to prove it. If you ever get a chance to sit down and chat with him, take it.

But, that's well known. What fewer people know is that Mark was one of the most influential people in the original creation of the IPG. As the main advocate for the conservative approach to the documents, his impassioned arguments for how competitive players viewed the game shaped how we considered infractions and associated penalties. I used to joke that if I could get Mark and Lee Sharpe (who represented the more laissez-faire end of the spectrum) to agree on something, we'd struck gold for that section.

It's been a privilege and a joy working with Mark, and even though he's an ocean away, I hope we'll cross paths again soon.

Community Manager Andy Heckt
Mark Brown is not only part of Australian Judge Program’s foundation, but also one of the global judge program. One of the early-era L3s, Mark was the leader of Australia and New Zealand and with reach into South-east Asia from 1999 and continued after his attainment of L4 in 2006. I recall most about Mark as an L4 is that he was able to summarize a long discussion and then express his opinion with such simplicity, that I was both envious and very thankful for. When Mark decided in 2010 to step back to L3 it was a recognized loss, but again he was leading by exemplifying to others that L4+s are the pinnacle leaders, they have a significant responsibility to manage their own standard. Mark will continue to be an example at whatever level he finds himself best to perform.

Australian RC Nathan Brewer
It seems like only a little while ago I was congratulating Mark on his fifteenth anniversary as a level 3 judge, and now I have the opportunity to once again recognise his impact as he steps back to level 2. It is a strange feeling indeed to be a higher level judge than one of the people who had the biggest impact on my career as a judge. 

On behalf if the program in Australia and personally, I wish you all the best for the future, and I hope that you are able to continue being a part of the judging family in your new role. 

As mentioned earlier, Mark recently passed the 15 year anniversary of being L3. Nathan and others from the Australian judge community wrote about that occasion here:

http://blogs.magicjudges.org/anniversaries/2014/07/02/july-2014-anniversaries/

When you see him on irc, Facebook or in real life in Australia, be sure to thank him for all he's done.

Thanks Mark!

-Chris