Exemplar Recognition Audit: "Leave No Exemplary Judge Behind!"
Want to fill up un-used Exemplar slots with worthy judges? We bring attention to previously-unrecognized judges who are worthy of Exemplar nominations.
| Project Manager: | Clint Herron |
|---|---|
| Public: |  |
Project Description
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of the Recognition Audit is to assist in identifying judges with exemplary (yet unrecognized) actions, and help them to receive recognition from their peers.
The Encouragement of Exemplar Recognition
Every judge needs encouragement, and the Exemplar is one of the best tools that we have available to encourage our fellow judges.
This isn't a criticism or a correction of the Exemplar program -- we are merely attempting to try and use initiatives and data analysis to help us make the most of what the Exemplar Program attempts to be.
By the Numbers, More L1's Go Unrecognized Than Any Other Class
As of Exemplar Wave #5, an estimated 20% of L1's have received Exemplar nominations, and an estimated 80% of L2's. While the "judge foil distribution" numbers are so much better nowadays than they were under the GP system, those numbers can still improve. There are many judges who are discouraged by the lack of attention and value that they feel, and without someone taking active steps to include them in the Exemplar program we run the risk of missing out on what they can add to the Exemplar program.
Why are there so many judges who have never received Exemplar nominations?
There are many reasons why any particular judge may not have received an Exemplar nomination. First off, they may simply not be doing exemplary action. It's not enough for a judge to be a nice person who is able to Fog a Panoptic Mirror. The Exemplar program is about highlighting exemplary action, and encouraging others to do likewise. But before we can highlight a judge's exemplary action, the judge must first receive attention, and this project means to assist in that.
FNM is the Lifeblood of Competitive Magic
Store-level events are the backbone of all upper-level Magic. Without FNMs, there would be no PPTQ, no PTQ, no PT, no GP. There are scores of L1's who are disconnected from the larger tournament community, have never received a judge foil packet, and yet hold their communities together in exemplary ways that we would benefit from recognizing. Store level judges often position themselves to function as front-line ambassadors of the game, and regularly give of their time and their resources in exemplary ways to help make The Gathering of Magic players the amazing community that it is. Yet the lack of visibility for store-level judges means that, statistically, their exemplary actions are far more likely to go unrecognized than their higher-level counterparts.
This project is not focused on the foils -- it's about the encouragement and support that this kind of peer recognition has to offer. It's about bringing attention to the exemplary work that can be done (and is being done) on the local store level. It's about fostering respect and being students of what it means to be an outstanding judge in that role. It's about offering support and encouragement for judges who may never travel to an event, but still want to do awesome things within their community of the game. Working to bring attention to exemplary actions done by isolated judges will not only encourage them with the work that they do, but will encourage others and raise the standards of service for the rest of us who can learn from their example.
Our Process of Finding Judges With Unrecognized by Exemplary Action
We start with a master list of all judges, and overlay onto that list the Exemplar nomination data.
Using this, we can identify judges who:
- Have been active in the judging program (this data is difficult to infer)
- Who have not recently (or ever) received an Exemplar packet
Once we have that list of judges in a particular region, we are still trying to figure out the next best step for them. It might involve volunteers to contact those judges' stores, and ask the store's owners or players for feedback on the judge. It might involve inviting that judge to submit their own feedback and do a self review to nominate themselves for exemplary action. We aren't yet sure, but we know that we can't recognize people that we don't notice, and taking notice of people who haven't yet been recognized is the common first step.
You Don't Need to be L2+ to Help
The great thing about this project is that the people who are most able to empathize with unrecognized judges are those who feel unrecognized themselves. If you are an L1 and don't feel like people notice what you're doing, we'd love to have you as part of the team.
Helping to recognize other "under-the-radar" judges will make a significant impact by encouraging them.
This is a great way for YOU to get noticed and get recongized for your own actions.
Get involved! Help others, and help yourself.
What We Need
- A reliable source of up-to-date judge roster information (Judge Apps mostly provides this, but the data is sometimes out of date)
- A reliable source of up-to-date judge activity information (WPN event activity is preferable, but it's unclear where to get this)
- There is a lot of data to sift through. We can use developers who are able to help with data scraping and web programming for building a good user interface.
- We can use ideas for what to do once we identify unrecognized juges -- how do we go about sifting through them and bringing them the attention they should receive?
Technical Information
Source code and other information to follow
Background
This project was inspired by the following thread here on Judge Apps that did a good job of covering the frustrations and plights common to disconnected judges. http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/topic/25732/
Project Members
| Name |
|---|
| Clint Herron |
| Gabriel Batista Vieira de Sousa |
| Cody Gavigan |
| Jeremie Granat |
| Uri Hershkovitz |
| Adam Jennings |
| Robert Langmaid |
| Rick Miles |
| Craig Reeder |
| David Shor |
| Ricardo Teixeira |