Welcome to Judge Foundry’s second year in operation. Technically, we won’t be celebrating our birthday for a few weeks (and you can look forward to another celebratory post when that happens, either on October 6th, when we announced Judge Foundry, on November 29th, when Judge Foundry opened for members, or on May 30th, when the IRS approved our non-profit status), but today is the start of a new member year: FY2025.
Think of today as the premiere of Judge Foundry, Season Two.
Thank you, Bearz and Amanda
Before we talk about the future, we want to pay homage to the immediate past and to thank Amanda Coots and Paul “Bearz” Baranay, who are now directors emeriti. We could not have founded Judge Foundry without their drive, perspective, and wisdom, and all judges owe them a debt of gratitude for their efforts.
Amanda brought important perspectives to the organization, led negotiations with publishers and organizers, laid the groundwork for many of our important initiatives. Amanda always reminded us not to forget about everyone else whom it takes to make an event successful, and she began the work on the first set of operations certifications for a tabletop judge program. She led our meetings with an eye toward ensuring that even judges who had only a tangential understanding of Judge Foundry’s operations were informed about what we were doing.
Paul’s empathy and compassion helped us through some of our most difficult struggles, and they always encouraged us to consider our actions through the lens of the values Judge Foundry espouses. They developed much of our technical infrastructure, without which we wouldn’t have accomplished so much in the last year. They often provided the last set of eyes on an article before it went live, ensuring that we said what we meant. Paul was also the liaison between Judge Foundry and some of our most important partners, and their work benefited judges in ways most members will never know.
As we start the new year, please join us in thanking Bearz and Amanda for all their work in Judge Foundry’s inaugural year. While you won’t see their faces on screen at our meetings this year, that doesn’t mean they won’t still be involved, guiding our organization forward toward success.
Meet the New Board
Today, our new Board of Directors takes office. These directors were elected at our Annual Meeting (you can read more about that in this post), and will serve until September 30th, 2025.
Your new Board of Directors, in alphabetical order (by both first and last name, amusingly), are:
Brook Gardner-Durbin
Brook Gardner-Durbin has been judging for more than 11 years. At events, he likes to focus on encouraging feedback and mentorship. He has run 1,000-player events for Magic and Lorcana. His strong writing skills enhance his communication and ability to provide lasting feedback and mentorship tools. Brook has recently revived the Judge Articles Blog and facilitates cooperative mentorship in online environments.
Joe Klopchic
Joe Klopchic has been judging since 2009. He has judged events of all sizes, from local weekly team drafts to organizing the Hunter Burton Memorial, a nonprofit Magic event held annually in Texas. Joe is a software engineer and spreadsheet enthusiast who works at a startup.
John Brian McCarthy
John Brian McCarthy, from Arlington, VA, has been judging since 2013. He’s judged over a hundred large tournaments, including serving as a Grand Prix Head Judge in Magic and a Tier 3/Tier 4 Head Judge in Flesh and Blood. John Brian has two decades of experience working in marketing and strategy for the non-profit sector.
Rob McKenzie
Rob McKenzie is a judge from Minnesota, active since 2004. He is the former Regional Coordinator of the USA North region. More recently Rob has been working frequently with Magikids, the largest Magic-focused nonprofit in the world, and recording videos with Good Luck High Five’s Commander Arcade.
Tobias Vyseri
Tobias has been judging tabletop games for more than nine years. She hails from Barrière, British Columbia, where she works as an artist.
The new board will select officers at our first meeting on October 30th. Until we do, the current officers remain in office. You can reach the board just like you could before – via email at board@judgefoundry.org, by posting to the Feedback forum on JudgeApps, by asking a question in the monthly board meeting Q&A forum, or by talking to us at events.
Maintenance is Coming
Today also marks the six-month countdown to the Judge Foundry’s first maintenance process. You can read about the maintenance requirements for your level on our website. If you haven’t completed your requirements yet, you’ve still got time, but you probably want to make a plan to do so, because six months can go by fast, and many eventshave already been staffed. The best place to find solicitations for judges is JudgeApps, and many events needing staff will also appear in our newsletter.
Level Two+ Judges are also expected to take update quizzes for each set. The Duskmourn quiz is open now, and we’ll have one more quiz this year, for the yet-to-be-named set coming out early next year.
Lastly, Level Three+ Judges can fulfill a requirement by creating educational content, like writing an article. If you’ve got an idea for an article, contact the Judge Articles project to pitch them on your concept!
What you can do
Coming off a successful first year, we’ve got more ways than ever that you can get involved. For example, you can:
Host a conference: Applications to host a conference are open – whether you’re looking to run a small judge gathering or a major regional conference, tell us what you’d like to do and we’ll see how we can help!
Start or join a project: We’ll be opening applications soon for community project grants, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, if there’s a project that excites you, email the lead and get involved. Or if there’s no one doing a thing you think should be done, you can start the project yourself!
Take a preparatory test: If you’re looking to level up soon, ask your mentor to generate a prep test so you can see if you’re ready to take your exam. You can learn more about prep tests in this article.
Give a gift subscription: If there’s a judge who helped you, why not say “thank you!” by paying for their next month’s dues? Anyone can give a gift subscription, including tournament organizers who want to thank judges for running their events.
Looking Forward
We can’t say yet what the organization’s priorities for this year will be yet, since the new Board of Directors just started work today. But there are a number of things that were in progress in FY24 that will continue to move forward, including:
- Deepening relationships with publishers and tournament organizers
- Providing more training and resources for judges focused on their local game stores
- Iterating and improving on testing and codifying accommodations for judges in unique circumstances
- Launching the first round of community project grants
- Publishing recommendations around RCQ staffing and compensation
- Hosting more conferences
You can attend our next board meeting, on October 30th, to learn more about what we’re looking to do in FY25.
Things are looking good for Judge Foundry and its members alike. We are looking forward to working to make things even better for judges in 2025.