I spent the weekend enjoying the beginning of Autumn, so it seems strange to already be talking about the end of the year, but I’m happy to announce that applications for 2023 judge conferences are now open! (Click here to go to the sponsorship application form.) As we get ready for 2023, we at Judge […]
Author Archives: Matthew Fox Community Champion
Community Corner: End of Year Celebration Conferences
For the first few years of my judging career, one of my favorite events was the USA-North end of year celebration/conference. Judges would gather in different areas throughout the region with each of those ‘hubs’ connecting to each other through online video chat. The events were a great way to mark the end of the […]
Our Shiny New Conference System! (Summer 2022 Update)
Here at Judge Academy we have recently launched a new and improved conference sponsorship application and organization system, along with some important updates to how we handle conferences applications internally. Let’s walk through what has changed together. Since taking over the conference system at the start of the year, I have been continually amazed and […]
A Better Term Than Soft Skills
What if we found better terms than “soft skills” and “hard skills” to discuss the things we do as judges? If you haven’t heard those terms before, ‘soft skills’ is a term that judges often use to describe those skills that we can’t objectively measure. (Credit to Logistics Champion Jonah for the definition.) In practice, […]
The Summer of the Local Store Community
When I first read about the return of the Pro Tour and all the qualifying events that would go into it, I was excited as a player, as a judge, and as a fan of the game. More than anything though, I was thrilled to see Pro Tour relevant events taking place at the local […]
Conference FAQ!
Judge Academy Conferences FAQ As conferences continue to ramp up, I’ve been getting a lot of questions and so I wanted to create this FAQ to help folks. I’ll continue to update this so if you have a question that’s not on here send it in to me at Matthew@judgeacademy.com Also, I know that there […]
Let’s Confer About Conferences
When I started in my role as Community Champion, I was excited for the chance to partner with judges who wanted to organize conferences. The last few years have seen so much innovation as the need to go digital inspired folks to take conferences in lots of new directions. I was excited to be taking […]
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Prerelease Kit
I’m so excited to share our Kamigawa Neon Dynasty (NEO) Prerelease Kit with all of you! Prereleases are some of the most fun events you can run as a judge but they can be challenging, especially for anyone who hasn’t judged live magic in quite some time (which is likely a lot of us.) […]
First Impressions- Introduction to the Community Corner
Your First Magic Event Do you remember the first time you walked into an organized Magic event? Was it a Friday night draft at your local store? A Pro Tour qualifier or prerelease you went to with your friends? Did you skip right to the main event of a Grand Prix, or start off with […]