ConferenceGuidelinesIn this document you will find information, advice and policies about judge conferences. If you have never organized a conference and are not sure where to start, this document should giveyouagoodideaofwhatisinvolved.As a rule, each judge program region is allowed to have two official conferences per year plus a leadership conference. Official conferences receive support in the form of foil cards that are awarded to participants, and they must adhere to certain guidelines. In general, the RegionalCoordinatordecideswhenandwheretorunofficialconferences.Therearethreetypesofofficialconferences:

GP conferences are held at Grand Prix events (or other major tournaments), often on Friday. They will usually have participants from multiple regions. GP conferences receivelimitedfoilsupport. Regional conferences are standalone events that are not connected to any major tournament. Theyre targeted to judges from a specific region, add mainly the regional needs, and are often smaller than a GP conference. Theyre often run in the local language. Leadership conferences are smaller, inviteonly conferences for a regions leading judges.TheyareorganizeddirectlybytheRC.

Unofficial conferences are also an option. You have the freedom to ignore the policy side of thisdocumentwhenorganizinganunofficialconference.

1

1.Conferencepolicies2.Planning

2.1.Scheduling2.2.Location2.3.Presentersandcontent2.4.Otherrolesandactivitiesduringtheconference

2.4.1.Lunch2.4.2.Judgetesting2.4.3.Dinner

3.Advertisingandcommunication3.1.Announcingtheconference3.2.Wheretoadvertise3.3.Friendlyreminders

4.Presentersandcontent4.1.Seminartopics4.2.Recruitingpresenters4.3.Planningtheconferenceschedule4.4.Feedbackforms

5.Duringtheconference5.1.Settingupthevenue5.2.Welcomingtheparticipantsandintroducingthepresenters5.3.Managingtime5.4.Documentingandrecordingyourconference5.5.Awardingfoils5.6.Wrapup

6.Aftertheconference6.1.Officialconferencereport6.2.Updatingtheparticipantlist6.3.Sharingfeedbackwithpresentersandparticipants6.4.Publishingslides,photosandnotes6.5.Reflectingonyourexperience

7.LinksChangelog

2

1.ConferencepoliciesThere are a few rules and requirements regarding conferences. In order to receive foil support,youmust:

ScheduleyourconferenceandcreateaJudgeAppseventatleast6weeksout.HaveparticipantsregisteronJudgeAppsatleast4weeksout Publish list of presenters and brief description of seminar/activity on JudgeApps at least4weeksoutHaveatleastsixseminars/sessions(canincludeaquiz/otherlighttopic)HaveatleastoneLevel3judgeasapresenterOfferjudgetestingattheconference

At GP conferences, each participant will receive a pack of 4 foils. In addition, the maximum number of foil packs is 80 if there are more than 80 participants, the conference coordinator can either divide the available foils between the participants, or close registration after 80 peoplehavesignedupandnotgivefoilstononregisteredparticipants.At Regional conferences, each participant will receive a pack of 6 foils. There is no maximum numberofparticipants.For both types of confences, only those participants who were at least Level 1 when registrationclosedcanreceivefoils.In addition, presenters receive 1 or 2 extra foils as a thank you for the time and effort theyve putintotheirpresentations.Theconferencecoordinatoralsoreceivesextrafoils.Unused foils should be returned to the Regional Coordinator, to be used at the next conference.Nonregisteredparticipantsshouldnotreceivefoilsevenifyouhaveleftovers.

2.Planning

2.1.Scheduling

3

The RC must register the conference (by adding it to the RCs conference spreadsheet) at least 6 weeks in advance. However, its recommended to start planning much earlier than that. You should probably secure a venue at least 8 to 12 weeks before the conference, and announce it at least 8 weeks out. This way participants will have plenty of time to make travel plansandpresenterswillhavetimetopreparetheirseminars.The final number of participants and the list of presenters and their topics must be sent to WotC by the RC at least 4 weeks before the conference. All participants must have either applied via JudgeApps or been added directly as staff members. This allows the Conference Spheretoaccuratelytracktheattendanceofeachconference.Aspreadsheetthatcanbeusedtoplanandtracktheprogressofyourconferenceprojectisavailableathttp://tinyurl.com/conferenceplanner.

2.2.LocationYouwillofcourseneedavenueforyourconference.Yourbasicneedsarelotsofchairs,sometables,andsomewaytodisplayinformationtoalargecrowd(ie.aprojectorandscreen,whiteboard,etc).IfyourconferenceisaGPconference,thetournamentvenuewillprobablyhavesomeextraspaceyoucanuse.Aroomawayfromthenoiseofthetournamentisideal,butsometimesyouhavetosettleforsometablesinthebackofthetournamenthall.TheconferencecoordinatorshouldcontacttheJudgeManageroftheevent(sometimesthisisthelocalRC,sometimesitissomeoneworkingforthetournamentorganizer)andaskthemtospeaktotheTOabouttheconference,insteadofcontactingtheTOdirectly.Regionalconferencesareoftenheldatlocalgamestores.Manygamestoresownersarewillingtoletjudgesusetheirgamingspaceforfree,provideditdoesntinterferewiththeneedsoftheirbusiness.Makesurethatthegamestoreownerunderstandswhattheconferenceneedsforexample,thatputtingatournamentinthesameroomatthesametimewouldnotwork.Ofcourse,ifyouarewillingtospendmoremoney,otheroptionssuchashotelconferenceroomscanbeconsidered.Largerconferencesmayrequiretwoseparatespacessoyoucanrunmultiplesessionsinparallel.

2.3.Presentersandcontent

4

Thereisnoconferencewithoutpresentersandtheirseminars.Youcan,andshould,startrecruitingpresentersevenbeforeannouncingtheconferencetothegeneralpublic.Postingageneralcallforpresentersiscommonpractice,butyoushouldalsocontactindividualjudgeswhoarespecialistsinaparticulartopicorknownforbeingskilledpresenters.

2.4.OtherrolesandactivitiesduringtheconferenceYoumayneedafewhelpinghandsduringtheconferenceitself.Dependingonthesizeoftheconference,youmightneedhelpwithjudgetesting,organizinglunch/dinner,settinguptheroom,andsoon.Theserolescanbefilledlater,oncepeoplestartsigningupfortheconference.

2.4.1.LunchTherearemanypossiblewaystoarrangelunch.Thesimplestwayistojustprovideenoughtimeforeveryonetogooutandhaveamealsomewhere.Anotheroptionistoordersomefoodtobedelivered.Inthiscaseyouprobablywanttoprovideawayforpeopletosignupforthefoodinadvanceandtopayforitwhentheyarriveattheconference.Anotherinexpensivewaytoprovidelunchistobuybread,sandwichtoppingsandothersnacks(plusdisposableplates,cupsandcutlery)andsetupabuffetwhereparticipantscanmaketheirownsandwiches.Ifyourvenuehasafridge,youcandotheshoppingadayinadvance.Youmayalsoneedtobringaknifeandcuttingboardforpreparingvegetables.

2.4.2.JudgetestingSincetheconferenceorganizerisoftenbusywithotherthings,itisagoodideatohavesomeoneelsecoordinatingallthejudgetestsattheconference(eveniftheyrenotpersonallyconductingalltheinterviews).Dependingonhowmanytestsyoureexpectingtohave,youmaywanttohaveonepersonhandlingtheL2testsandanotherfortheL1tests.Letparticipantsknowwhoisinchargeoftestingsothatcandidatesmaycontactthemwithquestions,andthecoordinatorcanmakesuretheyfulfillallthepretestingrequirements.

2.4.3.Dinner

5

Regionalconferencesoftenhaveadinnerintheevening.Makesuretomakeareservationwellinadvance,andaskparticipantstosignup.Provideamenuandifpossible,orderthefoodinadvance.

3.Advertisingandcommunication

3.1.AnnouncingtheconferenceTheinitialannouncementabouttheconferenceshouldcontainasmuchinformationaspossible:

Location(includingaddressofthevenue)anddate. Estimatedstartandendtimes.Participantsneedtoknowthisinordertoplan

theirtravel. JudgeAppseventlinkforregistration,andregistrationdeadline Willparticipantsreceivefoils(ie.isthisanofficialconference)andifthisisa

GPconferencewithlimitedfoils,howwilltheybehandled Isjudgetestingoffered,andwhoshouldcandidatescontact(official

conferencesshouldalwaysoffertesting) Informationonseminars/presentersthatyouhavealreadyscheduled Callforpresenters:whotocontactifyouwanttopresentaseminar,whatis

expected Language:someconferencesareruninalanguageotherthanEnglish.Some

mayevenhaveseminarsinseveraldifferentlanguages. Otherinformationthatcanbeincludedintheinitialannouncementbutcan

alsobepostedlater:socialactivitiessuchasdinnerorsightseeing,informationabouthotelsandpublictransportation,etc.

3.2.WheretoadvertiseInadditiontocreatinganeventonJudgeAppswiththeaboveinformation,youshouldannouncetheconferenceonlocal/regionalforums,mailinglists,Facebookgroupsetc.ItmaybeagoodideatocreateaFacebookeventsothatpeoplecanspreadthewordbyjoiningandsharingtheevent.ForGPconferences,postareminderintheGPsJudgeAppsforumafterstaffselectionsfortheeventhavebeenpublished.

6

3.3.FriendlyremindersItsagoodideatosendacoupleofremindersaboutregisteringbeforethedeadline.RemindnewjudgesaboutgettingaJudgeAppsaccountandremindtheRCaboutgettingthoseaccountsapprovedinatimelyfashion.Itisnotunusualtohavemanylastminutemessagesfromjudgeswhohadproblemsregistering,sogiveyourselfsometimetodealwiththesebeforetheRCsubmitsthefinalnumberofparticipantstoWotC.Presentersshouldberemindedtosubmittheiroutlinesandsummariesinatimelyfashion.

4.Presentersandcontent

4.1.SeminartopicsBeforeevenrecruitingpresenters,youshouldhavesomeideaofwhattopicsyouwouldliketocoveratyourconference.YourRegionalCoordinatormayinputonthisbasedonregionalneeds,andoneoptionistoaskparticipantstosuggesttopics.Ifyouhavepresenterswhowouldliketopresentsomethingbutdonthavetheirowntopicinmind,youcanthenassignthemsomethingfromyourwishlist.Makesureyoucovertopicsfromdifferentareas(rules,policy,program&community,tournamentprocedures,softskillsetc)andthatyouhavetopicsthatareappropriatefortheexperienceleveloftheparticipantsforexample,ifyouexpectmostlyLevel1stoattend,includetopicsthatarerelevantforinstoreRegularevents.AGPconference,ontheotherhand,maybemoreheavyonCompetitiveRELtopics.Youcanalsoincludeonelessserioustopicsuchasagameorquiz.Theminimumnumberofsessionsforanofficialconferenceissix.Largeconferencesmayhavemore,andifyouareplanningmorethan8sessions,atleastsomeofthemshouldberunparallel.TheConferenceContentwebsiteathttp://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferencecontentofferssamplepresentationsandotherresourcesforpresenters.

7

4.2.RecruitingpresentersYoucanrecruitpresentersbyaskingindividualjudgesandbypostingacallforpresenters.Yourgoalistohaveskilledpresentersandqualitypresentations,butyoushouldstillincludeamixofdifferentlevelsandlocal/nonlocaljudges.Makeanefforttoincludeatleastonepresenterfromthehostnation/state(forGPconferences)orhostcity(forregionalconferences).Offersupportandadvicetoinexperiencedpresenters,andremindthemthatitsalsopossibletodoapresentationwithapartner.However,youdonthavetoautomaticallyacceptallpresenterswhoapply,ortheoneswhoapplyfirst.Itsrecommendedthatyouaskpotentialpresenterstosubmitashortdescriptionoroutlineoftheseminartheywishtopresent(evenifthetopicwasassignedbyyou)beforeyouconfirmthattheyrescheduledtopresent.Makethisexpectationclearinthecallforpresenters,includeadeadlineforapplyingandalsomentionwhenfinalpresenterselectionswillbemade.Whenyouhavemadeyourfinalselections,contacteveryonewhoappliedandthankthemfortheirtime.ThefinallistofpresentersandtopicsmustbesubmittedtoWizards(bytheRC)andpublishedonJudgeAppsatleast4weeksbeforetheconference.Makesuretoinformpresentersaboutwhatsortofequipment(laptop/projector/screen/whiteboardetc)isavailableatthevenueassoonasyouhavethisinformation.PresentersneedtoknowwhethertheyshouldpreparePowerpointslides,forexample.RemindpresentersthattheConferenceContentProjectwantstocollectPowerpointslidesandothermaterialsfromseminars,tobefeaturedontheConferenceContentwebsite.

4.3.PlanningtheconferencescheduleOnceyouhaveyourfinallistoftopicsandpresenters,youshouldstartplanningtheschedule.Eachsessionisusuallyabout45minuteslong.Acommonsetupistoallow60minutespersession:40minutesforthepresentation,10forquestionsand10forabreak.Youshouldalsoplanalongerbreakforlunchinthemiddleoftheday.Dontforgettoallowsometimeatthebeginningofthedayforsettinguplaptops,projectorsandtables,andattheendofthedayforhandingoutfoilsandrecognizinggoodpresenters/participants.Givesomethoughttotheorderofthesessions.Youshouldalternatetopicsfromdifferentareas,andperhapsplacetheheaviesttopicearlyintheday(butnotastheveryfirsttopic)

8

sothatpeoplearestillalertenoughtofullyenjoyit.ForGPconferences,makesuretoaskpresenterswhentheyplantoarrive.Ifrunningtwoormoresessionsinparallelindifferentrooms,trytodesignonetrackforthemoreexperiencedjudgesandanotheroneforthenewerones.Makesurethatbothroomsfinishtheirsessionsatroughlythesametime,sothatparticipantscanswitchroomsiftheywishto.The final schedule should be published at least 2 weeks before the conference. The schedule should include a short summary of each topic. Make sure that presenters are aware of this deadline.

4.4.FeedbackformsItsimportanttogatherfeedback,tohelpyouplanabetterconferencenexttimeandtohelppresentersimprovetheirpresentationskills.Youshouldprepareafeedbackformthathasspacetoprovidecommentsabouteachindividualpresentation,aswellastheorganizationoftheconferenceingeneral.TherearesamplefeedbackformsavailableontheConferenceSpherewebsiteathttp://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/.

5.Duringtheconference

5.1.SettingupthevenueEvenifyouhavecommunicatedwiththevenueinadvance,thereisprobablysomesetupworkthatneedstobedonebeforetheconferencestarts:movingtablesandchairs,settingupaprojector,printingoutschedulesandfeedbackforms.Ifyoureusingaprojectorandpresentershavealreadyprovidedyouwiththeirslides,youcanmakesurethosearereadytogo.Makesureyoucancompletethesetasksbeforeyourscheduledstarttime.

5.2.WelcomingtheparticipantsandintroducingthepresentersAtthestartoftheday,youshouldwelcometotheparticipantstotheconferenceandintroducetheprogramoftheday,includinganylastminutechanges,detailsaboutbreaksandanyspecialinformationaboutthevenueitself.Thisisalsoagoodmomenttodistribute

9

feedbackforms.Youshouldalsointroduceeachpresenterandtheirtopicatthestartoftheirsession.

5.3.ManagingtimeYourroleasaconferenceorganizeristomanagethewholeconference,asaHJwouldmanageatournament.Eachpresentershouldknowhowmuchtimetheyhaveavailablefortheirsessionwhenyourecruitthem,butsometimessessionsrunlatebecauseoftechnicaldifficulties,longdiscussionsandquestions.Yourjobistokeepthepresenterawareofhowmuchtimetheyhaveleftandifnecessary,stepinandpolitelystopdiscussionsthataretakingtoomuchtimebyencouragingthemtocontinuelater.Talk with presenters about general time overview of their presentations (e.g. the number of slides) so you roughly know where session is at any point in time. If you notice session is behind the schedule, you can either hurry it up a bit (move discussions or questions for after the presentation) or near the end of time remind presenter that he or she has only little time left (usually 10 and again 5 minutes) and, at the same time, notify the next presenter that in 5 minutes his or her session is going to start. You may want to make signs that say 5 and 10 soyoucannotifythepresenteraboutthetimeinanondisruptiveway.Also, during the sessions, people might become noisy or not pay attention. It is up to you, as an organizer, to gently remind them to quiet down and pay attention. If the same person keeps disturbing others or spending time playing on their smartphone despite reminders, you should consider not awarding him or her the foils. However, be careful about doing this since beinginconsistentaboutitwillcertainlycreatebadfeelings.

5.4.DocumentingandrecordingyourconferenceItsagoodideatoshareyourconferenceexperiencewithothers.Thesimplestwaytoshareistotakesomephotosofyourconference.Withsmartphones,thephotoscanbepostedimmediatelyonFacebookand/orTwitter.Considertakingagroupphotoandsomephotosofpresentersandeachsession.YourbestphotoscanbesharedafterwardswiththeConferencePhotosproject.Recordingorevenlivestreamingsessionsisalsoanoption.Ifyouplantodothis,trytonotifyyourpresentersinadvance,assomepeoplemaynotbecomfortablewiththeideaofbeingoncamera.MoreinformationaboutrecordingyourseminarswillbeavailableontheConfereceSpherewebsite.

10

Youcanalsoaskparticipantstotakenotesduringsessionsandwriteareportafterwards.Notescanbepostedonyourlocalforumsorexpandedintoanarticle.

5.5.AwardingfoilsYouwillreceiveapileoffoilstodistributeamongtheconferenceparticipants.Dependingonthetypeofconference,therewillbeeither4or6foilsforeachparticipant.Youwillalsoreceiveadditionalfoilstorewardpresenters,andalittlebitofextraforyourselfastheorganizer.Thesefoilswilltypicallyarrivesortedbycardnameandyouwillneedtopackthemintosleevesorenvelopesyourself.Itsagoodideatocountthemassoonasyoureceivethem,tomakesureyouhaveeverythingyouneed.There are different ways to handle the foils. One way is to create a list of participants (from JudgeApps) and have everyone sign it at the beginning of each session. Then you can use that list to award foils based on sessions attended at the end of the day. At the same time you can collect feedback forms, exchanging the foils for the form. Remind participants to tell you if theyneedtoleaveearly,soyoucangivethemtheirfoilsbeforetheygo.Another option is to hand out foils after each session or after every other session. This takes more time, but might be the better option if you know you will have a lot of people who only attend some of the sessions (such as during a GP Friday when some people will be working theTrials).Youwillstillneedalisttoconfirmwhoisregisteredfortheconference.If you need to withhold foils from a participant who was being disruptive or not paying attention, be sure to handle this diplomatically. Its probably not a good idea to reprimand theminfrontofawholequeueofjudgeswaitingfortheirfoils.

5.6.WrapupAfterthelastpresentationyoushouldtakesometimetothankallthepresentersandparticipants.Thisisalsoagoodtimetoannounceanynewlypromotedjudges,andwinnersofanybestpresentationvotes,etc.

11

6.Aftertheconference

6.1.Officialconferencereport

TheRCmustsubmitanofficialconferencereportwithinonemonthoftheconference.TheRCmaysendyouacopyofthereporttemplatetofillout.

6.2.UpdatingtheparticipantlistIfanyregisteredparticipantsdidnotshowup,pleasechangetheirstatustoDeclinedinJudgeAppssothatthenumberofacceptedjudgesaccuratelyreflectstheattendanceoftheconference.

6.3.Sharingfeedbackwithpresentersandparticipants

Youshouldreadallthefeedbackformsandputtogetherasummaryoffeedbackforeachpresenteraswellasasummaryofgeneralfeedback.Considersharingsomeofthisfeedbackwithallparticipants.YoucanalsoaskforfurtherfeedbackviaregionalonlineforumsortheJudgeAppseventforum.

6.4.Publishingslides,photosandnotes

Iftherewereanychangestotheconferencepresentationschedule,updatetheJudgeAppseventtoreflectthis.SlidesandnotesfromyourconferencecanbesenttotheConferenceContentProject(MTGJudgeConferenceContent@gmail.com)ThebestandmostreusablepresentationswillbepostedtotheConfenceContentwebsite.Dontforgettoaskthepresenterspermissiontosubmittheirmaterial.YourbestphotoscanbesubmittedtotheConferencePhotosproject(http://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/conferencepictures/).

6.5.Reflectingonyourexperience

12

The Conference Sphere would love to hear your feedback on your experience. What worked well? What would you improve next time? Which resources were useful and which resources youwishedyoudhadaccessto?Letusknow!You should also have a debrief with your RC and give your feedback to presenters. Writing a reportthatcanbesharedwithfutureconferenceorganizersishighlyrecommended.

7.LinksConferenceSpherewebsitehttp://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/ConferenceGuidelinesandPolicies(includinglatestversionofthisdocument)http://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/conferencestandardization/Conferenceplanningspreadsheet:http://tinyurl.com/conferenceplannerConferencePicturesproject:http://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/conferencepictures/ConferenceContent:http://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferencecontent/

ChangelogApril2015

AddedLeadershipconference 4.2.MentionedConferenceContentProject 6.3Wikilinkremoved,addedConferenceContentProjectemailandurl 7.JudgeWikilinkremoved AddedthatleftoversmustbeusedatthenextconferencetothePoliciessection 2.1.AddedreminderthatallparticipantsmustbeinJudgeApps 6.2.newsection:updatingparticipantlistafterconference 6.3to6.5.renumbered

13