First and foremost, the Senior Judges of the Judge Program want to thank all of the Judges who participated in the first pilot wave of the Exemplar Program. We received almost 900 recognition messages in this first pilot wave! Messages came to and from Judges across the globe in a variety of languages, which recognize an incredible variety of amazing contributions we all make to the broader Magic community! We have shared this list of recognition messages with our friends at Wizards of the Coast.

You can see these messages for yourself here.

With that said, we also need to set some expectations for what comes next. Wizards of the Coast has been very generous in allowing the Judge Program leadership to create the Exemplar Program. Our goal has been to foster recognition of each others’ contributions to the Judge Program. Another goal was to break us out of the entitlement mindset associated with a system of rewards (e.g. “I judged at this Grand Prix, I’m rewarded with foils.”). Instead, Exemplar focuses on peer-to-peer feedback by enabling Judges to recognize the exemplary behaviors and actions we find valuable and worthy of promotion in the broader community.

One way in which Wizards of the Coast has offered to support this program is by continuing to provide promotional foils, distributed primarily or even exclusively to certified Judges. These cards might be sent to Judges who receive recognition through the Exemplar Program. However, not all judges recognized are certain to receive foils. Again, to be clear, not every recognition will equate to Wizards of the Coast sending foils. We sincerely hope that the recognition alone is meaningful for you – positive feedback always makes us feel better, and if it sometimes comes with something rare and shiny, well, so much the better!

Also, once Wizards hands over envelopes to the delivery service or postal carrier, Wizards’ involvement is complete. If cards sent to you are lost or damaged in the shipping process, or – worse yet! – if you fail to maintain a current address, those cards will not be replaced. Wizards cannot provide resources to track shipments, replace missing or damaged shipments, or otherwise follow up on these shipments. While that may sound harsh, it really ties back to that earlier point – this is not about entitlement, it’s about recognition.

As of this writing, the first wave of Exemplar recognitions has not shipped. You can still update your address here.

Please note that for security purposes, when you visit the page to update your address, there is no way to review the current address you have on file. We can’t see that information, either, so any questions such as, “What address do you have on file for me?” can only be answered by, “Whichever address you last provided.” If you aren’t sure, update it here.

If you have questions about this process or want to contact anyone about anything you did or did not receive in the mail as a result of this effort, please contact us at ExemplarProgram@gmail.com. Do not contact Wizards of the Coast or the Judge Program Manager. They will not assist in this. They will be forwarding any messages or requests they receive regarding this directly to the e-mail address above.