This thread is for discussing the article Judging for Local Game Stores by Evan Cherry.

Overall a sound article filled with good advice. One element which I think is missing, however, is a discussion of how to handle compensation negotiations with your LGS and TO.

I think it is fairly common for newer judges, and especially inexperienced L1 candidates, to volunteer their time at events essentially in exchange for training and experience. This may have the effect that the TO and LGS come to rely on having access to their judging services for free, which makes it difficult to transition into judging for compensation once they have their credentials and experience. Additionally, as the article points out, many judges start off simply as local players. They will often have personal friendships with the LGS owner and TO, and moving from a personal relationship to a professional one can be a delicate situation when it comes to asking for compensation. I think it would do new judges a lot of good if the article could address these points as well.

@Robert: Good point, and definitely a great topic for discussion or even a full article.

I was lucky that my LGS was aware of the value of having judges around, and they were willing to compensate me from my first event onwards.

I think it's a good idea for starting judges to be upfront about compensation and just ask for it, even if it's just a few packs. I know, you'd gladly do it for free—and it might make you feel uncomfortable!—but it'll be so much better for both parties in the long run. It restores the balance, so you won't feel cheated after a while. And it sets a precedent: since you are already getting compensation, it'll be much easier to ask for a raise once you have been certified. You will be providing a better service, and you have invested time into studying, etc.

Robert:

Negotiating compensation with a LGS TO is an excellent point, and something I intended to put into this article when it also addressed Judging GPTs. The dual article was pretty long, so it has been split, with “Negotiating Compensation” a little more imperative for judging a Comp REL GPT. Considerations when negotiating compensation with LGS TOs will be discussed in an upcoming article about judging a GPT for a LGS.

Even so, neither article goes deep into the personal dynamics. If this is something you are passionate about and/or have good insight, please consider sharing that with the community by submitting an article to Stefan for the Articles Blog. It's not too bad. :)

Actually an article specifically on compensation is a good idea . The reality is that there are lots of forms of compensation, and judges should not expect to get hard compensation (like packs, credit, etc) for every event that they do. It is even worse when you have a judge in the store as an employee…

I don't have that problem to negotiate compensation with my LGS.

Before I started getting my judge level I already judged there and always got free drinks and food, and since we are only 20 to 25 people at a prerelease I can usually play and judge at the same time, which is pretty nice if you have free entry too :) (and I don't even have to ask to get that, since he is happy someone handles all that stuff)