StarCityGames.com and its In-Store Programs team will be at the Origins Trade Day on June 12 leading up to the Season Two Invitational in Columbus, Ohio. Coupled with Organizer feedback and expert brainstorming, we have some exciting changes to announce that evening at 6:00 pm. Join us at Origins at the Greater Columbus Convention Center to hear all the details. It’s a can’t-miss event, and we hope to see you there!
One of the most important goals of StarCityGames.com In-Store Programs is working with local game stores to improve the Magic playing community. When local stores start working together to host events, we start to see amazing things happen. This Store Spotlight is not about one store, but six across the state of Nebraska who have joined together to host events from SCG Super Invitational Qualifiers up to the Spring SCG State Championships. They call themselves the Midwest Championship Group (or the MCG), and they do their best to provide Nebraska with top quality events.
According to Ryan Foxworthy, our main contact with the MCG, “It all started with Gary Lemburg from GI Card Shop coming to me in May of 2013 and saying how cool it would be to give out 6 boxes of Modern Masters.” During that event, Ryan and Gary met with two more stores and planned on hosting an event with all four stores participating. Then, a fifth store was added for the next tournament and a sixth after that. The MCG now consists of Ryan Foxworthy at The Troll’s Den, Gary Lemburg at GI Card Shop, Shawn Mohrmann from EZ Gamer, Daniel Schmidt of Hobbytown USA, Tom Gibbs and Louis McNichols at Underground Gaming, and Rick Poehling from Krypton Comics.
Due to the rising popularity of Magic: the Gathering, we have seen tremendous growth in the number of competitive events of all kinds across the country. To assist you in getting your request approved as quickly as possible, we’ve put together some tips to help you avoid requesting unavailable dates.
Following these guidelines will help you get your event approved and accelerate the process.
Properly compensating your judges is extremely important because if it weren’t for them, there would be no event. Most judges have an expectation of their compensation being valued at the equivalent of a box of the most recent set. Being flexible in your judge compensation is going to create a better relationship between you and the judge and make them more willing to come back and judge more of your events. You can offer them store credit, cash, or maybe you even have some rare cards they are looking for. For Super IQs and Elite IQs, we recommend the above compensation plan for all judges with the expectation that you will provide a little something extra for the Head Judge.
Don’t forget to email us at isp@starcitygames.com with your mailbag questions!