Subject: Re: Paul Barclay's Resignation
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 13:45:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: James Chillcott <94chillc@scar.utoronto.ca>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

You know what?

As a business graduate I sometimes hold a great deal of respect for an
innovative, intelligent
company like Wizards. At others however the sheer ignorance of their
actions amazes me.
After reading Mr. Barclay's article I asked around, on the net and over
the phone. I talked
to all the judges I know about their compensation at tournaments and at
Pro Tour events.
In a very short period of time I have come to the same obvious and
disturbing conclusions
that Mr. Barclay and many others have already realized.

Wizards of the Coast, you are using your judges.

Someone in your company realizes that many judges are players who think
the concept of
becoming a judge is neat and might pay out more than they receive to judge
an event. This
attitude on behalf of the players would be natural were this game still in
its infancy.

However Magic is more than a game at this point it is a phenomenon. And
unless all your
public relations literature is a mask for a purely profit motivated firm,
you seem to be telling
us on an all to regular basis that you want Magic to become a national
sport. Well in case
you haven't noticed there are entire unions in professional sport that
watch over the
interests of the dedicated and intelligent men and women who act as
officials at professional
sporting events. These people receive wages well above minimum and they
are rarely
insulted with product instead of a paycheque. Hell, even little league
officials make more
than most high level magic judges.

Unions in professional official circles arose out of a fairly common need
to consolidate the
voices of their members in order to combat the money grubbing tactics of
their employers.
It would truly be sad to see such a thing happen with Magic.

At this crossroads Wizards, you have two choices:

One, you can stand idly by and watch as judge after judge follows the
footsteps of Mr.
Barclay, leaving their positions because you refuse to share your
financial success with a
group of people that so obviously deserve it. If this is the path you
choose than I suggest
that judges everywhere form their own union, refusing to act as officials
at any Wizards
events unless their incredibly reasonable demands are met. Face it Wizards
these people
are working for nothing. Last time I checked that was illegal, in fact
maybe the justice
department in your fair country would like a copy of this letter emailed
to their attention....

Or, two you could act like the stand up company you pretend to be and
start paying these
people fairly. Chirst you have so much product floating around collecting
dust don't tell me
you couldn't spare 1 or 2 boxes of product per judge at a major event.
Even though it isn't a
paycheque (which is really the proper thing to do here) it would at least
give the judges a
chance to make up for lost wages or a bruised ego.

The issue is simple...your friends have been doing you a favour. You took
advantage and
now its gone to far. Payback time is here baby....and isn't payback a
bitch?

James Chillcott
Chief Financial Officer
SCSP Board of Directors