Judges Policies
Updated September 15, 2007
If you are interested in running an event at Winter War, you must fill out and send in a
Judges Form.
Deadline to be in the Pre-registration packet is generally early December. Check the Judges Form for the actual date.
The final acceptance date for events is early January. Check the Judges Form for exact dates.
From the Convention FAQ:
Q: I would like to run a game or two next year at Winter War. What do I need to do?
A: Space for events is limited at Winter War, so all requests for such space should be made as early as possible through the Convention Chairman. Winter War policy is to solicit game submissions from previous judges, then from the public as a whole. Anyone who asks will be placed on our judge contact list for the next year.
When submitting events for Winter War, please keep the following in mind:
The sooner the better! Deadlines are the last opportunity to submit events, but space is limited. The earlier your event submission arrives, the better chance you have of getting the time slot you requested.
Make your title and description count. You don't have a great deal of space (300 characters) and your event is one of many. Make sure your title and description are appealing, accurate, and self-explanatory. This is the best method of drawing people to your event. We do reserve the right to edit descriptions for space or duplication. And be sure to use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation!
The following Judges Policies were drafted as an extension of our overall convention policies. All of these appear in some form either on the event submission form or in the convention program. We invite your response and commentary.
Judges Discount Policies
- Your event submission form is NOT a convention registration form. You must register separately to enter the convention.
- There are no special "judges badges". We have only staff and attendee badges at Winter War. Running an event does not make you a Winter War staff member at any time.
- When registering, we ask all judges (including tournament assistants) to mark "JUDGE" in the time slots your event is running when you register to insure you are credited with the discount.
- Judges who run a single event receive a 50% discount on weekend registration or free registration for a single day. Judges who run two or more events receive free weekend registration. Judges always must pay for events they play in.
- Remember that there is only one judge per event for discount purposes without prior arrangement with the Convention Chairman. All other individuals participating in an event will be considered players.
Event Submission Policies
- Event submissions must contain acceptable language and content for all ages of players. It is acceptable to run events with mature themes but you must clearly indicate that the event is intended for mature players in the description and all printed material submitted for inclusion in the program book must be tempered to an audience of all ages.
- The Winter War Gaming Convention reserves the right to make changes to a submitted event's description for reasons of clarity and/or brevity, to make changes to a submitted event's time slot or min/max number for scheduling and space purposes, and to decline or cancel any submitted event regardless of submission date or submission content. The event judge will be notified of any changes made in either of these areas.
- Demo events run to promote a game system should be free events; such event submissions give only half the discount a normal event would, and no judge may submit more than two free events without prior approval of the Convention Chairman.
- Event submissions are not accepted at the convention; if your event is not in the final program schedule, we cannot give you a table or discount your registration as a judge. Available space is always a limiting factor. When all available play space is occupied at the convention, further events will not be accepted. Events run outside of the convention event space (offsite, in a hotel guest room, etc) will not be supported by the Winter War Gaming Convention under any circumstances.
- When we accept your event submission, we will e-mail confirmation when possible, and e-mail or phone the event judge if there are problems with an event submission. Please confirm your event's listing in the preregistration packet posted to our website.
- If an event has a special requirement such as power access, please note these when submitting your event.
During The Convention
- Judges should arrive fully prepared for their events, including supplying characters, painted miniatures, record sheets, required props, terrain, and rules as needed to begin any event within ten minutes of its scheduled start.
- The Winter War Gaming Convention cannot provide rules assistance or assistance loading and setting up game materials, cannot guarantee the safety of unattended GM materials, and cannot supply materials for events without prior arrangement.
- The Winter War Gaming Convention uses the "Closed Registration" method; event registration sheets are maintained at the Registration Desk, and only convention staff at the desk has access to them and may make changes.
- Convention staff members will distribute event registration sheets 10 minutes prior to the start of each timeslot. Please be at your event at that time to welcome your players and prepare for your event. If you do not have your event registration sheet at the start of a timeslot, be aware that if there is a line at the desk, we will hold distributing sheets to allow new signups.
- All events being run at the convention must be run at the appropriate time and area as indicated in the final program schedule unless otherwise instructed by the Convention Chairman. Events must be run as they are represented in the final program schedule. Changes made to the format, player maximum, and game system cannot be made without express permission from the Convention Chairman.
- If you plan on adding additional players and will subsequently need additional tables to accommodate those players, you must notify the Convention Chairman first. Please do not assume you can just take over any nearby tables that are empty at the moment - we may have other events scheduled for that space.
- Game judges and players must adhere to all Winter War convention policies and Hotel policies when participating in events.
- After event registration sheets have been distributed, if your game has few players signed up, please go to your table and set up anyway and wait at least 10 minutes for some players. If you do not have enough by then, go to the Registration Desk and they will try to find you some players. Give the game another 10 minutes once you get back to your table. If additional players come to your event and you are willing to let them in, send them to the Registration Desk. The Registration Desk will give them a card to give you to keep with the event registration sheet.
- In the middle of each timeslot, a convention staff member will collect the event registration sheets, and any additional event signup cards. If your event ends and the sheets have not yet been collected, please turn them into the Registration Desk. Without the event registration sheet back at the Registration Desk, a judge may be declared absent and players in that round declared ineligible for future rounds or prizes at the discretion of the Convention Chairman. If there are any problems, contact the Registration Desk.
- If your game is going to run past the scheduled timeslot end, please contact the Registration Desk. There is a full hour between all sessions to allow judges to setup their events. Please be courteous to judges running in the timeslot after your event and end your game in a timely fashion. All Main Gaming convention space will be locked up when the Evening time slots are completed each day, at the discretion of the convention staff.
- If you have any problems or need assistance, look for someone wearing a purple badge (convention staff). All judge-related issues are handled by the Convention Chairman, and all registration-related issues are handled by the Convention Registrar.