I actually asked the staff at the London event last year if they played Pokemon themselves or anything (these were the peeps distributing the Milotics) and they said they'd "had a days training". Take what you will from that. :p
STAFF and JUDGES are different things.
STAFF are able bodys and hands who are there through an agency where they staff events, festivals, conventions, etc.
JUDGES are hand picked by TPCi for their superior knowledge and experience with the game.
This year, Pokemon Professors (TPCi's TCG Judges) are able to volunteer if they wish. TPCi would rather have a Professor to volunteer then pay an agency to staff an event. There are 2 positives to having Pokemon professors.
One, the event staff will have full knowledge of what pokemon are, as they have full knowledge of the game already, thus no real training except for actual event organization.
Two, they are giving great opportunity for newer professors to gain experience for when it comes to staffing bigger events like Nationals and Worlds.
So, this year there will be more knowledgeable staff - but there will still be people there just to help the event run smoothly and not have perfect knowledge of the game.
Question: Do the people who run it, know that EV training has been cracked?
Or has anyone who ever had gone, and asked the judges, or people who running about EVs/IVs, or were they clueless, and say. "Pikachu is great, its Electric Attacks are strong"
STAFF that take your registeration sheet and turn on and off the playing stations - no. They probably do not.
JUDGES and TPCi Staff - yes. they know the game inside and out. EVs, IVs, PIDs, etc. And they lurk around these forums on a daily basis. Marrilland, Serebii, Pokegym, Smogon - there is a guy on their staff where they sole job is to do R&D and lurk around these sites.
