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JR Honeycutt Banned From BGG.CON 2019
I did go back and reread Ms. Mann's statement. At the very end she mentions that this guy tries to get women drunk and take advantage of them. THAT is stone cold no go territory and this guy needs to be shunned if it is true. I didn't get that info initially which is why I thought there had to be more to the story. It broadens the impact from just the mistress into predatory behavior that does justify this guy going down in flames. Hopefully it is all corroborated and some legal action takes place. Systemic application of consequences are what will make cons and board game events safe spaces for all.
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Yes there is more to the story, such as the getting women drunk, and other things which I will not gossip about here.
Even if you remove the abuse narrative, you are left with professional misconduct. The board game industry is a gig economy, not unlike the gig economy of the entertainment industry. Many parallels can be drawn between this situation and what we know occurs in the movie industry between people in power (directors/producers/big name actors) and young hopefuls. Victoria was only 22 years old just starting her career in the industry. JR Honeycutt was 10 years her senior and essentially a "star" in the industry with power and influence. He pursued her, suduced her, manipulated her, made her totally depended upon him, then cut her loose and destroyed her career in the industry. Then he moved on to another younger woman in the industry, and then, I believe, a third one.
This was an industry wake-up call. Even if board gamer consumers can't connect the dots, people with power and authority within the industry have. They are not only condemning this one individual's behavior, but also finally recognizing and acknowledging that power imbalance based sexual harassment and misconduct exists in the industry (which we have all known for a very long time), and taking steps to address it. Since the industry is a gig economy it is harder to recognize and define than if it were a single company, but it is still workplace harassment, with the workplace tending to be cons, trade shows and consulting gigs. It is something that is difficult to address industry wide as people move from gig to gig among many companies. In this particular case, however, much of the abuse occurred at cons and trade shows, which means it occurred within the realm of influence of GAMA and by individual con organizers, and therefore they have the power to address it to some extent. There are also individual publishing companies acknowledging that they need and want to address it, but don't know quite how to proceed, again because of the complexity of much of the work being done on a consulting basis, and also due to lack of expertise in the area, and essentially not having HR departments. This is where GAMA can help by establishing guidelines for professional conduct.
I do not mean to minimize the tragedy and trauma of the individuals involved in this particular story, however, the motivation for my post was not to encourage the discussion of this specific case, but rather the larger implications vis a vis the industry reaction. I have made a leap of faith that the members of this community are capable to having this conversation without pulling the discussion down into a "trial by social media" of individuals.
ETA:
TL;DR the story here isn't that this happened AGAIN. The story is that people with the power to effect change have reacted to address the larger issues and actually attempt to bring about change in the industry.
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- Jackwraith
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ubarose wrote: A very informative and reasoned statement.
This. Every word of it.
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- Michael Barnes
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- san il defanso
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It shows the power of believing victims, especially when other people in power do so. I'm heartened by the response as well.
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This is totally appalling and it's nice to see the community respond in this way.
Here's my question - what do we do about his games? When I play Fireball Island with my daughter am I going to think about this? What about Unmatched which I have ready to go and need to review? Restoration said he's not receiving royalties from these games but is that enough?
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charlest wrote:
Here's my question - what do we do about his games? When I play Fireball Island with my daughter am I going to think about this? What about Unmatched which I have ready to go and need to review? Restoration said he's not receiving royalties from these games but is that enough?
My feeling is that his actions have already harmed enough people. Let's not allow them to harm the other designers who worked on these games or the publishers or all the people who work for those publishers. Any boycott of the many games he contributed to could also potentially harm Victoria, who is still trying to work in the industry (reduced revenues = reduced hiring), and, unfortunately, could make publishers hesitant to hire other young women in the future (because that is the way the world works).
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charlest wrote: Here's my question - what do we do about his games? When I play Fireball Island with my daughter am I going to think about this? What about Unmatched which I have ready to go and need to review? Restoration said he's not receiving royalties from these games but is that enough?
I think the Restoration case is fine. There's not a single game in their catalog that was only designed by one person, and if he's not profiting from continued sales I feel no guilt.
As far as work he'll actually profit from, leave it. It's not like anyone's buying Machi Koro Legacy anyway.
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I've met Honeycutt and Mann. The former was my contact at Restoration Games until they got rid of him in May. He was awkward, but friendly. I helped him with a Downforce demo when they were doing the Fireball Island tour so that people weren't just lingering around the plastic and he was as grateful as he was generous, mailing us RG product which we chose to add to the store's demo shelf.
The standout experience during the tour was Mann. My wife and I count hanging out with her as the best thing that came out of the event. She was dynamite. Wonderfully personable, fun anecdotes, managed to be social without being a salesperson because she wasn't there to sell to begin with. One of the best industry reps we've ever met.
As a result this whole thing hit like a ton of bricks. We're both absolutely livid. The fact that she was able to be so genuine and kind in the midst of this bullshit speaks to her immense strength and character. I wish her the best and hope to see her again some day. I wish the opposite for JR.
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- hotseatgames
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I have seen him at cons but have never actually met him, and I think it's safe to say I never will meet him. And that suits me just fine.
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charlest wrote: Here's my question - what do we do about his games? When I play Fireball Island with my daughter am I going to think about this? What about Unmatched which I have ready to go and need to review? Restoration said he's not receiving royalties from these games but is that enough?
I still enjoy reading HP Lovecraft, even though the man was a racist shit in real life. He no longer profits from this, and some of his creations are damn good, partially fueled by the fact he was a xenophobic asshat. I *personally* can separate the art from the artist, but that really is your choice. I do make a choice as to whether or not I purchase a product that funds a person/corporation that I disagree with. In this case, I've yet to see any specific evidence of properties he still receives royalties on. And if you're in doubt, the secondary market is your friend.
Also keep in mind that these game companies are generally very small and yet have acted generally admirably in this situation. I've not been made aware of complicit behavior to bury any of this (now or before). I would not punish them with a boycott without good reason.
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jason10mm wrote: She stayed in intimate contact with this guy for MONTHS, after all this crazy creepy stuff went down. Why? GTFO!
I know we want to keep this thread to industry-related talk, but I just wanted to mention that it usually takes several attempts for someone in an abusive relationship to leave.
As for the industry, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the major names (people, publishers, and other entities) came out to condemn the behavior. That definitely seems like progress.
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- Michael Barnes
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