Update: Jan 16, 2021

This morning, Friends of MAGFest learned that Eli, Jack, Joel, Paul Good, Dom, and Tresch chose to resign from their positions on the MAGFest board last night. They elected 3 long-time members of the volunteer community as their replacements: Carrie, Cody, and Jason.

While we were not involved in the conversations that led to this point, we fully support the leadership changes that have been made and the new members who were elected. There is still so much work to be done, so many questions left unresolved, and so many changes that still need to be made. But we’ve finally started to have real hope for seeing those changes. This is a chance for a new beginning—a chance to right the wrongs of the past, and bring the organization into a new and better era. We will do whatever we can to ensure this chance doesn’t go to waste.

There are no guarantees for what happens next, or what MAGFest’s future holds. But we promise to work as hard as we can, with as many people as we can, to ensure that the future is as bright as it can be.

See the official MAGFest’s statement.

Home

Friends of MAGFest, a group of MAGFest employees and volunteers, went public on 11/19/2020.

Our purpose was to inform the community that MAGFest is facing an unprecedented, existential threat—the MAGFest Board of Directors and Executive Director.

The issues detailed on this site were raised privately numerous times. The Board of Directors and Executive Director did not respond to any of them a timely manner, and ultimately failed to resolve any of the concerns presented to them. Instead, they chose repeatedly to act in a way that is unquestionably harmful to the wellbeing of the entire MAGFest community.

Our concerns are:

Abuse of power by the Board and Executive Director
Financial neglect of the organization
Mismanagement of the Executive Director by the Board
Mismanagement of the organization by the Executive Director and the Board
Verbal and emotional abuse by the Executive Director
Repeated and blatant disregard for community wishes and desires
Perpetuating a harmful environment with no accountability
Dismissing all concerns raised privately
Retaliating against those who raised complaints

Inappropriate actions include:

Every MAGFest employee filed an official HR complaint about Executive Director Paul Birtel with the Board in August. Multiple members of the Board stated they took the complaints less seriously since they were submitted as a group, and after over 3 months of silence, the employees were notified that the Board considered their complaints closed. No visible actions were taken or change in the Executive Director’s behavior occurred. (See Ev, Faith, Dac, and Debra’s letters.)
One MAGFest employee, who did not report to the Board, was given a surprise performance review by the Board before her own HR complaints against the Executive Director had been resolved. This performance review was largely composed of complaints that the Executive Director had brought to a mediation with the employee previously, making it seem heavily retaliatory. Despite having an exemplary record with the company, including serving as interim Executive Director previously, the employee was later terminated with that performance review cited as the reason. (See Debra’s original letter and Debra’s post-firing letter.)
Two MAGFest volunteers were elected by the community for potential appointment to the Board. After putting the two candidates through months of unprofessional “onboarding”, the Board ultimately rejected both nominees. (See Josiah’s and Shir’s letters.)
One Board nominee was the subject of an unsubstantiated harassment report by a Board member. The Board took inappropriate disciplinary action against him instead of following the normal processes for handling those reports and handing it off to the appropriate committee. (See Josiah’s and Shir’s letters.)
The Executive Director repeatedly bullied both employees and unpaid volunteers, and explicitly refused to accept coaching or constructive criticism. (See Ev, Faith, Dac, and Debra’s letters and Debra’s letter to the board.)
The Board bypassed normal spending protocols and tightly restricted budgets during a year of pandemic-induced financial distress and spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal counsel and external consultants.

Note: All linked documentation can be found in the Friends of MAGFest Google Drive.

We continue to call for:

An immediate removal of Paul Birtel as Executive Director of MAGFest.
An immediate removal of Joel Attanasio, Jack Boyd, and Eli Courtwright from the MAGFest Board of Directors.
An immediate stop to inappropriate employee and volunteer disciplinary actions.
A new set of bylaws mandating clearer Board member term limits and staff-elected Board members.

The Present

Since the Friends of MAGFest site first launched, several new developments have occurred:

The Board split on their opinions about the concerns raised. Three Board members (Dom, Paul G, and Tresch) reached out to us to begin conversation and work to resolve the issues we presented. The other Board members (Eli, Jack, Joel, and Executive Director Paul Birtel) continued to dismiss the concerns raised and the desires of MAGFest’s employees and volunteers.
Dom, Paul G, and Tresch were given 2 weeks by the rest of the Board to meet with FoM and act as a bridge between the groups. They truly listened to what was wrong and worked tirelessly with FoM and the other board members in an attempt to bring all parties to the best possible resolution.
On 12/28/20, at the end of the 2 weeks, Executive Director Paul Birtel chose to fire Debra, the Events Director, as well as 3 FoM members who were active staffers (Shir, Josiah, and Ian). This decision was supported by Eli, Jack, and Joel, and condemned by Dom, Paul G, and Tresch.
Debra’s severance pay and health insurance were tied to a Separation and Release of Claims Acknowledgement. Signing this would have removed her right to sue MAGFest for wrongful termination or speak up about the situation further.
Shir and Ian were fired from staff indefinitely. Their ability to even attend MAGFest events for at least 3 years was tied to a Separation and Release of Claims Acknowledgement. Signing this would remove their right to sue MAGFest or speak up about the situation further.
Paul Birtel claimed none of these actions were related to their involvement in FoM. He announced these actions in a MAGFest Slack post which has since been deleted.
Due to Paul Birtel firing the Events Director and several key staffers less than a month before Virtual MAGFest and lacking the necessary skills to act as Events Director himself, Virtual MAGFest was cancelled.
Eli, Jack, and Joel selected 3 volunteers to sit on the Board, and implied they may be willing to step down themselves after another 7 months as full Board members.
Eli, Jack, Joel, and Paul Birtel have continued to hurt the volunteer community and perpetuate a harmful environment with no accountability.

Despite all this, we are still hoping for change. The situation continues to develop, and while it’s been a long, exhausting fight, it’s not over yet. We are unbelievably grateful for the community’s support, and the continued efforts to help MAGFest move forward in a more productive, healthy manner.

Thank you again for your support. We could not have made it this far without you.

Additional Notes

On the current site

The original documentation and website for Friends of MAGFest was written for an internal audience, and may be confusing for those with a different frame of reference. The site was rewritten and relaunched on January 11, 2021 to the version you’re reading today. In an effort to clarify the situation to those outside of our volunteer community, we are working on a timeline of events that occurred and will post it here as soon as possible. We hope this will provide context for the rest of our documentation, which can be found on our Google Drive. You can also view the original Friends of MAGFest site. We will continue updating and clarifying documentation as we are able.

On community involvement

Our campaign is fundamentally one against abuse and harassment, and we ask that nobody perpetuate this cycle further by attacking individuals on our behalf. We do not stand for or encourage harassment of any person involved, regardless of their actions—board members, employees, volunteers, performers, or attendees alike. A healthier community starts today with every one of us. We remain focused on our mission and demands, and ask that you do, too.