The CGDC

I founded the Computer Game Developers' Conference; the first one was held in my home. Realizing that a volunteer organization runs more efficiently when the workers have a say in its operation, I agreed to turn over ownership of the Conference to the volunteers who agreed to run the conference, with each of us owning equal shares. I retained the position of Chairman of the Board. We all preferred to incorporate as a non-profit, because we were unanimous in perceiving the CGDC as a service organization. But our treasurer convinced us to incorporate as a for-profit corporation, because the paperwork would be less onerous that way. After all, we could always refuse to make a profit that wouldn't be hard.

LESSON 96

Money can ruin a noble cause.

The conference was a huge success, enjoying exponential growth. In an effort to keep the growth manageable, we kept raising fees to chase people away and providing better services to get rid of all the money the fees generated. But the attendee list just kept growing, the money kept pouring in, and we couldn't keep ahead of it. Despite our best efforts, we were reaping huge profits.

Then disaster struck. Perhaps it was the overweening ambition of one board member, the fiery temper of another, the ugly vindictiveness of a third, or the hurt pride of a fourth, that contributed to the confrontation. Surely my own brusque style of running meetings antagonized the others. And there's no question that greed played a large role in subsequent events. Whatever the details, the final result was that the other board members kicked me out of the CGDC, confiscated my stock, and sold the conference for $3 million, divvying up the proceeds and all previous profits among themselves. I contested their actions, but settled for a small fraction of what each of them got.