Three posts in a row about Quizzo Updates, announcing the end of Quizzo at venues… hope this isn’t a trend. There is no more Quizzo at Evil Genius. Frankly, this has been a long time coming. I thought (and management echoed those thoughts) that we really could’ve built something special, but there was always a gray cloud hanging over my head about the whole thing. I was willing to brush off so many of the rumors and stories I’d heard about the place and hope management learned and grew, but you can’t expect a slap hitter to start hitting bombs out of the park.
Strike 1.
After seeing the stories and allegations from @ratmagnet and others last month, I was really mad and frustrated with EG. Having not actually worked there or seen any of the events or (most of) the people in question, I cannot comment on the truthfulness of any of the rumors, but these types of stories and allegations are not something I can take lightly, so I called out the brewery in a few stories on Instagram. Predictably, they didn’t like that. I had a Zoom call with ownership and management to discuss it. They explained their side (which-- fine), and I will grant them that I was “combative” and “adversarial” (two words they used to describe me), but I do not apologize for calling out bullshit and expecting better. Ultimately, what really turned me off about the Zoom call was how they played the victim in all of this; as if the people hurt the most by the sexual abuse and harassment allegations were the bar and its owners.
Strike 2.
Their immediate solution to all of this was to lay low on social media. Which is fine, I can’t blame them for that. But it’s not a strategy I would recommend when you have programming (such as Quizzo) that requires promotion to be successful. Especially when you have big themed events (with Quizzo) that are already competing with other places for attention and aren’t promoted. So when I went to do a themed Quizzo on a Saturday as part of a special beer release, you better believe I was frustrated when there was almost no audience. Shout out to the one team of ladies who told me they came just for Quizzo (and backed that up by leaving after I finished the first round/ the only questions)—the four of them (whose names I neglected to get) are probably the only heroes in this story.
As soon as I finished, I was frustrated (a theme in this tale): frustrated that I spent a day of my life for a failed event; frustrated at management for lackluster responses; frustrated at myself for letting a rough week/month/year get to me and putting myself in this situation. So I voiced those frustrations by venting to a member of the management team (by all accounts a great dude who never deserved the brunt of this-- for that, Dan, I am sorry) about another member of the management team.
Now, yes. I could have handled myself better. I can make plenty of excuses for acting the way I did, but at the end of the day, none of them matter. I acted inappropriately and I own that. I probably ruined a good friendship and a fruitful Quizzo gig.
Strike 3.
I am not the hero in this story. Breaking the baseball analogy for a second, Strike 4 (or 0, I guess, if we go chronologically) was me attaching my name and my brand and my business to a venue that was problematic. I should’ve listened to all of my friends who expressed concern and disappoint in me that I followed through. And for that, I am sorry.
Lost in all of this is the wonderful staff at Evil Genius who were always so nice and so kind and so wonderful to me and Casey. They deserve nothing but the best. Nat, Vanessa, Kyle, and everyone else: thank you.
I hate ending on somber notes, so I leave you with this lesson: we can all do better. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t let your friends be jerks. If you see bullshit, call it out. If your friends and colleagues tell you about bullshit, listen to them. Believe them.
Thanks for reading.