The story of Gen Con’s financial woes continues. Click here for the documentation mentioned in this episode about Gen Con’s Chapter 11 filing.
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Longer than 5 minutes, but that’s okay.
I think you make some good points, and I feel as though some of the responses you got in the forum in question were simply knee-jerk reactions from people who’s default position is to defend Gen Con no matter what. I agree that Gen Con LLC is morally culpable for the $150k that should have been sent to the Make A Wish Foundation. Your boycott of Gen Con until that charity receives the money owed is a noble thing to do. Some would argue that it won’t affect Gen Con whether you go or not, but that’s not the point, is it?
Well done, and keep up the good work.
Rob. The Accidental Survivors Podcast
I think you are right, there is a moral responsibility whether or not Gen Con is legally culpable in the end. I support your boycott - I would say I am also boycotting but there is very little chance I would ever go to Gen Con either way.
By the way, I had no idea you had a new podcast. It just goes to show how out of the loop I am. Also, it goes to show how little contact we’ve had since February.
-Emma (you know, the one you run Serenity for when the universe likes us, you still remember me right?)
I have a few thoughts.
By way of explanation, I am a lawyer and I have done some bankruptcy work in the past. I did look over the bankrputcy filing as well as the Lucasfilm v. GenCon complaint.
First, in looking at the Lucasfilm v. GenCon complaint, it appears that the proceeds of the auction were actually characterized as the property of Lucasfilm. So there may be an argument to be made in the bankruptcy proceedings that the $150,000 is not really an asset of GenCon but of Lucasfilm (or if GenCon was to make payment directlt, of Make a Wish) and would therefore payable in full to Lucasfilm and not available to satisfy the claims of any other creditor. This would mean Make a Wish would get paid in full. The issue would be whether they proceeds were held in trust, which is a decision that the bankruptcy court will have to make based on the agreement bewteen Lucasfilms and GenCon.
Second, assuming that GenCon knew when the auction took place that it was on the verge of a bankrutcy, they may well have been advised not to pay the proceeds out becuase to do so would involve a “preferential transfer” - that is, favoring one creditor over another which is subject to being reversed in a bankrputcy proceeding. This wouldn’t necessarily have been the only course for them to take, but it would certainly have been on the table and many bankrutcy lawyers would probably have recommended holding onto that money and letting the judge decide how to deal with it once the bankruptcy had been filed.
Third, its clear that GenCon’s financial problems involve a good deal more than just the Lucasfilm lawsuit.
Whether the Make a Wish foundation gets those proceeds now is really up to the bankrutcy judge, GenCcon has no say in it. GenCon’s real mistake, in my opinion, was in taking custody of money not their own on the eve of bankrutcy. The fact that they didn’t pay it as agreed is actually explainable if they knew that their backrutcy was imminent.