WotC Greg Tito On Leaving WotC: 'It feels good to do something that doesn't just line the pockets of *****'

We reported earlier that WotC's communications director Greg Tito had left his 9-year stint managing the Dungeons & Dragons brand for a political appointment as Deputy Director of External Affairs for the Washington secretary of state's office.

Greg Tito Leaves Wizards of the Coast

Greg Tito, formerly the communications manager in charge of overseeing messaging for the Dungeons & Dragons brand, is departing Wizards of the Coast for a career in the public sector. Tito announced that he would be joining the Washington secretary of state's office starting this week, ending an...

www.enworld.org

In a surprising turn of events, Tito criticized his former employers, saying "It feels good to do something that doesn't just line the pockets of a**holes." He later went on to clarify "Sorry. I meant "shareholders".

Tito is now Deputy Director of External Affairs for the Washington Secretary of State office in Olympia, WA.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I actually take more offense at the clarification. I don't care if he thinks the management of Hasbro are ***holes, but by replacing that later with "shareholders" he is saying he thinks shareholders are ***holes. I own stocks (not an Hasbro though), I'm a shareholder, I'm not an...wait, never mind. That tracks, still hurts though

He's not talking about small fries, he's talking about wealthy institutional investors with clout, the Blackrocks, Vanguards, Blackstone, Paul Singer, etc...

 

[Rabulias]

Besides the low-hanging "freedom of speech" argument, don't you think a person who works in the field of Communications (not just Communications, but DIGITAL Communications) quite well understands when and when not to hit "Send" when it comes to social media posts?

Freedom of speech in the USA only protects one from any retaliation by the government. It does not spare you from actions taken by private individuals, like future employers.

 

[SteveC]

I mean, it's not like his characterization of the people in question is really news to anyone at this point.

I have to ask if that's really true. It's been obvious to me that there's been a serious problem with management and the corporate culture over at WotC for years now. It's one of the reasons I try to differentiate between the creative people and management.

And yet, whenever this is brought up, there's a chorus of people ready to just say, "Nah, It'll be fine." (If you know who the Critical Drinker is, when I write that, I say it in his voice). There really seems to be a load of folks who think everything is fine and the WotC ship is sailing along without issue.

The launch of the new Edition is underway, and when the PHB comes out I expect it will sell just fine. More books than the previous one did. And we will have a lot of people saying, "see!" over it. And yet I wonder how many gamers, how many Youtube personalities, how many companies who want to do business using the WotC brand, are being more hesitant. I certainly don't wish anything bad on the people who make D&D, but it does seem like they are increasingly frustrated by the people who don't make it, and yet have control over how that brand evolves.

 

[Clint_L]

"That's so unprofessional!" "The dirty language wasn't needed!"

Dude's on his personal account, first of all, so he doesn't HAVE to be professional, there.

Depends on your job. I'm a teacher; I absolutely have to be professional when I post on personal accounts.

And second: Expletives are SO USEFUL. And so -powerful-, too, when either used in special situations or really frequently since they can shape public perception pretty hard.

Agreed.

For a guy who works in Communications you can bet your bottom dollar he knows both the power of an expletive and when to drop one to great effect.

You'll see no clutching of pearls from me.

I'm right there with him on the whole insulting shareholders things. They're ruining everything, everywhere, for everyone. And have been for a -long- time.

Seems to me like an odd choice for someone moving into a public service position, but Canada is a lot less political than the USA so maybe there are different expectations. My spouse is in a fairly senior government position and they would never post something like that.

 

[Parmandur]

Depends on your job. I'm a teacher; I absolutely have to be professional when I post on personal accounts.

Agreed.

Seems to me like an odd choice for someone moving into a public service position, but Canada is a lot less political than the USA so maybe there are different expectations. My spouse is in a fairly senior government position and they would never post something like that.

No, that's not just a Canadian thing.

 

[mamba]

In looking at it in a better light, perhaps it is that he enjoys being a public servant and serving the public than being in a corporate community, which I can respect.

or maybe he just is tired of all the nonsense the a**holes at WotC / Hasbro put him through

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Anyone else want more details over what pissed off Tito.

 

[Oofta]

Anyone else want more details over what pissed off Tito.

Some people just don't like working for "The Man". There may not be anything more to ot.

 

[billd91]

He's not just some desk jockey, he was on the PR team. That means that it's his job to make people feel good about the company he worked for. If I was a hiring manager I would look at this as a massive red flag.

I dunno. If you’re afraid of what your prospective ex-employees will say about you, maybe you should take a good look at yourself and figure out why they might do that as soon as they’re out the door.

 

[Oofta]

I dunno. If you’re afraid of what your prospective ex-employees will say about you, maybe you should take a good look at yourself and figure out why they might do that as soon as they’re out the door.

As I said above, I've known people that didn't like working for corporations for the sole reason that they were corporations. Their company did nothing wrong, they simply weren't happy selling.