Resignation

Some of you know that for the last 3 years, I have been an administrator at deviantART.com, which is the largest art community on the internet.

I stepped down today because the CEO of the company, in my opinion, doesn’t have the faintest idea of what honor and integrity are. Due to the fact that comments and journal posts are being removed by the administration, I have chosen to post my resignation here as well. This means I am now without a “job” of any type save my freelance editing, but I retain my honor, and to me that’s all that matters.

Update: Scott Jarkoff, my former boss and mentor, has finally made a statement. Leave some support. The last five years of his life were devoted nearly night and day to making that community what it is. It’s a damn shame that it’s gotten to this point. Anyway, my resignation letter follows.

I have been at this site for over 4 years, and I’ve been an admin in various capacities for most of that time. There are few people still on staff that were there when I started. Sadly, today I will add my name to the list of those stepping down.

I am a firm believer in integrity. I’ve made my share of mistakes; some publicly, some not. But I do believe in transparency: Be who you say you are, do what you say you plan to do, and if you screw up, have the maturity and honor to say it and apologize to those you hurt. For a long time, this site and its management have not been able to claim any of those qualities.

As someone who has a great deal of management experience, I can tell you that a good leader respects those who work for them. They understand the sentence “A happy employee is a productive one.” An environment where people are kept in the dark only breeds mistrust. Without mutual trust in a working relationship, success is simply not possible.

There are a lot of rumors and conjecture going around, and the truth is, very few people KNOW the entire truth. I can tell you in all honesty that I am one of those people. I have been watching this story unfold for a very long time, and those who were involved included me for the purpose of information consistency. I have seen the emails going back and forth, I have seen the documentation that exists.

Rather than make this journal a tell-all (and open myself up for possible legal action for violation of my non-disclosure agreement), I will simply say this:

It is my opinion that the management of this company, for the most part, lacks the most common qualities of integrity and honor. The focus of the CEO’s vision is not one of community or art, but rather commerce and capital. While these are not in and of themselves bad things, when they take over what really matters it becomes a problem and corrupts everything in its path.

Unfortunately, I must also admit that in a sense, I have fallen victim to it as well. I have been appalled for months at the information that was made available to me through various channels, and yet I did nothing. Why? Because after 3 years, I was finally receiving a paycheck from DA. Not a large one, but money nonetheless. At the time, I was (and still am) planning a move across the country, and every dollar came in handy. It was wrong, and I believe I failed to do the right thing, way back when I first knew what the right thing was. I attempted to publicly stay out of the mess because I had a job to do.

It’s been said that “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” While obviously this is on a much smaller scale, the saying holds true. By remaining a part of the staff, I am in essence saying “I support what is happening.” I can no longer sit by and watch the double standards, the misinformation, and the outright lies that are being told. The time has come for me to stand up and say “This is wrong, and I will not be a part of it anymore.”

And so, I will say goodbye. Thank you to those who have been friends to me over the last few years. You know who you are, and you are welcome to pop by and say hello. My email is kit.jarrell@gmail dot com. To the MN@, I know some of you will follow me, and for that I thank you. To those who stay, I respect your decision and apologize that I could not get a hold of you privately first.

I am sorry I didn’t stand up sooner.

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