GAMA board apologises for directors being ‘rude and disrespectful’ to members during heated AGM

Editor’s note: GAMA is one of the sponsors of the BoardGameWire newsletter

Tabletop game industry trade organisation GAMA‘s board of directors have apologised for some of its elected leaders being “rude and disrespectful” during a “heated” annual general meeting at the recent GAMA Expo trade show.

Multiple members of the organisation expressed their disgust during the AGM that board members had suggested people only attended because free food was provided, while others were upset at the way they were shouted at and talked over during a fiery discussion on changes to the non-profit’s bylaws.

On one of the occasions the free food claim was mentioned by a member during the AGM, board member Matt Loter, also known as Matt Fantastic, said, “That was me, you can just blame me, that’s fine. No one else on this board.”

GAMA’s board had proposed lowering the quorum requirement for membership meetings from 25% to 10%, saying that the high thresholds coupled with the organisation’s heavy growth in recent years had made “adapting our organization to changing circumstances all but impossible”.

It also proposed allowing amendments to pass via a simple majority of voting members at a properly called membership meeting, calling the existing process “too rigid”. The board had said that “even small corrections require cumbersome organizational campaigns, which slow down the organization from becoming more efficient and providing more robust service to our members”.

Those changes had received pushback from some members prior to the AGM, with several raising concerns the move would make it too easy for the larger member groups, such as retailers, to push through changes to GAMA laws.

Other members both ahead of and during the AGM suggested that better communication was needed instead of lowering the quorum, with the onus on GAMA to encourage members to participate.

It also emerged during the meeting that not all of the board members were in favour of the amendments, or the extent of the shift to the new quorum percentage.

Both amendments were set to go to a vote following the March 2 meeting, but the board has since postponed the process, saying it would “re-evaluate, and be more mindful before making further proposals”.

The GAMA board also released a statement a week after the AGM which said, “During the meeting, discussion on changes to the bylaws became heated; and there were members of the board of directors who were rude and disrespectful to the membership who came to the event to voice their concerns. 

“This was out of order, unacceptable, and should have been shut down immediately. We, the members of your board of directors, apologize to all our members. We pride ourselves in serving GAMA’s members and advocating for our industry. Unfortunately, on Monday [March 2] that passion manifested in a way that was unbecoming of a board. 

“We also recognize this apology could have come sooner, but we wanted to discuss as a board what happened, and the best opportunity for that was during our spring planning session that convened on Friday, March 6, the day after GAMA Expo officially closed.”

The board added that it wanted any official meeting of GAMA members to be “a safe space for discourse”, especially when organisation-wide changes like bylaws amendments are being considered.

It said, “We expect the person(s) leading such meetings to maintain order and insist upon decorum from anyone who is taking part, and that includes members of the board of directors.” The meeting was chaired by GAMA president Nicole Brady.

GAMA’s board also acknowledged that there had been confusion about the proposed bylaw amendments, saying “We met the letter of the bylaws in regard to publishing the amendments in a timely manner; however, we could have done much better in spirit. We acknowledge that the timetable for the vote on the amendments gave the impression of being rushed, despite it again heeding the letter of the bylaws. This impression, and the passionate feedback on those amendments, are what led us earlier to announce that we were postponing the vote.”

It added, “Finally, we owe an apology to GAMA staff for fueling a discussion that distracted from their spectacular success. GAMA Expo 2026 was our biggest and best to date thanks to their hard work and dedication.  

“We believe GAMA, as a whole, should also be the best possible industry association it can be. We take your feedback seriously and will work to address our shortcomings as a board in order to ensure you, as members, get what you need out of GAMA. We look forward to working with you on that.”

This year’s GAMA Expo sealed another record attendance, ahead of its planned move to Baltimore in 2027 to contend with rapidly growing demand.

More than 3,820 attendees showed up to this year’s event in Louisville, Kentucky, up almost 12% on last year’s previous record of 3,425 – which had already left the show pressed for space across the exhibition hall and its extensive programme of seminars.