Jester - Settling Rumors with fact

[gdisney]

Has anyone else noticed how contriversial Jester seems to be? What about our mere existance stirs up so many strong emotions?

Hey Jason - Don't worry about what this 'musicdesign' fellow says. This is the same person who earlier this month said: "DCI should just ban Div 3 from the DCI tour and elimate them from Championships". That isn't a solution.

I like your phillosophy that the competition is a byproduct of the learning process. Just keep doing what you're doing, and I think you guys will be fine.

[CrunchyTenor]

Maybe DCP should ban "musicdesign".

Garry

[the1gofer]

Maybe DCP should ban "musicdesign".

Garry

No, he's intitled to his oppinion. I susspect he isn't the only one who feals as he does. He's just the most vocal.

[JimF-LowBari]

I believe small corps appeal to a different type of kid. From my experience we seem to attract those students who are seeking, more than anything else, a second family.

You have to step outside the D1 paradigm to get D3 to really work.

As I posted before, I started with a crappy (inactive almost 2 years) Senior corps and came in last place for a year straight in both DCA and RCA (small Sr circuit). What I was looking for was a place to keep playing a horn after HS so it didn't bother me. My last year we came in 6th at DCA Finals.

Having been in the Sr version of both a bad Div II/III corps and in the middle of Div I, all I can say is . I was in the same corps for six years but yet it wasn't the same corps at the beginning as at the end. The mentality of what the members want is totally different.

And the best part is, no one is rigt, no one is wrong. Just different.

PS - "It's all for the kids." Right?

[ktown]

ok. i'm new. and i solely joined this forum to respond to this.

my point is, is that jester is an awfully run organization. as a prospective member who attended their first two camps, i was appaled by anything associated with it managerially. i had planned on this being my first year being involved in the drum corps activity, and i was extremely excited. i had originally planned to attend the academy auditions but when i found out that they already had over 400 applicants and that there was another, smaller corps in the state, i chose that opportunity. by choosing this path, i sacrificed my opportunity to even audition for academy considering they had scheduled the jester camps on the same exact days as the academy. but at the time is seemed plausible. i had heard the jester horror stories from last year, where it was ran by a bunch of people the kids hated, and there was ultimately a revolt merely days before their scheduled tour where a majority of the corps disbanded and members of the staff left. but, this year it was supposed to be better. there was supposed to be more kids, new staff, basically a new beginning. but when i arrived at the first camp with 5 other kids from my school(by the way, we drove 4 hours to attend this camp) we were greeted by an empty building. we showed up and there was merely a small banner jester on the fence outside and we thought maybe we were in the wrong facility. but when we found it, all that was there was a director, a secretary, and a list of fees. as the camp progressed only 3 other kids showed up. that left us with a weekend long camp with half a drumline, one horn, and one guard member. there was a bit of hope with the arrival of the brass caption head and percussion caption though, who were the only members of the staff with any actual drum corps experience. we were reassured that there would be many more kids at the next camp, and we would have a better experience. this was VERY untrue. at the arrival of the second camp, we were led to maricopa high school, a high school basically in the middle of no where, this resulted in this now 5 hour drive turning into a 6 hour affair, due to fact that it was pretty much impossible not to get lost looking for the place. upon arrival, we found a secretary, a brass caption head, a brass assistant, a percussion caption head, and even more fees(by the way, both the brass assistant, and percussion caption head came with us considering they were both from our school, around 5 hours away). we were speechless. the attendance was even LOWER at this camp. and this time, there was even the absence of the director to deal with. we were stuck. there was hardly anything we could do, except cancel the camp we had already paid for halfway through.

at this point. i left the organization. but several of my friends remained and kept me up to date on the status. according to my sources, attendance at the remaining camps was basically measley. the majority of the members were kids who actually attended the high school the director was at, and that was apparently their recruitment plan. the kids worked ridiculously hard for several months, putting the show together with a small staff and fees that were amounting over 1000 dollars. the corps was promised a trip to madison over the first few months, but apparently it stopped getting talked about, and ultimately cancelled.

i felt hopeful for the remaining members considering they apparently had solid brass, guard, percussion, and front ensemble heads who were keeping the corps moving, but then i found out what i had been expecting. within a few weeks of tour, the brass, guard and percussion heads all resigned. leaving the kids helpless. several kids who had placed over 1000 dollars into this organization did not know what to do. several left, obviously some stayed. but my point is, is that these kids deserve better. when their only opportunities are a monster like academy that eats everything in its path and is largely made of either returning members or college students, or this crippled, sorry excuse for an organization known as jester, the kids are the ones being cheated. this corps needs a SERIOUS staff adjustment, and certainly a new gameplan. the executives of this organization need to give the kids who have placed such time, sacrifice, and devotion these things in return!

i wish all the jester kids the best on their tour. i just hope next year the staff actually gets it together for once.

[the1gofer]

my point is, is that jester is an awfully run organization. as a prospective member who attended their first two camps, i was appaled by anything associated with it managerially. i had planned on this being my first year being involved in the drum corps activity, and i was extremely excited. i had originally planned to attend the academy auditions but when i found out that they already had over 400 applicants and that there was another, smaller corps in the state, i chose that opportunity. by choosing this path, i sacrificed my opportunity to even audition for academy considering they had scheduled the jester camps on the same exact days as the academy. but at the time is seemed plausible. i had heard the jester horror stories from last year, where it was ran by a bunch of people the kids hated, and there was ultimately a revolt merely days before their scheduled tour where a majority of the corps disbanded and members of the staff left. but, this year it was supposed to be better. there was supposed to be more kids, new staff, basically a new beginning. but when i arrived at the first camp with 5 other kids from my school(by the way, we drove 4 hours to attend this camp) we were greeted by an empty building. we showed up and there was merely a small banner jester on the fence outside and we thought maybe we were in the wrong facility. but when we found it, all that was there was a director, a secretary, and a list of fees. as the camp progressed only 3 other kids showed up. that left us with a weekend long camp with half a drumline, one horn, and one guard member. there was a bit of hope with the arrival of the brass caption head and percussion caption though, who were the only members of the staff with any actual drum corps experience. we were reassured that there would be many more kids at the next camp, and we would have a better experience. this was VERY untrue. at the arrival of the second camp, we were led to maricopa high school, a high school basically in the middle of no where, this resulted in this now 5 hour drive turning into a 6 hour affair, due to fact that it was pretty much impossible not to get lost looking for the place. upon arrival, we found a secretary, a brass caption head, a brass assistant, a percussion caption head, and even more fees(by the way, both the brass assistant, and percussion caption head came with us considering they were both from our school, around 5 hours away). we were speechless. the attendance was even LOWER at this camp. and this time, there was even the absence of the director to deal with. we were stuck. there was hardly anything we could do, except cancel the camp we had already paid for halfway through.

at this point. i left the organization. but several of my friends remained and kept me up to date on the status. according to my sources, attendance at the remaining camps was basically measley. the majority of the members were kids who actually attended the high school the director was at, and that was apparently their recruitment plan. the kids worked ridiculously hard for several months, putting the show together with a small staff and fees that were amounting over 1000 dollars. the corps was promised a trip to madison over the first few months, but apparently it stopped getting talked about, and ultimately cancelled.

i felt hopeful for the remaining members considering they apparently had solid brass, guard, percussion, and front ensemble heads who were keeping the corps moving, but then i found out what i had been expecting. within a few weeks of tour, the brass, guard and percussion heads all resigned. leaving the kids helpless. several kids who had placed over 1000 dollars into this organization did not know what to do. several left, obviously some stayed. but my point is, is that these kids deserve better. when their only opportunities are a monster like academy that eats everything in its path and is largely made of either returning members or college students, or this crippled, sorry excuse for an organization known as jester, the kids are the ones being cheated. this corps needs a SERIOUS staff adjustment, and certainly a new gameplan. the executives of this organization need to give the kids who have placed such time, sacrifice, and devotion these things in return!

i wish all the jester kids the best on their tour. i just hope next year the staff actually gets it together for once.

General disclaimer: The following statements are not meant to be argumentative or directed at any particular person.

I'm sorry you feel this way, however the title of this post is "Jester - Settling Rumors with fact", and I don't believe you have any facts in your response. I see allot of “I feel", "I hear", "my sources say", and on and on. The fact is, no one really knows what the management is doing other than the management.

Here are my feelings about a general problem that affects Jester. I believe that Arizonans in general suffer from severe "Fair Weather Fan". Take for example our local basketball team, when they were loosing no one went to their games, but when they made finals allot of fans suddenly came out of the woodworks. I believe this applies to Jester Corps as well. You said it yourself, when things were tough in the beginning you quit. You can give as many justifications as you want or no justification at all, but you quit. I don't hold any ill will toward any student who decides the activity or the organization is not for them. However, "crippled, sorry excuse for an organization known as jester" is an accusation made out of ignorance. You will be hard pressed to find a current member of the corps that has bad things to say, they will say it's been tough at time, and very discouraging at times, however most of them will say they love the activity and they love the organization, and they love the friends they have made.

I will agree that they have issues with inconstancy with staff, but I don't believe it's completely the managements fault. I know that if the students are really the center of the activity then regardless of issues you may have with management you stick it out till the end of the season and then leave quietly. If for some extreme reason you believe that you can't finish the season then you still leave quietly.

You say "These kids deserve better". I have seen this comment before, and I can't understand it. Are we holding the students hostage? Are we abusing them? Many of our members are returning members, many of the members have been with the organization for several years, and many of the students could hold their own in any D1 corps. It sounds to me like we have talented students seeking us out, we must be doing something rite.

In the end, you can't argue with numbers. Jester will be on the road this weekend and we'll let the numbers speak for themselves.

Edited July 3, 2006 by the1gofer

[ktown]

You say "These kids deserve better". I have seen this comment before, and I can't understand it. Are we holding the students hostage? Are we abusing them? Many of our members are returning members, many of the members have been with the organization for several years, and many of the students could hold their own in any D1 corps. It sounds to me like we have talented students seeking us out, we must be doing something rite.

yes. you are in a way holding them. when they have commited an excess of 1000 dollars to an organization who has been promising them stability, yet only given them disappointment, how many kids are going to go home and tell the parents that it was all for not? i know one specific example of an "underprivileged" jester member who worked until between 1 and 2 am on school nights, several nights a week, for several months just to meet the outrageous fees set in place by the jester management because the only thing he wanted was to march corps and your precious organization doesn't have a scholarship program, and he was crushed when the staff walked out because the organization was requring mr and mrs martin, and mr hines to travel all the way from northern nevada on their own dime!

those kids deserve better than to watch the organization fall apart, while they are being required to pump dollar after dollar into it.

[jonnyboy]

Has anyone else noticed how contriversial Jester seems to be? What about our mere existance stirs up so many strong emotions?

I think there is a strong following of Jester's situation on DCP because a few posters started threads last year concerning the corps. Many of us had not hear of them before but started to follow the progress. We saw posts telling us how great the corps would be this season, and how "so and so" was on staff etc. Basically a lot of hype and publicity.....that seems to be for naught. I think people stirred up interest in hopes of great things....unfortunalty we are seeing the great things promised, but we are still interested in what is going on.

I'm sorry you feel this way, however the title of this post is "Jester - Settling Rumors with fact", and I don't believe you have any facts in your response. I see allot of “I feel", "I hear", "my sources say", and on and on. The fact is, no one really knows what the management is doing other than the management.

Ktown had first hand experience from two camps this season. This persons post seems genuine, and if the situation is anything like it was described I would say there is management problems that could be fixed.

[the1gofer]

I think there is a strong following of Jester's situation on DCP because a few posters started threads last year concerning the corps. Many of us had not hear of them before but started to follow the progress. We saw posts telling us how great the corps would be this season, and how "so and so" was on staff etc. Basically a lot of hype and publicity.....that seems to be for naught. I think people stirred up interest in hopes of great things....unfortunalty we are seeing the great things promised, but we are still interested in what is going on.

Ktown had first hand experience from two camps this season. This persons post seems genuine, and if the situation is anything like it was described I would say there is management problems that could be fixed.

Yes and no. Yes he knew what he saw in those camps. No he doens't know what is going on now. In the end I don't think it really matters. He appears really hurt, and that I feal bad about! Much of his post sounds like it's coming from being hurt, and I don't blame him. I would probably feal the same way if I were him, but their is another side to the coin. I could point out several facts that I disagre with, but what would that accomplish? I chalenge people to look at the facts. The kids are improving, theirfor the organization is improving. That's the most important issue.

[ktown]

i can promise you my accounts of those experiences are entirely accurate. i can recall mr jcrews being at one of them, he knows that's exactly how it was.

but i do agree the kids are improving, indeed they are, but the management is not, and i know anyone can recognize that fact. that corps is ran more like a high school marching band than anything, and that is what appears to be their main folly. drum corps management is a business. the activity itself is sport, fun, whatever you want to call it. but those in charge of the corps are the one's who bear a responsibility to make the machine work, but that responsibility, for the second year in a row, has been neglected.

and honestly, dont feel bad for me, i got out the instant i realized the instability of the organization. feel bad for the kids who poured in hundreds of dollars and countless hours of their time just to watch it fall apart.