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Just returned from Cadets camp. It was a good experience with some nice surprises.

No and, in fact, I'd suggest they keep the messaging clear that they've made these decisions in order to assure that their primary organization, The Cadets, does NOT skate on financial thin ice. These changes, I'm convinced, were made to focus on the primary organization, to the disagreement of some here that especially financially The Cadets are more important than USBands. That message needs to be primary to the kids coming to auditions. Refocusing on the direction of the corps and the path to winning again. Anything less in the messaging risks being a disincentive to potential members.

I do find it interesting that both proposal to go from 128 maximum members to 150 members; & 150-154 had to go to a rules congress, be debated, and voted on. But the minimum numbers (both OC &WC) are put forth arbitrarily from the DCI Deep State apparently without being voted on. #NotMyDCI

Can always rely on you to offer trash and garbage to spew when actually you know nothing. Now go stand in the corner Hop.

C2 was tough emotionally. this is tough PR wise. after all the hoopla for hiring her with her background, as well as Scott leaving his job to take over and run the corps during it's worst days ever is kind of....no, not kind of IS...a big PR black eye in many ways. Like I said legit business reasons I am sure, but it doesn't look good

almost-a-factoid for those great around-the-Thanksgiving-table "discussions": When GH and his minions (Rutherdougaford and the Helmsman) were seeking a hide-out from creditors in Joisey and wondering where to move the corps, it was DCI front office who suggested A-town to GH in order for DCI to be eligible to rent J. Birney Crum each summer. And of course, eventually DCI did the engineering evaluation and financial proposal to shore up the top deck, but A-town schools didn't agree and did it themselves. Now back to the turkey and pies.

You have some nerve blaming the alumni for the fact that the ex-director is a pedophile and a serial rapist. Let me throw “allegedly” in there for the purposes of this board not wanting to get sued. I guess the victims are to blame as well huh. 🙄

Absolutely. The Johnson & Johnson PR model. Get all the "bad news" out there as soon as possible, with full ownership/responsibility. Like J&J did with the Tylenol situation in the 1980s. Corporate PR at its best.

Ho hum.

As a fellow Marylander, I fully endorse Annapolis!!!

Not a current picture of bell tower - methinks they have it completely wrapped on scaffolding for the next year or so. Actually, with the scaffold it kind of looks like a DCI prop

I am re-posting this from The Cadets' thread (with a presumption that Mr. Dixon, in his magnanimous spirit for the love of all things drum corps would not object. If so, I apologize.) When the Open Class qualifications were re-stated and the new financial requirements placed for future World Class membership, I immediately wondered what DCI would ultimately look like if this applied to every corps now in order to compete in DCI 2020. Would DCI ultimately be only California corps and the Boston Crusaders?

How do you know they've been silent? Maybe you're not listening, or listening to the wrong things. I know nothing of your loyalties but my personal experience is not that they are remaining silent. Far from it.

The full 2018 990 will come out in March of 2020. The 2018 990 that's now available on Guidestar is for only the first three months of 2018 and was actually an amendment to the 2017 form. I wouldn't expect the 2019 990 - the one that might show the impact on USBands this year - until the spring of 2021. This would be normal procedure.

Ummm... so it is the alumni's fault. Since it is near Christmas I can understand why you would want to roll out that old chestnut. Yea... the alumni is to blame for the actions of one individual. Good luck with that.

How the recent changes look should not be the Cadets main concern at this time. Would it look good and be good PR to let the Cadets fold? There are many factors and moving parts that are behind the recent changes at the Cadets. I wish some would become less cynical and actually support the survival of this great corps.

Maybe they should go Open Class

Went with the VIP package because it's worth it. (Yes. Ghost will be heading East next June for 10 days or so. First Concert In The Park also. That will be interesting with three young granddaughters, their parents, and my "drum corps doesn't interest me wife". Memo to self. Don't forget to bring some folding chairs since we're doing the museum stops as well and park at Post Office Square so I can get the chairs.)

Wow!

And any continuing legal bills

i think maybe running in giant NFL stadiums may add to the costs a bit

This is what happens when "development" is a job theoretically shared among several people: no one's there to do all that full-time legwork. Cadets have a fantastic donor base but it needs to be cultivated. THAT is a full-time job. (Of course they're not the only corps to make this mistake. )

Florida! You hate Florida, @George Dixon 😉🤣

Doesn't seem to be any interest in "band" in Maryland. I'd move to Florida, liability laws are probably more lenient there.

Maybe Cadets should start collecting that "licensing copyright" for all those great Cadet alums now teaching at other corps (such as BAC and Coats, etc.) as not enough room in A-town.

But will there again be that great rainbow after the sudden cloud burst? What about the ground fog after temperatures dropped and Crown's hornline was challenged? Great show; loved my Walleye dinner at the Radisson on the river that night.

Thanks! My son is a tuba player for Vista and he said the whole band was proud of their performance. I was super proud of my son cause this was his first year in band. He had been playing football since age 7. He really seems to love marching and he has so much fun. From what I understand Vista is going to Indy next year.

I see La Crosse is getting a line-up similar to 2014. If it's a clear night, the fans in the stands are going to be treated to one of the most picturesque views at a drum corps show; especially as the sun is setting.

Love you, girl. 💕❤️ 🤗

"Going away" was too extreme. At risk, is probably not inaccurate. Every corps will die at some point.

And therefore, it has value. Maybe not "Give us USBands and we'll give you $500,000...". Maybe not $50,000. Maybe the alternative is only to shut it down and keep it for another day. Regardless, the focus has to be and, for now, stay on The Cadets and making it the very best it can be. Lots and lots of terrific shows out there that are fielded and toured for a MM-income base of 50% of total revenue. Cadets can do a super million-dollar show.

Well, there were 61 local USBands shows this fall in NJ, PA, CT, NY, RI and Mass, not including regionals and championships and shows in other states (they had some in MD as well). I think they need to do whatever they can to continue to put the GH era behind them, but they seem to have a decent base to build on. Who knows?

Is Algernon the best user name you could come up with Hop?

I put “alleged” in there. There’s nothing easy about even typing that word when it comes to this subject, trust me.

So if the reason behind larger corps is more volunteers to help... what is written down in DCI policy on number of volunteers and their duties? And STILL waiting for written DCI policy on when those 55 and plus members will be counted. Sounds like another instance where DCI going on belief that everyone will be on the same page.. when there isn’t a page. Shades of the assumption that corps could police their own ranks (Pioneer) and corps that pass initial screening will always be financially secure and not need checked.

Forgive me for what may be obvious to some..If a corps has NO members under 18(generally the ADULT starting point chronologically), would there be a need for the ADULT supervision as given to corps with CHILDREN 14-17..If you still consider 18 year olds less than adult then my question will have been answered...

How are the ALUMNI responsible? Your unfathomable and obvious loyalty to GH is really shining through now.

they'd go further in the hole. there's no money in OC. Madison made more coming in where they did last year than they would have in Open Class by leaps and bounds

It certainly suggests a major re-structuring of the YEA organization if you read between the lines.

Welp....the Nats actually won the World Series. I think I need to spend more time at home and less time in London.

yup decades of treating donors and volunteers like crap - plus spending like BD which has multi million dollar bingos - it caught up

Excellent announcement. Fully confident. Change is hard.

1980... some folks with DCA's Sunrisers got lost in a neighborhood off the interstate in MA while dropping off a hitchhiker. To make a longer story shorter, an MA state trooper pulled them over... asked where they were coming from. One of the guys (OK... my older brother, who was the only sober one in the car...LOL)... told the trooper they were on their way home from the Boston Cup show in Lynn. The trooper said, "Who won? I used to march with the Lancers!!!" Well... the Lancers had won the DCI portion and the Caballeros the DCA portion of the show. So an obviously happy trooper gave the Sun guys a police escort to the interstate, instead of...uhhh... checking a bit more closely to see if there were any open containers of adult beverages, or other, shall we say, stuff. And I'll leave it at that. Unbelievable that they encountered maybe the only MA trooper on duty that night who knew anything about drum corps!!! The Sun guys knew they used up eight of their nine lives...LOL... and found a hotel at the next exit.

AGREED. Ineffective and such a hassle. And money waste of $55K

Cadets 2020 have a very solid base of percussion members, more guard returning than the prior off season and a typical amount of brass vets (not like 2015, more like 2019) - the new staff will be recruiting all winter. The corps will be talented and full.

Going to Cadets camp this weekend. Excited to step away from the negativity on this site and see what's really happening with the Cadets.

Greektown Casino would be the closest. As a former Detroiter, I'd consider staying in Windsor and taking the Tunnel Bus. Best Western Plus Waterfront Hotel 277 Riverside Dr W, Windsor, Ontario N9A 5K4, Canada https://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/transitwindsor/Routes-and-Schedules/Tunnel-Bus-to-Detroit/Pages/Tunnel-Bus-to-Detroit.aspx

Thanks, Roman. Lol. This is your legacy.

The ones in the back are commonly called "flubs". Usually flub players are younger members who don't have the chops yet to make the snare or tenor line and they play a less technical part that's more focused on impacts.

Better to talk about efficiency than "harder to create and learn". Drill based programs require FAR MORE work up-front by the designer. But that work is supported by very mature software tools which have focused on increasing the both the productivity of the designer and efficient transmission of that information to 130 performers. Choreo-based programs require FAR MORE work during the instruction phase since the design is merely a sketch in someones brain. This mode of instruction is frequently used in the winterguard world where the maximum number of performers is far lower and the performers have far more training in dance. Of course you'll often hear "choreo-based" is far more difficult to teach from those who wish to gloss over the rest of the story. Difficulty for the performer to execute to perfection? Better to ask: Are the performers adequately trained in dance to successfully dance for entire production? No they are not. So ( just like we do when moving from "real dance" to "colorguard dance"), we move the level of expectation down when hornline members are asked to dance. So the standards are lowered. Also -- can the performer successfully play their instrument while traveling in a choreo program? No -- you can't really dance while you play so instead we see blob-fluttering from point-to-point and then standing and playing. Also the motion becomes meaningless without huge props to give the motion a destination. So huge props are used to create interest. Traditional marching is a form of choreography. But it allows performers to create music while moving (which IMHO is the very HEART of drum corps). And because the movement in INTERESTING and the balance of negative space to performer space is constantly evolving, you don' t NEED the crutch of giant props to provide a destination to the motion. The use of space itself is interesting and pleasing. I'm a huge fan of "drum corps dance". It's awesome to see a full ensemble pull off some great choreography when they're not playing. And I love seeing the choreo that's performed while they're playing but NOT traveling. But blob-flutters are just awful and are IMHO a severe dilution of the art. Choreo-based shows works great in winterguard where the music is a recorded soundtrack. But it fails miserably when the musicians need to actually -- you know -- make music.