madisonsmiley

Staffs job is to balance the capabilities of the members with the demands of the show so the corps can peak at DCI. Dozens of concussions, and the amount of practices missed would tell me the book is too demanding and needs to be modified so it still challenges members and they are able perform the material at a high level in Indy. To improve performance you can clean, water down, or both. If cleaning isn't working, then perhaps it is time to water down the book. Experienced and knowledgable educators will know what the performers can handle after working with them.

The number of concussions seems unusual for a drum corps. What is typical? What's the root cause of the number of concussions? Staff lowering the bar on membership? Or, over writing the program to the capabilities of the members? After three or four concussions, wouldn't it be prudent to adjust the demands of the program so there aren't more concussions? I'm surprised there wasn't earlier intervention by staff and management given how chronic this problem was.

"Lack of off season prep" translates into poor performance, which means bad tosses and catches, which means more concussions. Or, from another perspective, membership standards are such that they're accepting members unable to handle the difficulty of the program safely. Or, staff is overwriting the program for the capabilities of the members. Or, they're mis-diagnosing concussions.

Defining and setting expectations by staff is important. If members don't meet them, its up to staff to maintain them. If members aren't meeting the standards, staff shouldn't let them on the field. If I were a member and there were members that weren't cutting it and staff enabled this, I wouldn't be happy about it.

Is it better to raise the bar and field a smaller group? Or field a full corps and have these types of issues? I think the corps would go further with a smaller group that can give 100% all season than deal with these types of issues. What do you think @madmooffan?

What is the Scouts' member retention rate and how does it compare to other DCI corps? How many of the Scouts' members move on to another corps each year and how does that compare to other DCI corps?

The board is the root cause of the organization's issues. They are what is called a self-perpetuating board. The current board picks any new board members. They love Chris, are afraid of losing him, and won't appoint any new board members who would rock the boat. The board is failing their primary duty, which is to recruit and manage the performance of the CEO/Executive Director. I can't see anything changing given the current circumstances. They'll continue to field a corps and may, from year to year, move up or down a notch or two, but we won't see any meaningful improvement and other organizations will continue building thriving, high performance organizations that field more competitive corps. Overall, their long-term average placement at the DCI Championships under Chris' leadership continues to decline. They are satisfied being able to provide a positive member experience, which is a baseline for all DCI corps.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. --Confucius

Agreed. There's one thing Chris Komnick could do that would delight a lot of alumni . . . change the name.

Who is responsible for fielding the 2023 edition?

It's sad and frustrating, but they have been for years.

A good man. Sad that Komnick felt threatened and fired him. Even sadder the board was blind sided, then sat on their hands and didn't do anything. A terrible loss in many ways.

Why not take the OP at face value? Why the shade? The posts were well written, thoughtful, and sincere. Based on the quality of writing, they're a cut above almost everything else posted here. Trash the current administration? What do you mean? Can you give us some specifics? This appears to be an example of any criticism or concern about the current administration being voiced as unwelcome and an attempt to hurt the organization. We can agree to disagree, but don't have to be disagreeable. The current administration got the corps out of tons of debt and put it on solid financial footing? Have you seen the financial statements? Can you give us specifics? I didn't get the impression the OP was mad, just sharing some information in a matter of fact way. When stakeholder groups are surveyed, the common practice is to personally acknowledge their input and share the results with them, which didn't happen in this case. Has anyone seen the report that was prepared as a result of the stakeholder survey? Is this the survey that was circulated on the internet through social media and anyone could reply to?

This is a great book! @rmurrey74 What's funny about this?

Yes, to the annual meeting. Not to board meetings.