PioneerWebmaster
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Posts posted by PioneerWebmaster
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2000 marked the second consecutive appearance in semifinals for Pioneer, and the highest placement in corps history.
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You can search the loan data and see which organizations received loans. BDPA and DCI did, but I didn't go much past there in my searches.
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11 minutes ago, dans said:
Initially, I was a big fan of Denise and what she brought to the Cadets. However, I don't like the most recent announcements from the Cadets. Some of the people who were most responsible for the Cadets disaster of 2019 are being more empowered by the current Cadets management. Not a good trend for the Cadets...becoming social justice warriors is not what this legendary corps needs to move forward. Their main focus should be on creating a show that isn't horrible.
It has nothing to do with being social justice warriors or being woke. It has everything to do with listening to the members and alumni of the organization, and responding in a manner that is appropriate given the circumstances. When you have alumni of the corps going on social media and detailing experiences that do not represent inclusiveness and equality, it would be a dereliction of duty if the corps administration didn't take a harder look at policies, procedures and the overall culture.
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1 hour ago, DAvery said:
It seems to me travel expensis would be the simplest financial item to reduce. So does DCI reqiure attendence at certain shows to compete at finals? As a WC corps do you have to go to SA or Allentown to compete in Indy? Could a corps not compete outside of thier area until a week before finals? I understand they would have fewer competitions, with fewer sppearance fees, but my guess is that appearance fees do not offset the cost of traveling to shows outside of your home area. There might be a recruiting issue with less competitions, but the upside is the corps would charge less tuition.
Looking at the DCI Policies & Procedures Manual, here are the two bullet points for WC corps that directly pertain to scheduling:
- Perform at a number of DCI events that serves the best interest first of the corps, as well as that of DCI, and as agreed upon between the corps and DCI.
- Must attend DCI World Championships
There's a lot of wiggle room in that first bullet point, but my personal observation is that DCI has been relatively flexible when it comes to scheduling with respect to the best interests of the corps and its members. That said, a lot of times its the corps themselves that are pushing to get into as many shows as possible. Not just for the appearance fees, but also to maintain competitive/scoring inertia.
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39 minutes ago, Ghost said:
Wow! That doesn’t help a corps expenses while on the road.
New or re-emerging corps are generally limited to a relatively short regional tour in their first year, so the lack of payment for those few events isn't a huge factor. They would have already had to demonstrate to DCI during their evaluation process that they had sufficient operating funds on hand in order to be approved for the tour that they're going on.
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21 minutes ago, Land_Surfer said:
And $2600 does?
$2,600 multiplied by a full slate of 25-30 World Class shows helps put a dent in the operating budget, but definitely isn't intended to be the only source of revenue for a corps.
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56 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Or as a music major friend called it Rat Love...
serious question... do OC corps get paid when they appear in WC shows? I’ve read no and if true, another reason not to drop to OC.
Open Class corps do get paid for appearances at World Class shows, but it's significantly less than what the WC corps receive. The standard rate for a WC corps is $2,600 per event. Open Class finalists get $1,800 per event, while non-finalists get $700 per event. One exception - new or re-emerging corps in Open Class receive $0 per event in their first year.
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On 5/12/2020 at 12:30 PM, MikeZ said:
1996 was a gut punch for me. I was a member of Pioneer in 96. 6 corps beat us in quarters that hadn't touched us until the last week of the season. I am not a conspiracy theory guy, but I am convinced that we were the 14th best drumcorps in 1996. It felt like we were being punished for remaining in division 2 instead of moving to world class. It's really a sliding doors type moment...what happens if Pioneer goes world class in 96 after undefeated II/III seasons in 94 and 95?
Pioneer was great in all of the performance captions, it was GE that was ultimately our downfall. That said, I have watched the videos hundreds of times, and there is just no way that Les Etoiles, Troopers, VK, etc were better than us. I kind of feel like kindred spirits with Colts who suffered a similar drop on quarterfinals day.
Mike Z
The way that finals week in 1996 played out will always be a tough one to forget.
I remember being cognizant of the fact that Nite Express was only a couple points behind us the last time that we saw them at the Canadian Open... and that we wouldn't see them again until DII prelims. There was a genuine concern that they could close that gap. At the same time, I also remember also being aware that we were within 5 points of Blue Knights at DCI Mid-America. There was a scary thought that we could get the opportunity to perform every day of finals week, and that Saturday night's show might not be an exhibition if all of the stars aligned and we could somehow make up those 5 points to BK.
I don't recall ever being overly concerned about Les Etoiles since we were consistently ahead of them by 6 or 7 points, even in the week prior to finals. It was almost unheard of for them to make up that large of a gap in one week to beat us by .2 at DII finals, and then go on to beat us by 5+ points at Quarterfinals a couple days later. I poured over scores a number of years ago and am fairly confident saying that was one of the largest comebacks/point swings in the modern era of drum corps.
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12 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
I doubt the accuracy of that statement.
a. Last time we went through it here (i.e. the 990s thread), you could run a WC corps on $400,000 to $600,000. For perennial top 12 status, it was getting up to $800,000 or $900,000. I imagine the number has crept up a bit over the past 2 or 3 years, but it has not tripled as you suggest.
When Pioneer was going through our meetings with DCI at the end of the 2018 season, one of the criteria that we were required to meet in order to remain World Class was an operating budget of no less than $750,000. Anything less than that and they didn't feel that a corps could operate at a World Class level. At the time, we were told by Dan Acheson and Kathy Black that the majority of the World Class corps had operating budgets in excess of $1M, and that the couple that didn't were working with DCI to increase their revenue to get there.
Take from that what you want, but the operating budget of a World Class corps has definitely increased in recent years.
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11 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
My understanding (based on the freshly revised DCI Policies and Procedures) is that there is no such thing as seasonal evaluations in DCI. If you were a pre-existing WC corps, and you avoid total administrative meltdowns, your corps never gets evaluated. Is that fair? Is that wise?
As Garfield mentioned, corps have to submit the most recent copy of their 990. If an organization's accounting period follows the calendar year, they have to submit their 990 to the IRS by May 15th. That means that DCI could potentially get a relatively fresh copy right before the season begins and spot potential issues.
However, if the corps is using an accounting period that doesn't follow the traditional calendar year, then the 990 must be filed with the IRS by the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of the organization's accounting period. That means that the most recent 990 available could potentially be quite dated when the corps takes the field for the first time in a season.
Outside of the 990 requirement, the Policies and Procedures Manual has a whole section that addresses the potential triggers for an organizational review:
QuoteOrganizational Review Triggers
If the CEO and/or DCI board of directors believes an organization review is in order, one may be requested. CEO and/or board will have the authority to request:
-Organization documents
-Financial statements
-Meetings with board members, staff members, volunteers, members, etc...Possible Review Triggers (not an inclusive list)
-Owe money to DCI that is more than 60 days past due
-Submission to DCI whistleblower that merits investigation
-Contact by one or more third parties about past due bills
-Any incident or report that may involve jeopardizing the health and safety of members, volunteers or staff
-Signed request by five member representatives for an audit of an organization -
2 minutes ago, garfield said:
Thank you. Let's hope that squashes any silly notion that DCI is being run by some "deep state" of rogue voting members. Or the "DCI Executive Board", whatever that is.
Now there could be some questions as to who was on the committee at the time the proposal was being drafted. Google comes up largely empty, but I did find references to Rick Valenzuela being on the committee in the press releases about him leaving Regiment & joining System Blue.
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If you refer back to the 2017 DCI Strategic plan, it would appear that the "Member Affairs Committee" would be the ones responsible for creating the proposal... which was then approved by the DCI Board and instituted for 2020.
QuoteB.1. Enhance DCI membership structure and benefits to broaden participation and unity. Assign to the Governance Committee and the Membership Affairs Committee to undertake the research and development to propose to the DCI Board of Directors by the 1st quarter of FY 2019 for approval of a new membership structure and related benefits that would be instituted in calendar year 2020.
B.2. Develop comprehensive criteria to define the baseline operational standards for all levels of membership as well as participating organizations. Membership Affairs Committee will develop a proposal for the DCI Board of Directors to consider. The recommendation will take place by the 4th quarter of FY 2018 for approval of a new membership structure that would be instituted in calendar year 2020.
I will also add that the vast majority of the new criteria were included in the materials/requirements that Pioneer received during the evaluation/reinstatement process in the fall of 2018. That would lead me to believe that the development of this new structure/criteria was already largely complete (as the timeline in the above plan would suggest) at the time that Pioneer was suspended and going through the evaluation process.
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3 hours ago, Brian Tuma said:
I found this a bit curious. It’s from Wikipedia so I don’t know how accurate it is.
SponsorshipEdit
Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps & Color Guard, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) musical organization. As such, it has a Board of Advisors, director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The organization is under the direction of interim CEO, William Strube and an interim Board of Advisors. However, the interim board of directors does not have the legal authority to remove current Board members, or make legal decisions on behalf of the corps without permission of the existing Board of Directors.[11]
That is an accurate statement. You can read a tidbit more here under requirement #1:
https://pioneer-corps.org/news/837-pioneer-alumni,-booster-friends-meeting-recap.html
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11 hours ago, wolfgang said:
WGI news- I see where the entity formerly known ad Pioneer Indoor based in Illinois is coming out as an Open line knowm as Pi Percussion. To the best of my knowledge, this group has no current ties to Pioneer.
Meanwhile, there is an A line called Pioneer Indoor based in Milwaukee that has registered. I wish the best to the members of that line, but where are these members going to come from?
As others have stated, Pi Percussion (formerly known as Pioneer Indoor) had loose ties to the Pioneer corps in the early years. Adam Hill served as Pioneer percussion coordinator/ caption head and arranger, while also serving as director of Pioneer Indoor. Over the years, that group became more independent of the Pioneer corps and ultimately made the decision to sever all ties last year.
The new Pioneer Indoor group will be comprised of members from the Milwaukee/Chicago region. Some of those members were a part of the group that performed in parades & Drum Line Battle this summer. Others are still being recruited. More information will be available in the near future.
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3 minutes ago, Liahona said:
That is very admirable. I'm sure that you most-likely donated your time as well.
No idea how many hours of time donated, but also the hosting & domain registration costs as well.
Fun story - Pioneer was actually one of the first corps to have a website back in mid-90's. It was launched by another Pioneer member that I went to high school with. Right around 2000, he handed off the keys to me and I've been taking care of it ever since.
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46 minutes ago, gbass598 said:
I saw a tour bus being used as a party bus taking people to Alpine Valley for a Phish concert when I was in WI for those concerts. No idea if they actually make public appearances but they are at least making money renting out their buses.
The buses are being chartered on a regular basis for a wide array of groups. Groups heading to concerts, conventions and other uses.
As for public appearances, there's been a Pioneer Percussion Ensemble out participating in parades all summer. It's a group consisting of mostly local members (Milwaukee & Chicago). They completed a week-long tour earlier this summer, and most recently appeared in a parade in the Milwaukee area this past weekend.
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2 hours ago, Galen said:
Sounds like they don't have anyone paying much attention to their website.
After 19+ years running that thing, I've taken a little time off the past 10 months to focus on other things. At some point in the coming months, the whole thing will be due for a revamp/refresh.
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2 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Happened to catch a news thread about Pioneer doing a parade so checked their website. Staff and admin listed as being TBD but appear to have a full slate of parades scheduled. And Support Our Pioneer Youth (SOPY) page still has cost per member $4000 and ability to donate to a members dues via PayPal and/or credit card still up (IOW nothing changed). So certain areas up to date and some old and some just mysterious ( aka tbd)
Edit: volunteer page mentions “summer tour”. Geez....
Thank you for the comprehensive review of the Pioneer website 🙂
Over the past 10 months, I honestly haven't had much time to spend on the website. Between the birth of our first child in September, and everything else that transpired with the organization itself... the website took a back seat on the priority list. With that in mind, I will fully admit that it's in a bit of shambles at the moment.
Most of the website content was geared towards the organization being a participant on the DCI World Class tour, and everyone knows where that stands for the foreseeable future. Some of the DCI specific content was unpublished or rewritten, but other pages haven't been reviewed yet. With time, they all will be touched.
In addition, there are some other programs in development for the organization at this point in time. Once those are solidified, the website will be completely revamped to reflect said programs.
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2 hours ago, dcifan1999 said:
Exactly. It's all smoke and mirrors until we see/hear something.
When I marched, one of our bus jobs for rookies was "Overhype football coach guy boy" and it seems like that's what we get to experience on here with all these Pioneer brass captionhead.
Maybe it's time to give it a rest and show the improvement or lack of when the season hits.
All of these posts will seem absurd if they don't live up to the posts, and frankly, after hearing them at camp, it's useless overhype...but that's my opinion.
Thank you for sharing your opinion. You have to understand that we're in a difficult position as a corps when it comes to hype vs. no hype.
We have taken a low key approach in some years on DCP and other outlets. But then we hear from fans, alumni and supporters (often loud & clear) that we should be doing more to hype things up for the upcoming season. At the same time, there's plenty of posts like yours that would tend to suggest that we should be doing the exact opposite. It's that awkward spot between a rock and a hard spot... and we've done a great job as an organization of wedging ourselves in there over the years.
When all is said and done, we do our best to communicate what's happening with the corps in a positive manner. At times is there hype or spin? You bet... That's part of marketing/PR for almost any organization or business. At times do we inadvertently "step in it"? Yes, we do. But so do a lot of other businesses & organizations. Feel free to Google "social media fails" for prime examples. In the end - there isn't an exact science to how we (or any other corps) should approach things. Everyone has a different opinion, and I can say with 100% certainty that we will never appease everyone.
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2 hours ago, lifeisaround said:
Because larger means better....
Having a larger staff doesn't automatically mean better, but it does allow us to more effectively rotate staff on and off tour like many of the corps already do. An effective rotation guarantees that the corps will have more instructional staff on tour and available to work with the members at all times. That in itself will provide a better educational experience for our members.
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On 12/30/2017 at 7:47 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:
That is a pretty large staff. Hopefully they don't outnumber the members of the line.
Andy Grindle has put together a world class brass staff with the intention of teaching a world class horn line. We have 45 brass players registered for our first camp in two weeks, with more expected to come. This is a sizable increase from first camp last year and speaks volumes about what Andy and staff have been able to do in a couple short months.
Our visual & guard staff are also larger than previous years with plenty of new talent:
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21 hours ago, Stu said:
Then it has changed. The last time I checked the States could share State info with the Feds if they wanted to, but they were not compelled to share. So, the FBI can now tap into all 50 State data bases and a Fed check will now show all listed local and State crimes?
This link explains the 21 databases that comprise NCIC. The Interstate Identification Index, which contains automated criminal history record information, is accessible through the same network as NCIC.
https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ncic
One important thing to note: The entry, modification, and removal of records are the responsibility of the agency that entered them. In other words, NCIC is only as good as the data provided by law enforcement agencies nationwide. Some law enforcement agencies do not have NCIC certification, or have lost it due to misuse or abuse. Other states do not send all of their criminal data for various reasons.
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Pioneer's 2018 Brass Arranger: Rob Stein
https://pioneer-corps.org/news/794-meet-pioneer-s-2018-brass-arranger-rob-stein.html
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On 9/11/2017 at 8:23 PM, Cadevilina Crown said:
Pioneer
- Andy Grindle replaces ??? as the Brass Caption Head.
Source: https://pioneer-corps.org/staff/brass.html
Andy Grindle replaces Randall Bennett as Pioneer Brass Caption Head. Randall stepped down after 6 years with the corps to focus on his career, and we wish him nothing but the best!
2022 Drums on Parade - Madison - 2 Tickets For Sale
in DCP Marketplace
Posted
Due to a scheduling conflict, I have two tickets available for the 2022 Drums on Parade - Madison, WI at Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium at Ashley Field (07/02/2022,7:00 pm CST).
Seats are in Section C - Row 9 - Seats 25 & 26. Location is in the upper C section and closer to the 40 yard line. Section is currently sold out (as are most center sections), so I can't post a more detailed seating chart.
Tickets were $45 each. Will take any reasonable offer. Tickets are mobile and can be transferred via the DCI website. Reply here if interested or send DM.