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Lansing R. Dimon

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  • Your Drum Corps Experience
    Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps: Director of Operations (Current); Brass Caption Head/Co-Program Coordinator 2011, 2012; Brass Tech 2008, 2009 || Kingston Grenadiers: Brass Instructor 2010, 2011 || Syracuse Brigadiers: 1994-2010 (Bari, Mello, Sop, Asst. DM, President, VP, Brass Instructor) || Spirit of Atlanta Brass Tech 2000
  • Your Favorite Corps
    Pioneer, Brigadiers, Grenadiers, Minnesota Brass, Cavaliers, SCV
  • Your Favorite All Time Corps Performance (Any)
    Cavs 95 & 08, 10, 11; Cadets 95, SCV 89, 99, 00 PhReg 08, BAC 00
  • Your Favorite Drum Corps Season
    95, 99, 00, 11
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Central NY
  • Interests
    Brass Instruction, Arranging, Composition, Show Design

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    lansingrdimon
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    http://www.lansingrdimon.com
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    LRDIMON

Lansing R. Dimon's Achievements

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  1. To answer in general... The idea of doing a show with 'conflict' in it from a general standpoint within the 'Irish' identity, would in theory fit the former parameter of the programming. However, those programming parameters have changed as we've gone to a more Contemporary Christian Meets St. Pattys Day paradigm. As we've discussed in past conversations when looking at show programming, in general Roman appreciates and seems to really like those kinds of shows that have that conflict, but doesn't see that as part of what this corps does. We've discussed many times how PR's recent shows that fit the 'conflict' as describe is well done and effective (Spartacus, Juliet, for example)... however when mentioning a similar idea for us, he prefers shows that are more positive in tone (Yes, this is a shift from previous shows, i.e. "Irish in the Civil War", even the "Oliver" show). That also transcribes to no death. Those of you who recall 2012 and the initial discussions that I believe I posted, many of us wanted to go in a "Boondocks Saints" direction (at least musically, to create that confilct). It was vetoed... :/ Currently, the programming trend is towards a synthesis of Contemporary Christian and Irish themes. Will this continue for 2015? Most likely, but we have no idea (and nor has it been discussed to my knowledge) what direction that will be. Again, the focus is on 2014 and THIS season, in all aspects. That is most important at the moment to set up 2015 for success, no matter what it is. As far as teaching and the pedagogy... I can't speak for everything that is done, taught, or retained after a season. What I can tell you is that we (along with other corps in our general ranking area) have on average... younger students... new to the activity... and less experienced initially than the other comparative corps. I know from a teaching perspective that sometimes it takes a year or two for those students who DO stay to see a bump in growth and achievement, and each season's turnover is what makes that a challenge. As for the recruitment with bands in the SE WI/Chicagoland area... not for lack of trying! As one of the band directors for a top band in that area, it's difficult to get them to pack more in their schedule, along with costs, etc. It's hard to convince a student from one of these top programs who already goes to BOA, is high ranking in their respective circuit, etc to be a part of any corps, whether it's cost or the standing of the corps, or anything in between. We finally have about a half dozen kids from the Milwaukee area this year, and that's steady growth from the past 2 years. Slowly this is changing... again by using Twitter, Facebook, and other media to promote the corps. It's grassroots. Past recruiting at other circuit shows is a double edged sword, looking at cost and how many people come. Those things that are inexpensive (i.e. twitter... and that's not a small statement...) in getting the good news of the corps out there are cost effective and best served in the long run. Our goal is 5000 followers on Facebook, and 5000 on Twitter before finals... a 25% increase in both. This was done last year, too. Even Roman understands that the social media aspect of this is a big deal. The posters on those include 3-4 staff (including me and the webmaster) and 3 student leaders to provide an embedded experience. Sorry to ramble... but I promised to answer questions, and I hope I have! If you get a chance to promote us online and help the corps, please do so! Thanks, and have a good night! LRD
  2. Also... Please pardon the typos as I wrote that on the iPhone... Not as forgiving as the laptop! It should say cloud technology (for example) LRD.
  3. Good afternoon, everyone! It's wonderful to see the enthusiasm for this years show and to see some overall positive feedback for our program. I do want to address a couple of things mentioned. I don't have the ability to quote via iPhone, so I can't reference exact quotes or authors. First: someone mentioned the fact that there were some "big names" coming in... And the right staff would change everything. With all due respect to whomever they're referencing... The only big name that matters in this discussion is Roman Blenski. While the design work is of course due to our designers, we do indeed have programming parameters that can inhibit us, and Roman does remind us as per tradition and his philosophy... they are fairly unmovable. Being involved with this both as a caption head and now as admin and in my 6th season... I can assure you that no matter what staff you being in and whatever big names you want to throw out there, Roman has a vested interest in those decisions and makes it known were we to stray from them. Additionally, as far as 'big names' coming in... nothing to report there. As someone mentioned... that's not the priority. Roman certainly isn't thinking of that at the moment, nor is anyone else. Our focus is on THIS season... so I'm not sure where that's coming from but it's also not the first time I've heard that... it's been said in previous years too. Our focus is on 2014; as a Director of Operations, I'm certainly thinking of what can be improved and added in 2015, but that's still months away. I'm certain the rest of the corps and its' leadership is in the same frame of mind, in fact everyone is focused entirely on this program, this show. As it should be. That being said, the staff we do have is by and large a very talented and diverse staff and works hard to take those parameters and guidelines from Roman and create a program that both meets his dictates, is appropriate to the level of the marching members while pushing them, and does whatever it can to maximize the potential of the judging sheets. We have a balance of Pioneer alums which helps maintain a smooth transition of procedures and tradition from alum to vet to roomie, and we also have many instructors with outstanding credentials, some of which include gold at WGI Guard and Percussion. Many staff have marched a wise range of corps, including Glassmen, Cadets, Spirit, SCV, Bluecoats and several others. To say an "über staff" could come in and change everything to top 12 status isn't seeing the whole picture. If you haven't spent a day with us at Pioneerland (especially recently), you really don't fully comprehend. I imagine the same is true elsewhere. Furthermore, this had been changing in this direction slowly for a few years now, so anyone with past experience with us would see a much improved and different staff dynamic and higher efficiently (my area of specialty, as the staff and students access instructional materials on google drive, access videos on the road of prior shows and use cloud technology to improve learning). While some corps don't allow smart devices, we use it to our advantage. Almost all paperwork, finances, drill, music, animated video of drill, video of performances for study and other information are shared via google drive and email while on the road. This allows me to manage those resources for the corps while I'm not able to be there (I'm currently at Ohio State at a Strings teaching conference, but can still manage the corps social media and instructional materials). Change is happening. One of the greatest changes recently had been our social media and pr push using twitter and Facebook. Both have increased about 1000-2000 followers since spring 2013. This directly led to an increase of almost 3times as many information requests for membership in 2014, from about 175 in 2013 to 458 in 2014. I appreciate the passion for our program and the corps, as does the corps itself. The greatest benefit would come of more people using social media outlets to get the word out. Social media is the single most effective way to get interest generated and build numbers for smaller corps like ours. Thanks and don't hesitate to ask more questions. If I can answer them I will. Best regards, Lansing R Dimon Director of Operations Pioneer Drum And Bugle Corps
  4. Better Marching Programs in WI: Waukesha North, Waukesha West, Oak Creek, Greendale, River Falls, Cedarburg, Chippewa Falls. Waukesha South is on the rise. I'm sure there are others, these were off the top of my head. Lansing Dimon Assistant Director, Waukesha North HS
  5. I'll concure with Tim. As a director (and new transplant to Wisconsin) of one of those competitive units (Waukesha North), there are a wide range of marching bands, to the numbers he mentioned, along with about 4 summer circuit marching bands in a circuit of field marching called MACBDA. About 3-4 of those bands including mine go to Bands of America. This past summer, their championships were in Whitewater and Pioneer did an exhibition performance there. I would think with the population that is there as well as the drum corps fans who are still around from the heavy DCM days, it would be a feasible show. LRD
  6. I'm split 50/50. I think the above statement reads alot like a desire to have a "House of Commons" and a "House of Lords", rather than a unified decision making group. What he seems to forget is that a large portion of the people who make up those top corps... get training in the Under 13 and Open crowd. So, those corps really should have a say. It wasn't that long ago that our current World Champs were at the BOTTOM. Same with Troopers. Same with Mandarins. And spirit almost folded about 13 years ago. Boston wasn't always in the top 12 either, so to say that no one else except the "Greedy 8" should have as much say is pretentious at best and pompous at most. That being said, no one - and I mean NO ONE - should question his desire to make that corps succeed, and by success, I don't just mean a championship as a deciding factor. Much respect there. I think what we also see is that some of these innvations get a big trendy push, get accepted.... and at first are used at an extreme. Eventually, it settles out. How much narration do you see now? Nota s much as you did when it was first accepted and cool. The same shall happen for electronics and amplification. Eventually people will figure out that some of the top corps are microphoning the field from the pit, or leaving out the 3rd of the chord in the brass writing to have it done in the synth parts in the pit to figure out the smoke and mirrors. (yes, both were done this season... and I think by multiple corps). The question is , how much of this is "speaking on behalf of other directors who can't speak for themselves" or just pushing the activity into places that make it less of a drum corps and more of a "SuperMarchingBand"? That's where you have to decide where this falls. Some of the claims are on the money and a few are ridiculous. Somewhere in between lies the truth.
  7. Hi there. This is my $0.02. No one elses.. since it was brought up.... ;) Keith... it's sad to see your post and the decision. I've seen the group a few times on our tours and it was a welcome change in the activity. On your comments and the questions from it... I'll go further and state that it doesn't feel like the current system is serving not just the open class corps, but any corps under the top 12. In the past, when there were regional circuits outside of the DCI umbrella, the issue of money was lessened by the amount of numerous local shows with local corps, so travel expenses were minimal until the larger DCI shows. Now, since those were all forced to extinction, so too did those corps go the way of the dinosaur. SoundSport is old wine in new bottles -- we already had plenty of div II/III now open groups to create this culture... now it's recreating what was already there. It's interesting that the other drum corps circuits easily fall into SoundSport (SDCA, DCA, Mini corps, etc.) -- why recreate the wheel? The majority of revenue is rewarded to the top 12. There's one issue. And, too... so is the promotion. Simply putting audition dates and a few 1 minute clips back to back with the top 12 is not smart marketing if you're trying to "grow drum corps". Many students go into open and the #13-? corps to get experience so they too can eventually march a top 12 corps that has been promoted heavily already. Let's think about this: do BD, Cadets and most of that top 12 "really NEED" the promotion? Meanwhile, there are some great shows happening in Open and mid to lower World that are largely ignored. I had a blast watching Legends all summer... Oregon... Mandarins, BDB, SCV Cadets, Gold and a host of others had some great shows... but I think that most people hardly know this. Did THEY get shown in the Theater event? Nope. So... when are people going to see them? I realize that it's a dog eat dog world in drum corps... but when you're the last dog standing as it looks like is going to happen in the future, it might be time to rethink how we do this, and not with reinventing things that are already out there or with changing rules for higher membership numbers and woodwinds. I mean, those thoughts are so self serving it's sad that the activity is being bullied to accept that as a norm... and for some it's not a matter of IF but WHEN those changes come. I don't want to see more people on a field - it's challenging enough to recruit - and part of the beauty of the activity is that self imposed limitation that was 128 (then 135, then 150 if I recall right). The great part about watching corps was "they did all that... with ONLY x amount of people". Less sometimes IS more. And to be clear, I don't think the majority of the BOD is the issue. It's a few individuals... some who might not even be ON the board.
  8. Hi there. Just an FYI... our program has modified a bit since the first announcement, and it somehow didn't get updated. The interwebs is weird like that. ANAM NUA: A New Spirit DOXOLOGY AWESOME GOD as performed by the acapella group "GLAD" IT IS WELL WITHIN MY SOUL JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE/WHEN THE SAINTS (Percussion feature) JOYFUL, JOYFUL as performed by the acapella group "GLAD"/FINALE (including Garry Owen) Thanks! LRD
  9. Good Afternoon from Sunny Muscatine, Iowa! Just a quick update! Currently the corps is rehearsing at an incredible facility, and had an outstanding rehearsal yesterday. Changes to the closer have been worked in, and the members are starting to really 'click' into the program, considering the young age and first time members. We will be in Dubuque, Iowa tomorrow, then back in Milwaukee for the weekend, which includes our Alumni Reunion and an exhibition at the MACBDA Championships at Whitewater Stadium.... then off on second tour, starting in Lebanon, IL as we head towards Regional in San Antonio. We have been blessed with alot of NEW things this year... New sound equipment, computer and electronics to boost the front ensemble (final part of that arriving this weekend)... new guard uniforms that look outstanding.... new silks... and all Mapex equipment completely through the ensemble. We also have been implementing a new online management system called Charms to help with managing member data, our calendar, forms, etc. and make them accessible online. This is being added in stages, but so far it's been working well, and really helped communication between parents, members and the corps management. We're looking to expand on this as we push into 2014. Pioneer's also been making a push into more social media, notably Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. If you haven't found us there... look for us! @pinoeerdbc for twitter, and "pioneer" on pinterest. Our new downloadable app (www.appcat.com/pioneer/) and the new digital "Shamrock" newsletter, including a PDF and iPad version are additional social media and communication tools to help highlight the corps! Hope everyone enjoys and gets to see the show this season and enjoys the 'new spirit' that Pioneer has to offer this year! See you soon! Lansing.
  10. Despite the show title?: "A New Spirit" --- and it's contemporary Christian music, based on recent interpretations of Christian praise tunes.... so... there you go. What exactly does that mean - not giving them what they deserve?
  11. Good Day, Everyone! If you haven't had a chance to see the changes going on in our little irish part of the world, please check things out! New show announcement, staff advancements and additions, a MIDI of the opener for the show, and much more! www.pioneer-corps.org One of those changes is my role with the corps; I have been asked to assume the role of Director of Operations. In this role, I'll be working with expanding our social media footprint, grant writing, general fundraising as well as assisting members with sponsorships, day-to-day logistics, creating and implementing a handbook, organizing and editing our curriculum, and changing how we use technology in our unique learning environment. I'll still be teaching on occasion, but the Caption Head position is now in the able hands of Jon Gifford, who returns to our staff for a second year. In an effort to increase our presence online, please check out our "Splash Page": http://about.me/pioneer_corps this link takes you to our social media sites, and will be expanded on in the future. Check out the website for more info, and please let me know if you have any questions, interested students, etc. Recruiting has been pretty good this year, but we could use a few more in brass and guard, especially. Thanks again, and stay better every day! Lansing R. Dimon
  12. 20 horns, 7 pit, about 20 battery and i don't recall the guard numbers offhand. our total was around 65.
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