General effect and audience perception versus judges placement. Blue Devils in 2nd visual general effect? Really? Sure the guard and marching technique - outstanding, fabulous, above reproach. But is that general effect? Aren't there separate captions for those attributes? I had a "novice" drum corps attendee with me tonight. At one point I made an attempt to explain the judging captions. "What is general effect", my cohort asked. My nutshell definition was, "the effect the corps generally has on the audience". "How does the production, visual, music, theme impact the audience - how much do they/did the audience enjoy the overall thing"..was my answer. My perception was that the audience enjoyed "Empire State of Mind" the best. Phantom, Carolina Crown, and Cavaliers all enjoyed tremendous responses at the end of their shows. Cadets had a strong reaction. Blue Devils - decidedly ho-hum. I don't think the disparity between the judge's placement and the audience reaction is a good thing for DCI. Is the audience at major DCI events in need of being educated about what is good and not-as-good, in terms of how an overall show impacts them? I don't think so.
Here's an idea. Maybe General Effect judges should pay equal amounts of attention to both the corps and the audience's reaction to the corps. Are we trying to invest in the activity and promote its growth? Yes! Then that particular "disagreement" needs addressed.
This!! This!! A Thousand times this !!