If there were no G7, no FA16, no DCI ... what would be the best thing to do to start over from scratch?
I would hope that a new "next generation" organization would have the following characteristics:
Governance - The Board of Directors would be composed of people that are passionate about the Drum Corps activity, but not directly involved with any single drum corps (as there should not be a conflict of interest when deciding issues that affect everyone). The Board of Directors would be comprised of individuals who are "business savvy" ... after all, we're talking millions of dollars a year budget for this organization.
Also, the board should not be elected by "members" (i.e., drum corps) ... it should follow a self election model, where new board members are chosen by their capabilities, not by their corps affiliation. I.e., the NFL board isn't selected by the member football teams, why should the board of the controlling drum corps activity be elected by corps?
Open - While there are a number of reasons to not open everything to the public (i.e., there are privacy issues which must be respected, i.e., salaries, etc.), the business dealings, and meetings of the organization should be open to the public.
Mission - The mission of the new organization should be spelled out very clearly ... is it a "marketing organization" to promote the shows? ... is it a "training organization" to train musicians? ... is it a "sales organization" to sell DVDs and t-shirts? Once defined, the new organization should stick to its mission!
What characteristics would you like to see in a new organization?