march12

To Everyone in the Forte Family: August 9, 2012 It is with deep regret that I must inform you that OYAA has lost its non-profit, 501c3 charter. One of the requirements for a 501c3 is to file an IRS Form 990 which is an annual reporting return that federally tax-exempt organizations must file giving the IRS information about the organization's mission, programs, and finances. The 990 must be filed with the IRS no later than the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of the fiscal year. The 990’s for Forte and OYAA have never been filed. Pursuant to the “Pension Protection Act” passed by Congress in 2011, any non-profit or 501c3 entity that does not file their 990’s will automatically be shut down. Once it was discovered that the 990’S had not been filed, I called the IRS office to see if we could obtain an extension. The tax office informed me of the legal consequences for not filing the form in a timely manner. Unfortunately, we were past the point for negotiation. This is the law and there was no wiggle room. As of this time, we have not received written notice from the IRS. As Forte was the single performing ensemble under the OYAA umbrella, it was decide by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors to permanently cease operations of Forte Drum and Bugle Corps. It was also decided in the meeting that all assets of Forte Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as OYAA, will be liquidated and all proceeds from the sale of assets be applied to retiring debts and payment of staff member salaries. Any remaining monies will then be disbursed evenly amongst the corps members that fulfilled their dues commitments in 2012. Sincerely, Tom Huntley OYAA Board President

Thank you to all who have taken the time to give me feedback on choosing a corps moving forward - it's been good to hear other's thoughts! I have heard from at least one experienced parent in a private message regarding their experience - & it was positive! - so I'd ask any other experienced members/parents of corps to give me their feedback privately as well. I'm marshalling my questionaire (hopefully not to become an inquisition) to start contacting corps in September/October - after the season and before auditions! Corps we're considering in no particular order: Boston Crusaders - seem to be very well established, possibly a reach skill-wise Crossmen Colts Academy Spirit of Atlanta Thanks in advance to all for sharing their insights - given time constraints, audition fees and travel, I'd like to narrow the auditions down to 3 corps I can feel more confident about completing the season with minimal administrative drama(!)

I am new to Drum Corps but with a kid who 'attempted' to march their first season in a failed corps this summer I'm learning fast! Over the past few weeks I've browsed the topics and postings here and elsewhere but feel like I'm no closer to really knowing how I can help my kid choose the right corps for them to audition with this fall and not make the same mistakes that left them high and dry this summer. While it remains a deep dark mystery of exactly what when wrong, who's fault it is and how DCI should/could have prevent Teal/Scouts/Forte from happening, personally I'm choosing to recognize it is what it is and no amount of rehashing is going to change the outcome. Right now I have an incredibly disappointed kid, a drained wallet and I need a new plan to do it all over again in a couple of months. Moving on – how do I determine which corps to audition? There is lots of advice out there about getting experience, preparing for the audition!, learning what touring means and if you're ready for it, the importance of the experience! DCI gives you and some shaking fingers telling me I was a bad parent for not checking out the corps my kid chose better so they wouldn't end up sitting at home in the middle of July – but no concrete advice or information on choosing the 'right' corps. So, if one is new to DCI, how should anyone know which corps are solid and which are empty promises? If a DCI review in March still means you can still shut down in July just after a few shows where does a parent go for the answers? I finally found a website called Guidestar that posts financial information for non-profits and sure enough the failed corps just don't seem to have much information available. The Big 7 are well represented and generally seem to have up to date information as do smaller groups – but what does running a deficit last year mean? If a corps isn't listed, does that mean they aren't financially sound or just don't report to Guidestar? Spirit of Atlanta is listed as their non profit status has been revoked because they haven't filed IRS 990 forms for 3 years - does that mean they're not a non-profit or operating under an AKA? Corps are non-profits so I'm not surprised to see deficits but how much red is too much? $7,000? $50,000? $100,000? Do I ask those directors what their plans are to meet those obligations? What are reasonable answers? Do I ask for copies of bus and housing contracts? Will they even have those by auditions? Do I contact the volunteer coordinators and ask what their rosters look like and who's in charge of food? Can I negotiate paying monthly through the summer so if my kids' left high and dry at least we're not out all our money? If the Board of Directors don't have a lot of experience does that mean the corps is doomed? Just because a Director has tons of experience does that mean the corps is sound? Should a Board have more then 2 members? 3? 7? I want to do my due diligence: after my kid losing out on their $2500 in savings and my spending close to that in travel, donations, tickets and volunteering a weekend so I could see who I was leaving my kid with for the summer – fat lot of good that did me! – it only makes financial sense to do better due diligence than I did last time. But how exactly do I check out, for argument's sake, 3 different corps none of which are in my local vicinity? Instead of DCI visiting these corps and saying, yep they've got a plan and hey, it might even work! It would be more helpful if they made more factual, qualitative information about the corps available – you know something more than the PR release the corps give them to drum up support. I understand DCI can't give 'seals of approval' but by allowing corps to sign up and post schedules they give the corps an appearance of DCI 'approval' which really in the end doesn't mean anything at all as DCI disavows any connection with any corps, successful or not. DCI could be more helpful by making financial statements, director and board of director bios including mandatory listing of past corps experience and current contact information mandatory and available on their website or a centralized location. It's taken me days to find what little financial information I have. If non-profits have to make their finances public upon request, why can't DCI request it on behalf of the thousands of DCI participants and let us have access to all the information we need to make informed decisions instead of letting each of us try to find it for ourselves? If DCI's financial reviews aren't finding 'problems' serious enough to shut down a corps before they run out of money just 2 months later then maybe they should leave the review up to the people who are actually giving their money to them and may be a little more sceptical of their answers. There could be a list of things to watch out for too, like the checklist that I'm making for myself – is the website up to date? Is there consistent historical evidence of successful tours (pictures, blogs, alumni waxing poetically about their experience with staff that are still with the corps), is the calendar up to date? Do the links in the website work? Without a centralized location for financial information it's a HUGE research project for a newbie like me but with nearly $5,000 on the line, it's one I'm spending a lot of time on between now and early auditions in November. So – how do you choose which corps to audition for? Purely reputation? Made finals the last 10 years? Proximety? Say you have 1 ½ months experience marching, don't have realistic chances of making a Big 7 corps and are willing to travel for auditions but only if you feel confident you'll actually get to march all summer – who do you choose and how do you find the information to make those choices?