Volt

Guardling: THIS is a fair sentiment. And I sincerely appreciate you brining something substantive to this discussion. As a fan of the Scouts, it seems that the corps is an expert at one thing: self-destructive behavior amongst its alumni. I took a few minutes to do some background research and you're absolutely right -- there have been some incredible people on staff with the Scouts over the past decade or so. I'd love to hear why some of these people left: Sal Salas Michael Cesario Colin McNutt Jim Prime Robert Smith James Mason Jim Moore JC Caceres Jamey Thompson Roger Carter Nick Williams Adam Sage Jon VanderKolff Ramiro Barrera Vince Oliver Van Matthews Clay Wachholz Neil Adkinson Donnie VanDoren ...the list goes on... It seems that you are absolutely right that something is amiss that has nothing to do with all those things that the alumni seem to think it is. WHAT THE HELL IS IT?

I vote for you, Mad75, as the next Board Chair. What's your first play? Who do you hire? With the evidently rampant mismanagement of money, what resources do you use to hire said people? You seem to have the critique; provide some solutions.

You're seriously equating a poor show design to criminal behavior?

Please define TRUCKLOAD. When you were on the board, how much money did alumni give? More or less than they do today? Why?

Mad75: As I’ve read your posts over time, it is very obvious that have an immense amount of passion for the Madison Scouts. From your moniker, it looks like you marched over 40 years ago. Simple question—and maybe this is a fair question for alumni of all corps—what does your corps owe you after you age out? What do you owe it?

I’d think anyone with the wherewithal would have already done something to make this situation better. I’d think anyone with the wherewithal would also have the ability to approach the sitting board and sitting ED and work with them to affect whatever changes are viewed as necessary. I’d think anyone with the wherewithal wouldn’t even throw these hints of an overthrow on a DCP forum if it were true. What kind of judgment would that show? The kind to lead the Madison Scouts? The kind to raise funds supposedly so desperately needed to run the organization? The kind to work within the political structure of the competitive side of this activity? Hardly. Maybe you should give it a rest, Smiley.

I see. Interesting game you play. Throw it out there, then retreat and hide. Courageous. **Edit** In retrospect, this will be a super interesting thing to watch develop. Watching an anonymous group of "Scouts" put together the lifeline to save the corps, evidently without engaging its current leadership, sounds like a winning approach. This may prove to be an even more interesting story than the 2018 Madison Scouts themselves. For the sake of those who have followed this activity for decades and root for all the corps, I hope you know what you're doing because DCI can ill afford to lose the Madison Scouts.

Totally impressed with the performances I've seen thus far. This is my favorite Mandarins corps in many years. wow!

Just wanted to say that this is the best show I've seen all season. It's going go to be a dog fight!

As always, wow - just wow. Cannot wait to see how this show continues to develop over the season.

BigBadMadMan: How would I know? I am responding to the various posts here on DCP that don't answer the questions I've asked. And, either way, they are fair questions. Who are the people that will save this corps? Who are the leaders that you've identified as the ones to resurrect this proud organization? What is your background that makes you qualified to make those decisions? From the outside looking in, it sure seems as if the Madison Scouts alumni -- or factions thereof -- may be part of the problem. This banter on DCP and the veiled threats -- or, at the very least, innuendo -- about removing the board and leadership is interesting, to say the least. If the corps is as fragile as some here proclaim, then it doesn't seem logical that the Scouts could survive another coups d'etat. But perhaps you have other insight you would be willing to share?

Keep at it Cadets! Always pulling for this great corps!

Huge loss for the music world. Such a talent. Influenced my early jazz years tremendously.

BD & Academy impressed. Well worth the long trip to see it.

Names. Not concepts.

I see a lot of theoretical solutions being batted around. You cannot honestly tell me that you think the current ED and admin team haven't already thought of these concepts, can you? How about some names? WHO would you hire as ED? WHO would you bring as Board President? WHO would you hire as artistic director/program coordinator? Without REAL people, this is nothing but an exercise in being an armchair quarterback.

The primary difference is that The Cadets had a solution. What’s yours? You still haven’t answered the question.

Let’s assume I agree with you that this isn’t working. You suggest wholesale board and administrative changes. Who do you suggest serve on the board? Who do you suggest this board hire as Executive Director? Who do you suggest this ED hire as program coordinator? Demanding change is one thing. Having solutions is another. Who are are your proposed solutions to the problems faced by the Madison Scouts?

How do you define member experience? Is competitiveness a part of this? What seems fairly clear on this forum is that the Madison alumni -- or many of those active here -- crave competitiveness. And I suspect they crave it not only for themselves but also for the current members. Is it not a bit disingenuous and self-serving to play the "member experience" card? It certainly comes across as a cop out for not being competitive as well as a slight toward the corps that ARE competitive. Is there something wrong with alumni wanting the corps to be competitive? Can we not at least reasonably assume that part of the reason corps like BD, Cadets and Crown attract top talent is because they are competing for championships? Is that not at least part of the equation in a competitive marching activity?

I'm confused. You're saying that a forgiven loan is irrelevant? How was the loan forgiven? In snooping around the 'net, it sounds as if there may be a trust that benefits the organization. Could this simply have been trust proceeds? In which case, this is good, no? Again, since I don't have the background with the organization that you do, forgive me if this is an ignorant question...If today's giving appears to be higher than ever, at what point were the legions of alumni actually donating? Logically, that just doesn't make sense that there's more giving now but that there were hordes of alums giving in the past who are no longer giving. Can you explain this? Lastly, I'm also curious what initiatives were squashed by the sitting ED? It would appear as if -- again, based upon the report -- that if giving is at an all-time high, the ED may have had something to do with this.

If this is true, then why did the organization receive record contributions in the previous fiscal year according to https://madisonscouts.app.box.com/s/xn4tb3tj0beo2gmc4nqniwlu9uu93fiw ? Presumably, an organization as storied and old as the Madison Scouts derives most (majority?) of its contributions from alumni? As a former member of the BOD according to your bio, is this accurate? If not alumni, then who is donating? And what percentage of donations do come from alumni? Thanks.

Really? http://www.madisonscouts.org/2018/01/forward-performing-arts-gains-record-support-2017/