Old Guy

I honestly do not know the answer to this but… does the law forbid a 17 to date and 18 ? what the law in the US say about it? And what happen if 2x 17 are dating but one got his birthday before the other one while on tour?

We will know better the next time around. Housing wise at least!

Oh yesss! It felt great to have the corps in California. All in all, one of the great decision the corps ever took. Particularly coming out of the pandemic. The corps grow from 30-35 members pre pandemic to 45-60 post pandemic. California had a lot to do convincing kids to give a try to drum corps. Kids had a blast but it was HOT!!! Of course not knowing the geography, the corps spent the first week in the desert with temperatures often around 120-125F. They did not tour Disney, Six Flags, Universal and all. We were just out of the pandemic and it felt safer to avoid crowded places. The corps had to retake a plane 2 weeks after arrival (to Chicago) and we didn’t want to leave anyone sick behind. But the kids went to Hollywood blvd, spend an afternoon at the Santa Monica beach, roam San Francisco for a day, including a stop at the Golden Gate park and a boat tour of the bay and around Alcatraz. All that for a $1600 all included tuition with the corps finishing the season well in the black. Of course it wouldn’t have been possible if the corps had 165 members.

I am sure everyone at Stentors would love to come out with 150 members. 😁. They may will one day. It will take time and a lot more ressources. The corps spent about 20 000$ in recruitment this year and did 7 auditions in 5 city. At one point they had about 85 kids in the roster (about 150 came to at least 1 audition). The leadership felt secure thinking « if we lose 25% we will still be around 65-68 for the summer - our biggest corps since 1999 ». Well, the first camp came to be and we are now crossing fingers for 60. When it’s time to commit, some just aren’t ready. Remember that the kids that show up at audition, doesn’t know what drum corps is. They are intrigued. Curious. They mostly (95%?) appreciate the afternoon experience. But they are young. Many never travelled, left home for more than a day without their parents. The longuets rehearsal they ever had was 3 hours at the most. We are a different society with a different culture. I’d say here in Quebec, by 16 years old, 80-90% of the kids do work in the summer. Music is limited in school. In order to grow the corps the corps have to recruit further and further (inviting kids for something they never heard of before). Let’s be realistic, no American kids will fly to Quebec to join the lowest ranking corps for the summer. If they would, they’d be surprise to find a corps with a positive attitude, amazing and competent staff, best food on the circuit, a family atmosphere and a lot more. In many aspect, les Stentors are rank way up there in the top 12… but you can’t make 12-16 years old kids without any marching experience, with 50% of the corps on a new instrument, becoming challengers of the top corps in 7 weeks. Still amazing what the team accomplish every year.

Totally understand. Not saying he shouldn’t. Just trying to explain may be « why » to bone is slow to come your/our way. 😅

Of course we all have a different perspective and situation. And a few line here cannot define or explain our total view on a subject. There is an infinite of aspects we can talk of. But I believe a corps is a house of card where if you change a piece or two, it may all become shaky faster than we think (even the big ones). The board knows. The board do their best. But no one sign on the board to give 10-20-30 hours a week. There is caution to be put if you don’t want to chase people away at that level too.

There is no savior anywhere. It’s either you do your best (we all do) or you leave it to someone else. The fact is: in a business world, every time you sell your product, you make a profit. In the drum corps world, every time you sell your product (membership) you lost money on it. The more success you have (a bigger corps) the more in trouble you are (having to generate more revenues). At the top (165 kids), you then can chase better bus, better housing, better food, better staff, etc. The better experience you offer, the more money you need to find. some just play with what they have. Most work tirelessly to find more money, more training, more audition site, better everything… that is why it is an endless job. That we all choose to do by ourself. The choice I do for myself, I can’t force others to make the same ones. You can’t force a board member to sell is house for his corps and retire from his job so he could work 24/7 for free for the corps. But you want to grow… you may not spend the time on what people from the outside believe you should do. You spend it on what you believe has to come first

Who is « to power »?

In the impossible mission to lead those org, there is 56 hrs/day per person to be done 7/days a week. From the outside there is obvious things not being done. From the inside, you do what you can 16 hrs/day and go to sleep knowing it wasn’t enough. I wouldn’t trow a rock at the guy at this moment.

I am so in line with everything you just wrote. Thank you!

Honest question: If you take out the 4-5 most proeminent leader of the board (because they’ve been there more than 6 years), would the board still function as well as now? How this would affect the fonctionning of the org?

Boston look like the exception

It is not clear to me why a productive, willing great board member should be replace after 6 years. I have been doing drum corps for 40+ years now and while being smart and passionate, I still don’t half of what is needed to be successful. I see board members that after 6 years (those few that stay that long), only have a limited knowledge on a very specific task that are invested in. I understand that everyone wants a mechanism to expels the bad guys. But why would you expelled the one who make it work?

I may understand wrongly but to me, board, staff, volunteers, donors, ceo are all the same in importance. If you limit them all to 6 years, there would no more non profit. As an administrator, why would I want a great staff to leave for someone I consider less talented, less invested, etc just because the 6 years limit is reach? Same with a board member or full time personal. What I saw in my area was the wrong person taking over corps after corps and closing them one by one. Why would I take out the only few persons who make it work for extensive time without any apparent problem ever coming up, just to replace them for the sake of replacing them, probably with the only other people interested: those who shot the other corps one after the other? I understand your point that you want the bad folks not to be there forever. But not every org are in the same place. And what about people who see themself doing it for life for half the salary they could make somewhere else? We refuse them? No to their dream?

I don’t like virtual meeting. However, where I am, most people willing the give time and make sure the corps is run properly are parents of the members. with members coming from everywhere, it’s either you limit your pool of board candidates or you go virtual.

Serving for 17 years isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my book. It might depend on the role, the personality, the implications. There was discussion about losing institutional knowledge a few month ago. In the board I serve, it is me who insist to older fox to keep going as, while they wish to leave (and there is always one every other year who does despite my plea), most board members do between 1-3 years (while their kids are in). Decision are more sound and solid with half new blood and half older ones who know what came before, why we do certain things this way, etc. I see drum corps as a card castle. Very fragile.

It’s a difficult boat to navigate for sure. And yes, one of the important task is to prepare the next leadership to take over. would love love to discuss this face to face as it is a very nuanced discussion to have.

Your absolutely right. However, organizations someday can the model to follow while being to opposite the following day. Then when you hit the hard days, it’s often one person who hold it together until the sun shine again.

I am not aware of all the details (not talking about the short version with no nuance about it) that led to the demise of Pioneers. However, nowadays when the crowd go against you, there is no way you can have any valuable defense. I’ve known the man for almost 30 years and every contact I had over the years, was genuine, generous and helping each other. What has seem to go wrong never happen in front of me. I was not privy to it and I only red short resume of things that look horrible and to which I could never hear the other side. let’s leave it at that.

Ha ha ha Not that old. 😂 But I like the man and felt he did more to help anyone than any one else in drum corps. He got my respect for that. But if you look at the life of anybody with with a magnifier you will always 100% find things that shouldn’t be there and that we are not too proud.

It is. how many directors over the years took ten thousand of $$$ in their personal pocket to help their corps to the next day or as short term help while waiting for the next fundraising, etc. How many had work for free for expended period of time? Is it good practice? No. But would you shot down half the corps left because they all did it. We begin to live in a world where volunteering start being look like abuse! A strange world in my view!

I don’t have the same impression of the man

I’d advocate that if no one wants to look and talk at you or even if it’s only you that feels like that, may be you try to be as small as possible or just feel terribly embarrasses. I don’t know. But I don’t think he felt above anyone.

I’d be more nuanced than that. If you worked for something your entire life and still hold it together (there is s corps hall, a land and a bingo going on with plan for a new multi purpose building on the land), you don’t necessarily want to let it all go if you are not convince that you got the right person. Would you give anything you have/worked for your entire life to someone you know will not make it work in the short, medium or long term. and yes, you don’t know for sure, but you have to make a call.