scheherazadesghost

I literally just said the opposite on page one but ok troll away. 😘 You could just celebrate this good news like the rest of us....

Double bingo now, technically. 🧐

This is all I ever wanted since discovering the delinquency months ago. Compliance is a low bar but a very important one that I'm grateful for. My mentor always said a single accomplishment can be dismissed as a fluke so now, keep it up. 👍🏽 This does nothing to change my concerns about safeguarding of members and alum, which is now just policy on paper and must also be demonstrative and consistent. Dogged alumni oversight continues.

... I'll add a better sense of compassion and camaraderie for those of us alum who endured abuse. The term survivor-centric comes to mind. (Just teasing apart the ethics component of your comment.) Until my contact with the outgoing VAA president and current CEO, my interactions across the org were awkward at best, but included harassment and threats at worst. Others report institutional retaliation and being accosted. Indeed the alum, and by extension the org, still seem to want to praise past abusers than do the reflective work necessary to welcome victims back into the fold. We are good to them up until the point that we report bad behavior. After that, historically, we become less than nothing. Classy. The younger alum and future alum deserve better, even if it's too late for me and those like me.

Agreed, however: https://www.givelife365.com/blog/crisis-management-for-nonprofits/ Specifically the section titled Crafting a Communication Strategy with honesty, consistency, and stakeholder specific messaging.

Another thing they have in common: hubris. 😞

... which will have ultimately, tragically resulted in numerous reports of egregious member treatment prior to said folding. Again, because all of these things are inextricably linked to sustainability. (None of this comment is directed at you, MM.)

There are types of wrongdoings in this activity that aren't addressed in any legal system. I'd argue those kinds of wrongdoings are an existential threat to the sustainability of the activity every bit as much as the ones that are.

Respectfully, a NP mission/vision/values statement is just letters on paper without a strategic plan. (I've been on VMAPA about this too, whose own outdated strategic plan is also toothless. In their case, not only is their plan toothless but their very mission is too. Which communities are they inspiring? Just "communities." Which arts are they supporting? Just "arts." Nope. That's not how it's done 'cause it leads to mission bleed.) Mission-to-reality is at the core of my professional training so I can see this stuff very clearly. I get that survival is tantamount, but NPs are essentially navigating their work in realtime without a map, GPS, operation instructions, or public support if they aren't creating and sticking to/updating their strategic plans. For NPs as big as VMAPA and DCI, it's as important as doing your taxes or paying bills. Possibly more so. I worked with a NP that was developing their next 5 year plan during the pandemic. A much smaller NP too, so capacity isn't really an excuse. Putting directors in place who have never created a strategic plan (not sure if this is happening, but it seems like it sometimes) is 😬

It was this part below... and three of us here interpreted it that way. We disagree. There are currently two lawsuits facing DCI and member corps right now regarding member safety. I don't think I need to list out the number of additional corps that have had reports against them in the last 10, 5, no, 2 years. Member safety is quite obviously an activity-wide sustainability issue. And that's because the activity was founded and built on limited accountability for member safety. (Even our beloved GH at SCV was the director during the time of a reported incident with a staffer of one of my fellow alum, shared on this very forum!) Most folks in charge right now endured that system and are ill equipped to improve it effectively and sustainably, unless they've done additional, outside work on safeguarding. Or am I further misinterpreting what you're trying to say?

Big nope for me on that one. Member safety and incompetence not related to sustainability? 🤯 Members are, like, the most precious, crucial resource in the activity. Poor member safety cuts sustainability down to the root in the form of (1) harm where there should be none, (2) reducing the pool of alum who will want to return and (3) affirms that poor treatment of anyone in the organization as okay. Incompetence, at the very least, scares competent people away and can destroy organizational synchrony and memory. I dare anyone here to point me in the direction of a drum corps' strategic plan that isn't mostly fluff. I'll even eat my hat. And I'll sing that org's praises.

Doing my part ✔️

Robert's Rules and engrained nepotism can prevent this. I'm already not thrilled by the recent additions to the board.

Speaking of binaries, on one side you have some alum and fans who are completely, solidly convinced that everything will be fine... and on the other, some who are convinced of impending doom. I err towards the latter but not entirely. RG is, indeed, walking the tightrope you mentioned with respectable skill atm and I give him full credit. In my heart of hearts, I hope to see "in process" next to their name in the registry asap as it would indicate they've resubmitted the previously rejected paperwork, audit included. Part of why some of us are so chapped. Tbf, there was a formal apology from the cfo to alumni. Alas, apologies and accountability are not the same. cfo was board president and treasurer before that as we slipped into delinquency and remained there for years. We told them about the delinquency in April of last year. 🤯 No corrective submissions were sent in to the DOJ until September, all while they weren't fielding a corps. Sometimes the hard work of kindhearted people isn't enough, according to the DOJ.

Ouch. Dumpster fire. It may be a dumpster fire, but it's our dumpster fire and I love it no less now than I did decades ago, despite my ongoing concerns for its sustainability. And I'm srsly, if one thinks our publicly-known issues aren't affecting our sustainability then they either aren't paying attention, are in denial, or are processing the available info through rose colored glasses. However, I'm grateful to other orgs that have done better work organizationally to prevent their own fires, 'cause that's a win for us all. Just wish that competition didn't blind us to obvious trends working against the activity, especially when legacy groups are stumbling. Seems childish not to pay careful attention, respond compassionately, and work together. But, if that's already happening in spades I wouldn't know about it because I'm removed and communication outward in a transparent way is clearly still an issue across the board. Even about positive developments.

cries in modern dance

Add to this the overall trend that I studied in performance arts that's been going for decades now: steadily dwindling live audience numbers. That's a reality that's stuck with me for a while and I've wondered how it translates to the activity often, even if only directly or on delay.

This makes me curious what the info/resource sharing partnerships between DCI and BOA/UIL/others is like... is it strong enough for a "lean on me" moment while DCI plugs away at change at a more reasonable, but sustainable pace? Could it be made stronger for that?

I'm digging this idea. And ya know, I'd be fine with corps/alumni families hosting international and extra-regional members so long as they underwent some kind of background check and basic training... and maybe provided resources by the org for troubleshooting any potential issues that can naturally arise with housing. If most members were in-region, this would be minimal.

lol, i thought of the Texas kids as well, being one originally myself. naw, we'll just remain the talented wildcards we are and go wherever we want. seems fair since we have so much support and talent, but not enough to create a sustainable corps like other regions. how very Texan. although re: Cavies, that's what I had to do... suck it up and manage the disappointment. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I appreciate that, thank you. Will they clear themselves of one cancer intentionally, and then unintentionally (but happily) clear others without even acknowledging the latter? 'Cause some of those cancers are more humiliating and potentially illegal than others. Those grow back if not fully and directly treated.

Sorry for the wall of text. My drum corps spidey sense is going naynays. One thing @ironlips generously advised me to do, when I first joined DCP a few years ago, was to do my best to maintain my empathy. Now, I studied empathy as a part of my master's thesis work so I took that advice to heart. And I've failed at times because I love this #### activity so much, and my home corps even more than that (exponentially-to-the-moon-and-back.) I'm reminded of that love on a hourly basis (minimum); as in whenever a client requests deep tissue therapy bc it always hurts the thumb I broke on tour; or as in whenever I use my phone because my neck and shoulder are tore-up from spinning a broken saber while trying keep pace with a top sabre line, and having never spun sabre before; and as in other, more positive ways too, I will admit. We all care. A lot. That much is clear in this thread and website. So I share your frustration OSD. Especially when the nonprofit model is, yes, designed in such a way that stakeholders are supposed to keep their beloved nonprofits "in check." If you only want to look at it from a negative perspective though. The other side of the same coin is this: when orgs are better at transparency, stakeholders (and donors/sponsors) are more generous with their giving of time, resources, expertise, and energy. Perhaps I've been harping too much on the former. In this case (as well as in the case of Vanguard's delinquency status) I still choose to believe that the folks in the back rooms are doing the best they know how. But mistakes have been made and the stakes are high (always have been.) My real questions remain what if doing your best isn't good enough anymore? and if one's professional skill set is catching all kinds of red flags regarding the status quo, what is the most effective (and compassionate) way to inform the orgs about this such that identifiable change for the better is possible? Same. And copy that for Vanguard's new chief too.

There are additional cancers, as many already know. They also do not improve in darkness and silence.

Not directed at you and thanks for sharing... but this strikes me as cowardly of those who attended, given (1) the stakes and (2) the fact that suppressing information has not worked well for this activity throughout its history. It's also not how public nonprofits are supposed to work.