CadetDood

I appreciate this response by the Board, but I guess I’m still a bit confused about why the corps had to take the season off. I understand that revenue is a problem, and one that it sounds like the board has been taking very seriously and is trying to find new ways to bring in revenue. But, I’m reading this as the corps put in place several cost budgeting policies (particularly with transportation) that you’ve now decided you don’t want to do anymore because it’s not a great experience. Overall though the corps isn’t in that much debt since it says that expenses equaled about what they were expected to be? IDK, this decision to not field for 2024 still seems a bit like an overreaction to me. Why not beg for however much money is needed to the dci world for donations? Im sure that tons of us would be willing to donate, I still remember the corps raised over a million dollars in 2021 for Maroon and Gold Day. Im sure we could match that now or more, look at the outpouring of support from us alumni online. I understand that further down the road something HAS to be done to bring in other revenue streams, but no revenue streams can come to a group that just no longer exists, what product will there be to show from 2024 for any business that might be able to help fund the corps?

Well that was my point, the person keeping everyone in the dark (Vicki the CEO) is now gone. I'm a bit confused at how the board couldn't have found out about this earlier. Perhaps the corps needs a new model for running the corps? Ever since George the corps has put all of the power for running the corps in the hands of the board so one individual couldn't be as all powerful as George was. This seems to have backfired in having a board full of well meaning individuals, but that have full time jobs outside of Cadets and can't give the corps the full time focus it needs and allows for financial incompetence to take place from a poor CEO. I actually think if the corps is going to ever come back they'll need to lean hard on their Corps Director (who had no part in the financials of the corps BY DESIGN) and try to keep him around the best they can.

As I understand the situation from what people close to the organization have told me, no one in the corps knew this was coming. Apparently even the BOD and Corps Director weren't aware of how dire the situation was until this week. All of it stemmed from the now gone CEO who I guess was racking up debt with no cash to pay for it, or revenue coming in anytime soon. So sad as an alumni to see this happen, hope all vets can find a good home and the corps can be back soon.

Looks like the mods on the page removed the post, guess we'll find out if there's any truth to this at some point. Hopefully it was just someone making stuff up, would hate to see the activity take another blow after just starting to get on a better track post COVID.

Saw this oddly ominous post on the DCI Reddit this morning, some comments are spreading a rumor about DCI and SOA being sued in GA. Anyone know if there's any truth to this?

Since it's October and we're just making 100% biased lists here's my groupings in no particular order for each grouping of three: Top 3- BD, Cadets, Bluecoats 4-6- Boston, Crown, Cavaliers 7-9- Mandarins, Phantom, SCV 10-12- Colts, Troopers, Blue Stars I think Cadets has been doing fantastic since their staff turnover in 2021, and with some major changes being made as needed in 2023 I really feel like they're set up to spring back into the Top 3. I think Cavaliers are making a lot of changes with their brass and color guard, and that in combination with their Sanford winning percussion puts them in a great spot for 6th. I think SCV is going to have a hard time coming back and won't quite make the Top 6, but could be close in 7-9 (although it'll be hard with how promising Mandies and Phantom have been lately). Then I think we see Colts, Troopers, and Blue Stars continue to fight it out in the lower half of finals and knocking BK back out (although I think Colts has the potential to compete with whoever's in the 8 and 9 slot this year). This is literally all just guesses since there haven't been any major staff announcements made yet other than some corps confirming they're keeping the same staff they previously had. I think we'll have a better picture around Christmas of which corps have a good chance of moving around, and then from there we won't know until the season starts.

Cadets Design team returns for 2024 with some instructional staff members working in both design and instruction this year. https://cadets.org/cadets-announce-2024-management-design-teams

Gotta love that Lee Beddis writing! Great things continue to come out from the corps, can't wait to see the show this summer.

Man, this is great! Not only have I got everyone telling me Cadets don't stand a chance, but I stand to make $180 when they prove everyone wrong! In all seriousness though, it's cool, I knew no one would take my prediction seriously because us dci fans never do. We're always stuck in using what happened last year to predict what will happen this year, whenever nine times out of ten what happened the previous year has little bearing other than being able to say someone who got 15th in 2022 probably won't win in 2023. Craiga's example above is perfect for what I mean. He's the only person on this thread that accurately predicted the top 6 for last year, and everyone thought he was crazy. I remember some people said Boston wouldn't even make the top 6, and at best would get 4th. For me, I've been around the Cadets for a long time and around them a lot this off-season. I'm telling everyone that this corps is amazing this year, the music is stellar, the visuals are modern while still being authentic to the Cadets style, and the staff and membership are more driven than they have been in over a decade. I could very well be wrong, like everyone has already pointed out, but I think this Cadets corps will shock many people and could sneak up and win it all. I guess only time will tell. If I end up being right I expect that $180 for some finals night drinks!

I've got a finals ranking take that I already know no one is going to agree with me on, but I believe it and will stand by it as I get flack lol. Cadets BD Bluecoats Boston Crown Phantom Blue Stars Cavaliers Mandarins Colts Madison Scouts Troopers I think Cadets have an absolutely amazing show this year and are firing on all cylinders. The last time the corps won in 2011 no one expected them to after Toy Soulder in 2010 getting 5th. I think it's going to be a fight for the corps throughout the entire season, but I truly believe that they can pop up on top last minute finals night ala 2008 Phantom. BD will always be first or second for the foreseeable future. I just have a feeling that between Boston and Bloo, Bluecoats will have the show design that the judges will reward with 3rd although I think Boston will have a membership that performs the snot out of their show. Crown I think will have a year where they're exploring a new way of doing their shows that may focus more on the new percussion style they've brought in staff wise that will ultimately pay off in the long run but may give them some growing pains this summer. Phantom I think has been on the up and up since 2020, and I think this will be the year that they break back into the top 6. Blue Stars won't make it easy on Phantom though and I think will be neck and neck with Phantom throughout the year. Cavaliers I think will be duking it out with Mandies this year as they rediscover their identity and as Mandarins continues to improve with a new staff and determined membership. Colts I think will put on a solid and interesting show like last year, but I almost see them being on a 10th place island where they cement themselves as a finalist corps but not close enough points wise to compete with Mandarins or Cavies. I think Madison Scouts is going to bust back into finals this year with all of the staff changes they've made and the new identity they're cultivating. I think if they push hard enough they may be able to beat Troopers for the 11 spot, but from everything I've heard from Troopers they're gunning for the single digits and not to just stay in finals. I'm skeptical that Troopers will move up this year since I feel like a huge part of their success last year was fan hype (rightfully so since it was a cool show) and I'm just not sure how their design team will follow that show up hype wise with another western themed show. I wish them luck though. Go ahead and tear me apart, I know I'm vastly in the minority with my takes lol but thought I'd stir the pot some. Summer can't come soon enough!

I think the larger problem is that doing stuff in New Jersey anymore isn't affordable, particularly North Jersey. The area around NYC is extremely expensive to be in, and the amount of money needed to get a show venue and housing site for each corps would be way more than any potential profit from selling tickets to where corps wouldn't even break even. I think Cadets wants to do everything they can to keep their NJ roots alive, for instance Cadets is still doing a show in New Jersey this year in Glassboro, but spending money that no corps can afford to spend just because the Cadets are originally for north Jersey isn't a smart move. I do think there is a push to have even more alumni involvement this year with history night and the community performance during spring training in Erie, and as always the alumni get togethers at Allentown and potentially even the Erie show this year. So I don't think the corps is at all trying to make alumni feel forgotten or excluded.

This music is awesome, so excited for the summer!

Super excited for this show, but even more excited for them to announce the repertoire. The music is absolutely INSANE this year.

Paul and Sandy have been writing for Troop since the early 2010's, and in a DCCS podcast he did this year he said he has no plans to be more involved with Troopers this year since SCV has folded. In his own words, he always wanted Troopers to be a place for his students to go teach at and make their own way in their DCI careers and he thinks that him taking over the show at Troopers would be a bad idea. Plus, with their continued success under the leadership of Lauren Teel at Troopers, why should they change anything? In Paul's own words on that podcast he's still working with SCV with the hopes of doing some virtual events with his UNT kids that were with SCV and have decided not to march at another corps. So for this year, I think he's not going anywhere. The real question is what happens if SCV can't field a corps in 2024?

We've been working, don't worry. Just be ready for Maroon and Gold Day for more exciting information 😉

Someone mentioned this on another forum, but there is a Santa Clara, Texas in the San Antonio metro area 👀

Heard rumors about this, super excited for the corps! Sounds like lots of good relationships and financial opportunities await them in Erie, glad they’re making smart decisions for the corps future.

I believe the plan is to have an alumni corps in 2034, probably similar to the Bluecoats alumni corps from last year. My guess is this money would go towards funding the alumni corps.

Has anyone been able to purchase any of the audio files for marchingmusic? I tried to get the Cadets show but the page just kept refreshing when I hit purchase.

I think that’s sorta the problem DCI faces right now. Do we want DCI to continue as an education focused activity that I see as the equivalent to college sports, or do we want to go all in on the professional aspect and combine all of the corps into 3-5 professional groups? I personally think DCI should continue as it is, and try to find more corporate sponsorships or maybe even try to work out a deal with NCAA to receive funding that way. I think it’s good that DCI remains as a more education/high performance level activity for 14-21 year olds, since what’s so special about the activity is the opportunity young people have to grow as a person over the course of the summer, not just how good their show was. DCI is a vehicle for making better human beings through achieving something at a high level, in my opinion.

All I’ll say is it’s new pieces to the corps, more modern (in a competitive sense), but still true to the corps identity. I love it, it feels like the corps making the right steps forward without just selling out to what others have been doing lately.

I've never loved saying a specific placement for each corps, but I think groupings of three (where it's a toss up between the three) are usually more fair. My predictions: 1-3: BD, Boston, Cadets 4-6: Bloo, Crown, Phantom 7-9: Blue Stars, Mandarins, Cavaliers 10-12: Colts, Crossmen, Troopers/Madison Obviously Boston and BD are set up the best of any corps currently. Lots of talented members auditioning, no staff lost, and plenty of money which I think will keep the two in the Top 3. I think Cadets are going to be sneaky this off-season and burst up during the season. I'm biased, but from what I've seen of them at their camps I think they're set up amazing to go as far as they want this year with their staff, show design, new admin, and membership. I think Phantom is another corps that's going to shoot up with the changes they've made the last few years. I think Crossmen is set up well to make it back into finals, and I'm honestly not sure what the outcome is going to be for Troopers or Madison this year. I know Troopers had a great show last year and have all of their staff back, but I just have a hesitant feeling about if they can repeat that success. Madison has made lots of great moves during this off-season, and I'm interested to see if they can capitalize on them this season and make it back into finals. Just my opinion on things, we'll see what happens in August.

I was there. I don't want to give away anything about the show, but the brass and perc played through the first two movements at the end of camp. If the show keeps moving in the same direction as the music the corps has so far, I think it has the potential to be one of my favorite Cadets shows of all time. The music is THAT cool.

I think there’s some misconceptions about how camps work now a days. The corps being from Erie doesn’t mean all of our camps are now in Erie. The corps been from Allentown for years now, but we’ve done most of our winter camps in Salem, NJ and we still plan to do them there until the weather gets warmer and we can actually go outside and use the fields in Erie. I don’t really see this move as impacting members desire to audition because all of our audition camps aren’t going to move, just the one camp before move ins. As far as the SCV stuff goes, I think the corps was just trying to help SCV members out more so than trying to poach them. We have/have had members at the Cadets from 2021-now who were trying to find a home after SCV and BD took the season off in 21, and it was a struggle for them to find a spot for the season after being blind sided by both corps that they wouldn’t be taking place in the Celebration season. The intent this time was to make it easier for SCV members to find a spot since it can be extremely stressful to find a spot at a top 6 corps in December. How do you know what corps have openings? How do you know what top 6 corps (if any) would be up for taking SCV members? I think it’s great the corps was so quick to offer displaced SCV members a home, and I don’t think other corps would have done the same publicly had Cadets not stepped up and been the first to open their doors. They definitely didn’t in 2021. Someone said above that the Cadets can’t do anything right in the eyes of most people in DCI, I think that’s spot on. The corps seems to do their best to do right by their members/staff/alumni/fans, and all people seem to want to do is cast doubt. Whereas other corps do extremely similar things and get no hate whatsoever. It’s really disheartening that the corps is still being punished for the actions of a ###### bag director that was fired almost 5 years ago. I can’t wait for the corps to come out on fire this year.

What have you heard? Camp attendance from my perspective has been no worse than any year since 2018, if anything it’s for sure been a good deal better in the brass and guard with a much higher caliber of performer coming in to audition than we’ve had the last few years. The only section I’m aware of that’s been slower to fill has been the pit, but even then I think they’ve only got a couple of spots left. Financially, as I’ve said above, the corps in a very solid spot. The only thing I’ve heard brought up that has merit is tax returns from 2019 not looking great for the corps, which is valid since I believe 2018 and 2019 were some of the most perilous years for the corps financially. Everyone I’ve talked to on corps admin, though, has said the corps is comfortably in the black now and back (from a financial standpoint) to where the corps was pre-Hop firing. I believe YEA took a large brunt of the financial stressors on the corps for the Hopkins situation and COVID, and because of that the corps is able to be financially stable now.