Richard Lesher

Absolutely…………….. The conduct of individuals caused this. What are the series of events that have led to this result? “Today” isn’t the day it died. It’s just the day it can’t be hidden anymore. I get it……………..

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo................. Any chance the DCP admins will bring back the thread they removed of my pointing out Cadets were in regulatory violation of state law by failing to register as a charity?

Soon enough

Agreed, it's not a "Brand" anyone should logically be wanting to revive either by reputation or legal risks.

There is another Corps' illegal operating practices DCI is undeniably tied to that someone has saved every recent communication to DCI giving them a heads up via their ethics channel, and who saved communications to include direct communications from CEO of DCI denying the problem exists despite evidence directly from state regulators recording the opposite. So if someone goes after that Corps and includes DCI then they are toast.

Vanguard's Bingo opportunity is much stronger than BD's. They are not paying occupancy rent and my time as SCV Treasurer we were NETTING nearly $1,000,000 more a year than BD was working with.

There should be a DCI wide Corps Jacket Zip Up Challenge by decade. Who all can put on their corps jacket, and ZIP IT UP categorized by decade. 2020's folks can't compete with 80's folks.

Of the things that are horribly worse watching on-line verses live, Drum Corps is near the top of that list. The only thing else that comes to mind that might be worse is an Air Show. I don't even both watching anything Drum Corps on-line for anything other than reminiscing.

That's my observation as well. It can be a lot of work, and all of those efforts are countered by voices and votes on the board that just prefer to avoid the hassle. Imagine if you will approaching the D Day invasion beaches in your landing craft. Then someone says, hey, how about we all take a vote to either 1) storm the beaches and get shot all the hell or 2) just circle around and around until someone else takes the beaches and established a safe landing zone. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone wants to be in the picture erecting the flag over Iwo Jima as seen on Time Magazine. **** As for SCV, BINGO has been the element that has saved them. Bingo is SOOO RICH!!!!!!!!!!!!! it has been abused for decades, and when turned around we were netting nearly $1,000,000 a year more than Blue Devils for several years. It took COVID, and a horrible decision at that time (COVID) to terminate all volunteer staff and replace them with a new full time paid staff to finally defeat the rich market benefits of Bingo. If it wasn't for Bingo, and the one strategic move they followed through on to BUY their BUILDING they would have been done a long time ago. **** As for everyone else.............. I'm only repeating what others are now vocalizing as well. The activity is a net loser economic proposition. It will only succeed when folks give more to it that the activity puts back into the community. A challenge World Corps face is becoming disconnected from their local communities. Imagine how easy it would be for me to take up a strategy to attack SCV's local community that is sucking Bingo Fraud out of the community and all the members and staff are flown in to participate in the non profit that provides no local programs or serves no local members, nor participates in no local performances. Wouldn't other more LOCAL nonprofits want SCV's poorly run and nontransparent Bingo Market Share? The Blue Devils for example can leverage BDB and BDC for those local connections and have other entertainment groups for just pep band stuff in the Bay Area. The BDA Corps is more or less a luxury for them as a non profit. It's sucking out just as much as any other top tier world class corps from it's community, but BD breaks even with the B and C corps in terms of community goodwill.

Harken back to where drum corps started from (out of the locations of VFW's and American Legions) the activity still hasn't exited out of that. While the production has expanded beyond John Philip Sousa and symmetrical formations, the audience is not. Who the activity sell tickets to has not expanded. Yea $50+ for a show where maybe ONE corps will be worth sitting through if you are not a parent or fan really can sting.

I'll stop complaining about the Stanford show (DCI West). I splurge on the box seats that comes with a BBQ, and I think last year they were $125 or so. Snacks and drinks in the box (nothing amazing, chips and cookies and sodas, but still something), and easy access to the restrooms plus the views from the box with all seats more or less no farther out than the 25yrd.

Folks have signed their name to Corps debts. When I took the treasurer position with "my corps" there were loans on the books where other board members prior to me had signed as guarantors for the organization all while bingo was being embezzled from. Some of these people berating me were able to keep their houses because of me.

Yes, having worked in banking (to include WF for 20 years) I knew they'd never listen to me calling in to tell them to change the contact information. I didn't even reply back to the CEO, I was floored with the request.......dude......................... I figured they (Wells) would figure it out eventually or close the relationship. For the CEO to ask me to do that just shows how oblivious he is to the basic functions of bank services.

Transparency is a foreign concept. I'm beside myself how many corps are oblivious to what that actually should be. Of course I'm coming from a corporate finance perspective as required by the Security Exchange Commission and the Sarbanes Oxley Act. As far as BD, I'm new to their culture, but I can tell you as a parent, oh lord, it seems the disclosures and my needing to sign everything never seems to come to an end. Pretty soon here I'll need to complete multiple layers of child safety training, stuff I've already done for Boy Scouts, and my employer as well. It never ends. The question is going to probably blow up on them is: Who is the employee or representative of the organization that verifies all the required training certificates are up to date and on record for each individual with face to face contact for members.

Was that other Corps the Corps I harp on a lot about. I remember getting into the power structure finally and tens of thousands of dollars in donation checks were left in the main office long expired and never deposited. The person in charge of running the office couldn't be bothered to f-ing deposit money handed directly to him. I'll even go on record here as late as 2022 Wells Fargo Bank called me personally (having been the treasurer if I haven't mentioned that already as late as 2012). They wanted to talk banking issues (little did I know) regarding the corps, but I had to stop them cold from continuing the conversation. I'm not on the board anymore and they need to update their contacts. So I reached out to the CEO of the organization, and then he had the mind to tell me to contact Wells Fargo with the CFO's information. Excuse me? How about you call you're bank, and update your information, and I promise I wont simply just accept their call next time and talk about whatever it is they want to talk about on your behalf.