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kdaddy

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Posts posted by kdaddy

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, DAL-27 said:

    As for #1 you do make a point, however this isn't the only instance in the activity where design staff takes their style/brand with them when moving on.  For example: when Gaines went to SCV their marching style emulated what the Cavies had done for years.

    Great point - Crown's "brand" had as much to do with Potter & Co. as Boston's does now!

    • Like 2

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    59 minutes ago, karuna said:

    Boston adopted Crown's spring training regime (ie move in to a small remote college, live in the dorms, etc...  I see posts from Boston fans bragging about all this but it's just an exact copy of what Crown has done for many, many years at Gardner Webb.  I mean it makes sense because it works well but it's just exactly the same setup as that team had at Crown 

    I see that Crown has been holding spring training at Gardner Webb in 2007. Phantom Regiment started holding spring training at Rockford College in 2003 and did so for a number of years thereafter.

    Ahem...

    "Crown adopted Phantom Regiment's spring training regime (i.e., move in to a small remote college, live in the dorms).  I see posts from Crown fans bragging about all this but it's just an exact copy of what Regiment did for several years at Rockford College.  I mean it makes sense because it works well but it's just exactly the same setup as that team had at Regiment."

    Do I believe this? Of course not. It's as silly as the post I'm quoting.

    • Like 3

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

    never said the schedule change was bad. just the petty issues.

     

    look staff change. lets be real here....look at Cadets 16. if another corps asked if you staff was interested....would you stay there??? Money or no....if it were me...hell no!

    not every decision is made solely for money. and "poaching" is such a #### word to use...staff have left to go other places since the bgeinning of time. But i'll ask again....if things were so great where someone was....why would they leave? trust me, my employer sucks some days to the point of wanting to dust off the resume. but, despite offers of more money, more this, more that....in the end i have stayed ( for now). Why? because more money doesn't always solve everything. But if the right offer came along...not necessarily money, but culture, environment...yeah i may jump. 

     

    the corporate world pays people a lot of money to go out and headhunt. Why should drum corps demand fealty and absolute loyalty to stay with one organization just because?

     

    so yeah people left Cadets and Crown to go to Boston. Crown is still and has been in the hunt. Cadets are working their way up but lets be honest, their issues were far more off the field than on field. Hell they're luckily to still be in existence. Gino and Colin leaving didn't cause that.

    The Rennicks and JD Shaw left Phantom Regiment in back-to-back years for Santa Clara Vanguard. I honestly don't remember any Regiment fans being disgruntled, only sad. There was no talk of poaching, as far as I can remember. Even as SCV passed Regiment competitively, I don't remember any ill will. Just one anecdote, but it has parallels Crown/BAC in some ways (e.g., Regiment was pretty consistently top six at that point and only 2-3 years removed from a title, while SCV wasn't). 

    It seems that issues with Crown toward BAC are unique. 

    • Like 1

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    It's weird that the artistic director/program coordinator would change, but all other designers remain the same. Wouldn't the theory be for the "idea guy" to bring aboard their own people?

    I mentioned before that Subel's shows were never my cup of tea, but it's interesting that the most comprehensive design was his last imo (to whatever extent it was *his* design). I thought they skated by on talent for a couple of his shows with weak concepts (e.g., 2017, 2019), but I wouldn't say that about 2023.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    RIP Robert W. Smith

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    19 hours ago, keystone3ply said:

    From The Cadets FB page 09/22/23:

     

    We are deeply saddened to learn that Robert W. Smith, renowned composer and music educator, passed away yesterday. Robert made incredible contributions to the drum corps community, and The Cadets family will always cherish his arrangements in our 1989 production of Les Misérables, as well as his inspired instruction in the winter of the same year. Sending heartfelt condolences to Robert's family during this difficult time.

    Arranged two finalists groups that year. I suspect that was pretty unusual back then - still not so common even today.

    DCI's Next Director

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

    but here's a great tie in with the activity......except for a few ladies in the 80's, how many female snare players there in DCI until recently? few. there's a zillion reasons why, but there were few. it's only recently that you have seen that start to change. heck even into the 90's you didn't see a lot of female bass players. and now it's slowly getting to where you have female percussion caption heads. it can take years to build that pipeline, and in DCI, in so many areas it'll take time. 

    Excellent point

     

    1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

    but if DCI doesn't get a candidate considered diverse enough to satisfy everyone, it's not a failure on their part as described here. 

    And I agree on this as well. A "good decision" is what goes into the decision process, not necessarily how well the decision works out. That's why I stress that it's important that the pool of candidates be diverse - that's the decision process. Whoever rises to the top after that after a fair process should be hired. 

    • Like 1

    DCI's Next Director

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

    not necessarily. just because a company tries to be diverse doesn't mean they get people, or often times leading to companies getting people that really aren't qualified and it causes problems. we've seen that story too many times where forcing diversity and hiring people just to hit targets has caused problems.

     

    Have we seen that story "too many times" though? Do hires in the name of diversity really lead to hiring people that aren't qualified? I feel like that is a theoretical concern. Sure, maybe it happened to us once, therefore we turn that anecdote into "oh, it happens all the time." 

    But moreover, I think the point is (or at least the point from my perspective): take great steps to build a diverse pool of candidates and pick the best person you can. You can't hire a diverse group of leaders without intentionally trying to build a pool of candidates with those different perspectives. 

     

    2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

    the question is why isn't DCI or drum corps getting diverse candidates? if it the activity itself? we all know DCI hasn't been the most diverse activity, and it won't change dramatically overnight. it will take time.

    but is the job itself just that unappealing? granted, my wife's background isn't qualified for the job, but she'd have no interest....she like most people think the job isn't worth it unless the pay is way more than DCI is willing to fork out. Honestly...i think it's the job itself, not the efforts to get diverse candidates thats the issue. see the post above about Cavies search.

    I think there's some truth to this. I'm an engineering professor. Our profession woefully lacks diversity, particularly relative to our student body (sound familiar?). We do our damnedest to build a diverse pool of candidates for faculty openings, but it's just tough, because that diverse pool doesn't exist. For us, it's "no matter how much you try to mentor me, I can make $80K with a BS, why go through several years of grad school to make $95K as a professor?" That is, our faculty don't effectively reflect our students because "I don't want that job." So while I think there's truth to the idea that the job isn't attractive, there's more to it than that. 

    As a white guy, I see myself doing all kinds of jobs, because white guys have all kinds of roles. Not everyone can say that. Without the pipeline of black engineering professors or hispanic women caption heads, it's not so easy for students to see themselves in that role, therefore they don't set themselves up to pursue it. I think some corps are making efforts to build a diverse group of designers and caption leaders. More to be done, and it should be intentional. And we can't let ourselves treat anecdotes of a bad outcome as common occurrences that keep us from building those diverse pipelines.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 2

    DCI's Next Director

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    52 minutes ago, Tim K said:

    I have no idea of what Dan Acheson makes right now, but given DCI’s budget and the responsibilities I would guess the salary of a new director would be between $300K and $450K. To put it in perspective, the average salary of a high school principal in Indianapolis is $129K, the average salary of a college president in Indiana is $300K according to a quick Google search. 

    You might be right, but I'd be surprised (and dismayed) if the new DCI president made as much as a college president.

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    49 minutes ago, Algernon said:

    Rick Subel was sacked, right?

    While I haven't gotten into most of the shows since Keith Potter left for BAC, I hope they have someone "better" lined up if they're going to make this move. Placement-wise, it's hard to argue with Subel's success (though many elements go into this kind of decision, presumably). 

    Phantom Regiment 2024

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    9 hours ago, jpaul said:

    Actually, he’s Visual Coordinator.

    I'm not sure if you're referring to his current role with Cavaliers (Artistic Director) or his 2022 role with Phantom Regiment (still listed on the Regiment website as Program Consultant and Choreographer).

    He was not the Visual Coordinator for Phantom Regiment in 2022. That role was more akin to the one held by Steven Estudillo. 

    • Haha 1

    The Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

    she was there before with no issues until pops decided to attend shows or troll online that he was attending shows even if he really wasn't there.

     

    she is a great teacher, so i have  zero issues with her being hired. the org needs to be sure pops stays away.

    And it seems Regiment's guard improved in 2023, so I suspect she had a hand in that. I was hoping she would stay involved in Rockford.

    • Like 2
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