MikeN
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Posts posted by MikeN
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In Texas, just about everyone already has a dance / drill team. Most bands also have a color guard. For decades now, band directors think they've reinvented the wheel by having the drill team replace the guard, but they have usually made the dancers learn flag work.
Like most fads in TX bands, this too shall likely pass. There are 3,240 high schools in Texas - it takes decades for the whole ship to change course.
Mike
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13 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Thought Spirit took themselves out for the season so they (new management?) could get their act together. Don’t remember DCI getting involved
Had to go look it up. The victim reported it in August, the investigation was concluded in October and no response regarding the recommendations in the report was given to the victim by DCI or Spirit.
She went public on January 8, 2022. https://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/index.php?/topic/176402-sexual-assault-spirit-of-atlanta-2021/#comment-3916475
DCI/Spirit reply was only 8 days later, on Jan 16, 2023. https://dci.org/news/spirit-of-atlanta-withdraws-from-2022-dci-tour
"With the assistance, guidance and encouragement of Drum Corps International, the Spirit of Atlanta organization will withdraw from the 2022 season to reflect, reorganize and plan for a stronger organization in 2023 and beyond.:
Sorry for the aside, just pointing out that it took public pressure to make DCI move.
Mike
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12 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went through the DCI Ethics Manual line by line, and pointed out violations of DCI Ethics and State Law by SCV employees and core leadership, and I provided the proof and sent that to the entirety of the DCI board at the time, and the generic ethics e-mail, and here we are a YEAR LATER, and SCV is potentially 120 days away from non profit revocation.
Spirit's investigation took ... 3 months? (trying to remember), and no penalties were levied until the accuser went public. Then Spirit was taken out of the lineup within days.
Mike
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This is a cool thing - I’m glad the Spartans jumped in to help keep their legacy alive.
Mike
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46 minutes ago, craiga said:
The plaintiff should sue the actual offender, not an entirely different organization 40 years removed.
There's a bit of a legal argument going on about that, based on the records available.
Mike
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22 hours ago, rpbobcat said:
In addition to what you suggest, I would like to see any allegation, of any type of direct abuse, be reviewed by the corps' legal council and he makes the call whether law enforcement should be contacted.
That may conflict with some states' laws regarding mandated reporting. One <good> thing we ran into in Texas while I was writing ours was that like 99% of our instructors were already teachers, and they are mandated reporters by statute. It was an easy leap to include that in our own rules then.
Mike
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13 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
Then someone explain to me why that is. Does GH hire better lawyers than the Cadets? Or are deeper pockets a curse that transcends all else?
The suit is against both the org and 10 individuals (I saw someone on Reddit allege it was the BoD members at the time, including Hopkins). I'm assuming Ms. W. is alleging that both the individual actors *and* the system they created (the corps) are at fault.
Mike
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That's one of the arguments to be decided in this particular arbitration / mediation. In much bigger settings, USA Gymnastics and the Catholic Church could not get them separated. And I assume that's also why this suit names the ten individuals it does separately as well.
Mike
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By "local" touring do we mean fewer miles or shorter length? I haven't negotiated a bus contract in a few years, so I can't recall specifics of what the larger cost factor entails. I'm guessing fewer miles over the same amount of time is still going to cost near the same, if the buses are still "on the road" and drivers are dispatched then it costs money.
Off the top of my head, maybe a split tour - 2 weeks spring training, one or two-week mad dash regionally, followed by 2 more weeks second training then one week mad dash leading to Indy week - might be more viable? Makes it an 8 week season with transportation needed for four. Shorter multiple spring training chunks may make housing cheaper.
Mike
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Back when I was working in Open Class, after the Hopkins dismissal DCI required all corps to have a policy addressing allegations and investigations, and I think they also gave us required elements. I wrote the one for our group, but I had a good template to work with based on hospital compliance. I think DCI also has one they use internally, but I don't remember specifically after all of these years.
Mike
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41 minutes ago, bluesman said:
Are we now living in a time where "The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children"? I'm sympathetic to anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault or harassment, but this was almost 42 years ago. Some kids aren't going to get to march because of something that happened before they, or in some instances before their parents were born. I'm sure I'm going to get blasted for this, but the alleged incident happened more than 4 decades ago.
Counterpoint (and not aimed at you specifically) - at what point does their trauma and justice stop mattering? Just because an org has ignored, covered and deflected for so long, do we just throw our hands up and say "nothing else to do"?
Mike
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3 hours ago, fifer said:
You could also look at it from the perspective of, why have BDB, SCV Cadets and Spartans (and now Gold too) not been required to move up to Worlds? Where is the line in the sand for scoring that calls for a corps to be in one class or the other?
DCI has steadily detatched on field results from membership requirements, and that's a great thing. Membership in World Class should absolutely be based on infrastructure, finances, and ability to participate. The rest of the stuff is just window dressing.
Mike
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17 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:
Anyway............ in my tenure SCV really never got control over travel expenses. It's one thing to travel a lot, it is another to travel a lot LAST MINUTE.
I have to say, based on my experiences in DCI, this plagues all but the few best run corps.
Mike
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1 minute ago, BeachBum said:
I believe Cadets are a registered non-profit in NJ not PA.
YEA was, CAE is not, based on a search. CAE is IRS registered in PA, and they say they're state registered as a charity in PA, though it's still in process and hasn't shown up on the website yet.
Mike
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Disclaimer - not a lawyer here - but it looks like CAE is arguing that they're not responsible for the actions of Garfield Cadets or YEA. CAE created a new Tax ID in June of 2020, backdated to April 2020, that predates the complaint. (I'm assuming for this very reason, as everyone had to know that Post-Hopkins this was a possibility.)
On the other side, Ms. W.'s attorney argues that when YEA dissolved, the Charitable Distribution Agreement that moved all of YEA's assets over to CAE includes their previous liabilities as well.
From the CAE attorney's filed request for mediation (which they say both sides agreed to), it sounds like in mediation the judge may have more time and leeway to examine the evidence further than they would in arbitration. Again, though - not a lawyer.
(edit: The Board's published statement echoes the filings - they refute that they're legally tied to Garfield's or YEA's actions.)
Mike
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BD BOD is the gold standard for DCI, and every corps out there should be hitting them up regularly for best practices.
Mike
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I just don't know what brand strength you're gonna be capitalizing on here. It was a pretty ugly end. I guess hoping nobody remembers?
Mike
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20 hours ago, ContraFart said:
can they really? Outside of safety concerns, I am not sure DCI can regulate rehearsal times. From what I see DCI rules are about fielding and performance limitations, not so much rehearsal limitations. I could always be wrong though.
They could if they wanted to, sure. There's a whole host of other organizational things they require in the name of being allowed to participate in their sanctioned events.
Mike
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1 hour ago, dbc03 said:
What high school bands have a show to perform during the summer when DCI and Soundsport are happening?
Yeah - in modern marching, this is kind of a non-starter. The ecosystem of HS/BOA -> WGI -> DCI throughout the year is pretty well entrenched at this point. Very, *very* few schools are going to schedule a concert band trip at the end of the school year then turn around and compel kids for a summer circuit, especially after the academic year has ended.
Mike
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3 hours ago, Tim K said:
When I saw the FB post about auditions and a few hours later the post about going inactive, I found it odd and chalked it up to a lack of communication. Then I wondered if the announcement about 2024 was made earlier than intended. I’m thinking they planned on holding off until after the reunion weekend rather than put a pall on the events, but announced it prior to the event to avoid the disaster that would have occurred if news leaked out at the reunion. There’s no way that news could have been contained.
Not for you specifically - just for casual readers, here's the link to the Cadets Board statement:
"The drum corps season is quite challenging with respect to the timing of member fees and the ability to anticipate actual expenses. The next season—2024, in this case—begins the minute DCI Finals scores are announced. Immediately, prospective members for the following year start purchasing audition packets under the assumption that the drum corps will be competing the following summer. Meanwhile, the reconciliation of last season’s expenses is not realized until the final bills arrive in September and October. It was only within the past week that the CAE Board reviewed the final results for the year and reached the painful conclusion that our income was insufficient to cover our expenses and that we had less cash on hand than our current debts and obligations. The moment that conclusion was reached, the board had an ethical responsibility to stop accepting money for the next season. The CAE Board made that decision Friday night, and we will now need to refund already collected fees for next year, in addition to addressing existing obligations."
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18 hours ago, corps8294 said:
The days of "keep the kids off the streets" drum corps have been gone for decades, now. I'd even venture to guess that a majority of the membership of the the top corps are all music, performance, and dance majors. I don't think you would find anyone who is marching in the Blue Devils who is going into a career outside of music, dance, and the like. It has become a niche activity that caters to a specific group of individuals.
I'll try to find the link, but I swear DCI survey results showed WC was like 60% music and music ed majors.
Mike
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2 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
I was using ContraFart’s numbers.
No worries - just trying to add some firsthand experience. Also, it’s a cost that’s been pushed to members, so it’s a balance sheet neutral item really. -Mike
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56 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
$200 uniform x 150 members = $30,000 in uniform cost. It all counts toward the bottom line.
It’s not $300 - we were paying ~$100 (ish) at Guardians for digital uniforms 4 years ago, and the contract had a discount clause year on year.
Mike
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It's past time to open DCI membership to OC corps. Honestly, it's probably time to rethink membership requirements and benefits, along with the touring requirements.
Mike
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DCI Bernstein Bonanza 2009
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
The talk in '09 was that Troopers "Western Side Story" had a lot to do with the crackdown, but I swear there was also a band at BOA Grand Nats that also went far afield with their adaptation.
Mike