vferrera
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Posts posted by vferrera
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On 7/9/2019 at 6:50 PM, crest99 said:
Just a few points in no particular order:
- A number of posters have advanced the idea that these corps are private organizations who can behave as they please, and the rest of us should mind our business. This claim is groundless. While I believe in the importance of autonomy in the nonprofit sector, the tax benefit they receive as nonprofits justifies public scrutiny -- especially when it comes to issues involving discrimination.
Nonprofits are only exempt from corporate income tax. No net earnings, no tax benefit.
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4 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:
there's 2 so far
Megan is the only one who was formally considered a member and I think she still has eligibility to march DCI, so not an alum quite yet.
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46 minutes ago, Galen said:
If that's the case, I wonder if the alumni corps is also going to adopt this policy?
first, there have to be female alumni, so.....
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I'm starting a new thread for tributes to the founders of DCI.
Don Warren of the Cavaliers
Bill Howard of the Madison Scouts
Dave Kampschroer of the Blue Stars
Gail Royer of the Santa Clara Vanguard
Jim Jones of the Troopers
In 1971, they formed the Combine West that became Drum Corps International the following year. Please post memories of these fine gentlemen.
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59 minutes ago, brianella said:
With all due respect if the prior levels were adequate the Scouts would be in a position to pay the Executive Director his full salary to start with , then it would also be sufficient to pay designers and caption heads a fair market salary . So I guess I disagree that these prior efforts were close to sufficient in the past. It needn’t be the way to go but if the corps is to become a viable competitive entity in the future, new revenue will need to be sourced. I’d love to hear your ideas.....
I didn't say their efforts were adequate. I said they were plentiful. There's a difference. Here are a few things they have done: Christmas tree lots. Raffles. Playing at shopping mall openings. Mini car racing. A food concession at Brewers games. Mad-Dash 5K races. One BOD member owns a string of candy shops that donate some of their profits. These all take person-power and organization. Lots. The corps management has their hands full. If alums or supporters don't step up, these things don't happen. It's not a matter of having ideas. It's a matter of having the resources and experience to vet the ideas and turn them into worthwhile, sustainable income streams.
You want my idea? Madison currently has no official alumni association (if they do, they're keeping it a secret from me, maybe intentionally ;) ) I think they could really use one. The Madison alum are very energetic and resourceful. On their own, the alums have put together several major performances (MSARP 2006, Macy's 2014 and Mardi Gras 2018). Each of those represents 200+ guys willing to pay their own way to fly in and do a reunion/performance. Money-wise, I would guess about 1 million $$$ was spent on each. I did MSARP and spent about 3k or so on air/hotel/etc. I also did Macy's and only spent a few hundred since I live in NYC. The alumni are also fragmented (generations not getting along), grumpy (you see it here), and alienated from the organization. This year, the divisions among the alums, and between alum and corps, are the worst I've seen. An alumni organization could help. Cavaliers went through something similar about 10 years ago (I'm also a Cavalier alum). Not gonna go into details. The CAA got on top of things and did wonders for alumni-corps relations. Great group of guys. Great leadership. Madison could and should do the same.
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3 hours ago, brianella said:
perhaps a food truck, they are big in many cities. Get the truck, park it around the square, offer brats or burgers, etc. it would require capital, and a lot of organization, but it could yield permanent and substantial cash flow. It would also fulfill their mission of education of the youth. Chris has an entrepreneurial background. Just saying. It doesn’t need to be a food truck but the profit and investment is attractive. Think badger games, the entire downtown is a street party. Any other ideas? There must be something low initial investment and high profit margin. I felt it was time to change the feel of my posts here. I’m done venting. I think they get the message from us all.
The idea of using capital equipment (buses, trucks, etc) as revenue sources in the off-season has been around since corps started buying their own buses in the 60s. There are a number of costs involved: labor, licenses, inspections, insurance, supplies, gas, etc. It also depreciates the equipment much faster. Then there are the legal issues of having a for-profit business connected to a non-profit entity. My understanding is that most corps have found it's better to simply park their rolling stock for the winter. The Scouts are constantly developing revenue sources. There is a long list of things they've tried with more or less success.
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SCV also made top 12 72-79. In fact, I believe they have made top 12 every year of DCI.
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It's fun to imagine that we can solve problems by talking about them on the internet. The reality is that if you are not in close touch with the organization, it's useless to speculate on what the fix might be in any particular case. Here's an example: a few years ago a certain alumni group was calling for the head of a certain program coordinator. They got it. That person is now coordinating the program for another corps. Is he bringing them down? Nope. In fact, they are a lock for a medal this year and the odds-on favorite for gold.
Obvious-but-truism: You really just can't analyze the dynamics of human relationships from a distance.
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These are the projections for the WC top 17 based on linear regression. Sorry for the bad formatting.
"pred" is predicted score for July 7
"rate" is average improvement in points/day
"rsq" is the proportion of the variance accounted for by a straight line.
rnk corps pred rate rsq
1 BLUECTS 84.20 0.87 0.99
2 CROWN 82.45 0.80 0.98
3 BDEVILS 82.35 0.74 1.00
4 SCV 82.35 0.74 0.96
5 BAC 82.00 0.90 0.98
6 CAVS 80.65 0.71 0.96
7 CADETS 79.85 0.91 0.95
8 PHANTOM 75.55 0.71 0.98
9 MANDRNS 75.30 0.78 0.96
10 BKNIGHT 74.85 0.58 0.96
11 BLUSTRS 74.65 0.78 0.95
12 XMEN 74.65 0.77 0.93
13 SPIRIT 72.85 0.80 0.89
14 ACADEMY 72.30 0.69 0.96
15 COLTS 71.30 0.78 0.87
16 MADISON 70.70 0.67 0.97
17 TROOPER 69.35 0.70 0.96 -
1 hour ago, Liahona said:
Isn't an alumni page usually a closed group? I think taking down a page like that is making a bad situation....worse.
It was not the official corps or alumni page (I'm not sure there is an official alumni page). It was started by alums and, yes, it was closed. I don't disagree with the mods for taking it down. There are other forums for discussion
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I'm a madison alum, or "homer" as we're known on this board. I marched in the early-80s. I also try to support them financially when I can.
What I want from Madison is not blind adherence to tradition. What I want is intelligent and innovative stewardship of the Madison brand.
What is the brand? The brand is a recognizable set of concrete and abstract elements that form an overall aesthetic. It's a color scheme (green, gold, red, white, black), a set of symbols (FDL), a visual style, a musical "approach," and so forth. It's hard to define, but easy to recognize.
There is nothing about the Madison brand that prevents them from innovating and being competitive. Since the mid-70s, innovation and competitiveness have been core aspects of the brand.
I am not disappointed with the members or their effort, but I am disappointed with this year's product. I am disappointed that the members are not being given what they need to compete at the highest level. I am disappointed that they are not connecting with the audience.
I don't think any of this is due to bad intentions on the part of the BOD or management. I think it is just a design team run amok. This happened twice during the Stewart era and was dealt with harshly. Under the current leadership, this is the third time in 10 years. There needs to be a clear-headed evaluation of how the organization got to this point and some strong corrective measures. The sooner the better.
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7 hours ago, FlamMan said:
This show concept and design is sub par. Every year I hope that the Scouts get their act together, and with each regime change the product and results are the same...disappointing. Madison trying to be like everyone else isnt the answer. If you really want to be different and innovative in 2019, go back to something resembling the traditional scout uniform and play Latin jazz.
Since the Stewart era (1978-2002), MS has gone through:
2003-2006 Sal Salas era. These were all solid shows with 2005 cracking the top 6. Lots of alums criticized the uni, though.
2007. Not sure who was in charge, but a bit of a disaster. Started to come together toward the end
2008. Very nice Latin show with an "interesting" uniform and some innovative percussion.
2009. Relampago, which as far as I can tell is Spanish for "rock bottom."
2010-2014. Jim Mason era. Brought back the "look and feel" of the Scouts in a big way. Great show concepts. "New York Morning" was probably the highlight.
2015. 78th & Madison. Another New York themed show that was well designed and executed. Brought back the classic uni.
2016. JCS. Nice idea, lame design
2017. Crazy, but it worked (for me).
2018. I'll reserve judgment.
If you're judging them against a "championship" standard, then, yes, a bit disappointing. But by the standards of normal DBC, only 2007 and 2009 were complete disasters. Everything else was pretty solid in the design dept. 2005 and 2011 could be considered classics.
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Gender composition is 99% about the culture of the organization off the field. It has little or nothing to do with talent or competitiveness.
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So this thread is "BD or not BD." lol.
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DCP's recap is different than DCI's. DCP shaved .5 off Madison's score. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!
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67.1 in Evansville tonight. 0.5 behind Blue Stars. 2.5 jump in 3 days.
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9 hours ago, westcoastblue said:
And ladies and gentlemen, the Madison Scouts continue to eat their own! ...
Ease up on the broad brush there, WCB. I'm an MS alum from the 70s/80s era. This is exactly what I've been waiting for. Something way, way out there yet still captures the core identity. We always thought of ourselves as gypsies, nomads, rag-tag army, tribal, outsiders, not playing your game and you can't even judge us. This fits perfectly.
I also like how they incorporated spats, neckerchief, sash and FDL. When I marched, the uni was literally a Sears janitor suit with those elements added. The tradition is still there, just a new expression.
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Madison wins the uni game by a country mile. Love how they incorporated spats, neckerchief and the FDL...and even brought back the Eisenhower (sort of).
All that other spandex under-armour-looking #### is weak. Go home.
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Madison's uniform just won DCI.
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Corps have sponsors for everything. instruments, uniforms, props, flags/weapons, even shoes. A tour cost that much..........maybe we should limit food consumption, or turn the AC off on the buses. This is the worst idea I've heard in sometime.
Food would have its own budget category with a mandatory minimum per member per meal.
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One must be careful. When I was taking Research courses in college, the very first rule that my professors stated over and over was this...
Correlation does not equate Causality.
That's why you do experiments.
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Should DCI pass a rule limiting the amount of money corps can spend each year?
Based on figures from guidestar, it seems that the typical top-12 corps currently spends about $1.2M per season. There is wide variability, but it seems that there is a rough correlation between budget and placement. Very few corps with < 1M budgets make it into finals, so it looks like this is an effective barrier.
I would suggest a limit of about 1.2M per year, with a variance based on miles traveled. Each corps would submit a detailed budget and be subject to random audits. There would be minimums and maximums for certain categories. Multi-corps organizations would have to budget each competitive unit separately. The budget would include the estimated value of sponsorships or in-kind contributions, including unpaid staff.
I think a spending cap would not only level things competitively, but would improve the long-term financial stability of many corps.
Most competitive sports leagues have spending caps and I think it is time for DCI to adopt this practice.
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Terrible example. PR had 580k in outstanding debts from ONE LENDER, at one point. Their running debts in the early 2000's were probably closer to 2mil.
Just because they have bettered their own situation doesn't make their financial climate any better than Madison's it just means they are making better decisions.
At one point, Madison had over 600k in debt, all racked up in the 4 years after the "wake-up call." Anyway, you can't really judge the decisions without much additional evidence. The general point that placement is correlated with income is confirmed in spades by the PR-MS comparison.
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Madison Scouts 2020
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
I'm an alum/donor. I wish them well as I would any group. The Cavaliers have 2 co-ed groups under their umbrella. I think that's a viable model for inclusion. Time will tell.