Help Phantom!

[BOBSMYTH]

Ok, you think I don't know what I am talking about. Enlighten me please.

...

I am really not trying to be critical of the management, but right now they are fighting for a temporary solution.

...

Here is the part you aren't getting.

The current board and management are asking for an over and above special one time gift from supporters which will be used to be the last piece of a permanent solution to a long term heavy debt problem that has hung over and crippled the organization for almost a decade.

They have already done the heavy lifting of paying down and negotiating down the debt to a managable level and are now trying to eliminate it entirely. This is an extremely impressive task that they have accomplished and an extremely worthwhile goal for them to finally acheive. It is now within their sights and they are putting on the final push.

Who wouldn't want to get behind that?

[GSNewell]

Here is the part you aren't getting.

The current board and management are asking for an over and above special one time gift from supporters which will be used to be the last piece of a permanent solution to a long term heavy debt problem that has hung over and crippled the organization for almost a decade.

They have already done the heavy lifting of paying down and negotiating down the debt to a managable level and are now trying to eliminate it entirely. This is an extremely impressive task that they have accomplished and an extremely worthwhile goal for them to finally acheive. It is now within their sights and they are putting on the final push.

Who wouldn't want to get behind that?

Thank you. This is accurate.

A loan on which PR defaulted, and that has been hanging over our heads for a while, came to a settlement a couple weeks ago. The board of directors has personally committed well over $60,000 to make the settlement payments to the note-holder. The organization is asking for help with the rest of the settlement. With this debt behind us, we can focus on the future and continuing to provide an amazing experience for hundreds of young people each year.

If you have questions, please e-mail me or prinfo@regiment.org. Misinformation and opinions based on that misinformation are dangerous.

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported Phantom Regiment!

Have a great weekend,

Greg Newell

Board of Directors

Phantom Regiment

[skajerk]

There you have it. Straight from the horses mouth (you know what I mean ).

Best of luck this year, Greg. Looking forward to seeing you back in CA again.

Edited December 15, 2007 by skajerk

[shostahoosier]

BobSmyth is the sexiest math teacher alive!!!!

[ColtFoutz]

Just look at some of the fine California corps that didn't stay afloat...

Freelancers

Velvet Knights

Kingsmen

Valley Fever

to name a few.

I wonder if the touring financial burden is what did them in?

Very lively discussion here, but I don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of this topic, or the end-all, be-all solution on a forum.

For instance, so many factors apply across the broad spectrum of when corps died out. You sparked me to reply when I noticed your listing of California corps. In my close study of the Cavaliers over 60 years, I have seen that even with GREAT people in charge, when the competitive or financial climate changes (to name two), the best-organized corps can go under.

Take California. One big difference between California corps and Illinois corps in the 1960s and 1970s is that California corps could rely on BINGO fund-raisers to float their long-distance touring. In Illinois, by a certain point, new laws made that source of funding dry up. Califonia corps also had a leg up on Midwest competitors when it came to the first bits of extended touring. They had experience feeding their members, toting a chuck wagon and then a kitchen, whereas the Cavaliers, up through the late 1970s, were still doing it the way they did in the 1950s: carry a BIG bag of money around on tour, and stop at the roadside stand that could shuttle 100 or so people through. It took a long time to catch up.

The Cavaliers did vote to go out in 1981. They were closing shop, selling assets, planning on burning the uniforms after the season. And then Don Warren made a one-of-a-kind deal with the village of Rosemont. Bam! Saved. It was a question of money. Their leadership was among the strongest, with the most lengthy tenure around.

Then you take a corps like the Chicago Royal Airs. I've talked to several former members about this, as well as Don Warren, a close confidante of their founder, Sie Lurye. The corps was made in Sie's image, and he kept them going out of his own pocket, his own sweat. He was one of those oldtime corps leaders that when it had to be done, he would rather do it himself. There's a story Don Warren tells about a big meeting hosted by Sie, full of drum corps bigwigs, at which the soda machine was busted. Sie held up the meeting for several minutes as he fixed the machine himself. When he died, essentially, the corps died with him. (***THis is not to say the Royal AIrs' spirit died. On the contrary, alumni still get together once a month. That is definitely something to admire. But then, even drum corps that have gone out haven't lacked for passion.)

You'd have to get someone else with a close knowledge of the history of these California corps to weigh in more specifically, but with the Kingsmen, there were a lot of shakeups in leadership leading up to and after their DCI title in 1972. They were a strong, strong corps on the field. But you've got to have consistent leadership to make things go.

Well, this post is already a mile long, but my point is, essentially, there are so many factors behind why corps struggle, and many of these are specific and personal to each organization. This is what it sounds like for Phantom: iffy leadership in the 1980s, successors burdened by bad choices afterward. For those grumbling about million-dollar corps and their problems... well, sometimes with a million-dollar budget you end up with million-dollar problems. But I think drum corps is entering (another) crucial period right now -- with gas prices up, the outside turning their backs about a "niche" activity, a million other interests for kids to get into, and the cost to participate escalating every day. I think our support, to keep the activity going and going strong, is imperative.

So I hope Phantom pulls out of it, I do. And that any corps befuddled in leadership and spend-happy in habits wises up and centers their focus on what it's all about: for the good of the kids. Whether your budget is 1 million or 100,000, if it's not for the good of the kids, what good is it?

Ah, hell. Well, you dragged me into it.

[gottalovit]

Thank you. This is accurate.

A loan on which PR defaulted, and that has been hanging over our heads for a while, came to a settlement a couple weeks ago. The board of directors has personally committed well over $60,000 to make the settlement payments to the note-holder. The organization is asking for help with the rest of the settlement. With this debt behind us, we can focus on the future and continuing to provide an amazing experience for hundreds of young people each year.

If you have questions, please e-mail me or prinfo@regiment.org. Misinformation and opinions based on that misinformation are dangerous.

First of all, you shouldn't make it seem like people are giving misinformation. PR is completely irresponsible to consider a 4th trip to California in 6 years, as they were never actually even able to fulfill their financial obligation to the loan. And yes, they got a tremendous break from the settlement, saving them around $300,000. But it is still WRONG the way the whole situation was handled, and NEVER should have gotten to that point.

And the article does state they are trying for more finances, hoping to raise $100,000 when the money needed to pay off the settlement is only $50,000 more. But again, the point in question is how far the extra $50,000 is going to go towards this next year.

Another question is if these peope give all this money now, are they going to be able to donate like they normally do during the regular season? How much of this incoming money, may be considered part of the $200,000 in donations they normally collect? So in the long run, if they collect $100,000 now, could that possibly cut $100,000 off of the $200,000 they would normally collect during the year?

This is not misinformation, just clear reasoning that needs to be well thought out. I am looking at this from a business standpoint, owning my own business since 1989. And while I understand while the loan had to be settled for about 25%, that doesn't make what Phantom Regiment has done right. This to me does not reflect well on the drum corps world. This is a shame, since I am guessing Phantom is probably in 7th when it comes to people shopping at their souvie booth. Out of all the corps at finals, I only see longer lines at 6 other booths.

Hopefully things will work out well for the upcoming season.

[Kyle B]

You have an issue, take it to a PM. Not try and smear PR because you have some ax to grind.

[chaos001]

dear god get over it.

[Pinwiz]

Phantom is well within its rights to ask for help from alumni/honks to help pay off the last of the debt. Other corps do it all the time for various reasons: new equipment, new uniforms, etc. And yet, the very act of asking opens the corps up for financial scrutiny and no amount of explanations will ever invalidate the questions from the peanut gallery.

In other words, it's okay for people to have issues with this. You can't just say "it's none of your business" and have it go away.

(I assume that the settlement didn't come down until PR was already committed to the California tour this summer.)

[LAMystreaux]

You have an issue, take it to a PM. Not try and smear PR because you have some ax to grind.

Naw, I would rather see it discussed here. We have no problem trashing other corps for umpteen pages on end without any mention of need to "take it to a pm". Why should this be taken to a pm?