Capital Regiment's Return

[KeepOnFoodTruckin]

Things I've heard from a former member who talked to the director:

-Returning as open class

-Going back to old uniforms

-Financially secure

-Recognized '06 was a horrible year and would like to rebuild a new, better program.

Open class

Ok, so we're still touring How will they do it differently?

Going back to old uniforms

So? That was never a concern. I never thought "my kid wasn't eating or getting medical care but wouldn't they look dandy in the old uniform?" Glad to see they are once again putting their focus on the "important" issues.

Financially secure?

They seemed to be secure in 06 too and had a great food truck and equip truck with a spiffy new paint job but somehow the numbers didn't add up on the road. Don't tell me theiy are secure. Make their financial statements open record. Where can we see copies? Most non profits publish this info somewhere.

Recognized '06 was a horrible year (ya think?) and would like to rebuild a new, better program.

There are many things I recognize and would like to do better but that isn't the point. That is an intention. WHAT do they intend to do to improve the program? Are they hiring new and experienced tour directors? Are they putting policies in place about bus drivers and minimum standards? Is there a head cook on the food truck? How will they handle volunteers? Where are they soliciting staff? Is there a policy in place about number of hours to work/rest? How many hydration breaks per hour? What are the policies in place regarding medical care for members and chase vehicles and hospital runs? Do they have a medical professional who is at their disposal? How large is the staff going to be? How many are instructional? How many are support?

I am afraid I need more concrete information than a Polyanna concept of "Gee, we blew it but we're better now. I promise to do better."

[CapRegBari]

I know this isn't the main issue, but just to clarify, it is not just that '06 was a bad year. It was particularly terrible for several reasons, yes, but the preceding years were not terrific. We were fortunate enough to have a few great administration people as well as fantastic staff and volunteers to pull off competitive success. 2006 was the effect of years of mismanagement, from my perspective anyway.

I'm eager to hear more from CR as well. I want to be hopeful about this.

[MetalTones2012]

Forgive me for asking, but what were the problems in 06? I started marching in 07 and I have no idea what happened in previous years besides the shows. If you don't want to post it here just send me a PM please.

[FTNK]

PM'd

[frontline99]

Second PM sent

Edited August 21, 2008 by frontline99

[wvu80]

Please PM me as well.

-Dad of young potential member

+++

FWIW I read the DCP posts from that time period, and the problems were well documented. That is not the experience I want my young musician to have.

Columbus is close by and a good fit for our family. However I want every one of the above questions answered before I would agree to let my musician march there.

And just so we're crystal clear, I don't have any doubts about my ability as a parent to make tough decisions like that. If Cap Regiment can't give me clear answers I need, we'll spend the summer going to the beach instead.

Yes, it's that important.

Edited August 21, 2008 by wvu80

[shawn craig]

Open class

Ok, so we're still touring How will they do it differently?

Going back to old uniforms

So? That was never a concern. I never thought "my kid wasn't eating or getting medical care but wouldn't they look dandy in the old uniform?" Glad to see they are once again putting their focus on the "important" issues.

Financially secure?

They seemed to be secure in 06 too and had a great food truck and equip truck with a spiffy new paint job but somehow the numbers didn't add up on the road. Don't tell me theiy are secure. Make their financial statements open record. Where can we see copies? Most non profits publish this info somewhere.

Recognized '06 was a horrible year (ya think?) and would like to rebuild a new, better program.

There are many things I recognize and would like to do better but that isn't the point. That is an intention. WHAT do they intend to do to improve the program? Are they hiring new and experienced tour directors? Are they putting policies in place about bus drivers and minimum standards? Is there a head cook on the food truck? How will they handle volunteers? Where are they soliciting staff? Is there a policy in place about number of hours to work/rest? How many hydration breaks per hour? What are the policies in place regarding medical care for members and chase vehicles and hospital runs? Do they have a medical professional who is at their disposal? How large is the staff going to be? How many are instructional? How many are support?

I am afraid I need more concrete information than a Polyanna concept of "Gee, we blew it but we're better now. I promise to do better."

I can only guess at two things.

1. Open class corps usually tour less until the end of the summer making the overall budget less. Can't say for sure how that will play out specificly for Capital Regiment.

2. Old uniforms: They probably sold the new uniforms to help pay off some debt and are gong to bring the old ones out of storage. NOT SPENDING MONEY on new uniforms will be another help in keeping the budget under controll.

[Galen]

I can only guess at two things.

1. Open class corps usually tour less until the end of the summer making the overall budget less. Can't say for sure how that will play out specificly for Capital Regiment.

True, but keep in mind that Cap Reg is in a good area for open class touring. The midwest is where the bulk of the shows are, especially in the first part of the season. Gotta figure that they could do a pretty good "first tour" up to Kalamazoo.

[PTFrank]

I have a niece who marched CR and I drove for them 04 for a couple of weeks; 05 for a week and an emergency, and 06 on an emergency basis. My son rode along, and this comming year he will try out for another corps.

Please PM me as well.

-Dad of young potential member

+++

FWIW I read the DCP posts from that time period, and the problems were well documented. That is not the experience I want my young musician to have.

Columbus is close by and a good fit for our family. However I want every one of the above questions answered before I would agree to let my musician march there.

And just so we're crystal clear, I don't have any doubts about my ability as a parent to make tough decisions like that. If Cap Regiment can't give me clear answers I need, we'll spend the summer going to the beach instead.

Yes, it's that important.

[btracht]

Someone has asked me privately why I felt the need to make my original post. Why bring this all up again? Why do it here? Here are my answers to those questions.

I want the drum corps activity to thrive. In order to thrive, the activity needs quality organizations at all levels of the activity. I believe one characteristic of a quality organization is the presence of is a working board of directors that is ultimately responsible for the running of the organization. One of most important responsibilities of the board is to hire a quality executive to run the the organization and to regularly evaluate the executive's performance and the performance of the organization.

In Capital Regiment's case, I believe the board has always consisted of three persons or less one of which has always been Mr. Bays, the corps director and founder. With such a structure one can see that the board would most likely not function as a board should. From my personal experience with the organization I believe the board is a there in name only. As such, Mr. Bays has run Capital Regiment with no real oversight and scrutiny from a board of directors.

If there is no real board providing oversight to protect stakeholders including members, parents, volunteers, other corps, fans, etc. (or even if there is a real board) those of us who have directly witnessed problems and have had concerns about the operation of the organization need to speak up, ask questions, voice concerns so the organization knows that there are people who are not going to be content with the status quo. I am also confident that as part of the DCI evaluation process DCI will not only speak with those still involved with the organization but will also speak to those who are no longer involved with the organization but have experiences and concerns to share.

Why bring this up all over again and why post the questions on DCP? As another poster stated so well, "I have a moral obligation to other parents to help them know what to ask before they entrust their child's well-being to this oganization." Ditto.