Dan Acheson contract renewed as DCI Executive Director

[Jerseyboy]

YOUR NON G7 top 10

1-Blue Stars

2-Boston

3-Madison

4-Blue Knights

5-Glassmen

6-Colts

7-Academy

8-Troopers

9-Spirit

10-Crossmen

all but 1 (Academy ) have made top 12 many times.

Not bad...

8 have made top 6.

if they go let all compete together. WC and OC .

[jasgre2000]

YOUR NON G7 top 10

1-Blue Stars

2-Boston

3-Madison

4-Blue Knights

5-Glassmen

6-Colts

7-Academy

8-Troopers

9-Spirit

10-Crossmen

all but 1 (Academy ) have made top 12 many times.

Not bad...

8 have made top 6.

if they go let all compete together. WC and OC .

Do you think sponsors and fans would invest their time and resources into that over a group featuring the G7? Do you not think that several of those corps would jump over to a new organization that features the G7 in a second if they were invited? DCI may be viable if the G7 actually leaves, but it would be largely overshadowed by whatever the G7 will do. Don't know if they will actually leave, but the idea that DCI without the G7 will be as successful as it is now is just crazy. And the idea that a board without any G7 members selecting a CEO that has already been rejected by the G7 members is a sign of solidarity is similarly crazy. The DCI board members sans G7 are biting the hand that is feeding them. I don't think it makes any sense at all.

[supersop]

Since this has flailed over to G7 talk ... let's break this down a bit.

Say 5-7 corps go. 2 years down the road, they have a bad box office year. Profits are down. 2 of the corps are maybe thinking they made the wrong move and go back to DCI..... maybe they don't but it's possible. So this bad year profits are down, maybe they even show a loss. Re-evaluate their own plan and change things up a bit ... they push onward and forward. Now another bad year ..... then things start to look up again. 10 years down the road (and realistically it will take this long to make record profits for any business) they are making loads of cash.

Over those 10 years, lets say Cadets and BD have won all but 2 of their championship series. Who is to say that they don't pull the same thing with the G7 as they are trying to pull now .......... a power grab ... a money grab .... "We're the big draw ... we deserve more than the rest of you" kind of thing, all over again. Then what happens? If I were the Coats or Crown or Phantom, this scenario would already have been played out in my head a bazeeeeeleon times.

If there is a split and they keep the current format - This is DIRECT competition with DCI and someone will end up losing. My BET is that the G7 will end up losing because they won't make it 10 years with 8 corps .... it would end up being one big performance ensemble comprised of 2 to 3 organizations that go Pro format just like Star eventually did.

Why? They can not and will not get the membership they need to support their plan. This is well documented statistically with historical numbers and independent studies (Project Persona I believe is the name of it).

What I REALLY think is going on? It was all a bargaining position. Ask for the moon ... when you only want the clouds. Sorry, the clouds are even too high to reach. Come back down to Earth. Not only is the original proposal dead, but there are clear signs that at least 2 of these groups are not sold on breaking away. That being the case, why would an 8th corps or anyone else want to go with them? This has all been posturing that has been seen many times over in the board room of DCI. What's different this time? It got leaked ..... and not just snippets of it leaked but the actual hard evidence in full detail (and rightly so).

Dan Acheson was the right choice for the job and I think he's shown great loyalty to the BoD, even when he may have disagreed with their instructions. He is a figurehead who also has a job to do. However, some of the things I'm seeing this man charged with is NOT his doing or fault or responsibility. He's not accountable for many of things I've seen on this thread ............. the voting membership and specifically the Executive Board of Directors are mostly responsible for the criticism. And who were the key players on that board for so many years? Do your own research and answer that question.

Acheson now has the job of doing the bidding of the NEW DCI Board of Directors. Let's see what policies they put in place. Let's see what their public expectations are of the CEO. Let's see what rules changes come down the pipe. Let's see how strong they stand against the G7 Directors and their future proposals. I think these things will be the biggest barometer of change ... and lead to success for ALL of Drum Corps (at least I can hope).

[GUARDLING]

It's going to be fuuny to see a few usual posters that havnet been on DCP for a few days come back with all the Worlds answers. YOU know that there will be people that said this and that the majority said this and I was told this.. Funny....people will for sure speak for the majority no doubt what people dont get is that majority means your own inner circle. Noone can possibibly speak for the majority.........Will be interesting for sure.

[FHdork]

The guy's job is to LEAD the organization into the directions determined by the board. He doesn't choose the direction - though he certainly can advocate for one. As the direction started to wander, he helped refocus it on what was most important: solvency. One of his first acts in the big chair was signing DCI to Orlando - a relatively unpopular move (how's it looking now...with Lucas as the 'home'?) - but it was a BIG WIN money-wise. And that is HIS JOB. Solvency. Lucas...as much as I dislike the artistic impact, is another financial win for Dan and DCI. His position (if I may attempt to guess...) is: the last show is not the ONLY show - DCI has many shows over the summer, and they're ALL worth attending.

Artistic issues...show product...attendance...his role in those things is pretty limited, I would think. He can advocate...but the BOD passes and changes rules that define and guide the activity - not Dan. He's not the Stalin of DCI. He's just an executive officer...responsible to others for getting a certain set of tasks accomplished.

If he is unable (if ANYONE is unable...) to get through to the top G7 directors, is that truly a failing of Dan's...or of those obstinate folks who stand apart?

[IntheMood]

YOUR NON G7 top 10

1-Blue Stars

2-Boston

3-Madison

4-Blue Knights

5-Glassmen

6-Colts

7-Academy

8-Troopers

9-Spirit

10-Crossmen

all but 1 (Academy ) have made top 12 many times.

Not bad...

8 have made top 6.

if they go let all compete together. WC and OC .

To take it a step further Madison Scouts has made the top 8 27 times and won Finals twice, Glassmen has made top 8 7 times,

crown has made top 8 7 times, Bluecoats 14 times

crown first broke into finals in 95 since that time they have made top 5 3 times, just like the Glassmen

[jasgre2000]

Acheson now has the job of doing the bidding of the NEW DCI Board of Directors. Let's see what policies they put in place. Let's see what their public expectations are of the CEO. Let's see what rules changes come down the pipe. Let's see how strong they stand against the G7 Directors and their future proposals. I think these things will be the biggest barometer of change ... and lead to success for ALL of Drum Corps (at least I can hope).

You may be right that he is the right person to further the goals of the "NEW" DCI BoD, but do you really think a BoD that has no representatives from the top corps in the organization can really function? How is disregarding the views of the corps that bring the majority of the fans and sponsors going to bring unity and stability to an organization that seems pretty unstable right now? There is no way DCI can survive, in my opinion (I admittedly am new to the whole scene), unless both sides can resolve their differences and a new board can be formed that represents the points of view of everyone that is a member. The fact that the "NEW" board picked the very guy the top corps wanted to boot tells me that they aren't very interested in finding a resolution to the whole mess.

[BRASSO]

. The fact that the "NEW" board picked the very guy the top corps wanted to boot tells me that they aren't very interested in finding a resolution to the whole mess.

I believe that the vote of confidence by the new Board of Directors of the guy the other board wanted booted means that the majority of DCI members ARE interested in a resolution " to the whole mess. They " ended this mess " with the vote. It's over. DCI moves on to its agenda, and policies and procedures that it's membership ( including the G-7 ) agreed to in principle, and will put into practice in the coming years with the Board of Directors and it's members.

The G-7 proposal is dead.

Now.... if a few people in DCI can't live with the majority of their colleagues in DCI wishes, and find THEMSELVES in " a mess ", as a result, then they'll have to think long and hard about getting back in line.... or leaving. Those really are to only 2 choices to get themselves out of the mess they created for themselves, which cost them their positions on the Board and has now relegated themselves to back benchers in DCI. THEY brought this on themselves. DCI just saved the activity from the disastrous consequences of a power grab coup attempt. The situation HAS been resolved as far as DCI is concerned.

[jasgre2000]

I believe that the vote of confidence by the new Board of Directors of the guy the other board wanted booted means that the majority of DCI members ARE interested in a resolution " to the whole mess. They " ended this mess " with the vote. It's over. DCI moves on to its agenda, and policies and procedures that it's membership ( including the G-7 ) agreed to in principle, and will put into practice in the coming years with the Board of Directors and it's members.

The G-7 proposal is dead.

Now.... if a few people in DCI can't live with the majority of their colleagues in DCI wishes, and find THEMSELVES in " a mess ", as a result, then they'll have to think long and hard about getting back in line.... or leaving. Those really are to only 2 choices to get themselves out of the mess they created for themselves, which cost them their positions on the Board and has now relegated themselves to back benchers in DCI. THEY brought this on themselves. DCI just saved the activity from the disastrous consequences of a power grab coup attempt. The situation HAS been resolved as far as DCI is concerned.

I'll have to disagree with you there. Anything that is a "mess" for the top 7 corps in the organization (the corps that bring in a majority of the fans and sponsorships) is a "mess" for the organization.

Edited August 15, 2010 by jasgre2000

[BRASSO]

I'll have to disagree with you there. Anything that is a "mess" for the top 7 corps in the organization (the corps that bring in a majority of the fans and sponsorships) is a "mess" for the organization.

Ok. we just disagree then. No problem. I would posit that if DCI was in " a mess " the mess was created by the things they pushed hard for and got. The new Board is coming in now to clean up " the mess " some of THEM in the G-7 had a lot to do with.

If DCI is in a precarious financial position that some in the G-7 are now saying ( DCI says no ) it's not because of what the Corps Directors of the Pacific Crest, Jersey Surf, The Academy, etc have proposed or done in DCI. No siree.

Edited August 15, 2010 by BRASSO