Madison Scouts 2011

[FHdork]

Jeff, you are so right. We all come here and decry how corps has changed...but few of us are willing to pay, out of our own pockets, so it can stay the same...

Out of all the possible changes that could have come the Madison Scouts' way, this is a VERY SMALL change. Truly sad would be them following the pattern of so many other corps, and in the process losing the identity so many of us have come to love.

[SFZFAN]

This is really sad.

No it really isn't. They have a fantastic facility to rehearse at.

[wcmello09]

No it really isn't. They have a fantastic facility to rehearse at.

how do you mean?

[thirdcoast]

This is really old news.

And if we alums want to see them move back to Madison,

maybe we should all pool our money together and buy some

land where we can build a facility that the Scouts can use.

Until then, they are getting a great deal with the old Star

facility...much cheaper and better of a deal than any

Madison area school or facility currently offers.

Edited October 8, 2011 by thirdcoast

[thirdcoast]

No it really isn't. They have a fantastic facility to rehearse at.

Edited October 8, 2011 by thirdcoast

[thirdcoast]

Jeff, you are so right. We all come here and decry how corps has changed...but few of us are willing to pay, out of our own pockets, so it can stay the same...

Out of all the possible changes that could have come the Madison Scouts' way, this is a VERY SMALL change. Truly sad would be them following the pattern of so many other corps, and in the process losing the identity so many of us have come to love.

Edited October 8, 2011 by thirdcoast

[John Murray]

Plus, you have the likelihood that the weather in Indiana would be more agreeable in the wintertime, thus increasing the chances of camp attendance.

Every February I see two people from Wisconsin, this year they aren't making the trip because of the pain that weather causes.

So, you also have to consider that.

[dcm_alum]

Hmmm. The scary thing about moving the corps to Indy, and using these resources formerly used by Star of Indiana, sure does make it sound like the fundamental structure of the how the corps is run is being tied to Jim Mason and Bill Cook. While I completely trust these men to run the Scouts, it sets up the organization to rely on the special deals which these two men have the power to make for it. So in a sense, there will probably be no "way back home" for the Scouts. When you consider though that without this kind of assistance, the Scouts would have likely folded, then I guess it is a good thing.

[ckomnick]

Too much wild conjecture going on here, I must interject.

First, there seems to be much discussion that somehow Bill Cook is involved in the decision for the corps to be in Bloomington. While a great fan of drum corps and, of course, a close friend of James Mason, Bill is not involved with the Madison Scouts. He's has visited the corps rehearsal from time-to-time to support our great staff and see a good drum corps being developed. That's about it folks.

The former Star Hall (now called the WACPAC) is a property owned by the Cook Group (amongst many others). It is available for lease. It's current tenants are the Mason Entertainment Group and the Madison Scouts. We both pay rent to use the facility and store equipment there. It's at market rate. It's not inexpensive, but a good value for what we get in return. Many corps have leased it for a week or two over the past several years. It is far from an ideal housing facility (small, rough fields) but it does very well for the rigors of a drum corps.

I've talked with many alumni about the perceptions of rehearsing in Madison. They are often surprised by the actual ways we rehearse today, and upon hearing that, gain a better understanding of why we have made the decisions to do what we do. Let me share some of those key point:

1. When the corps rehearses (camps or spring training) it is 24/7 drum corps. They do not house with local families or go out to State Street in the evenings. Fun as all that was then, it is a different activity with different training standards. As well, there are also serious organization liability considerations that are far more encompassing then they were even 10 years ago.

What that means is that we need facilities that can house the entire corps, enable us to provide food services, and have the facilities that enable us to rehearse properly.

2. The composition of all drum corps is extremely diverse geographically. This is both members and staff. If you want the best, you need the ability to pull them from all over North America and the World. What this means, is you need to rehearse within a reasonable distance to a major and affordable airport. If you have traveled through Madison's airport, you can attest it is not inexpensive or convenient.

About half the membership and most of the staff flies into a rehearsal camp. It's pretty simple equation when you have members evaluating their total costs to march a drum corps. The difference of paying $250 to fly into Indy versus $500+ to fly into Madison will make a difference in their decision.

3. Being competitive in today's drum corps is about maximizing the time you have available. If you lose a camp due to weather, it can make a significant impact on your corps. So weather does play a key factor. Indiana is not ideal, but it's a major improvement over Wisconsin in terms of winter weather.

4. If you want to be a competitive drum corps you have to be able to work on movement and drill year round. That means you need access to an indoor facility for that, or have warm enough weather to make that happen. Ideally such a facility is close enough to minimize the challenges involved in moving 150 people at a time when you have no buses.

5. Drum corps are noisy and irritating, especially when they are training 24/7. THIS IS A BIG ISSUE. Communities are becoming less and less tolerant of having a corps rehearse in their backyard. It's novel and fun to watch when it's only a few hours. It's a public nuisance when they rehearse from 9a - 10p for 30 days straight with Dr. Beat pounding over the loud speakers. Having a facility that is remote and away from the public ear is an ideal situation.

Before the corps rehearsed in Bloomington, it rehearsed in Baraboo, WI (50 miles north of Madison) until they kicked us out. Before that we rehearsed in Whitewater, WI (90 miles from Madison) until they kicked us out. During winter camps we rehearsed at Madison Country Day School...until they kicked us out. All those places "loved" the Madison Scouts, they just didn't want us rehearsing there anymore.

Regardless of our relationship with James Mason, the corps was in desperate need of finding new options for rehearsal and there were absolutely NO OPTIONS being made available to us in Madison. Madison City Schools....NO WAY. University of Wisconsin....NO WAY. A few private facilities we explored...NO WAY.

The decisions we made are not "scary", but very practical ones that have been made to the benefit of the organization. Our success on the field last season can be directly attribute to our improved off-season training routine.

The matter of the corps' connection to the City of Madison is much more complex. The dynamics of the activity have evolved far beyond the organizational structures and intent of drum corps and their communities when they were founded. It's not just the Madison Scouts, but almost every corps in the activity. Our response is to develop other ways in which our organization can serve the Madison community, not the corps proper. We are rolling out a number of programs that are focused on this very thing. The corps can be a poster-child for the organization, but it will no longer be able to serve the community in the same manner it did when it was started or even up through about the 80s.

Lastly, the corps was not on its way of "folding" before last season. In fact, we had a very successful financial year in 2009. We had well set in place a new course for correcting many of the historical financial challenges the corps faced long before last season. The strategy with James Mason and rehearsing in Bloomington were all about correcting our programming direction. Rehearsing down in Bloomington was not financial decision but a programming decision.

I'd be more than happy to address any individual questions you may have by emailing me.

Chris Komnick

Executive Director

Madison Scouts

ckomnick@madisonscouts.org

Hmmm. The scary thing about moving the corps to Indy, and using these resources formerly used by Star of Indiana, sure does make it sound like the fundamental structure of the how the corps is run is being tied to Jim Mason and Bill Cook. While I completely trust these men to run the Scouts, it sets up the organization to rely on the special deals which these two men have the power to make for it. So in a sense, there will probably be no "way back home" for the Scouts. When you consider though that without this kind of assistance, the Scouts would have likely folded, then I guess it is a good thing.

[bawker]

Excellent.

Thanks for the insight as always, Chris.