Revolution Erupts

[drummerdad]

Mea Culpa.

I have now verified through an unconditionally-qualified-to-answer source about 65% of Mr. Delgado's post.

It sounds as though the primary faults were communication, business-sense, and staff conflict. It sounds pretty nasty but, in the end, a few key staff pulled together to gather support and protect the kids.

Staff qualification to either teach or interact with young adults was specified. As was the director's inability to properly communicate what he needed, wanted, envisioned. His early exit had been planned but, apparently, few knew about it.

I'm still not convinced that this is the appropriate forum for such a discussion but, since it's here, the facts are important to preserve the integrity of the people involved. My understanding is that DCI is knows all-to-well of the problems, and has known so for more than this year.

I would suggest a letter from Mr. Delgado to DCI is a more appropriate solution.

I would also think a staff change, mostly top to bottom, would be appropriate.

Sorry, I do not mean to argue nor distort the facts, BUT the director knew the funds were not there before he left. My son called me the night HE talked to the corps about it, even stating it was HIS fault and he was resigning!. My son was ###### to say the least and telling me Revo was asking for money. I already paid!!!! Towards the end of the trip, far away home, is NOT the time to let everybody know the corps is broke. I spent the remaining hours anxiously awaiting news when they would be home and where. Iwas not until they were leaving Tulsa that I knew where I would be able to pick him up! There is ALOT more to all of this, but I am sure there is much left to be said.

[Drumdad]

Sorry, I do not mean to argue nor distort the facts, BUT the director knew the funds were not there before he left. My son called me the night HE talked to the corps about it, even stating it was HIS fault and he was resigning!. My son was ###### to say the least and telling me Revo was asking for money. I already paid!!!! Towards the end of the trip, far away home, is NOT the time to let everybody know the corps is broke. I spent the remaining hours anxiously awaiting news when they would be home and where. Iwas not until they were leaving Tulsa that I knew where I would be able to pick him up! There is ALOT more to all of this, but I am sure there is much left to be said.

I would just like to point out that the quote above was posted by "DrumMERdad". I am the author of the original post, "Drumdad". I just wanted to make that clear. That said, I feel you Drummerdad.

[oldschooldbc]

It seems like a lot of money, but in the bigger picture it's chump change. Look at Revo's web site and they state "tuition" as $2400. That 11k was the equivalent of less than 5 corps members' fees. If you can't float 5 delinquent/late member fees, you probably shouldn't be on the road at all.

Check out the latest figures for Revo on Guidestar, on their IRS Form 990 reports. The last year for which figures are available are 2009. Total revenue was $211K, but total expenses were 194K. Their net operating margin was only about 17K for that year. So I could see how a small number of delinquent member fees could put them in the red.

Now, whether or not a corps should be operating on these types of tight margins - that is a subjective call, and one that I am not going to discuss.

[TxBigfoot]

I have always wished the smaller oc corps combine resources and kids to become a larger more competitive corps. If my kid was in revo this summer he wouldn't be next. With crossmen a stones throw away and forte and genesis down the road there would be some good options. I was impressed with genesis and forte and revo. Imagine if they had combined kids : Full corps!

[oldschooldbc]

Some other details from 2009 IRS filing, that everyone needs to understand:

1) None of the directors or officers from Revo are compensated. This includes Rodriguez. If you read the 990 form, it lists the total compensation to the officers. It shows zero, for all the individuals involved.

2) The corps had zero cash and investments on hand, at the end of 2009. Zero.

3) The corps paid roughly $2500 for returned check fees alone that year. That's a lot of bounced checks.

These are facts from the 990 form. Go to Guidestar, and read the document for yourself. You can draw your own conclusions. I can draw my own:

a) Some people have been exploiting Revo for a very long time. This includes MMs who are not paying their fair share.

b) Rodriguez, and his team, are doing everything they can, to keep the corps afloat. This includes receiving zero compensation, for perhaps thousands of hours of work.

Now, should a drum corps operate in this fashion? That is an analysis that I will leave up to you.

This is what I have concluded.

Edited August 16, 2011 by oldschooldbc

[oldschooldbc]

For comparison's sake, I looked at SCV's Form 990 for 2009 from Guidestar. (Again, that is the last year for which reports are available.) The contrast couldn't be more shocking. SCV had $3.1 million in total revenue, $400 in total income, and $2.2 million in total assets. Jeff Fiedler, the SCV director, reported nearly $110K in total compensation.

Obviously, SCV is the total opposite situation - an established WC corps, with an enormous fundraising base, and a huge number of alumni, all willing to cut donation checks to them each year. I am sure none of SCV's vendors went without payment that year. But by contrast, I imagine all their members had to pay their tour dues that year, and every year. In that organization, if an MM cannot pay their dues, or live up to any other portion of their contract, there will be 10 other kids waiting to take their place. (Of course, they cut many more kids than they have spots for.)

Go to Guidestar, and read the reports for yourself. Draw your own conclusions. That is why Guidestar publishes this documentation, to the general public.

[84BDsop]

if you do not pay your dues, by the end of move-in camp, you cannot tour. Period.

We're instituting this rule with the scholastic fencing team I help coach this coming season. We still have outstanding dues from last year. Granted, the school itself advanced us the funds to buy gear and pay for repairs, and they'll just tack it on to their school tuition to get it back....but it should not be this way.

They need to be paid in full ($1000) by December or they can't even come to practice. Some parents and kids might be shocked at that...too bad.

[Joseph Monk]

After having read everything that has been posted on this thread, here is what I have to say.

1. I was a member of Revolution DBC pit during the 2002 and 2003 summers. If you don't know anything about MY corps history, let me refresh you. 2002 was our third year in existence. What did we do? We won the title of Division 3 World Champions. There were a LOT of things that the corps had to overcome, as a group and as individuals. During 6 weeks of all day rehearsals, we spent the majority of it indoors due to a flood that was happening in our home town of San Antonio. Instead of having an equipment truck that we owned, we rented a Ryder truck for an entire summer. We didn't have a cook truck. We had some amazing people that volunteered their time and talents to make sure we were fed, and we were always fed. We may not have had a feast, but we were ALWAYS fed, and we ALWAYS had housing. There were many, many, many times that John Rodriguez, Doug McCarroll, and Mike Quigley and others on the staff had to beg, steal, borrow, and beg some more at a show site so that MY corps could have some basic necessities that other corps took for granted, including but not limited to pit equipment, a four wheeler, and trailers for some of the pit equipment. The staff that year literally helped by taking a piece of pit equipment on and off the field on their own. We overcame a LOT of obstacles that year, and we still won the whole shebang. Now, thanks to one particular individual, the 60 members who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to make that happen now run the risk of seeing all that dedication and work and effort go down the tubes, not to mention the members of the corps who have come before and after me.

2. John Rodriguez, in the two years that I was a member of the corps, was never anything if he wasn't responsible, hard working, and the most dedicated individual of the entire corps. That's not to put down the efforts of the entire staff and volunteers of those two summers; everyone that volunteered their time and talents to the corps was amazing, and gave me the best two summers that I have still ever had in my lifetime. Why do I say volunteers? As mentioned above, John Rodriguez never has been paid a DIME for his hard work and efforts to make sure that the corps' best interests were met and that the corps was taken care of. However, after observing the behavior of the staff at times while on tour, including some who drank regularly and showed up hung over to a rehearsal the next morning, I can say that there are many more evils that ocurred than what has been said here. Unfortunately, John, as the leader of the corps, is taking all the blame. Knowing John Rodriguez, I have to believe that there is a #### good reason why he would leave a tour early. Not only that, but I also have to believe that there is more to this story than what is being said about him alone, because again, I never went totally without food or housing in the two summers that I was a member of the corps.

3. T All of you keyboard quarterbacks that sit behind your computer screen and state that, "Oh I would never have done this, I would never have done that, we never could have...." etc. etc. can just go ahead and shut up. I would LOVE to see you start up an organization like Revolution from nothing and turn it into something even half as successful as Revolution has been in past years under John Rodriguez. Before you even start about "I'm a CEO of a company, I do this, I do that..." A) You get paid, and B) you don't put in thousands of hours of YOUR time for a non profit organization. To the parent that started this thread: thank you for possibly causing all my hard work, as well as countless other alumni of this great organization, to go down the ######

Bottom line: Unless you were there, you're getting your information third party, which is hearsay, and not permissible in a court of law (since everyone seems to be a fan of crying "libel!"). You have caused enough damage already. I only can hope and pray that MY corps does not have to fold and never again return. If it does, I am proud to have been a member of Revolution, and always will be. It really is true, a few bad apples can spoil it all.

Edited August 17, 2011 by bawker
personal attacks removed.

[Joseph Monk]

One thing I left out: While I am not a parent myself, I can understand completely your concern for the care and well being of your child when you are not around to do something about the situation. I am not faulting anyone for that. However, anyone over the age of 18 is legally considered an adult. Marching in ANY drum corps is a privilege and not a right. I can't help but wonder if anyone would be saying this kind of thing if it were the Blue Devils, the Cavaliers, the Santa Clara Vanguard, or any of the other typically "top 12" corps.

[Drumdad]

After having read everything that has been posted on this thread, here is what I have to say.

1. I was a member of Revolution DBC pit during the 2002 and 2003 summers. If you don't know anything about MY corps history, let me refresh you. 2002 was our third year in existence. What did we do? We won the title of Division 3 World Champions. There were a LOT of things that the corps had to overcome, as a group and as individuals. During 6 weeks of all day rehearsals, we spent the majority of it indoors due to a flood that was happening in our home town of San Antonio. Instead of having an equipment truck that we owned, we rented a Ryder truck for an entire summer. We didn't have a cook truck. We had some amazing people that volunteered their time and talents to make sure we were fed, and we were always fed. We may not have had a feast, but we were ALWAYS fed, and we ALWAYS had housing. There were many, many, many times that John Rodriguez, Doug McCarroll, and Mike Quigley and others on the staff had to beg, steal, borrow, and beg some more at a show site so that MY corps could have some basic necessities that other corps took for granted, including but not limited to pit equipment, a four wheeler, and trailers for some of the pit equipment. The staff that year literally helped by taking a piece of pit equipment on and off the field on their own. We overcame a LOT of obstacles that year, and we still won the whole shebang. Now, thanks to one particular individual, the 60 members who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to make that happen now run the risk of seeing all that dedication and work and effort go down the tubes, not to mention the members of the corps who have come before and after me.

2. John Rodriguez, in the two years that I was a member of the corps, was never anything if he wasn't responsible, hard working, and the most dedicated individual of the entire corps. That's not to put down the efforts of the entire staff and volunteers of those two summers; everyone that volunteered their time and talents to the corps was amazing, and gave me the best two summers that I have still ever had in my lifetime. Why do I say volunteers? As mentioned above, John Rodriguez never has been paid a DIME for his hard work and efforts to make sure that the corps' best interests were met and that the corps was taken care of. However, after observing the behavior of the staff at times while on tour, including some who drank regularly and showed up hung over to a rehearsal the next morning, I can say that there are many more evils that ocurred than what has been said here. Unfortunately, John, as the leader of the corps, is taking all the blame. Knowing John Rodriguez, I have to believe that there is a #### good reason why he would leave a tour early. Not only that, but I also have to believe that there is more to this story than what is being said about him alone, because again, I never went totally without food or housing in the two summers that I was a member of the corps.

3. The parent(s) who have aired their dirty laundry and complaints about the corps on this public forum can go to hell. All of you keyboard quarterbacks that sit behind your computer screen and state that, "Oh I would never have done this, I would never have done that, we never could have...." etc. etc. can just go ahead and shut the hell up. I would LOVE to see you start up an organization like Revolution from nothing and turn it into something even half as successful as Revolution has been in past years under John Rodriguez. Before you even start about "I'm a CEO of a company, I do this, I do that..." A) You get paid, and B) you don't put in thousands of hours of YOUR time for a non profit organization. To the parent that started this thread: thank you for possibly causing all my hard work, as well as countless other alumni of this great organization, to go down the sh*tter.

Bottom line: Unless you were there, you're getting your information third party, which is hearsay, and not permissible in a court of law (since everyone seems to be a fan of crying "libel!"). So shut the hell up, ESPECIALLY if you have no ties to MY corps whatsoever. You have caused enough damage already. I only can hope and pray that MY corps does not have to fold and never again return. If it does, I am proud to have been a member of Revolution, and always will be. It really is true, a few bad apples can spoil it all.

I fail to see what your experiences in 2002 and 2003 have to do with what happened at the end of the 2011season, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I have known John and Mike, and been a Revo parent, for four years (08,09,10,11). I have put in my time and more than my share of money, over those years. There have been many times, off and on this forum, when I have sung John and Mike's praises as well as those of Revolution. I've been in Michigan City and Indianapolis every one of those years... as I was this year. What I wrote in my original post actually happened. Regardless of "why" it happened, the fact that it happened in the manner that it did is unacceptable to me and MANY others who have spent a varying number of years as part of Revolution.

Kudos to you for speaking your mind. More power to you.