Jump to content

Any thoughts on having an Alumni Association?


NYSkyliner

Recommended Posts

Michael,

Never mind an alumni association, we should start an alumni union. Think of the demands we could make....

1. No more wearing of Spandex on the field.

2. No more wagon trains of pit equipment onto and off the field.

3. No cadence higher than 132, and even then only for short periods.

4. Every corps must wear headgear to reduce the glare for the audience.

5. Every show sponsor must provide a recharging station for Amigos and Hoverounds.

6. Any judges involved must be certified by both DCA and AARP.

The list could go on... and on... and on...

this disqualifies a few alumni corps out there now

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All great ideas. I remember a few years ago Frank Neill, Director of the Reilly Raiders, called together representatives from several Alumni Corps on the east coast. I remember being the representative for 3 Pennsylvania Corps on a couple of occasions. I represented Steel City, Thunderbirds and Westshore. The purpose of those meetings was 1) basically to ensure that those Corps didn't have conflicting schedules for their indoor show during the indoor exhibition season. 2) if an Alumni Corps was overloaded on a particular day with more performances then they could handle they could past the performance along to an Alumni Corps that didn't any performances that day. 3) a kind of cooperative that could/would possibly share equipment. The last meeting that I was aware of took place maybe 6 months ago but I'm not sure of all of the Alumni Corps that were represented there. I'm sure Bridgemen, Reilly and Archie were there and probably a list of he "usual suspects" from the east were represented. But I certainly like you idea of regarding the possibility of somehow dovetailing with DCA. As far as making I&E better???? Personally I think they are doing a pretty good job the way it stands but such an Alumni Organization could possibly tweak it with some new twists. What bothers me about your suggestion is that it be parented by DCA. I think autonomy should be the goal of such organizations. I think that any funds that would/could be raised by the Alumni Organizations (AO) via shows, parades and other performance opportunities, a certain % of the earnings (say 5%) could be place in a fund that could be given to DCA the rest to the Alumni Corps that performed the gig.

But I'd like to see some of those Mini Corps be referred to as Alumni corps. Star United is a case in point. They ARE pretty much representing Star of Indiana, even though Star does have a larger Alumni Corps.

And I guess I'm thinking on a grander scale as well. While the mid-Atlantic Corps have had a few meetings as an organization, I know there are quite a few Alumni Corps in the Boston area as well. The Plymouth Thanksgiving parade turns out quite a few Alumni Corps from there as well. BAC, Holy Name Defenders to name a couple. There is the way I'm thinking of having this Alumni thing to be regionalized. I'm pretty sure the Mid-West have some Corps that have or could form Alumni corps as well. Those that have so far are Star and Madison. I was under the impression that the Cavaliers were thinking about it as well. Each one of these regionaizational organizations under the umbrella of the parent AO.

I think "corpsreps" could be a starting point to form a list of all of the Alumni corps that are presently in existence

These are just some of my thoughts. All constructive contributions will be entertained.

cool, glad Larry and Toomey asked you to go for us

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that you mention it, I actually recall that,................many people were annoyed by the name alone, and it never gained any traction,...........

I can see why. Drum Corps Old has simply no connotation that would ever bring on new blood. Relaying back to the portion of the newer Cadets 2 thread, without new blood alumni corps will die off. And I will also disagree with the rules Andy suggested if this association gets off the ground as they will remove some current corps (one of which would be the one I was in for 5 years), but also eliminate newer alumni corps from starting up and playing/performing things from the 80's, 90's, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about help with setting up shows and finding parades that are looking for music groups? Not to mention somewhere to go if questions on finding equipment, legalities, etc, etc.

Drum Corps Old??? Dang, must have been before I found RAMD.... Oy, guess who just popped into my head. LOL, might have a car pool partner for 2012 to go south. Gotta wait until the college semester is over thou.....

How about DCIAGTTOBTMC .. Drum Corps I Ain't Got The Time Or Body To March Competitive....

Edited by JimF-LowBari
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about help with setting up shows and finding parades that are looking for music groups? Not to mention somewhere to go if questions on finding equipment, legalities, etc, etc.

Hi Jim,

At least this portion was constructive. Thanks for your contribution. Maybe I'll see you at a future Lancers rehearsal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this disqualifies a few alumni corps out there now

Andy will probably want you as one of his "shop stewards".

Now back to your constructive response Jeff. And yes, Bill DID ask me to be there for Westshore. It was during the formative years of the PaDCHOF.

Edited by NYSkyliner
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now back to the business at hand. There have been some very constructive suggestions offered. I'll put in phone calls to some of the more prominent people in various areas mentioned in some of the other posts. There will be NO Alumni corps left out of this, ALL Alumni Corps are welcome. I just think that in order to keep it manageable breaking it down into regions is the way to go. Gary Matczak had some really good thoughts on this and I'd welcome more of his input. Steve Anderman also seemed to be right on track with his thoughts of regionalization. Perhaps he can expound on his thoughts regarding that issue. I'll contact Frank Neill for his input as to the how, what and wherefores.

Again, anyone with constructive thoughts and ideas are most definitely welcome to contribute to this thread. Again please note that the word constructive is in bold and underlined for a reason. There are other discussion threads that are open to general gossip. Please let's keep this one on topic.

Thanks,

Edited by NYSkyliner
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All great ideas. I remember a few years ago Frank Neill, Director of the Reilly Raiders, called together representatives from several Alumni Corps on the east coast. I remember being the representative for 3 Pennsylvania Corps on a couple of occasions. I represented Steel City, Thunderbirds and Westshore. The purpose of those meetings was 1) basically to ensure that those Corps didn't have conflicting schedules for their indoor show during the indoor exhibition season. 2) if an Alumni Corps was overloaded on a particular day with more performances then they could handle they could past the performance along to an Alumni Corps that didn't any performances that day. 3) a kind of cooperative that could/would possibly share equipment. The last meeting that I was aware of took place maybe 6 months ago but I'm not sure of all of the Alumni Corps that were represented there. I'm sure Bridgemen, Reilly and Archie were there and probably a list of he "usual suspects" from the east were represented. But I certainly like you idea of regarding the possibility of somehow dovetailing with DCA. As far as making I&E better???? Personally I think they are doing a pretty good job the way it stands but such an Alumni Organization could possibly tweak it with some new twists. What bothers me about your suggestion is that it be parented by DCA. I think autonomy should be the goal of such organizations. I think that any funds that would/could be raised by the Alumni Organizations (AO) via shows, parades and other performance opportunities, a certain % of the earnings (say 5%) could be place in a fund that could be given to DCA the rest to the Alumni Corps that performed the gig.

But I'd like to see some of those Mini Corps be referred to as Alumni corps. Star United is a case in point. They ARE pretty much representing Star of Indiana, even though Star does have a larger Alumni Corps.

And I guess I'm thinking on a grander scale as well. While the mid-Atlantic Corps have had a few meetings as an organization, I know there are quite a few Alumni Corps in the Boston area as well. The Plymouth Thanksgiving parade turns out quite a few Alumni Corps from there as well. BAC, Holy Name Defenders to name a couple. There is the way I'm thinking of having this Alumni thing to be regionalized. I'm pretty sure the Mid-West have some Corps that have or could form Alumni corps as well. Those that have so far are Star and Madison. I was under the impression that the Cavaliers were thinking about it as well. Each one of these regionaizational organizations under the umbrella of the parent AO.

I think "corpsreps" could be a starting point to form a list of all of the Alumni corps that are presently in existence

These are just some of my thoughts. All constructive contributions will be entertained.

I would like to add in that I agree with Mike that DCA should not be the parent organization. DCA has it's charter and mission, which is the competing corps. Yes, they partner up with mini corps and alumni corps on finals weekend to allow them a performance opportunity, but any such group created for alumni organizations should solely be for just alumni organizations.

Does that mean they can't partner with DCA or even DCi on some ventures? Heck no! The more ways to expose the drum corps public at large, the better! But Alumni corps are a unique beast unto themselves, with many types of corps within that subset. As such, they should not answer to organizations that also have competitive corps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to add in that I agree with Mike that DCA should not be the parent organization. DCA has it's charter and mission, which is the competing corps. Yes, they partner up with mini corps and alumni corps on finals weekend to allow them a performance opportunity, but any such group created for alumni organizations should solely be for just alumni organizations.

Does that mean they can't partner with DCA or even DCi on some ventures? Heck no! The more ways to expose the drum corps public at large, the better! But Alumni corps are a unique beast unto themselves, with many types of corps within that subset. As such, they should not answer to organizations that also have competitive corps

Thanks for the constructive comments Jeff. As for me notifying you concerning any future meetings of the Alumni meetings that may be called in the future I would have no idea when they would be. If I should find that information out I'll ask that Westshore be notified and they can send whoever they wish to represent them/you. Actually I only was at the first two meetings to represent Steel City as per Dennis Graham's (then Director of Steel City) request and to gather information for (not represent) Westshore at the request of Bill Toomey and gather information for (not represent) Erie Thunderbirds at the request of Gary Matczak. I was not at this last meeting a few months ago.

Can you expound on any thoughts you may have as to the purpose of an Alumni Organization, first as it relates to one specific region, and second, on how you would set up an umbrella organization to generally oversee all of the Regional Alumni Organizations?

P.S: I knew you could do this appropriately.

Edited by NYSkyliner
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...