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Pacific Crest and Mandarins


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I think many corps could benefit greatly from a public relations campaign. It could be as easy and posting camp videos on youtube, posting info on DCP, or having a dynamic web presence. I look at DCP almost daily, and I can't recall seeing anything by the Mandarins, and only a store add for Pac Crest.

Also, I think some corps even have an isolationist mentality and actually prohibit staff and members from being active on the web concerning corps issues. I don't know it that is an issue with the two corps in the OP.

I am interested in what every corps is up to, but I don't have the time to track down info. If it doesn't make it to DCP or DCI I really won't see it.

it seems DCP gets bypassed for places like Facebook

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I think many corps could benefit greatly from a public relations campaign. It could be as easy and posting camp videos on youtube, posting info on DCP, or having a dynamic web presence. I look at DCP almost daily, and I can't recall seeing anything by the Mandarins, and only a store add for Pac Crest.

Also, I think some corps even have an isolationist mentality and actually prohibit staff and members from being active on the web concerning corps issues. I don't know it that is an issue with the two corps in the OP.

I am interested in what every corps is up to, but I don't have the time to track down info. If it doesn't make it to DCP or DCI I really won't see it.

IMO... your right.

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When I marched with the Mandarins, the DCP/forums spiel was "don't bother with it. You have better things to do, and flame wars can easily ruin our corps's reputation."

I think Boo nailed it - it's just how the Mandarins roll. For a very long time, the corps has taught its members to speak through their actions, conduct, and on-field product rather than PR, forums, or YouTube videos.

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When I marched with the Mandarins, the DCP/forums spiel was "don't bother with it. You have better things to do, and flame wars can easily ruin our corps's reputation."

I think Boo nailed it - it's just how the Mandarins roll. For a very long time, the corps has taught its members to speak through their actions, conduct, and on-field product rather than PR, forums, or YouTube videos.

Thank you for that information. Sometimes I just feel that Mandarins get overlooked, especially in the Midwest. Mandarins have put on some awesome shows over the years, and I remember even when they marched somewhere around 40 members, I was still impressed with them. Sometimes I think people write off the smaller corps before they even see them, either based on their small size, or their placement at quarterfinals the year before. I think Mandarins do speak very well through their actions, conduct and on-field product, and I have never heard anything negative about the members of the corps. I just wish they were a little more visible to the drum corps community. I guess as a huge fan of the corps, it would be nice to see them recognized for their great shows, rather than just being known for their smaller size, scores or placement.

Good Luck Mandarins in 2012. I can't wait to see your show via fannetwork, and later in the season live.

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So can anyone give us updates on Pacific Crest or Mandarins this year? I can't wait to see these corps at the end of the season, and am looking forward to my first viewing of them on thefannetwork.org. I really hope these 2 corps start seeing some of the appreciation that they deserve.

Both of these corps are somewhat similar in that they are very focused on integrating kids into the drum corps world without completely overriding the rest of their lives. They audition later, and lock down spots later than, say, the Blue Devils or Vanguard. While BD and SCV are having first auditions in November and December, and have much of the corps set in place by January or February, both the Mandarins and Pacific Crest will still be having auditions in their April camps. Both the Mandarins and Pacific Crest don't even START all-days until June (June 11th for Pacific Crest this year), a week or two before the tour starts. Plus, both corps tend to only compete locally for the first month of the season, and only tour nationwide for 3-4 weeks (remember, it wasn't that long ago that Pacific Crest was doing very abbreviated tours late in the season).

The end result is that BOTH corps attract a lot of kids that simply wouldn't be able to march with any other World Class corps. A lot of younger, high school age kids, too (one of the Mandarins' drum majors this summer is only a senior in High School; she'll graduate and then go on tour). In effect, considering both the level of commitment and the talent pool drawn from, both corps are kind of Open/World Class hybrids, and they do an amazing job of competing in World Class and providing that experience to the kids.

I am not affiliated with either corps, and this is an outsider's view of them.

As for 2012...

MANDARINS - "Prophecy"

-- Original music by Key Poulan

PACIFIC CREST - "The Spectrum"

-- Bright Colored Dances by Lewis Buckley

-- The Red Machine by Peter Graham

-- Colours by Roger Cichy

-- True Colors by Cindy Lauper

Edited by hostrauser
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^ So does that mean PC is just rehashing Colts show from two years ago? Even the closer is the same....

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In these two cases, I don't think they are isolationist at all. I think they are modest and prefer to wait and let their product on the field speak for itself. (i.e.: Speak softly and carry a big drum stick.)

This is true. I think there is FAR more chance at harm when you let members have carte blanche on internet postings, vs laying low, controlling information release, etc. I see a lot of PC updates via facebook, and I'm not even an active fan of theirs (I have friends on their staff who repost PC's facebook updates).

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I think many corps could benefit greatly from a public relations campaign. It could be as easy and posting camp videos on youtube, posting info on DCP, or having a dynamic web presence. I look at DCP almost daily, and I can't recall seeing anything by the Mandarins, and only a store add for Pac Crest.

Also, I think some corps even have an isolationist mentality and actually prohibit staff and members from being active on the web concerning corps issues. I don't know it that is an issue with the two corps in the OP.

I am interested in what every corps is up to, but I don't have the time to track down info. If it doesn't make it to DCP or DCI I really won't see it.

I would think if someone were legitimately interested in following ANY corps it would be very little effort to click the corps website monthly to check for camp updates, follow them on facebook, etc. It's pretty disingenuous, IMO, to say you want corps updates while making little to no effort to search for information. If I like the Cleveland Indians and only expect to learn of roster moves and game states via espn's homepage then I'm either 1) REALLY naive, or 2) not really that interested in learning updates of Cleveland Indians since I'm not taking the 90 seconds to go to their homepage and scan their front page for updates.

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