Teal Sound Ends Tour

[randyb]

It was 2008 and it was only about $2000.00 cash money. Please folks, if you want to know the truth about anything just contact those directly involved rather than speculating!!!!!

[JimF-LowBari]

So nothing released from corps management yet on the real story eh?

Had a real interesting conversation last night with a former small business owner about problems a small business and their employees have when a large contract is lost. Also a few ideas on why a bus contract might be voided by the company. No sense going into details until facts are raleased as could stir up a needless crap storm. But let's not forget that the #1 responsibility for a business is to protect itself and employees, not lose their ### for a (former) customer.

Let's just say I'm even more interested in the facts. Guy I talked to ain't a college graduate but can see to the heart of the matter very well as he can ignore extranious BS.

Edited July 15, 2012 by JimF-LowBari

[garfield]

Anyone in the sales games knows of the 80/20 rule where a successful but shallow salesman relies too heavily on a few, key contacts.

In drum corps the rule applies to the revenue side as well. Most corps rely too heavily on one or two modes of generating revenue. A deeper base of donors takes really hard work; the first backers have enthusiasm that later backers, generally, do not. So reaching "success" might only cover up the weakness in revenue-generation.

I don't know the circumstances except to surmise two things:

1. This is not a new problem to Teal. Whatever the bus situation reveals, it clear that it was just the precipitating event that will, likely, expose deeper problems in the organization. It's only at this time that the bus fiasco toppled Teal's cards but, if it weren't the bus issue, it sounds as though the deeper problem would have been eventually exposed by some other event.

2. No matter how you slice it - even if the bus company did, in fact, pull the rug out from under Teal - the fact is that they simply did not build enough cushion to accomodate a serious issue on the road, up to and including having to replace the bus company, before they left on tour. Whatever cushion they thought they had was obviously not enough.

I'm fairly sure that this "lesson" haunts every-single director and executive in the activity. And until "enough" becomes less subjective it's likely that we'll see this play out again with some other corps, or the organization itself.

Edited July 15, 2012 by garfield

[GUARDLING]

Anyone in the sales games knows of the 80/20 rule where a successful but shallow salesman relies too heavily on a few, key contacts.

In drum corps the rule applies to the revenue side as well. Most corps rely too heavily on one or two modes of generating revenue. A deeper base of donors takes really hard work; the first backers have enthusiasm that later backers, generally, do not. So reaching "success" might only cover up the weakness in revenue-generation.

I don't know the circumstances except to surmise two things:

1. This is not a new problem to Teal. Whatever the bus situation reveals, it clear that it was just the precipitating event that will, likely, expose deeper problems in the organization. It's only at this time that the bus fiasco toppled Teal's cards but, if it weren't the bus issue, it sounds as though the deeper problem would have been eventually exposed by some other event.

2. No matter how you slice it - even if the bus company did, in fact, pull the rug out from under Teal - the fact is that they simply did not build enough cushion to accomodate a serious issue on the road, up to and including having to replace the bus company, before they left on tour. Whatever cushion they thought they had was obviously not enough.

I'm fairly sure that this "lesson" haunts every-single director and executive in the activity. And until "enough" becomes less subjective it's likely that we'll see this play out again with some other corps, or the organization itself.

you are rigt about several things....to my knowledge ( Staff or board members ) this issue didnt just happen. there were many issues last year with others in charge.

next you are right about a cushion..although Im not sure if there are many with a cushion. I think some depend on members dues for that cushion ( big mistake ) this isnt a new issue with Bus companys either or bus divers for that matter holding things up.

Also I do think more many come out over the next few weeks but I dont think it will be anything unusual. Nothing that others dont face every year , just better prepared.

[TonyDanza007]

Like it or not here is the answer IMO - They will contact a legal team and go inactive. They will probably sell off the gear and assets and within 12 months they will be gone unless someone comes up with probably over 200k to save the group. Like me or not I looked at the books last year and to be honest they were not terrible but like any other Florida DCI corps they had zero income from other places beyond member fees and performance fees....No Bingo, No Stadium booth, No Fall band show, No winter show I mean zero!

The sad part to all of this is that DCI was told last September by many drum corps people that they do not and should not go out in 2012. The writing was on the wall all winter long with small turnouts and still no true administrative drum corps leadership. Emotions got in the way of logic and a poor decision was made at the cost of Teal Sounds long history.

However all that being said I was also informed that some of the same parents who are bashing the director and Teal have significant outstanding fees owed to the corps for tuitiion. In the future band parents if you are going to send your kids away for 60 plus days I would check and make sure all is well and see what YOU can do to be part of the solution and not the problem.

I think if the current administration at Teal had to do 2012 all over again they should have come out just before San Antonio to the end and would have been fine. They would not be the first to do so. Lets face it they would still be in the back block and this would not have changed. Top 17 was NOT going to happen and shouldn't have even been a consideration. Giving the members a good experience and safe trip should have been the goal!

Peace - JVN

In regards to your comment about no income from sources excluding member fees and performance fees, that is not true, until this past year. In years past, they played several convention events during the off-season, sold raffle tickets for a prize drawing at the Friends and Family show (Memorial Day Camp) and their "home show" (Milton), and participated in numerous parades and shows for different communities during the season that provided a decent amount of income. This past year, the same cannot be said. On top of the lack of proper fundraising, there were a lot of kids that did not pay their dues, and Cary did nothing about it. The ones that DID pay their dues merely financed getting Teal Sound out of the debt it was in from the prior administration and paid last years staff that had not yet been paid.

DCI and many others did tell Teal that they should not have gone on the road or that they should have done a shorter tour, but Cary Byrd and her 5 member, self-appointed Board of Directors (featuring herself as President and her boyfriend as Vice President) made the decision that they wanted to do a full tour. The intentions were great, that cannot be argued, and I would have respected this decision if they had had the money to complete the tour, however, they did not, and Cary knew this before she went on the road. She admitted this in her letter (I quote, "It was over before it started") that she finally released to the members and parents of Teal Sound 2012 last night (July 15th, 10:30 PM). You may be wondering why the public has heard nothing of this or what took so long, but she claims that the members and their parents are the only people that deserve to hear an explanation... I beg to differ. To make matters worse, once the kids found out how dire their situation truly was after the first bus fiasco, they were told by DCI that they should not tell the parents how bad everything was... This I do not understand. I believe that if people had known, there would have been a chance for the support to come through, but I digress.

However, on Teal's defense, the reason they did not want to take the season off to re-group and raise funds was because that would have forced them to revert to Open Class status since Teal Sound is still in it's "probationary" World Class status. The probationary period was supposed to end prior to the 2011 season, but DCI voted to prevent them from achieving "full" World Class status, which, most interesting of all, was due to a certain somebody being added to their Board of Directors in January of 2011 (and this is no current board member). The reason they were afraid of becoming an Open Class corps again is because many argue that the corps could not survive monetarily as an Open Class corps again. The way the DCI tour is structured it basically forces any corps (Open or World) in Florida to do a full tour as it is too expensive to travel from Florida to many of the Open Class shows. On top of that problem, most kids want to be apart of a World Class organization and with Boston Crusaders doing audition camps in Florida it's already hard enough for Teal to recruit kids... It would be even tougher if Teal was once again an Open Class corps.

Lastly if you think "Top 17 was NOT going to happen," you really must not have seen the show this year. The design team and instructional staff this year were top notch; it was devastating to see so much potential go to waste.

I think and hope there is a chance for Teal Sound to survive and return, but only with an entire overhaul of the Board of Directors, a new Corps Director, and support from DCI and its community.

Edited July 17, 2012 by TonyDanza007

[Jeffe77]

In regards to your comment about no income from sources excluding member fees and performance fees, that is not true, until this past year. In years past, they played several convention events during the off-season, sold raffle tickets for a prize drawing at the Friends and Family show (Memorial Day Camp) and their "home show" (Milton), and participated in numerous parades and shows for different communities during the season that provided a decent amount of income. This past year, the same cannot be said. On top of the lack of proper fundraising, there were a lot of kids that did not pay their dues, and Cary did nothing about it. The ones that DID pay their dues merely financed getting Teal Sound out of the debt it was in from the prior administration and paid last years staff that had not yet been paid.

DCI and many others did tell Teal that they should not have gone on the road or that they should have done a shorter tour, but Cary Byrd and her 5 member, self-appointed Board of Directors (featuring herself as President and her boyfriend as Vice President) made the decision that they wanted to do a full tour. The intentions were great, that cannot be argued, and I would have respected this decision if they had had the money to complete the tour, however, they did not, and Cary knew this before she went on the road. She admitted this in her letter (I quote, "It was over before it started") that she finally released to the members and parents of Teal Sound 2012 last night (July 15th, 10:30 PM). You may be wondering why the public has heard nothing of this or what took so long, but she claims that the members and their parents are the only people that deserve to hear an explanation... I beg to differ. To make matters worse, once the kids found out how dire their situation truly was after the first bus fiasco, they were told by DCI that they should not tell the parents how bad everything was... This I do not understand. I believe that if people had known, there would have been a chance for the support to come through, but I digress.

However, on Teal's defense, the reason they did not want to take the season off to re-group and raise funds was because that would have forced them to revert to Open Class status since Teal Sound is still in it's "probationary" World Class status. The probationary period was supposed to end prior to the 2011 season, but DCI voted to prevent them from achieving "full" World Class status, which, most interesting of all, was due to a certain somebody being added to their Board of Directors in January of 2011. The reason they were afraid of becoming an Open Class corps again is because many argue that the corps could not survive monetarily as an Open Class corps again. The way the DCI tour is structured it basically forces any corps (Open or World) in Florida to do a full tour as it is too expensive to travel from Florida to many of the Open Class shows. On top of that problem, most kids want to be apart of a World Class organization and with Boston Crusaders doing audition camps in Florida it's already hard enough for Teal to recruit kids... It would be even tougher if Teal was once again an Open Class corps.

Lastly if you think "Top 17 was NOT going to happen," you really must not have seen the show this year. The design team and instructional staff this year were top notch; it was devastating to see so much potential go to waste.

I think and hope there is a chance for Teal Sound to survive and return, but only with an entire overhaul of the Board of Directors, a new Corps Director, and support from DCI and its community.

Informative, well said. As much I have been harping on the regional tour model, below is the problem. Here are the 5 nearest show per DCI's search portal notice they are only 4 results and look at the distance:

Sorted by distance.

June 23 - Orlando, FL (118.7 miles)

DCI Orlando presented by DeMoulin Bros.

June 21 - Dothan, AL (227.6 miles)

Deep South DCI

July 28 - Atlanta, GA (291.3 miles)

DCI Atlanta Southeastern Championship

June 25 - Ft. Mill, SC

FirstBEAT

Kinda hard for Teal to survive even if the regional model existed. The answer in this case is to have more corps spring up in the southeast as co-op's, so they can support each financially, and maybe institute "Regional Protection", (got the idea from a sponsor for Marching Round-table) so corps like BAC don't hold auditions in the region. Taking this idea further, those corps in the co-op that have more than enough kids, can audition or be placed with the other corps in the co-op. Or, just have a massive audition for the 3-4 corps, and they pick who they want. Again just rambling thoughts.

[CrownMelloMom]

Informative, well said. As much I have been harping on the regional tour model, below is the problem. Here are the 5 nearest show per DCI's search portal notice they are only 4 results and look at the distance:

Sorted by distance.

June 23 - Orlando, FL (118.7 miles)

DCI Orlando presented by DeMoulin Bros.

June 21 - Dothan, AL (227.6 miles)

Deep South DCI

July 28 - Atlanta, GA (291.3 miles)

DCI Atlanta Southeastern Championship

June 25 - Ft. Mill, SC

FirstBEAT

Kinda hard for Teal to survive even if the regional model existed. The answer in this case is to have more corps spring up in the southeast as co-op's, so they can support each financially, and maybe institute "Regional Protection", (got the idea from a sponsor for Marching Round-table) so corps like BAC don't hold auditions in the region. Taking this idea further, those corps in the co-op that have more than enough kids, can audition or be placed with the other corps in the co-op. Or, just have a massive audition for the 3-4 corps, and they pick who they want. Again just rambling thoughts.

like the idea of "regional protection" and your idea. If it was a massive audition it would kind of be like baseball picks. Could even base the order of picks on previous years placement as an incentive.