27Socal Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Asking a director if he wants his corps to exit out of DCI is just not a casual question which crops up in a friendly conversation. In fact, it would certainly be taken as a set up loaded question, especially if it came after some friendly chit-chat. Good interviewers know how to get the information they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Good interviewers know how to get the information they want. There you go again with this journalism tripe. This is not about becoming the next Gelrado Rivera discovering that there is no secret vault while tearing down some old bricks. And besides, good journalists actually do get many, many, many people they interview very, very, very ticked off. Gotta go interview the guy who buried Jimmy Hoffa, so will sign off for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 you want me to walk up to a top level director and just flat out ask a question which is rather disrespectful. How is asking a question to these people disrespectful regarding the G7 / leaving DCI? After all, Hop and company came up with the slideshow presentation that touched off all this last year. It's not as if it's a secret. Would such a question be blunt? Sure. Disrespectful? I don't see it. Like I said before . . .put the cards on the table. The whole thing that touched off much of the G7 hair-pulling here and elsewhere was the fact that it was done in lieu of actually talking to DCI, and the G7 taking it upon themselves that they were / are the "show". So much surreptitious behavior, all in the name of a marching band circuit. I truly don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 How is asking a question to these people disrespectful regarding the G7 / leaving DCI? After all, Hop and company came up with the slideshow presentation that touched off all this last year. It's not as if it's a secret. Would such a question be blunt? Sure. Disrespectful? I don't see it. Like I said before . . .put the cards on the table. The whole thing that touched off much of the G7 hair-pulling here and elsewhere was the fact that it was done in lieu of actually talking to DCI, and the G7 taking it upon themselves that they were / are the "show". So much surreptitious behavior, all in the name of a marching band circuit. I truly don't get it. And a lot depends on how the question is asked (including tone of voice): "Why do you want to leave DCI?" in a snarl/snarkyy tone "Do you really want to leave DCI and if so why? Can we talk about that so I understand" in a puzzled tone. Had to follow up on things at work when bosses fropped the ball or willingly ignored stuff. How things are phrased and spoken can get different results (inclding not PO'ing your boss at you). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daave Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Or it could be a disgruntled member of the non-G7 who has a vested interest in stirring up a firestorm. I think it's fair to say that none of the directors in the two factions are speaking to any of the others. I wish people would see this as the first problem to fix. What chance does the activity have if the prominent players aren't even talking to each other? Or if the ED has no plan to bring the parties together or, worse, that he's taken sides? What good is that? The only legitimate solution to stop the rumor-mongering and bad blood is for the leadership to bring everyone to the table. The only solution to the long-term health of the activity is to get the directors, all of them, in a room and say "Don't come out until you can sing Kumbaya and present the plan forward while holding hands in solidarity. Did they not do this last Feb/Mar time frame? In some little mountain town in Colo? As it was explained to me from one of the attendee's, one of the two didn't come to the Kumbaya meeting and the other was tied to the smart phone and essentially did not participate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truman Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Appears the thread might be renamed "small corps are doomed by the greed of the evil empire...a discussion of the G7" I don't think there would be anything wrong with asking the directors of the G7: Do you feel that the original premise of the proposal, to reduce the DCI administration budget in order to return more money to the member corps, and to build a $500,000 reserve in DCI in 5 years, is becoming a reality as we move through the 2nd season of the TOC show model? In the original proposal it was mentioned that a net of $100,000 could be expected from a TOC event in Texas. Has the net profit from these TOC shows been as expected? The original proposal mentioned the idea of increases in show appearance money of 25% for the "AA" (non-TOC)"National Touring" corps in non TOC shows. Have the non TOC corps gotten "healthier"? Have the TOC corps gotten "healthier" at a proportionate rate? The original proposal listed Teal Sound as a "regional A corps" in the reclassification section. Do you think that if that had happened that their issues this year could have been avoided? How do you feel that the loss of Teal effects the G7 and DCI? After asking DCI to "trim staff and operating costs", it would appear that little has been done to reduce the staff and operating budgets of the touring corps, particularly the G7. Judging by the equipment required, admin staffs, etc, it looks like the top corps are increasing expenses to operate. Is that true? The original proposal cited the need for change to benefit financial stability of the ENTIRE collective and the activity. Have the changes over the last 2 seasons done that? What do we do to protect the smaller corps we have, and how can we add to the number of those corps. How can we help them assist members with financial limitations? Are the boards and directors of the G7 still united, and do they still have the same unified vision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) How is asking a question to these people disrespectful regarding the G7 / leaving DCI? After all, Hop and company came up with the slideshow presentation that touched off all this last year. It's not as if it's a secret. Would such a question be blunt? Sure. Disrespectful? I don't see it. And a lot depends on how the question is asked (including tone of voice): "Why do you want to leave DCI?" in a snarl/snarkyy tone "Do you really want to leave DCI and if so why? Can we talk about that so I understand" in a puzzled tone. I don't think there would be anything wrong with asking the directors of the G7: [set of questions] You three seem to say it would be fine to approach top level corps directors in an informal setting (say the bus lot) as a casual person not personally known by that director and in a friendly manner ask them if they intend on leaving DCI. Ok y'all, here is a scenario using different people but the same type of friendly questioning tactic you are promoting: Let's say you are a fan of movies; you may have even been involved in movies at some capacity. You find yourself at a bar, club, restaurant, airport, you name it; you see Sean Penn and Danny Glover, whom you do not personally know, in this informal situation talking with just whomever approaches the bar. So, you meander up to that bar, introduce yourself, engage in some friendly banter about movies and other things you all have in common. Then you at some point ask them, again in a friendly manner, "Why do you two visit and love Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, as well as the late Saddam Hussein?". Yep, they certainly will take that question as a continuation of engaging in friendly conversation as well as being respectful!!!! If you did not get alcohol thrown in your face, or punched in the mouth, you would at least get an abrupt end to the conversation. Point is, no matter how much you might like to ask those guys that very question, as a casual fan of their movies, if you did ask it everybody in the world (including yourself) would know the friendly conversation you engaged in was just bait to ask a very loaded question. That, by the way, is also why it is disrespectful (... now whether or not those guys deserve your respect is a different matter entirely). Edited July 20, 2012 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Then you at some point ask them, again in a friendly manner, "Why do you two visit and love Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, as well as the late Saddam Hussein?". Yep, they certainly will take that question as a continuation of engaging in friendly conversation as well as being respectful!!!! If you did not get alcohol thrown in your face, or punched in the mouth, you would at least get an abrupt end to the conversation. Point is, no matter how much you might like to ask those guys that very question, as a casual fan of their movies, if you did ask it everybody in the world (including yourself) would know the friendly conversation you engaged in was just bait to ask a very loaded question. That, by the way, is also why it is disrespectful (... now whether or not those guys deserve your respect is a different matter entirely). But what if you really did want to know their feelings on the matter? Then I'd disagree that it was a loaded question and I was looking for trouble. Hell I'd love to ask GH about some of his opinions on DC that I think are just plain dumb. If he'd get PO'es by the question then he better look into why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 But what if you really did want to know their feelings on the matter? Then I'd disagree that it was a loaded question and I was looking for trouble. Hell I'd love to ask GH about some of his opinions on DC that I think are just plain dumb. If he'd get PO'es by the question then he better look into why. Then do it; don't talk about it; do it. And report your response from him on DCP. Just be aware that by the very nature of the question being so deep coming from a person Hop does not know on a personal level it "is" going to be a disrespectful question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I wish people would see this as the first problem to fix. What chance does the activity have if the prominent players aren't even talking to each other? Or if the ED has no plan to bring the parties together or, worse, that he's taken sides? What good is that? The only legitimate solution to stop the rumor-mongering and bad blood is for the leadership to bring everyone to the table. The only solution to the long-term health of the activity is to get the directors, all of them, in a room and say "Don't come out until you can sing Kumbaya and present the plan forward while holding hands in solidarity. Why is that the best long term plan? Hopkins & Gibbs were very clear about what they wanted and made not-so-thinly-veiled threats to leave if they didn't get it. They didn't get it. If you were ED or a fellow director, what would that lead you to conclude about their probable future actions? If I were in Dan's shoes, I'd work under the assumption that some of the top corps won't participate for much longer and figure out a plan to survive without them. I'd also have some quiet talks with the leadership of the other G7 corps - I'd bet that not all of them see the G7 vision as the best future for their organizations. If Hopkins & Gibbs decide to come back to the table, awesome. If not, well, that's why you made a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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