Glassmen News?

[BRASSO]

Perhaps the Glassmen might consider the DCA avenue, for a while? Having watched the awesome shows that The Bucs and Brass put on; there is no reason why the Glassmen couldn't do well there. The Bucs and Brass, both, had DCI caliber shows and with the way DCA corps schedule, going this route might be a positive in regards to keeping fresh and competitive with modern shows while, also, keeping the membership up (possibibly allowing for some the corps alumni to jump back into the groove).

I'm not going to presume to tell the Glassmen what path to take if they intend to get back on the field in DCI. But as an outsider, it seems to me that going the Open Class in DCI would be the best way to go, not going the DCA route. Why ? Well, in my view, its a different type of MM that goes to march DCI than DCA. The DCA marcher is generally looking to do Drum Corps on a personal limited fee cost basis and not to travel extensively in the summer. The DCI MM is open to lots of travel. What if the Glassmen entered DCA, competed, then decided to move to DCI the following season? The staff and many of the MM's would have to change as many of the DCA caption heads don't travel in the summer ( by choice ), and the MM that will be in DCI would require more travel, commitment, and costs. Coupled with the fact that in the history of DCA (over 40 years ), no DCA Corps has moved from DCA to DCI World Class Division competition, it seems to me that if the ultimate goal of the Glassmen is to get back to DCI World Class Div. competition, then it seems to be that it would be in their interests to pursue the DCI Open Class for a year or two, then see if they have the finances, organizational infrastructure, marching member and staff talent that is willing to travel that a summer tour DCI World Class Division level Corps requires. That said, whatever decision the Glassmen make, I really hope they make it back onto the field. They have had some terrific shows and excellent quailty in their ranks over their long and distinquished Corps career , and I'd love to see them back on the field.... DCI or DCA.

Edited September 4, 2013 by BRASSO

[Lead]

Didn't I also read that their alumni group performed at the SoundSport event in Indy with Surf and Star United? This would at least signal the existence of a pulse.

Yes, yes they did :)

[perc2100]

Perhaps the Glassmen might consider the DCA avenue, for a while? Having watched the awesome shows that The Bucs and Brass put on; there is no reason why the Glassmen couldn't do well there. The Bucs and Brass, both, had DCI caliber shows and with the way DCA corps schedule, going this route might be a positive in regards to keeping fresh and competitive with modern shows while, also, keeping the membership up (possibibly allowing for some the corps alumni to jump back into the groove).

That would probably not be a bad idea. Cadets organization have seemingly proved that a DCI corps can play in the DCA pool and have success on several different levels (competitive, members' experience, etc). Even doing something like Star United with a small mixed ensemble might be a cool, inexpensive way to keep fans engaged

[perc2100]

Didn't I also read that their alumni group performed at the SoundSport event in Indy with Surf and Star United? This would at least signal the existence of a pulse.

That's cool! I admittedly haven't been following the SoundSport stuff, but if Glassmen have participated that's great

[Lead]

That's cool! I admittedly haven't been following the SoundSport stuff, but if Glassmen have participated that's great

There was a 25-ish member Alumni ensemble that performed in the SoundSport show. They did a pretty nice job, with a good soprano and baritone soloist and some old Glassmen tunes for music selections (I think they did Just a Gigolo and Nights in White Satin). Would have been nice to see a 50+ member group of G-Alums, though.

[normy diploome]

I'm a lawyer and I confirm this message. Sadly.

you're a real estate lawyer, right? I know that his brother-in-law is a criminal lawyer who deals with cases where reputations have been viciously sullied, so he probably didn't have to deal with billable hours but pro bono stuff like you probably do so generously too. I note too that drilltech deleted his own posts; maybe others might do the same and heed the good advice of a previous poster who suggested this thread be returned to the discussion of the Glassmen.

Edited September 4, 2013 by normy diploome

[perc2100]

There was a 25-ish member Alumni ensemble that performed in the SoundSport show. They did a pretty nice job, with a good soprano and baritone soloist and some old Glassmen tunes for music selections (I think they did Just a Gigolo and Nights in White Satin). Would have been nice to see a 50+ member group of G-Alums, though.

AWESOME!! Would love to see that type of ensemble continue, regardless of Glassmen getting back on the field as a junior corps. Of course, I've LOVE to see every corps have alumni presence at this type of thing where the old timers play corps 'standards' and favorites. Yeah for G-Alums for dusting off those charts!!!

[HIllwtLhides]

DCA would be the best way to go at this point in time. After all we can trace our history to the Maumee Demons an all age corps

[year1buick]

you're a real estate lawyer, right? I know that his brother-in-law is a criminal lawyer who deals with cases where reputations have been viciously sullied, so he probably didn't have to deal with billable hours but pro bono stuff like you probably do so generously too. I note too that drilltech deleted his own posts; maybe others might do the same and heed the good advice of a previous poster who suggested this thread be returned to the discussion of the Glassmen.

Or.... Whitedawn could've been making a tongue-in-cheek response a friend's post. "Engage" can have more than one meaning, you know. Taken another way, it's a pretty funny post. (At least, that's how I took it. But what do I know...)

(BTW, I can't wait till I have lawyers (plural) of my own. That sounds so bad###)

[HoltonH178]

Hmmm. You know, I think it's a pretty severe indictment of the corps' leadership that despite the massive amount of talent that has gone through the organization, the corps is still underwater. I had the blessing of experiencing many different corps' leadership when I was a MM, and while the Glassmen will always be where my heart is, on the whole the experience has been very frustrating. I do not know what it takes to engage this corps' leadership on any level; despite coming to them with many different opportunities for fundraising and sponsorship in my area, with ample opportunity to create activity and engage much of the professional music education fixtures, the organization didn't even bother to swing at the ball, instead letting it power right by over home plate. This experience has ultimately served to further alienate and frustrate myself and leave the opportunities that could have been provided to many of my current and former students completely missed.

It's a shame that the corps made practice of relying so heavily on individual personalities and not expanding the Glassmen professional family to include more persons. I think the corps is most guilty in the dimension of the hornline, which ultimately has the largest number of participants each year. If the brass line had been given the same priority and had the same expectations for excellence and development as the percussion and guard programs, this organization would have been much, much better off. I had every intent of becoming the sort of multi-faceted professional as the leadership in Carolina Crown's brass line, but I was never provided the opportunity by this organization, despite the many resources I am fortunate enough to have access to and which, sadly, I brought to the Glassmen to absolutely no avail. This organization, despite being a "family" drum corps, never developed the kind of institutional hierarchy that has been so rewarding to the organizations I saw many of my counterparts go through, be they Cadets, Cavaliers, Bluecoats, Blue Devils, Madison Scouts, or Carolina Crown. I have never seen the kind of grass-roots regeneration that has served to establish these other organizations so well. I believe in the Glassmen family, but I also believe that a family needs to expand and regenerate, else it is doomed to, well, this. Complete and total nactivity and irrelevance.

I am left wondering, is it my fault that I feel so far outside? I am human and I have made mistakes--I'm fairly certain that I will one day feel this post has been one such (but also fairly certain that the feeling will pass)--but given that I have performed with the corps, sent many students to participate in the organization, should I feel like any less of a family member than others who have provided for and promoted the corps to the best of their ability the same as I? I have been accused of being loyal to the point of it being a fault by persons whose opinions I greatly value, specifically in regards to this organization. Given that the corps is nowhere in sight, a full year since finally reaching out to cultivate its' external resources in, what in hindsight, now appears to have been a rather callous and shallow act of desperation, I feel quite used. I feel quite, again, frustrated and saddened. The Glassmen Alumni Association has become more active than I had ever seen it during the days when there was a corps on the field; I suppose this is only appropriate now that, as alumni, we can't simply look the other way while the organization continues to provide opportunities for marching members...but having either been an active member of this organization, or had classmates or (former) students in the corps every year since 2002, it is very saddening that all the opportunities that presented themselves over the past year were simply *not* taken up to any degree by the Glassmen BOD, no matter how much I tried to promote them.

I am very sad to say this, but I have become of the opinion that the corps has opted not to fully focus on re-fielding ASAP, despite declarations to the contrary whenever it comes time to open up your wallet. I am not sure who or what the corps is working to protect, but as a professional, I feel that my best interests--and what I have viewed as the corps' best interests--are not among them. Which from my perspective is, as I have said, quite saddening. Not only for my lost opportunities, or my students' lost opportunities, but most of all for the corps' lost opportunities to head down the road to restoring activity and relevance. In my heart of hearts, yes, I am self-interested, but never in such a way that the corps was simply a means to an end. In my heart of hearts, the well-being of the corps has been the overriding priority to my professional compass.

This organization needs to do better work seizing and developing the opportunities that have been brought forward if they are ever going to field again, but in my mind, fielding again is simply not as much of a priority as has been espoused. I just wish I felt like I knew how to best be of service to the organization, but given how things have taken shape, I feel that my efforts have been in vain because the have been in service to "marching forward," which is really just a flag being waved for fundraising.

Should I be organizing a small booster chapter to sell candy bars?

This BOD does understand that you don't get something for nothing, does it not? This BOD has stated its desire to field ASAP in press, loudly and often, but the actions have not matched the rhetoric, and I feel that there are many who are feeling less and less that this is a viable avenue for the junior corps activity to develop. This organization has shaped my individual identity and development to the point of where I bear the corps' insignia permanently on my skin. It's the only ink I have on my body and it may well stay the only ink on my body. If I am personally experiencing a crisis of confidence, I hate to imagine the crises that have been ongoing with other professionals in regards to the Glassmen, ones who do not have the same sort of skin in the game and whose aid and promotion have been critical fir this organization in the past.

Who the heck is driving this bus?