HornTeacher Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 The promise of the drum corps experience includes the opportunity to travel the country and perform in front of thousands of adoring fans in competition with the other corps. They could judge themselves without a tour or fans but, without the opportunity to perform in front of an audience, the corps would have to change their mission statements. Without the audience, the attraction to DCI fades dramatically. The kids say it all the time, just watch the age-out videos. Further, the contention is that the kids would get the same "experience" in drum corps if they were marching with kazoo's, so we know "mastering their art" is not really among their prime motivators for doing summer band, eh? So, yea, I'd say the audience is important. Danged important, IMO. Again, my lack of clarity and/or foresight comes back to bite me in the butt. You are most right, Garfield. I meant to imply "solely" for the audience, which it seems is the direction many posters appear to be heading. As a public school band director, of course my first and foremost responsibility is to the children I am responsible to teach. NOT the school board of education...NOT the parents of the students...NOT the audiences which attend our performances/concerts...but the students. Sorry...didn't mean to bristle here. Please excuse my insouciance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Again, my lack of clarity and/or foresight comes back to bite me in the butt. You are most right, Garfield. I meant to imply "solely" for the audience, which it seems is the direction many posters appear to be heading. As a public school band director, of course my first and foremost responsibility is to the children I am responsible to teach. NOT the school board of education...NOT the parents of the students...NOT the audiences which attend our performances/concerts...but the students. Sorry...didn't mean to bristle here. Please excuse my insouciance. I still wouldn't have agreed with you. The corps MM's and the fans have a symbiotic relationship even if some directors might disagree that it is symbiotic between "their corps" and the fans. One simply would not survive without the other. I hope everyone agrees with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I still wouldn't have agreed with you. The corps MM's and the fans have a symbiotic relationship even if some directors might disagree that it is symbiotic between "their corps" and the fans. One simply would not survive without the other. I hope everyone agrees with that. Hmmm...do you think that all adult leaders (across the board of the Drum Corps membership) develop their decisions on what is best -- first and foremost -- for the MM's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hmmm...do you think that all adult leaders (across the board of the Drum Corps membership) develop their decisions on what is best -- first and foremost -- for the MM's? "...across the board of drum corps membership"? As in the board of directors? My answer is No, that's not what, as board members, they're required to think about. Across the board meaning all directors? Yes, I believe they all make decisions in the best interest of their MM's. I just think they have different definitions of "best" between them. Which, I suppose, is what makes the world go around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 "...across the board of drum corps membership"? As in the board of directors? My answer is No, that's not what, as board members, they're required to think about. Across the board meaning all directors? Yes, I believe they all make decisions in the best interest of their MM's. I just think they have different definitions of "best" between them. Which, I suppose, is what makes the world go around. In terms of your delineation of "different definitions of best" I am in full agreement with you. Fair enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I still wouldn't have agreed with you. The corps MM's and the fans have a symbiotic relationship even if some directors might disagree that it is symbiotic between "their corps" and the fans. One simply would not survive without the other. I hope everyone agrees with that. Yes I agree!!! It is far, far more rewarding for a youth MM to play to people instead of empty seats. And that is why it deeply saddens me that most OC corps and many WC corps who go on early play to rather empty stadiums while the fans are encouraged by the top WC corps to watch the top-dogs in the lot then follow those corps into the stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hmmm...do you think that all adult leaders (across the board of the Drum Corps membership) develop their decisions on what is best -- first and foremost -- for the MM's? "...across the board of drum corps membership"? As in the board of directors? My answer is No, that's not what, as board members, they're required to think about. Across the board meaning all directors? Yes, I believe they all make decisions in the best interest of their MM's. I just think they have different definitions of "best" between them. Which, I suppose, is what makes the world go around. Best for their 'own' corps MM's, or best for the collective DCI corps MM's? The reason why I ask is that the DCI Board is primarily made up of the Directors of individual corps (which is the 'conflict of interest' that has been pointed out here on DCP many times). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Again, my lack of clarity and/or foresight comes back to bite me in the butt. You are most right, Garfield. I meant to imply "solely" for the audience, which it seems is the direction many posters appear to be heading. As a public school band director, of course my first and foremost responsibility is to the children I am responsible to teach. NOT the school board of education...NOT the parents of the students...NOT the audiences which attend our performances/concerts...but the students. Sorry...didn't mean to bristle here. Please excuse my insouciance. In a way...I see their point. They're paying to see a product, and they don't like what's happening to it. so...do they keep paying to see something they don't like, or does the product maybe correct itself a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hmmm...do you think that all adult leaders (across the board of the Drum Corps membership) develop their decisions on what is best -- first and foremost -- for the MM's? all? i'll go with most. Remember, to some of them, this is their paycheck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My guess is it came to a discussion of "how do you measure it?" In a game of tenths, what's the way to measure audience engagement/involvement/interaction/impact? Decibel readings? A judge that sits on the back grandstands and solely counts the number and length of standing ovations? I'm kidding, but I think you see the point. Many of the other captions are largely subjective, but at least have objective overtones. No - all captions are subjective. (And as Jeff Ream will be quick to point out, they were all subjective even under the tick system.) An evaluation of "entertainment" is therefore no more subjective than any other caption. I think the distinction we are dancing around is that an "entertainment" caption would not see the kind of predictable, consensus agreement from show to show that is obtained in other captions these days. And that scares some people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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