Staff merrigoround

[Eleran]

You have to understand the staff person and who they are with to see even why they may be in a given place. Is it a stepping stone? Is it merely exposure?, Is it to gain experience? Dozens of factors.

But that's just it - how can a marcher understand the staff person unless and until they've already joined the corps? And I suppose it's not even necessarily about the quality of the staff themselves, as much as it be useful as an indicator of where a corps is headed (are the staff joining to jump on a good bandwagon? or leaving so they don't go down with the ship?).

Clearly this is more of an issue with the corps that are not on secure ground, and maybe staff members that haven't secured a national reputation already, so I guess my post doesn't really apply to most (or maybe all) World Class corps.

Nevermind.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Eleran

[GUARDLING]

But that's just it - how can a marcher understand the staff person unless and until they've already joined the corps? And I suppose it's not even necessarily about the quality of the staff themselves, as much as it be useful as an indicator of where a corps is headed (are the staff joining to jump on a good bandwagon? or leaving so they don't go down with the ship?).

Clearly this is more of an issue with the corps that are not on secure ground, and maybe staff members that haven't secured a national reputation already, so I guess my post doesn't really apply to most (or maybe all) World Class corps.

Nevermind.

its always been a gamble when you join a corps. 1st you have to ask why are you joining a specific corps. Sure its less of a gamble with some verses others but you also have to ask WHY are you there?

I dont think you will ever know the answers to the questions you are asking but if you view the reputation of a corps it's not to hard to figure what kind of an experience one would have.

[perc2100]

I just wish there was way to rate all these staff members, so a potential marcher could figure out whether:

• Staff Member A is great, and voluntarily left Drum Corps 1 to join Drum Corps 2 because they felt Drum Corps 1 is on the way down, and Drum Corps 2 is on the way up; or
• Staff Member A is not so great, and was not invited back to Drum Corps 1 which is trying to move up, and only landed with Drum Corps 2 because they are falling;

Yelp?

"Rate my Caption Head/tech?"

There are so many factors in a staff member returning or leaving, I suspect it is very difficult to get a straight answer to those questions: typically those who know don't tell, and those who talk don't know. I think the best thing for potential MM's is to get involved in as much social media as possible and follow posts from alumni, current MM, etc. to try to get a good vibe of things. Asking current or recent age-out members is often a good barometer of experience from a member-standpoint.

[xandandl]

I am surprised that the FB crowd doesn't already have such a rating system on another social site similar to their ratings for college profs, cafeteria food, and dorm life. Perhaps such a rating already exists and we old timers are just unaware.

I have also been surprised that by now drum corps haven't demanded some sort of accreditation before one is allowed to instruct, even if it's only for the right hand of the American Flag squad for the annual appearence at Bristol July Fourth and DCI's final retreat. Most states require a minimum course in order to coach, volunteer, etc. That so and so was one's college roommate at West Chester, etc. or marched in such and such band/corps doesn't quite seem professional enough in today's litigious society. I know the band folks have made/are making major changes in who judges and why in a similar vein.

Edited October 22, 2014 by xandandl

[Lincoln]

I have also been surprised that by now drum corps haven't demanded some sort of accreditation before one is allowed to instruct, even if it's only for the right hand of the American Flag squad for the annual appearence at Bristol July Fourth and DCI's final retreat.

I'm not sure how effective that would be. There are teams that gel and others that don't. Take one person from a dysfunctional team and put them with one that gels and the results can be dramatically different. I've seen situations in the past where that exact scenario happens.

One thing that I think is important is knowing who has a tendancy to lose their temper, yell and berate. No matter how good you are as one of the above staff members, I would not spend money to be with a group all summer to be potentially treated that way....no matter what.

Someone I knew in the past marched with a top 12 corps in the 80s and did not have a good experience for that exact reason. A tick is one thing, what occurred was just not acceptable. It was abusive.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Lincoln

[xandandl]

Linc,

There is nothing in your post that I disagree with.

Some corps who tend to be more competitively successful do annual, even semi-annual surveys of the membershship (sometimes anonymous, not always) to ferret out the problems you mention.

That being said, consider these two poles.

One sees the activity as a military based origin with heavy stresses on authority and discipline, even still using terms like major, captain, sergeant, etc. In the worse case scenario, it allows those so pre-disposed to find credible cause for their yelling, abuse, even hazing (for those who ever have been rookies a discussion deserving a whole other thread.)

On the other end of the spectrum are those who see the activity as creative, artistic, envelope stretching. Well, more than one has said that genius and insanity are divided by a thin membrane which is often porous. Sometimes the great artistic types are emotional nightmares as they create.

The war stories of the two poles are many in this activity, mostly in the past but still present today in some ways. (What do you mean the guard persons aren't eating because the instructor wants streamlined/thin physiques not obese elephants, etc., etc.)

It's the duty of the admin to be holding the lid on the stove pot that is about to overflow. But admin can't be everywhere and sometimes the violence is subtle. That's where the membership communication is key. Personality checks on the supposed "educators" wouldn't hurt in my opinion.

Edited October 22, 2014 by xandandl

[fsubone]

With Pete joining Key Poulan who has been with Mandarin for several seasons, this previously SCV team is already in place for an interesting show on the other side of the Bay.

Hopefully so. They seem to have the organizational pieces in place to move up, just need the show for it. Pete and Key together could really help with that

[kdaddy]

Several of Regiment's guard staff that helped the guard rebound from 09-10 have joined the Madison Scouts with KC Michel and David Veda, including KC Perkins, Michael James, and Robbie Billings (the latter two of whom were on Regiment's staff in 2014). I suspect the loss of James is big (assuming he won't be with Regiment in 2015).

[chaos001]

Several of Regiment's guard staff that helped the guard rebound from 09-10 have joined the Madison Scouts with KC Michel and David Veda, including KC Perkins, Michael James, and Robbie Billings (the latter two of whom were on Regiment's staff in 2014). I suspect the loss of James is big (assuming he won't be with Regiment in 2015).

Kinda sad to see Michael James go. He's been there since '05 through ups and downs. Truly great person, designer, and instructor. Big loss imo.

[xandandl]

Pioneers have nailed some interesting adds. Stepping up a notch or two?

http://www.pioneer-corps.org/staff/brass-staff.html