jmc5682 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) It is getting a talented, committed staff together that has been in place for a while that will make members want to stay. I marched Freelancers in 83 and 84 at age 14 and 15, and we were 8th and 9th place those two years. I had been in a very tiny corps prior to going to Sac, so I was very excited to be in a top 12 corps. After marching a couple of years and seeing that we were stagnate, I decided to either march somewhere else, or leave drum corps altogether and concentrate on school and getting into a decent college. The only corps I wanted to march in was the Blue Devils, but they of course had a female only guard (and a #### good one) at the time. I did receive a call with a possible opportunity to march SCV in 87, but by this time, having been out of the activity for 3 years, I was more concerned about my education. My point is every year we (Freelancers) would lose many two or three year vets to BD or SCV to march their age out year. People wanted a chance to be with the best. It is not even about just winning, but having the chance to experience being with an elite corps. Until your corps is considered one of those elite corps (BD, Cadets, Bloo, Crown etc...) it can be very hard to retain your best members as they reach their age out year. That was my experience. Edited July 31, 2015 by jmc5682 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCorps Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) Staff makes a huge difference. Colts were brought up; they pushed into finals for the first time in recent years after having had consistent staff and membership loyal to that staff for several years prior. Then, key staffers leave and the corps floats back to where it was. Now, some of those key staffers are back and the Colts are climbing again. Coincidence? Not likely. You've got to build a culture that keeps membership around longer and prevents the top individuals from migrating upwards. If a corps like Colts could keep all their talent from wanting a different experience from different teachers, they'd have a much more talented corps. If you could bring those top names to them, they might stay. But for many who leave, it's not about placement, it's about learning from the best in the activity wherever they might be at the time. Look at the influx of talent to BKs drumline when Hardimon was there; the BK corps wasn't contending for titles but the best always want to learn more and learn from who they perceive to be the best. That's often misconstrued as "ring chasing" when it's a personal choice to expand their future goals. I just inserted Colts in there - you could argue the same for any corps in that grouping just about. Edited July 31, 2015 by CCorps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 All true. Another thing: chemistry. You may bring the best of drill designer in the world on board but if the chemistry is not there in the design team, you just aren't going to get good results. Another point and again true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) It is getting a talented, committed staff together that has been in place for a while that will make members want to stay. I marched Freelancers in 83 and 84 at age 14 and 15, and we were 8th and 9th place those two years. I had been in a very tiny corps prior to going to Sac, so I was very excited to be in a top 12 corps. After marching a couple of years and seeing that we were stagnate, I decided to either march somewhere else, or leave drum corps altogether and concentrate on school and getting into a decent college. The only corps I wanted to march in was the Blue Devils, but they of course had a female only guard (and a #### good one) at the time. I did receive a call with a possible opportunity to march SCV in 88, but by this time, having been out of the activity for 3 years, I was more concerned about my education. My point is every year we (Freelancers) would lose many two or three year vets to BD or SCV to march their age out year. People wanted a chance to be with the best. It is not even about just winning, but having the chance to experience being with an elite corps. Until your corps is considered one of those elite corps (BD, Cadets, Bloo, Crown etc...) it can be very hard to retain your best members as they reach their age out year. That was my experience. This can be also true and not just members but staff retention ( if one has a good staff ) Although there are some vultures in this activity , corps need to figure it out on what keeps members as well as stopping the staff swinging door. I hear this sometimes when consulting other corps and the boo hooing yet often they dont look at what their contribution was in losing people. Of course this isn't everyone and there's an exception to every rule and some actually choose to be just what they are and that is more than ok but those who strive to be competitive, top 12 or whatever those higher type goals are have to do something themselves and not whine about what the " have's " attain . Find ways, corps do it all the time. This is just my opinion and no need for debate because this is MY experience and i'm sure many others and as i said in my experience these are the facts. I also yeas ago did whine about losing some good members to other for the reasons you mentioned and it was only then I decided " what was i do wrong " did I lose them or give them away. BTW my early marching experience was sim. to yours, of course I was the Jurassic period..lol Edited July 31, 2015 by GUARDLING 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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