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Staff merri-go-round


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Well, I guess the rumors were true.

An eventful day, for sure.

Who knows what the future holds... for anyone.

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Thanks for the clarification, Barnevald. Does this mean then that Ryan George is out at Boston, or will Ryan George write the brass arrangements for the music selected ?

I don't know.

In my humble opinion, if Ryan was out, I believe they would have thanked him for his service in the press release, or let him make a public statement prior to the press release (like Ellis did).

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Colin joins Inspire Arts & Music, as the Director of Percussion, which will include the role of Music Program Coordinator, Music Design and Percussion Design while supervising the percussion caption of the Boston Crusaders.

Gino Cipriani joins Inspire Arts & Music as the Director of Music, which includes the role of Assistant Music Coordinator, and Brass Caption Supervisor.

Just a quick tip...

If you are going to copy/paste from a website...first copy and paste the text to a text document first and then copy/paste from the text document to the place you want to add the text....it's a web designer trick/shortcut to get rid of any underlying coding....In this case white letters with black background...

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

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I don't know.

In my humble opinion, if Ryan was out, I believe they would have thanked him for his service in the press release, or let him make a public statement prior to the press release (like Ellis did).

Difficult to know at the moment... things moving very fast, huh ?

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Madison needs some key changes. They need to bring back Beddis to do what he does best....CLEAN! Sparling has been great filling

part of Lee's shoes, but just doesn't quite have that same ability to clean. Madison also needs to let go of Ebert as their drill guy.

He just hasn't been that effective as visual designer. They also need some higher level drill cleaners that can take Madison to the next level.

They also need.... REALLY NEED to stop putting out products that try to keep one foot in the past to appease the alumni base.

Tell those guys to quietly sit down and shut up. (hard to do when some of them will take their checkbooks and go elsewhere)

Daniel Ray (of BD fame) wrote a great article about the need for organizations to always put "mission over product". Madison

always puts product over mission. What is the product? A fan friendly traditional "Madison-esque" show. What they need to do is put mission

as first priority (which is, or should be, to achieve and sustain excellence in all areas) , Back in the 70s, their mantra wasn't "We need to

be Madison" or "Loud, Proud and Pleasing the Crowd." It was "We're here to win!" All the other things were byproducts of

being a winning Corps.....their leadership didn't lecture them on "Being the Madison Scouts"....or having "That famous Swagger".

.....Those guys got that swagger from consistently winning. Success tends to instill confidence in you more that just about anything else.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, maybe it's time to set their creative team free to let lose and design

something completely fresh, new, innovative and bad ###....that neither they, nor anyone else has seen!

The traditionalists that get ###### off and leave will eventually find their way back when the Scouts are

back in the top 3 every year!

Also, they need to consult with the top Corps that have figured out long term business models to generate

income, Having financial support from alums is great, but that isn't a good business model. You need reliable

outside income like what Bill Cook did with Star back in the day. Or what Dave Gibbs has done with Blue Devils.

They have many streams of income from their side programs like BD Entertainment.

In short, Madison needs to modernize in all areas.

This. After Madison did not make finals for the first time in DCI history, I thought they were on a come back (still love the Carmen show), but it seems like they start and then stumble a bit.
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I'm willing to bet that this has already been posted, but Boston's going to sound great next year:

http://bostoncrusaders.org/2016/08/2017-brass-percussion-team/

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The comments on Cadets seem pretty well within bounds of reasonable criticism. Saying that YEA has lots of turnover, and low employee satisfaction, and problems retaining key staff (big understatement, if rumors are true) is not a personal attack on George Hopkins. The CEO of any organization is accountable for the decisions and results of the organization, and those seem like fair criticisms of his org.

Disclaimers: I'm neither a fan nor a detractor of the Cadets. I'm not employed by the organization nor did I march Cadets. I DO know not-for-profits pretty well, having worked with (not for) dozens over the years. And I do know a few people who have worked for YEA. I hope this isn't viewed as a slam; it isn't intended that way.

I think it's common knowledge that Hopkins is (at best) difficult to work for. When I read the Glassdoor comments, I was not at all surprised. The organization certainly has a LOT of turnover, particularly on the admin side. Some voluntary, some not so much. It seems they're often looking for a CFO or a fundraiser type.

The simple fact is that people are looking the other way when an organization (almost any organization, not just YEA) is doing well. Cadets had an off year this year, for whatever reason, so people are less willing to look the other way. Had they been top 3, as they have been with similar staff, the complaints would have been chalked up to sour grapes.

Others have pointed out the root cause but I'll echo it: Strong organizations must have a strong board, comprised of people with different talents. Term limits are a good thing, allowing people to cycle off while constantly cultivating new blood with fresh ideas. And there should be a nominating committee of a board which should be responsible for recruiting the new blood, not the CEO. Writing (or causing another organization to write) a big check is just one part of the role of an NFP board member.

Another problem, specific to Hopkins, is that he's allowed to be the Cadets' director as well as handling the CEO role. Hopkins = YEA. And, if you haven't noticed, he can be polarizing. If you're not a fan, you're probably not going to support the organization. I'm not saying he should be dismissed but a strong board would give him one or the other role and bring in someone for the other gig. Reading his blog and Facebook, he wears the 80 hour weeks as a badge of honor. He's an integral part of most/all of the programs (not sure of Xcape.) That's terrible if, for no other reason, than he expects others to be equally dedicated. The people I've known ARE dedicated, but they burn and churn.

I wish them nothing but the best and hope, if the worst news IS yet to come, that they quickly recover.

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