2017 Boston Crusaders

[Liahona]

21 minutes ago, Ediker said:

The new staff has helped, but one cannot discount what the members achieved with the previous staff. Boston leapfrogged 2-3 placements at nationals last year to snag 12th. That alone was a big deal. There was passion, focus, determination, good attitudes, and a solid work ethic already happening at Boston. The MMs were very fertile ground for any staff to come in and mold them. When corps such as Magic or Star of Indiana acquired great staffs, it took more time (years) to instill those qualities across all of the MMs. Staff is very important, but the best staff can't deliver without a solid MM commitment to excellence. 

The old adage here applies...you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...this has all been the kids!

[LabMaster]

1 hour ago, MikeRapp said:

To be fair to the previous staff, the new staff apparently has unprecedented resources to work with. 

To be fair, much of that was available to the previous staff as well.  This staff had a bettter plan to implement that imo was more in depth and detailed from start to finals.  

[LabMaster]

1 hour ago, ftwdrummer said:

Nope, just that one.

I will wholly yield the point if they had a smoker out there in addition to the grills.

But the picture posted here depicted grilling.

Sorry, it's a minor sore point that seemingly no one from the northeast or west seems to understand. It's called a cookout, y'all.

I'd be willing to bet the mm's don't care if it's an authentic BBQ or not.  They are thinking; that looks good, that smells good and it needs to be in me asap!  LOL

[SkippyBiff]

I'm trying to figure out the significance of the concept of 'regionals' and what's at stake for all the corps.  Any resources available to help me understand this system?

TIA!

Go BAC!!

[LabMaster]

1 hour ago, ftwdrummer said:

Nope, just that one.

I will wholly yield the point if they had a smoker out there in addition to the grills.

But the picture posted here depicted grilling.

Sorry, it's a minor sore point that seemingly no one from the northeast or west seems to understand. It's called a cookout, y'all.

The northeast knows about clambakes though.  

[CorpwithanS]

6 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

I'd be willing to bet the mm's don't care if it's an authentic BBQ or not.  They are thinking; that looks good, that smells good and it needs to be in me asap!  LOL

and shrimp tacos! nom nom

[Barneveld]

The following was part of a post on Facebook, yesterday, from a member of the hornline. Sometime it's the little things that matter..........

 

Quote

Sometimes it's the small things that make tour worth it. As we were warming up in sectionals today, and mom and her 10 year old son came out to watch us. After smiling and giggling while watching us warm up, he asked his mom if he could meet us yet. His mom then approached us and explained that, Robbie, who was an autistic boy, had watched our show last night, and was promised that if he behaved well he could come watch us practice today. She then said that he had already mastered the violin and guitar, but was still looking for what he wanted to do. Our instructor then told him that we were playing mellophones, and Robbie then asked if we could play something for him. We decided to play our ballad, and right before we started playing, he asked us to please play loud. After we finished, his face was over joyed, and he went off with him mom to find another section. 10 minutes later we heard the baritones play "with a little help from my friends", later to find out Robbie had asked them to play rock and roll. This little boy made my entire day. He reminded me of how this activity effects everyone, not just the members. Thank you for making the whole brass line smile today Robbie, it's the small things that make these days special.

 

[CorpwithanS]

1 minute ago, Barneveld said:

The following was part of a post on Facebook, yesterday, from a member of the hornline. Sometime it's the little things that matter..........

 

 

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing this.

[xandandl]

55 minutes ago, SkippyBiff said:

I'm trying to figure out the significance of the concept of 'regionals' and what's at stake for all the corps.  Any resources available to help me understand this system?

TIA!

Go BAC!!

When DCI was first starting, the concept was adopted to move championships to a different city and area of the country (and Canada) every two years. The question then developed how to maintain a building interest in drum corps in the cities which once held the championships which had now moved. Further, how does DCI continue to engage those (usually smaller) corps who did not have the financing to travel coast to coast but could make a regional big show.  Later development of the question was the possibility that regionals might be used as qualifiers for championships if all the corps nationwide and Canada continue to participate in DCI.

Well along came societal change of smaller families, economic changes of more costly drum corps, and competitive changes which enlarged membership. The end result from this and other factors was that there were less drum corps. The DCi ticket sales and audience engagement continued to like the ideas that  different places ( and audiences) would see major competition. Corps wanted to meet their competitors more than just in the final week of the season at championships. Judges wanted opportunities to match and challenge one corps against its peers. So regionals took on a third persona beyond growing the activity and helping to seed for championship performance. And the parents and homers/fans get to see their favorites.

Today I think "regionals" are in transition again. Only SAT this year sees everyone on the field. Other shows (DATR, Minnie, and the substitutes for Atlanta) see some but not all corps. In the future Atlanta is supposed to return, Minnie may get bigger, people like Denver as a championship option for the West, and economics will continue to fluctuate. 

Your question does not as much have one answer but is a good ongoing question that has to be re-evaluated each season.

Resources: First off, get hold from DCI office archives the marketing grand plan proposed and chaired by Don Whitely, DCI's marketing director from it's beginning until 1977/78 when he was let go by the BoD (all finalist corps for the past two seasons then). The other rationales are spelled out in BoD minutes of DCI board over the years, sometimes related to us in the public by Michael Boo and others; there may be some mentions in Don Warren's book about the Cavies and the book Greg Kuzma did about BK. And from other dinos besides me.

 

Edited July 22, 2017 by xandandl

[MikeRapp]

47 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

To be fair, much of that was available to the previous staff as well.  This staff had a bettter plan to implement that imo was more in depth and detailed from start to finals.  

I liked the basic idea of last year's show, but I felt as though it was almost entirely undeveloped. The prop was a cool idea, but it was one idea. And, there was far too much visual emphasis placed on it, and as a result it ended up dominating the field and dictating the entire show design.

It could have been a much better show, imo. 

This year is the epitome of an interesting show idea being the basis of a great show. It was DESIGNED, to be a journey. To have a beginning, middle and emotional end. Carolina crown's guard philosophy is everywhere, helping point the viewer to the relevant ideas to carry them through the show. 

To what degree this improvement is the product of more experienced educators and designers, I don't know, but it is pretty exciting to consider what is possible for any corps that understands how to design a show.

Edited July 22, 2017 by MikeRapp