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Madison Scouts 2018


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11 hours ago, Mad75 said:

I'm guessing you've never worked for a corporation or a company and understand how one runs or where the responsibilities lie? Floundering companies can only replace their "support staff" so many times before all responsibility and blame comes home to nest at their doorstep.  It's called bad leadership.  Some are gifted to lead, some are not.  This "management team" has been in place for around 10 years!...How many more bites at the apple is enough for you?

Exactly. I an corporation this team and the board of directors would have been fired a long time ago. If I don't perform at work, I am fired. This BoD and management is not performing. It's time to clean house. It's actually funny to me that I see comments on Facebook like "Well, we're closing in on the Colts." Really? What's next, they'll be celebrating beating BDB and Vanguard Cadets?

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42 minutes ago, queenanne_1536 said:

Exactly. I an corporation this team and the board of directors would have been fired a long time ago. If I don't perform at work, I am fired. This BoD and management is not performing. It's time to clean house. It's actually funny to me that I see comments on Facebook like "Well, we're closing in on the Colts." Really? What's next, they'll be celebrating beating BDB and Vanguard Cadets?

Last year VC finished 16th, just saying...

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31 minutes ago, ShortAndFast said:

Last year VC finished 16th, just saying...

I know. It's a possibility and that is ridiuclous.

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Idea, the base problem seems to be financial. It is not like they don’t want to field an artistically competitive program they have a 15 and below budget it seems.. The activity has changed dramatically over the last 15 years and especially in the last 5. I read the financial info on forward performaning arts, they strive for financial stability in 3 years. While that is good and really unique in the history of the corps since the 80s, it is only a million dollar budget. That is what is the typical budget for their competitive level. There are options I think, the worst is going into debt to afford the staff they need. It is natural to imitate the leaders in designs well imitate them financially too. bD and SCV have an incredible cash flow from bingo. I think the Scouts  tried it and failed in early 2000s. Alumni another option but they are a short term fix I think, they’ll never get an amount to make a substantial difference on an annual basis. So ideas are needed. Imitate the SCV bingo but in a different area. One that can work in Madison. Off top of head, perhaps a food truck, they are big in many cities. Get the truck, park it around the square, offer brats or burgers, etc. it would require capital, and a lot of organization, but it could yield permanent  and substantial cash flow. It would also fulfill their mission of education of the youth.  Chris has an entrepreneurial background. Just saying. It doesn’t need to be a food truck but the profit and investment is attractive. Think badger games, the entire downtown is a street party. Any other ideas? There must be something low initial investment and high profit margin. I felt it was time to change the feel of my posts here. I’m done venting. I think they get the message from us all.

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3 hours ago, brianella said:

perhaps a food truck, they are big in many cities. Get the truck, park it around the square, offer brats or burgers, etc. it would require capital, and a lot of organization, but it could yield permanent  and substantial cash flow. It would also fulfill their mission of education of the youth.  Chris has an entrepreneurial background. Just saying. It doesn’t need to be a food truck but the profit and investment is attractive. Think badger games, the entire downtown is a street party. Any other ideas? There must be something low initial investment and high profit margin. I felt it was time to change the feel of my posts here. I’m done venting. I think they get the message from us all.

The idea of using capital equipment (buses, trucks, etc) as revenue sources in the off-season has been around since corps started buying their own buses in the 60s.  There are a number of costs involved: labor, licenses, inspections, insurance, supplies, gas, etc.  It also depreciates the equipment much faster.  Then there are the legal issues of having a for-profit business connected to a non-profit entity.  My understanding is that most corps have found it's better to simply park their rolling stock for the winter.   The Scouts are constantly developing revenue sources.  There is a long list of things they've tried with more or less success.

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7 minutes ago, vferrera said:

The idea of using capital equipment (buses, trucks, etc) as revenue sources in the off-season has been around since corps started buying their own buses in the 60s.  There are a number of costs involved: labor, licenses, inspections, insurance, supplies, gas, etc.  It also depreciates the equipment much faster.  Then there are the legal issues of having a for-profit business connected to a non-profit entity.  My understanding is that most corps have found it's better to simply park their rolling stock for the winter.   The Scouts are constantly developing revenue sources.  There is a long list of things they've tried with more or less success.

With all due respect if the prior levels were adequate the Scouts would be in a position to pay the Executive Director his full salary to start with , then it would also be sufficient to pay designers and caption heads a fair market salary . So I guess I disagree that these prior efforts were close to sufficient in the past. It needn’t be the way to go but if the corps is to become a viable competitive entity in the future, new revenue will need to be sourced. I’d love to hear your ideas.....

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59 minutes ago, brianella said:

With all due respect if the prior levels were adequate the Scouts would be in a position to pay the Executive Director his full salary to start with , then it would also be sufficient to pay designers and caption heads a fair market salary . So I guess I disagree that these prior efforts were close to sufficient in the past. It needn’t be the way to go but if the corps is to become a viable competitive entity in the future, new revenue will need to be sourced. I’d love to hear your ideas.....

I didn't say their efforts were adequate.  I said they were plentiful.  There's a difference.  Here are a few things they have done:  Christmas tree lots.  Raffles.  Playing at shopping mall openings.  Mini car racing.  A food concession at Brewers games.  Mad-Dash 5K races.  One BOD member owns a string of candy shops that donate some of their profits.  These all take person-power and organization.  Lots.  The corps management has their hands full.  If alums or supporters don't step up, these things don't happen.  It's not a matter of having ideas.  It's a matter of having the resources and experience to vet the ideas and turn them into worthwhile, sustainable income streams.

You want my idea?  Madison currently has no official alumni association (if they do, they're keeping it a secret from me, maybe intentionally ;) )  I think they could really use one.  The Madison alum are very energetic and resourceful.  On their own, the alums have put together several major performances (MSARP 2006, Macy's 2014 and Mardi Gras 2018).  Each of those represents 200+ guys willing to pay their own way to fly in and do a reunion/performance.  Money-wise, I would guess about 1 million $$$ was spent on each.  I did MSARP and spent about 3k or so on air/hotel/etc.  I also did Macy's and only spent a few hundred since I live in NYC.  The alumni are also fragmented (generations not getting along), grumpy (you see it here), and alienated from the organization.  This year, the divisions among the alums, and between alum and corps, are the worst I've seen.  An alumni organization could help.  Cavaliers went through something similar about 10 years ago (I'm also a Cavalier alum).  Not gonna go into details.  The CAA got on top of things and did wonders for alumni-corps relations.  Great group of guys.  Great leadership.  Madison could and should do the same.

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Is the Scouts organization not able to pay Chris his full salary?  Are the designers paid less than staff at other corps?

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