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The Cadets 2019


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17 minutes ago, GlenI said:

And considering that the Director of Development (the first top-notch professional that I can remember in the roll) resigned on Friday shows that the organization still can’t retain talent. Starting $300k in the hole and having no professional development apparatus in place is not a good sign. 

Very misleading characterization of the situation. He took the extension as a temporary fix thru this summer season. The season is over and they have an executive search well underway 

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To be clear,  in my previous post, I was not trying to be doom and gloom.  Just realistic and suggesting patience while they continue to  right the ship.  You don’t do things fairly wrong for a number of years and expect a quick turnaround.  I’d guess the 2018 outcome was a very pleasant surprise for many.

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34 minutes ago, George Dixon said:

Very misleading characterization of the situation. He took the extension as a temporary fix thru this summer season. The season is over and they have an executive search well underway 

Right. It's like everyone seems to think they're entitled to their own facts.

1 hour ago, One n Done said:

Job 1 will be for YEA to seriously assess what it can reasonably raise and fund.  Staff needs to be paid on time and they have to travel better.  You can’t attract and retain good instructors without the accommodations the other top corps have.  Design (music, drill, choreography, props, electronics) are winning DCI right now...all these things come down to dollars.  Can YEA provide this for the Cadets AND support a DCA corps and other programs?  Hard questions must be asked within YEA.  Priorities must be set and decisions made.  Personally, I do not think they can fund a top 5 corps AND continue their other offerings with the fundraising apparatus currently in place.

Some achievable needs in the short term:

1.  Program design coordinator.

2.  Improved guard design and staging.

3.  Improved design and teaching of non traditional movement.  Similarly, smarter use of run and gun.  If it’s gonna be hard, it should be great.

4.  New music must be explored.

5.  Stick with a costume vs. a wholesale return to the traditional uni.  Retain nods to the old with use of color and pattern.

As much as our highly competitive friend Tekk may not like to hear it, I think it’ll be a 3-5 year journey for the corps to medal again.  And, that’s WITH good decisions and increased funding.  As awesome as this season was, the administration of the corps and YEA are (understandingly) still getting their feet beneath them.  The most important moves for the Cadets in 2019 will be ones that none of us see and few of us hear about.  This season was a short term miracle ( thank you kids and staff).  Now it’s time for the long term grind towards sustainability and competitive relevance.  It will not bother me much to see the corps in 6th/7th the next couple years, so long as they make the much needed improvements off the field.  FHNSAB

Vis-à-vis list 1 - 5, LOVE it. Similarly with #5, I believe their costume can be modernized to include either hints or a redesign of the traditional uniform to be as modern as drum corps is while at the same time paying nod to the traditional uniform.

As far as their journey to medal again, I can accept that, but I DO believe they should not just put out shows to survive. I believe now that Cadets can acquire talent to put them back in the top tier now that the Cancer is gone. All the other administrative things about which you spoke can be taken care of by the director, and it seems to me that he is more focused on DIRECTING, which is what a corps director should be doing, as opposed to designing. In that respect, I think Cadets will be ok. Mr. Litzenberg seems to be legit so I am more than willing to give things a chance. As Cadets have clearly shown us this year, they are unbreakable.

Edited by 2000Cadet
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I am not aware of the finances within YEA; however, is there a fundraising issues or lack of funds?  Has the move to Allentown hurt the corps ability to raise funds?  Hopefully, there is someone on board who has in-roads with corporations and is able to write grants.  

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3 hours ago, George Dixon said:

Very misleading characterization of the situation. He took the extension as a temporary fix thru this summer season. The season is over and they have an executive search well underway 

SHE was not a temporary worker. 

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5 minutes ago, GlenI said:

SHE was not a temporary worker. 

my apologies - you are taking about Chelsey I suppose.

She was only there for several months - guess it wasn't a good fit for her. 

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7 hours ago, George Dixon said:

Well I'd say today is the banquet, tonight/tomorrow they drive the caravan back to Allentown...

After that, probably a week's vacation necessary 

And then, since we have actual mentally-stable adults now in charge, they will begin the process of staff evaluations and extend (or not) offers for the 2019 season

No announcements I believe until the beginning of September regarding staff changes or additions

It's important to remember THIS team (& mm) almost snagged sixth on finals night - even with half a show already designed and a redo of major proportions in late April/early May - that's no joke! They did fantastic & should be very proud.

As a fan I personally want to see some retention along with some reinforcement in certain captions/aspects. There was a lot of good about the 2018 Cadets - so some continuity is warranted and smart.

Cadets will want to continue to build up their competitiveness next year - a 4th or 5th place finish (moving up a couple spots) is difficult but within reach...  that would put them in position to get back to challenging for medals in 2020/2021. In today's DCI you have to be LOADED on all captions to win a championship - it will take them a couple seasons to regain that sort of competitiveness, even with careful and smart decisions going forward

So - a few things necessary:

1. improved design (some of this will happen organically now)

2. cleaner visual/musical execution out of the gate (so they don't play catch up again)

3. smaller number of age outs this year - so heavy and successful recruitment to further up the corps talent/experience level

4. continue to refine and improve member experience - first class in all aspects

5. While it wasn’t terrible, lose the singers. I think they had to keep them due to like you said the show being halfway completed. Singing is not a strength of the Cadets... never has been (2006, 2017 and 2018.) “Let us pray, .....LET US PRAY no more singing”

Best wishes for a successful off season Cadets!

George 

 

 

Edited by ohbaby
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10 hours ago, One n Done said:

Job 1 will be for YEA to seriously assess what it can reasonably raise and fund.  Staff needs to be paid on time and they have to travel better.  You can’t attract and retain good instructors without the accommodations the other top corps have.  Design (music, drill, choreography, props, electronics) are winning DCI right now...all these things come down to dollars.  Can YEA provide this for the Cadets AND support a DCA corps and other programs?  Hard questions must be asked within YEA.  Priorities must be set and decisions made.  Personally, I do not think they can fund a top 5 corps AND continue their other offerings with the fundraising apparatus currently in place.

Some achievable needs in the short term:

1.  Program design coordinator.

2.  Improved guard design and staging.

3.  Improved design and teaching of non traditional movement.  Similarly, smarter use of run and gun.  If it’s gonna be hard, it should be great.

4.  New music must be explored.

5.  Stick with a costume vs. a wholesale return to the traditional uni.  Retain nods to the old with use of color and pattern.

As much as our highly competitive friend Tekk may not like to hear it, I think it’ll be a 3-5 year journey for the corps to medal again.  And, that’s WITH good decisions and increased funding.  As awesome as this season was, the administration of the corps and YEA are (understandingly) still getting their feet beneath them.  The most important moves for the Cadets in 2019 will be ones that none of us see and few of us hear about.  This season was a short term miracle ( thank you kids and staff).  Now it’s time for the long term grind towards sustainability and competitive relevance.  It will not bother me much to see the corps in 6th/7th the next couple years, so long as they make the much needed improvements off the field.  FHNSAB

This is really well said. Almost certainly they need to substantially increase funding before they try for a top 3 staff & show. It's going to be more expensive to "do it right" - staff and appropriately compensate an ED, corps director, program coordinator, etc. - than in the Hop era. And this is also probably true for C2 & USBands, not just for Cadets.

And they should also give their current design team a shot at doing their jobs for a full year without artistic interference from above. I'm quite curious to see what Aungst, Shanefield, Jones & co. come up with.

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