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Broke-down buses, Ibuprofen and a sex offender: on the road with Pioneer


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Just now, CrownBariDad said:

With the situations involving the Cadets and Pioneer now becoming known nationally and the rumored "more to follow", how long before DCI as a whole ceases to exist?  When does DCI decide a national summer tour raises too many red flags (social media being what it is these days = "ALL Drum Corps are tainted") and says "to heck with it"?  Maybe Corps (who are still around) do more of a WGI tour -- weekend shows, a Regional or two, and a National Championship.

I'm feeling VERY despondent.  :sad:

I don't think DCI is going to cease to exist. I can see a number of corps closing up shop because they just can't get their stuff together or REFUSE to take these issues seriously.

The situation at Pioneer is horrible but there are others with similar although maybe not as severe issues that were on tour this summer as well. The issues are usually tied to poor leadership and poor financial management that lead to poor experiences for the MMs. Some of the leaders of these organizations just are not business savvy or organizational savvy enough to run a drum corps. Their heart may be in the right place but they are in WAAAYYY over their heads.

Maybe the G7 idea was right? Maybe the number isn't 7 maybe its 15 or 20? Maybe there are only enough financial resources to go around to adequately support a finite number of corps that provide the utmost quality experience for the MMs. I don't have an answer....

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1 minute ago, Spatzzz said:

They do not have that power. They can however keep the organization on suspension and keep them from competing in DCI sanctioned events until they meet certain parameters. Whether or not that could include for them to get a new BOD and Director I do not know. 

This, I think, is a huge problem. From reading all of the news, responses, statements, and such since April, It seems that DCI is (or is at least trying to appear to be) nothing more than an organizer, bringing together various separate entities for specific events. The thought process, and it may have "worked" in the past, is that each corps is an individual business and can run things how they want, with the only form of regulation being blocking access to certain funds or appearances.

I think DCI needs to become a true governing body, which will give one point of access for regulations that all corps will have to follow. Simple things such as requiring (maybe even providing) at least one full time athletic trainer and a compliance officer would go a long way toward fixing some of the issues. Also, having a single entity in charge, they could coordinate housing, food, and transportation, which would relieve the burden on the individual corps, and also would help prevent issues like Atown this year.

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13 minutes ago, Jake W. said:

Someone enlighten me —- does DCI as the governing body of our activity even have the power to remove him?

 

 My understanding is that DCI can not remove him... or any other DCI Corps Director, or its BOD, for that matter. That action needs to be taken intenally by the Corps BOD, themselves.  However, it is my understanding that DCI Hq can impose punitive sanctions of Corps, up too and including ousting from DCI participation, until a new Corps Director, or BOD is installed if DCI Hq believes that any single Corps, or single individual(s) is hurting the Brand of DCI, or other DCI  Corps members by their reported actions to DCI Hq. 

Edited by BRASSO
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Bluzes the thread killer, rightfully so this forum seeks the truth and ignores inaccurate information, no ill intent. It took mere seconds for the Reddit Roman thread to show up in a google search. In addition, it appears that Romans father was a state level politician in his wiki page that should not mean anything at all today but who knows.

Reddit does not have concerned Mods that want to kill anything, that's the danger. What good is it to find out someone needed medical attention after the fact on a conspiracy site that just gives the entire organization a black eye? Now Change.Org has a petition to oust Roman, no place to air one's dirty laundry.

We are in the greatest communication revolution in our history. Smart devices are only as smart as the people who find uses for the technology. Someone needs medical help staff not around to help for whatever reason. The person hits a hot button that sends a message "need medical assistance message". A dci staff person or any volunteer who mans the hotline (has their smartphone handy, who doesn't) from anywhere could order an UBER and they are taken to the nearest medical clinic. No questions asked.

The app would keep track of the nearest open medical clinics throughout the tour, one click and you're enlightened, no valuable time wasted wondering where to go. The HS schools are large, corps spread out all over the place. Someone lurking in the woods kids feel uncomfortable, they hit a hot button. Staff is notified with a geocoded location of the campus - where to go. No need to dwell on in the moment decisions anymore. Creating a net around the corps electronically is feasible. Kids get into an altercation with locals at the laundromat or anywhere proper adults are notified. Having something like this does not cast doubt on any corps not doing the right thing, it's an insurance policy on the unexpected.

Edited by Bluzes
typo
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11 minutes ago, Jake W. said:

Someone enlighten me —- does DCI as the governing body of our activity even have the power to remove him?

I’ve gathered through everything with The Cadets and now Pio that the organization has much less power over the internal workings of individual corps than we all assume they do. Sure, they can apply pressure, but is actually removing him from his corps within DCI’s power? Asking because I’m legitimately unsure.

Not all (:tongue:) but I think you're seeing it correctly now.

Remove Roman from his own corps?  I doubt it.  Banish his org to the point of applying again for OC status and Roman might not think it's worth the trouble of complying.

 

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5 minutes ago, CrownBariDad said:

With the situations involving the Cadets and Pioneer now becoming known nationally and the rumored "more to follow", how long before DCI as a whole ceases to exist?  When does DCI decide a national summer tour raises too many red flags (social media being what it is these days = "ALL Drum Corps are tainted") and says "to heck with it"?  Maybe Corps (who are still around) do more of a WGI tour -- weekend shows, a Regional or two, and a National Championship.

I'm feeling VERY despondent.  :sad:

The important thing for all involved is to neither over nor under react 

its important (and sometimes difficult) to separate sjw type “noise” from real, compelling information 

my feeling is that autonomous and responsible, highly capable and engaged BOD at the individual corps organizations have become a must

DCI as the organizing circuit organization needs to expand its vetting process to include a validation of board composition and engagement 

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1 hour ago, garfield said:

I know I'm picking nits in a sensitive thread, and will be accused of being grammar police, but shouldn't it be "Broken-down Buses..."?

Thank God it didn't involve "Broken-down" Busses...

And to exhibit my own level of ornery, he should be forced to bear his Auschwitz comment on his DCI Hall-of-Fame inscription...

Edited by HornTeacher
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10 minutes ago, CrownBariDad said:

With the situations involving the Cadets and Pioneer now becoming known nationally and the rumored "more to follow", how long before DCI as a whole ceases to exist?  When does DCI decide a national summer tour raises too many red flags (social media being what it is these days = "ALL Drum Corps are tainted") and says "to heck with it"?  Maybe Corps (who are still around) do more of a WGI tour -- weekend shows, a Regional or two, and a National Championship.

I'm feeling VERY despondent.  :sad:

I hear that Blue Devils are one of several corps (or all other corps, apparently) that have cutting-edge policing and reporting systems that protect kids.  PC, too, I know for certain because they share ALL of their policies on their website for all to see and use.

All is not lost.  DCI might look different, but it's not likely that a (something approaching) $75million activity is going to go away, IMO.

 

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1 minute ago, Legoman said:

This, I think, is a huge problem. From reading all of the news, responses, statements, and such since April, It seems that DCI is (or is at least trying to appear to be) nothing more than an organizer, bringing together various separate entities for specific events. The thought process, and it may have "worked" in the past, is that each corps is an individual business and can run things how they want, with the only form of regulation being blocking access to certain funds or appearances.

I think DCI needs to become a true governing body, which will give one point of access for regulations that all corps will have to follow. Simple things such as requiring (maybe even providing) at least one full time athletic trainer and a compliance officer would go a long way toward fixing some of the issues. Also, having a single entity in charge, they could coordinate housing, food, and transportation, which would relieve the burden on the individual corps, and also would help prevent issues like Atown this year.

I don't disagree with any of this. That will require big changes at DCI and the DCI BOD (aka the corps themselves I believe) to make that happen. I have my suspicions that the corps will not be keen on giving up their autonomy to a larger governing body. Maybe they will surprise us all but if you use history as a guide I wouldn't count on it.

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14 minutes ago, Spatzzz said:

They do not have that power. They can however keep the organization on suspension and keep them from competing in DCI sanctioned events until they meet certain parameters. Whether or not that could include for them to get a new BOD and Director I do not know. 

I'm quite positive that DCI has the power to exclude an organization because their BoD is thin, or self-dealing, or not big enough or experienced enough...  And they most certainly can refuse to admit a corps because of a single person they don't think is qualified to lead the org and, in my experience, they've not been bashful in saying so.

 

Edited by garfield
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