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TEP's as Safety Officers. An idea...


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4 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Credit for thinking outside the box.

When the TEP is a local third party, I see a benefit.  However, when the TEP is a corps, I see potential for conflicts of interest.

question are TEP's always mature, well-rounded, personality balanced, experienced with people adults over thirty or do they sometimes happen to be a last minute volunteer because so and so can't get out of work, has sick children who can't be left, etc.? Having done touring as a quasi-admin for almost twenty DCI tours (with 3 units) I run out of fingers and toes counting how many times we've been met in the middle of the night/early morning by a semi-dazed, sleepy college kid or equivalent because Mom or Dad got hung up with "emergencies" etc. Not all shows can anticipate Garfield being the perfectly prepared,  experienced, and cheerful TEP at 3:30 am while he is praying that the reports of lightning and tornado warnings dissipate before show step off and don't effect last minute walk up ticket purchases at the gate..

Otherwise, there is a merit to the proposal as a starting point of discussion.

 

 

 

Edited by xandandl
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28 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

I did read. I think there's some broad assumptions that asking questions and checking boxes gets the full truth. After all Pio was calling in daily and yet stuff came out later. I think the idea has merit. I do believe it needs to be fleshed out a lot more, and as other said, the corps being the TEP does create possible conflicts. 

Another question....at regionals, is DCI responsible for checking? Given the scope of the events, the limited personnel available and the distance corps are housed from the show site, does this all fall back on them? I ask because at Allentown, you can have corps housed 2 hours away.

"...full truth."  I get it and, in this plan, there is no determination of truth at the time the TEP were to get involved.  Either, a) the required "check-in" forms are not presented to the "Housing Manager upon check-in, or b) a person from the corps approaches said Housing Manager and shares a concern, ANY concern, that involves their personal safety or the safety of another member of the corps.  

In the first case, the HM simply checks the box that says the doc was not presented.  At the bottom of the checklist, the director/tour manager signs.  The HM then has a tour upon checkout and, again, has the opportunity to collect the form before the corps pulls out.  If it's collected, both sign off.  If not, it's reported uncollected and signed off.  DCI gets the data in the show packet returned to them by the TEP after the show (usually within 24hrs, IIRC).

In the second case, a person approaching the TEP, the TEP has just one, simply instruction:  Find a phone and dial the phone number at DCI that is reserved for immediate DCI action alone.  That person (answering service) finds Dan A or whomever is made the central contact.  The TEP simply acts as a mouthpiece between DCI and the TEP,  or whomever approached the TEP.  DCI requires TEP's to pay for hotel accommodations for judges at nearly every show.  Surely they'd approve housing a member, staff, or volunteer was in fear for their safety, IMO.

Who is the Housing Manager?  What's the one, common thread at EVERY housing site?  A custodian.  At our show, we greeted every corps as they arrived and did the walk through personally.  However, at some housing sites, only a custodian is available to open the facility, introduce the facility, and collect the sign-off that everything's acceptable. 

Imagine: "So, the boys showers are over there, the driver's rooms are over there, the fields behind the school are OK, but the ones over there are not.  Hot water is turned on at 6am and off at noon.  Is that all right?"

"Yes."

"Great, so now I'm supposed to get four forms from you including the sign-off, which we just did.  Do you have your 7122 form?  Great.  Your 9-B form? Thanks.  And how about the Safety-01 Form, got that?  Great!  Thanks a bunch, call me if you need me or just come down and pound on the door!"  (Most tour managers I've interacted with come fully-prepared to the site.)

No more difficult than that.

At show sites, the show director is required to visit the housing sites on the day of the show, regardless of how far away they are.  The show director signs off on all facilities and functions of the show; he's/she's the one who delivers the show package back to DCI.

The corps would have to deliver the forms at every housing site prior to leaving the site, or it's reported as not collected.

Spitballing but, the more I consider it, and after having actually run shows for over a decade until very recently, I think the TEP network, regardless of whether it's a corps TEP or Indy TEP, is an asset of money volunteers that is largely under-developed as an ACTUAL partner to DCI.  Requiring that TEP's take these steps is peanuts compared to immensity of show production at even the local level, and the key volunteer needed to perform the necessary task on the ground, is the Housing Manager who checks the corps in and out of the school.

Also, it dawns on me that, I believe, a DCI Show Coordinator in on-site at every, or almost every, show on the tour.  That person could, in an emergency, get "on-scene" and act as DCI's direct report.  

Any idea that I think might have a shred of merit I usually bring here first to see if it withstands the withering fire...

 

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29 minutes ago, xandandl said:

question are TEP's always mature, well-rounded, personality balanced, experienced with people adults over thirty or do they sometimes happen to be a last minute volunteer because so and so can't get out of work, has sick children who can't be left, etc.? Having done touring as a quasi-admin for almost twenty DCI tours (with 3 units) I run out of fingers and toes counting how many times we've been met in the middle of the night/early morning by a semi-dazed, sleepy college kid or equivalent because Mom or Dad got hung up with "emergencies" etc. Not all shows can anticipate Garfield being the perfectly prepared,  experienced, and cheerful TEP at 3:30 am while he is praying that the reports of lightning and tornado warnings dissipate before show step off and don't effect last minute walk up ticket purchases at the gate..

Otherwise, there is a merit to the proposal as a starting point of discussion.

 

 

 

LOLOL!  

You brought back some great memories...

Maybe the notion of Housing Manager ( maybe custodian) sits better?  Wondering if many of those were as dazed-and-confused.  And I appreciate the left-handed compliment while I wonder if we rubbed shoulders and I didn't know it?

Your comment actually brings up another, separate discussion regarding how DCI can promote a consistent image and optics when the tour is produced by three entities with three different agendas: Indy-TEPs supporting their local schools, corps TEPs financing their own corps, and DCI.

I think that, if DCI has any hope at all of spreading its supervision net of influence over the whole activity to consolidate responsibility, it has every right to insist that any of those entities that profit from the show's production are required to comply with unified P&P that DCI has in place.  It does that now.  Most of the infrastructure is already in place.

IMO 

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14 minutes ago, garfield said:

"...full truth."  I get it and, in this plan, there is no determination of truth at the time the TEP were to get involved.  Either, a) the required "check-in" forms are not presented to the "Housing Manager upon check-in, or b) a person from the corps approaches said Housing Manager and shares a concern, ANY concern, that involves their personal safety or the safety of another member of the corps.  

In the first case, the HM simply checks the box that says the doc was not presented.  At the bottom of the checklist, the director/tour manager signs.  The HM then has a tour upon checkout and, again, has the opportunity to collect the form before the corps pulls out.  If it's collected, both sign off.  If not, it's reported uncollected and signed off.  DCI gets the data in the show packet returned to them by the TEP after the show (usually within 24hrs, IIRC).

In the second case, a person approaching the TEP, the TEP has just one, simply instruction:  Find a phone and dial the phone number at DCI that is reserved for immediate DCI action alone.  That person (answering service) finds Dan A or whomever is made the central contact.  The TEP simply acts as a mouthpiece between DCI and the TEP,  or whomever approached the TEP.  DCI requires TEP's to pay for hotel accommodations for judges at nearly every show.  Surely they'd approve housing a member, staff, or volunteer was in fear for their safety, IMO.

Who is the Housing Manager?  What's the one, common thread at EVERY housing site?  A custodian.  At our show, we greeted every corps as they arrived and did the walk through personally.  However, at some housing sites, only a custodian is available to open the facility, introduce the facility, and collect the sign-off that everything's acceptable. 

Imagine: "So, the boys showers are over there, the driver's rooms are over there, the fields behind the school are OK, but the ones over there are not.  Hot water is turned on at 6am and off at noon.  Is that all right?"

"Yes."

"Great, so now I'm supposed to get four forms from you including the sign-off, which we just did.  Do you have your 7122 form?  Great.  Your 9-B form? Thanks.  And how about the Safety-01 Form, got that?  Great!  Thanks a bunch, call me if you need me or just come down and pound on the door!"  (Most tour managers I've interacted with come fully-prepared to the site.)

No more difficult than that.

At show sites, the show director is required to visit the housing sites on the day of the show, regardless of how far away they are.  The show director signs off on all facilities and functions of the show; he's/she's the one who delivers the show package back to DCI.

The corps would have to deliver the forms at every housing site prior to leaving the site, or it's reported as not collected.

Spitballing but, the more I consider it, and after having actually run shows for over a decade until very recently, I think the TEP network, regardless of whether it's a corps TEP or Indy TEP, is an asset of money volunteers that is largely under-developed as an ACTUAL partner to DCI.  Requiring that TEP's take these steps is peanuts compared to immensity of show production at even the local level, and the key volunteer needed to perform the necessary task on the ground, is the Housing Manager who checks the corps in and out of the school.

Also, it dawns on me that, I believe, a DCI Show Coordinator in on-site at every, or almost every, show on the tour.  That person could, in an emergency, get "on-scene" and act as DCI's direct report.  

Any idea that I think might have a shred of merit I usually bring here first to see if it withstands the withering fire...

 

i like it except for trusting a custodian to do all of that

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43 minutes ago, xandandl said:

question are TEP's always mature, well-rounded, personality balanced, experienced with people adults over thirty or do they sometimes happen to be a last minute volunteer because so and so can't get out of work, has sick children who can't be left, etc.? Having done touring as a quasi-admin for almost twenty DCI tours (with 3 units) I run out of fingers and toes counting how many times we've been met in the middle of the night/early morning by a semi-dazed, sleepy college kid or equivalent because Mom or Dad got hung up with "emergencies" etc. Not all shows can anticipate Garfield being the perfectly prepared,  experienced, and cheerful TEP at 3:30 am while he is praying that the reports of lightning and tornado warnings dissipate before show step off and don't effect last minute walk up ticket purchases at the gate..

Otherwise, there is a merit to the proposal as a starting point of discussion.

 

 

 

Again, this is an important point.  A well-run and profitable show is, unless it's a regional or finals, run by either a local TEP or a corps TEP, both of which earn the profits.  Requiring that hosts provide an appropriate welcome and check-in procedure is not a lot to ask of hosts who stand to earn 10's of thousands of $ (if it doesn't rain, whew!).

If DCI has any hope of producing a truly Major-League contest tour, this is just peanuts of the required effort.  Either they want to or they don't, I'd guess.

 

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14 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

i like it except for trusting a custodian to do all of that

The decision to trust the custodian is made by the show director and only for the show director's convenience.  The SD still has to collect the form.  The requirement by DCI is that a "Housing Director" (my term, not theirs) greet the corps and check-off that it's suitable.  If the custodian fails, the responsibility still lies with the SD.  The SD signed the show contract and thereby agrees to collect "...these four forms..." .

If a kid knows that he/she can even GO to the custodian, and one does, the custodian simply needs to call the show director.  The show director is the one who gets on the phone to DCI and, if IMMEDIATE action is required for safety, the TEP can always go to the DCI contest coordinator to get DCI reps involved immediately.

I presume that it would be OK to teach DCI contest coordinators what the P&P for intervention is. 

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I think much of the original proposal has a great deal going for it. I do have some suggestions, though.

1. The TEP having a rep that meets the corps at arrival and does an inspection with a rep from the corps is a great idea. However, I would suggest an official from the school also be present. As any one of us who has ever taught knows very well--if an outside group uses the school, you can blame them for anything that goes wrong. A school where I taught had a crazy program that met once a week on Thursday afternoons. On Fridays we blamed them for everything that w as wrong in our classrooms. My guess is that many a corps has been blamed for issues that were the case beforehand. Of course we also knw the opposite is true.

2. Regarding the safety issues, you need a professional, preferably a neutral party familiar with high school and college safety protocols. Checking on these things every time a corps moves to a new facility is all well and good, but I would think a combination of planned and random checks would be great. I know keeping costs as low as possible is part of the proposal/ I'm willing to bet many people who support DCI and care about its well being who have the qualifications would be more than happy to assist. You would not want anyone directly involved with a  corps, and you would have to clearly define what being directly involved means since so many staff members move from corps to corps.

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2 hours ago, garfield said:

Spitballing but, the more I consider it, and after having actually run shows for over a decade until very recently, I think the TEP network, regardless of whether it's a corps TEP or Indy TEP, is an asset of money volunteers that is largely under-developed as an ACTUAL partner to DCI. 

Another potential plus for your idea.  With all the hubbub about housing drying up, anything that helps foster housing contacts (like a healthy and expanding TEP network) is an idea worth exploring.

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9 hours ago, garfield said:

The decision to trust the custodian is made by the show director and only for the show director's convenience.  The SD still has to collect the form.  The requirement by DCI is that a "Housing Director" (my term, not theirs) greet the corps and check-off that it's suitable.  If the custodian fails, the responsibility still lies with the SD.  The SD signed the show contract and thereby agrees to collect "...these four forms..." .

If a kid knows that he/she can even GO to the custodian, and one does, the custodian simply needs to call the show director.  The show director is the one who gets on the phone to DCI and, if IMMEDIATE action is required for safety, the TEP can always go to the DCI contest coordinator to get DCI reps involved immediately.

I presume that it would be OK to teach DCI contest coordinators what the P&P for intervention is. 

i think anyone on the local level that would be involved in this process should have training

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16 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Another potential plus for your idea.  With all the hubbub about housing drying up, anything that helps foster housing contacts (like a healthy and expanding TEP network) is an idea worth exploring.

I saw that these were now being brought in to Hurricane Florence effected areas. I just wonder who will be the first corps to add them to their fleet which would allow for more schools and other venues to be utilized for housing. Sure beats standing under a jimmy-rigged hose.

http://montondotrailer.com/mobile-shower-trailers 

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