A Message from DCI CEO Dan Acheson

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, garfield said:

 

37 bands at the USBands mid-Atlantic Champs in MD yesterday.  Run by a parent, I understand.  Pretty good day and the word is that visible and meaningful changes to programming have made big differences.

And that's in less than a year after the Cadets' news.  Possibly the damage control will be restricted to locally around the individual corps involved and to be named, and not permanent at that.

 

the story hit USBands in NJ harder than PA or MD. and yes, YEA has done some good things to overcome. Doesn't lessen the impact. trust me, i made 20+ calls trying to help Mike Ryan find housing after he posted on here before Allentown. 

[garfield]

On 10/31/2018 at 2:07 PM, Ghost said:

I'd say DCI asked the journalist to sit on the story for a day or two so they could get a letter out with Dan' name on it.  A little late for me, too much cya, and not telling us why other incidents they new about were not handled sooner.

On 10/31/2018 at 2:56 PM, NewToPosting said:

That was ill-advised of DCI.  

Nadolny's not trying to bring down our activity.  She's putting sunlight on it, which is her job (similar to what she did with her award-winning IKEA story to curb the death of small children).  She knows what she's doing.  Acheson apparently does not.  This won't end well if he's going to fire shots at someone who has been researching and likely knows where many of the bodies are buried.

 

On 10/31/2018 at 3:44 PM, MusicManNJ said:

As I understand it... USA Today was a rumor when two stories were conflated. It has always been Tricia and Jaccii. Based on the tweet it looks like Tricia has reached out to speak to Dan about her findings (probably to complete the story). And based on her tweet Dan has refused. Seems odd to blame the reporter (for not sharing details) only to find out that DCI has refused reporters requests for an interview about her findings.

 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 4:11 PM, MusicManNJ said:

More from Jaccii:

 

https://twitter.com/Jaccii/status/1057721653260677120

 

On 10/31/2018 at 4:52 PM, Terri Schehr said:

Tricia tweeted that there is a forthcoming article but it’s just not ready yet. 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 4:55 PM, Jeff Ream said:

my hunch is a multi pronged attack. we all know they snoop here and other places online, especially reddit. 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 4:57 PM, Terri Schehr said:

Jaccii Farris hinted at that in her tweet.  It’s not going to be pretty. 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 5:05 PM, jeffmolnar said:

She'll likely have... multiple sources. They seem to be researching this pretty exhaustively.

 

On 10/31/2018 at 6:04 PM, Newseditor44 said:

A story like this they’re not going to sit on. I’m guessing they have DCI ring, asked for them to comment and let them know they had so much time to respond before they were going to publish. That’s generally how these things work.  In th mean time Tricia (I believe that’s who it is that is publishing this story) is buttoning up her story and making revisions. 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 6:10 PM, Newseditor44 said:

This is a wild guess at what’s going to happen... but this will ultimately take down DCI. Dan will be gone, major sponsors will be forced to leave the activity, and there will be some major reshuffling, and another sanctioning body such as USA Bands will step in the save the season. Yes, it’s far fetched, but in my mind this is the most extreme of what could happen. At the very least, Dan Acheson does not survive this, and a coupe of well known corps will get probation or forced to take a year off. Just guesses.

 

On 10/31/2018 at 8:24 PM, Drewfarmer27 said:

DA needs to resign.  His hands are very dirty. He has known about all the “inside” abuses for well over a decade. He is as guilty as Hopkins in trying to hide all of this for years. Time to clean house to finally make DCI legit. 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 8:33 PM, Drewfarmer27 said:

Too little too late. Dan A hands are very dirty in all of this.

 

On 10/31/2018 at 11:08 PM, flugelswerebugels said:

Attack? Its called reporting. The report seems certain to be about a youth activity knowingly allowing sexual predators to participate. I'd call that necessary attention, not an attack. 

 

This is just the first 10 pages of this thread.

And Dan A is accused of "fueling speculation".  Unbelievable.

And a reporter saying "A story is coming but it's not ready" is not fueling speculation?

[garfield]

On 11/1/2018 at 2:29 AM, JackTripper said:

DCI refuses to talk to the reporters.

The reporter refuses to discuss who, what, when, or where. 

Hers was a perfunctory contact where she knew going in that Dan was not going to talk. 

If she were actually “presenting an opportunity to respond”, she would have spilled her own beans instead of expecting  Dan to do that alone. 

[garfield]

On 11/1/2018 at 7:44 AM, phd-student-TTU said:

Sounds like DA is guilty of depraved indifference. 

I still expect an apology for this speculative and unfounded, damaging statement. 

[garfield]

On 11/1/2018 at 8:02 AM, garfield said:

"To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime."

If this is, in fact, the definition of your usage of that specific term, I think you are WAY out of line, and I think you owe Mr. Acheson an apology.

IMO, accusing Dan A of being AS COMPLICIT as the offenders named so far is the height of irresponsibility.

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by garfield

[garfield]

On 10/31/2018 at 1:32 PM, Jeff Ream said:

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Hi. I’m Dan Acheson, CEO of Drum Corps International.

I want to share some very important information with you. In fact, with the entire Drum Corps International Community and everyone who has an interest in the activity.

As you know, this year has held significant challenges — for DCI and for all our participating organizations. We’ve come face to face with allegations of abuse and inappropriate behavior within our community.

These situations and misconduct of any kind — totally inexcusable, and we grieve for everyone who has suffered in any way.

In the wake of these challenges, we’ve also had the opportunity to make sweeping changes in our policies and procedures — changes that safeguard our participants and improve the culture. Changes that provide a strong framework for safety and wellness throughout the DCI community.

We are steadfast in our commitment to ensure the safety, health, and wellness of every performer, staff member, and volunteer involved in DCI at any level.

A reporter has informed us that another story on drum corps is forthcoming. The writer says, “It will outline a number of examples I have found of people who have worked or volunteered in the activity in recent years who were accused of having inappropriate relationships with students or who have criminal records including crimes of a sexual nature. It will be an in-depth look at these cases and at the policies of both DCI and individual corps.”

We wanted to share this information with you before you read it online or see it on social media.

The reporter didn’t share the contents of the story with us. However, DCI has gone to great lengths to address the issues and to provide a safe environment now and in the future.

Criminal records? DCI has a background check policy.

Inappropriate relationships? DCI prohibits them.

Not adhering to the Code of Conduct for hiring practices or any other violation? DCI can prohibit participation. And we have.

If we receive reports of misconduct through the hotline, our online form, or through any other reporting mechanism, we follow up, and we take action.

We needed to strengthen our policies and procedures. We’ve done that. And we’ll do more.

No doubt this new story will follow the same pattern as those that have come before it. Unfortunately, we can’t change the past. But we can change the present and impact the future.

And we are.

We will continue to keep you informed, and together, we’ll move forward to keep DCI at the forefront of marching music performance.

 

On 11/1/2018 at 1:37 PM, MusicManNJ said:

I think the issue is how Dan placed blame on the reporter for not sharing details with him yet the reporter rebuts him immediately to let folks know she has been asking to speak to him yet he has, to this point, refused. Dan is trying to have his cake and eat it to. Tell people he is being transparent yet not being forthright. I am gonna sound like a broken record here but if they had a real PR firm helping them (Like YEA had) instead of rely on the questionable advice of in-house staff I do not think this would be the S#$@ show this has become. This happened back in May, over the summer, and here we are again. 

I'd like for you to identify in the quote EXACTLY where Dan blamed the reporter for ANYTHING!

"Tell people he is being transparent yet not being forthright."  Do you have ANY proof or substantiation of your allegation?  If not, aren't you simply "fueling speculation"?

"...in-house staff..."?  How about in-house and outside and independent legal counsel?  So, in your world (don't you advise schools?) DCI pays legal fees to counsel to provide advice, then summarily ignores that advice.  Then for confirmation, DCI goes to outside counsel and they, too, advise to not respond to the reporter.  But, as I understand you (and others here), Dan is supposed to ignore all of that legal counsel that DCI has paid for and, summarily and independently, ignore it because you (and others here) think it's best.

I don't know how to describe such a belief besides arrogant.  I thought many here want DCI to act more like a $50million industry!  Is that the way businesses operate in your (and others') world?

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by garfield

[garfield]

On 11/1/2018 at 2:11 PM, Jeff Ream said:

Building THE Green Machine

Jeff, I have that book and have read it.  I don't recall; do you remember the chapter, or even the era?  I'd like to see if what I read maybe didn't bother me then but should now.

[garfield]

On 11/1/2018 at 2:26 PM, Terri Schehr said:

You would have lost this one.   22 I could live with.  25?  Nope. 

Yep, I'm your age and couldn't agree more.  "Get on with it, kid", would be my answer. 

(Thankfully, he already has...)

[garfield]

On 11/2/2018 at 11:44 AM, Lance said:

Acheson's response was a dream come true for the reporter. It gave her an opportunity to describe where she is in the story, and state that Acheson had refused to talk to her about it.  

Getting in front of a story can be very smart, but Acheson's perfunctory response harmed nobody but himself and DCI. 

These types of things happen in the marching band world, but the schools they're affiliated have attorneys and dedicated staff for PR when dealing with the press.  Not quite the case with Acheson/DCI, obviously.   

 

I disagree.  Dan's response was exactly what she expected because it's exactly what she's always gotten.  There was nothing in her approach of keeping silent that should have prepared her for his answer being different.  Had she presented her details she might have been rational to expect a response, even as her experience had told her that he'd likely not respond.

The "dream come true" for her, and for apparently some here, would have been for her to present an accusation, have Dan admit to knowing about it and spilling all of the beans of 35 years, then falling on the sword in front of her.  She'd win a freaking award!

Instead, her intended target was well-advised on what to do if she came around and she got what she probably expected.  Now that she has no corroboration from DCI, she'll have to provide the opportunity for a thoughtful and as-well prepared reply.  That's how reporting, and the law, work.

Then, Dan took to heart the hue and cry last time for DCI to say something, ANYTHING, to appease the masses and, this time, WHAM!, he's smacked again by the same group of "fans", sharpening their pitchfork tines.

Getting in front of this story gave Dan the exact same response from this crowd...I hear the grinding wheels sharpening the sword edges...

"Crickets", somebody here said.  Why would any rational person be proactive at all when the grinding wheels spin no matter what he does??

 

[Jeff Ream]

27 minutes ago, garfield said:

Jeff, I have that book and have read it.  I don't recall; do you remember the chapter, or even the era?  I'd like to see if what I read maybe didn't bother me then but should now.

It was the 50’s and 60’s era mostly, especially when Warren talked about the paddle being abused by the kids and other shenanigans that then were hijinx, now would be someone’s lawsuit