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YEA suspends operations of Cadets 2 and Lays off 9 Employees


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54 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA.  They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air.  These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.  

Keep the faith.  They are righting the ship.  😊

completely agree - they've already come miles in my book

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4 hours ago, garfield said:

Sorry, karuna, but, besides being the "Debbie-Downer" that Dans describes above, I'm going to suggest that your business logic is flawed and, whether or not you agree, the numbers don't back up your contention of getting their "financial house in order" at all, much less tout-suite.

The 2016 990 is a mess because the accountant, apparently, couldn't figure out what GH was doing, either, and dumped a whole bunch of expenses into combined buckets that include all of YEA!'s expenses.  But looking at the 2015 version provides clues that suggest the math does not support significant savings by suspending Cadets.

Revenue directly attributed to Cadets in 2015 started with "Tour/Camp/Training fees" of $986m (m=thousands, mm=millions).  Then add in "Program Sponsorship Income" of $595m which is, most likely, equip, unis, and other "in-kind" support for, primarily, Cadets.  Lastly, throw in "Appearance Fees" of $252m and just "rough" income attributed to Cadets totals over $1.8mm.  Most of that income will cease if Cadets are suspended.

Expenses directly attributable to NOT USBands includes rehearsal and tour expense of $491m, transportation expense of $456m and, even if we attribute ALL of the "other expenses" of Program Service to the Cadets (and ignore C2's), it still totals just over $1.5mm.

So, it appears that Cadets "drain" on YEA!'s resources is much less significant than the income that program brings in (even if these numbers don't add up and 2018's numbers will probably look much different).  Then, when you add in the negative affect that closing down Cadets would have on the brand and primary public face of the org, I think that the YEA! leadership did exactly the right thing.

IMO, and only mine, if USBands are the pee-wee leagues, and C2 was the minor league, if YEA! doesn't have any representation in the "Major League", then what's the point?  They COULD run, profitably it appears, both USBands and C2, but cross-platform sponsorships will be made much more difficult without Cadets. Too much talent, organizational, staff, volunteer, and MM would be squandered for the benefit of a few expenses that would likely be dwarfed by the reduction of income from Cadets, it's legacy, and it's future prospects.

Give the new team a chance to show.  It was a tough decision, and a correct one, IMO from safely behind my keyboard.

very well said - and I think correct

we can quibble about the details but the "known" is the prior leadership wasn't good at long term planning to say the least, and the current BOD is busy trying to clean up a mess

attempting to 1. cut expenses and 2. increase revenue where they can (fundraising, building USB) will allow them to invest in the future and pay down any debt

Pulling Cadets off the field for a season would set the process back ten years IMO - a very unwise and poorly thought out suggestion, however well-intended

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6 hours ago, Tim K said:

In my opinion, you’re correct about there most likely being no BAC today if the corps did not field a corps in its struggling years.

I agree from personal experience. Westshoremen 1984. Helped throw the corps together with Jim and others in 6 weeks to keep it alive, still beat 4-5 corps at prelims, had a lot of fun. It laid enough of a foundational kernel  to grow into the eventual 1996 DCA Championship.

 

The second you go inactive... it just becomes a lot harder to get the momentum to return. Case Study... Glassmen.

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3 minutes ago, BigW said:

The second you go inactive... it just becomes a lot harder to get the momentum to return. Case Study... Glassmen.

And VK, Bananamen, Southwind, etc.  

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2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA.  They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air.  These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.  

Keep the faith.  They are righting the ship.  😊

After what happened this spring, I've felt they can and will get through this. My guess is there's just been discovery after discovery of x and y as they run the organization in the way it was meant to be but just quite wasn't.

 

Will we see C2 again? Uncertain. It may take several years to get everything fully shipshape fiscally. It will happen if it happens. Would it be nice to see them again? Sure! 

 

I just put this all in perspective- with all that went on under the former Fearless Leader for years that is known and possibly being discovered (emphasis on possibly), it's just going to take some serious time to fix things correctly. I'm patient, I know many alumni aren't, it's understandable.

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15 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

And Troop had a year off, too

I had forgotten about Troopers going inactive for a year and that wasn't all too long ago if I'm remembering correctly now. They were always one of my fathers favorite corps. 

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1 hour ago, BigW said:

I agree from personal experience. Westshoremen 1984. Helped throw the corps together with Jim and others in 6 weeks to keep it alive, still beat 4-5 corps at prelims, had a lot of fun. It laid enough of a foundational kernel  to grow into the eventual 1996 DCA Championship.

 

The second you go inactive... it just becomes a lot harder to get the momentum to return. Case Study... Glassmen.

And my first year was 1974 after the crops was inactive the year before. 1984 corps went inactive for a few weeks and still had group of experienced people marching and on staff. Put together a whole show in those 6 weeks. Our only competition was Prelims and like W said beat some corps that had been together all year. 1974 was a start from scratch corps and 2nd competition was Prelims and dead last. Bunch of people took lumps 74-76 and never got any glory before it really got going in 77. If it hadn’t been for them....

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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36 minutes ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

I had forgotten about Troopers going inactive for a year and that wasn't all too long ago if I'm remembering correctly now. They were always one of my fathers favorite corps. 

They had a very strong and dedicated leadership team totally committed to make it back and fix the issues, too IIRC.

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