Seven Steps to Drum Corps Restart

[E3D]

5 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Reporters are people too.

A long time?  Only in 2018 did the irony arise of having Morrison as DCI BOD chairman when said BOD was charged with developing a raft of new policies regarding member safety, harassment prevention and reporting.  DCI evidently had no problem with Morrison leading that effort - so it took a public outcry, developed online, to provoke change.

You read them online, like the rest of us.  For that matter, you posted the link to the Hopkins resignation news here.  You were part of the online outcry.

And to review, the chronology went like this.  First news went online Wednesday 4/4.  Hopkins resigned Friday 4/6.  His story was not printed on paper until the Sunday edition (late Saturday, technically), 4/7-4/8.  If online outcry was irrelevant, he would not have resigned until after the print version hit the newsstands.

But that is exactly why there was no such thing as a 2019 Oregon Crusaders corps.  Members and staff did not just quit after 2018 - they aired their grievances online.  That drove away new applicants, to the extent where they only had 50 prospective members.  And that is what ultimately sidelined the corps.

I get it - DCI does not often listen to their fans, and they do not base all their business decisions on who complains loudest on their Facebook page.  But you overstate this a bit.  And in doubling down, you now seem to be in categoric denial that public sentiment has any impact, or that the online dissemination of news and airing of public opinions make 2018 any different from 1818 in that regard.  Is it that hard to say "I misspoke"?

Don't worry too much about that guy. That guy has to be right and get the last word on every topic. Even the weather. 

 

 

[Poppycock]

18 hours ago, skevinp said:

Great to see DSM-6 has finally come out.

Must have hit, struck or touched a nerve! Well, if the shoe fits, wear it sweetie. 

[cixelsyd]

2 hours ago, Tim K said:

I understand where you are coming from when you credit internet chatter with some significant changes in the drum corps landscape. Certainly we know more about what is happening due to social media. That being said, as I think Jeff Ream pointed out well, print media was more responsible for GH’s situation than anything else. When sexual scandals appear on the Internet, often they are still viewed as gossip. It’s mainstream media that is still the one that plays a deciding role.

I would only add that "print media", even local outlets such as Allentown, now have an ability to connect to national audiences for selected subject matter instantly.  That did not exist pre-Internet.

 

[cixelsyd]

2 hours ago, Tim K said:

With Oregon Crusaders, many of us learned about the situation online, and things escalated online, but staff and a good number of marching members voted with their feet before the 2018 season ended and word leaked of dissatisfaction. That’s not the folks on the Internet demanding change. Now if you look back on Internet accounts, the anger was accurate, but people were all over the place regarding details. Some claimed the corps almost folded between Atlanta and Allentown. Some said every marching member signed a petition, others has it about half. Remember too, that many claimed inside information  from sources that had to remain anonymous, not always the most accurate sources. With Oregon Crusaders we learned there were problems but we had to sift through lots of over exaggerated and and understated information to find the truth. Whether perspective members were swayed by the Internet is hard to say. 

Seems clear to me.  Oregon Crusaders had problems prior to 2018, and they had considerable turnover prior to 2018 too.  But there were always new staff available for hire, and (in those prior years) new auditionees to populate the ranks of the corps.

[skevinp]

41 minutes ago, Poppycock said:

Must have hit, struck or touched a nerve! Well, if the shoe fits, wear it sweetie. 

Nope.  Sometimes a joke is just a joke.

[E3D]

47 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

I would only add that "print media", even local outlets such as Allentown, now have an ability to connect to national audiences for selected subject matter instantly.  That did not exist pre-Internet.

 

It would have taken much longer for the Hopkins stuff to manifest itself no doubt. 

[mingusmonk]

OP in pure ecstasy right now as this thread reaches 7 pages. 

[GUARDLING]

2 hours ago, mingusmonk said:

OP in pure ecstasy right now as this thread reaches 7 pages. 

and everyone trolled...lol...I think😷

[Cappybara]

On 5/14/2020 at 5:42 PM, drumlaw80 said:

7 STEPS TO DRUM CORPS RESTART

When it's time ...

 

1. Fold DCI and DCA, form one new national organization that represents everybody, senior and junior corps.

2. The mission statement is to facilitate the formation of as many new corps as possible.

3. Make electronics illegal, to make it cheaper and easier to start new corps. Reduce show length to 9 minutes with a mandatory concert number to make it easier for new corps to compete immediately

4. Divide the country into 8 regions. No corps competes outside their region until finals week. The goal is to get more corps on the field, by making it cheaper and easier for everyone to get into the game.

5. Reduce all corps appearance fees, and all corps membership dues -- focus on creating as many local/regional drum corps shows as possible, and incentives for local sponsors to hold a show.

6. Every show will have senior and junior corps competing, with full retreat at the end for the fans.

7. Start a circuit of judged winter concerts (on stage, no drill), so the competitive experience of the activity is not so focused only on the summer.

 

The above is all possibly silly nonsense, and maybe even irrelevant given the state of the covid-19 crisis. But, if I had a vote, the activity would focus on growth, not art or music technology, for the next few years.

Ah, the steps of turning DCI into dino land. 

The only steps that seem useful are #1 and #4. #5 and #7 seem impractical. The rest simply pander to the older DCI generation. 

 

[Cappybara]

On 5/15/2020 at 10:13 AM, Poppycock said:

Definition of Pageantry Leeches: Has affiliation with one or more verticals within the marching performing arts activity.
A non-vested employee who has not achieved or completed the required years of creditable study and participation in order to earn the right to be called an educator. . a.k.a. Clueless
Demonstrates a pattern of self-centered, arrogant thinking and behavior, a lack of empathy and consideration for marching members, an excessive need for admiration, and honestly greedy. . a.k.a. Narcissist
Known to speak jargon, that is perceived as fashionable at the particular time or in a particular context that is incoherent and incomprehensible to those pretending to understand during rehearsal. . a.k.a. Babbling idiot
Holding idiosyncratic beliefs of entitlement to receive payment for times spent on-a-mobile phone, traveling or commuting while on tour, sleeping and daydreaming. . a.k.a. Delusional

Time to bring this baby back out