I will not be outdone by other Drum Corps Internet Trolls (I own VMAPA.org)

[keystone3ply]

9 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:

Well........... I'm sort of delighted. Looks like I rolled out the red carpet for Ms Ghost. 

Looks like a bait and switch. 

Anyway..................... if you check out VMAPA.org right now (8PM PST, Aug-2) you will notice I added a bunch of content, and throw down the gauntlet for Bingo violations and illegally solicited donations.  

Do you have a link? The site is not coming up for me.  

[scheherazadesghost]

15 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

If we are late to the draw, then there is nothing that can be done. They will run themselves how they see fit and that is that. If what you claim is that all these things have been tried and failed, then that is that. There is nothing you or anyone on DCP can do. Granted I'm only ever hearing your side of what is happening. Elsewhere it's being portrayed that they are on track to restart and be fine next year. So what is there to believe? That SCV is really all doom and gloom and is run terribly? Or that they are on good footing and there are just people out there upset about people who still work for the corps. 

I mean no disrespect, but when people start going around and trying to raise these red flags and are then confronted with the question of "what's the plan?" and the response is "oh well it's all been tried and you're just too late to the game", then what's the point?

If nothing can be done, which I continue to disagree with, then what we're doing here is called info sharing at a bare minimum. About member abuse and about institutional abuse. A legacy of it.

And nothing is black and white here. It's not either "they're 100 percent perfect and everything's hunky dory" or "it's the end of the world." There are alum who are upset, with varying degrees of proximity to the corps and professional expertise, and yes, there is concrete footing too. To oversimplify and say it can only be one of these things and not the others only serves to concretize siloed thinking and approaches. That hasn't worked well for Vanguard ever. It's actually caused great and lasting harm.

What I share with the public, I share as a courtesy, which is more than I can say about current leadership, for justifiable reasons in some cases, I suppose. I do this because the nature of nonprofits, which I've spoken to many times in the past, is that they should be transparent in their dealings with the public. I'm schooling VMAPA and the drum corps community on that. If their hands are completely bound and they can't speak to the truth of their situation openly, then my expertise, and others', allows us to say "hold on, this is weird, what's this about?"

If absolutely nothing else, this should be a wake up call for other organizations. As well as future members looking to identify a corps with all the right signaling that they're a safe, reliable place to march.

This, from the beginning, has always been way more than noise, whether the community likes the timing or fully understands it or not.

[scheherazadesghost]

21 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

For someone who gets offended at innocuous statements at the drop of a hat, you have an interesting way of responding to discourse. Like, just read this again.

You've complained that you aren't getting much support from fellow alums for your (imo) worthy campaign - there could be a simple and superficial reason why...

LOL My responses here have been nothing but respectful. I think you might me keying in on the fact that I'm direct and clear in my communication, which offends some people, but isn't ever disrespectful, rude, or out of turn.

I won't be responding to further commentary from outsiders about my private relationship with alum, which isn't your right. But I will say I'm fully aware of why they don't want me around.

There are alum who support me and my efforts, trust.

Good job at flirting with the rule against personal attacks on DCP though.

Edited August 3, 2023 by scheherazadesghost
typo

[IllianaLancerContra]

2 hours ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

  There has to be a hostile takeover in order to get current structure out of the way. 

 

40 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

There is no mechanism by which the current leadership can be encouraged to step aside.

As far as I know, the word ‘hostile’ is its own kind of encouragement 

[IllianaLancerContra]

29 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:

Do you have a link? The site is not coming up for me.  

Just tried vmapa.org & it is working for me.  Maybe something on your end?

[MarimbaManiac]

49 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

 

I'm also aware of the reference. There is no mechanism by which the current leadership can be encouraged to step aside.

 

Let's see what happens when they ignore the issues and try and start a relaunch without addressing anything major. The general instructional community in the bay area is definitely not going to be behind them (from what I've heard). People won't be sending their students there, in fact most people I've spoken to are actively recommending against it. 

Without the community support behind them, and with a potential second top 5/6 group in the same general region, they are going to have a hell of a time filling a corps. 

Think about it, if you're a top level player in California, where are you going to want to spend your summer? Likely I think that would start with BD>Mandarins>BDB>Travel outside of the area>SCV. 

If the Mandarins end up cracking the top 5, I don't see a path back for a dysfunctional organization like SCV to come back as a world class touring program next year.

[keystone3ply]

31 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:

Do you have a link? The site is not coming up for me.  

Prompts can’t provide a secure link 🤷‍♂️✅ maybe security block at school 

[MarimbaManiac]

Also, I just perused their facebook page for the first time in a while. Does anyone find it strange that they're promoting their involvement with clinics and camps in other states? I'm sure it's definitely not a way for them to skirt the fundraising rules. Certainly not. 

[TheOneWhoKnows]

21 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

If nothing can be done, which I continue to disagree with, then what we're doing here is called info sharing at a bare minimum. About member abuse and about institutional abuse. A legacy of it.

And nothing is black and white here. It's not either "they're 100 percent perfect and everything's hunky dory" or "it's the end of the world." There are alum who are upset, with varying degrees of proximity to the corps and professional expertise, and yes, there is concrete footing too. To oversimplify and say it can only be one of these things and not the others only serves to concretize siloed thinking and approaches. That hasn't worked well for Vanguard ever. It's actually caused great and lasting harm.

What I share with the public, I share as a courtesy, which is more than I can say about current leadership, for justifiable reasons in some cases, I suppose. I do this because the nature of nonprofits, which I've spoken to many times in the past, is that they should be transparent in their dealings with the public. I'm schooling VMAPA and the drum corps community on that. If their hands are completely bound and they can't speak to the truth of their situation openly, then my expertise, and others', allows us to say "hold on, this is weird, what's this about?"

If absolutely nothing else, this should be a wake up call for other organizations. As well as future members looking to identify a corps with all the right signaling that they're a safe, reliable place to march.

This, from the beginning, has always been way more than noise, whether the community likes the timing or fully understands it or not.

Well the information has been shared, numerous times. I'm glad Richard is putting together a concrete database of information to discuss issues with SCV as I find that helpful. And again, I don't mean this disrespectfully as I believe you are well intentioned, but I don't see vague statements of claiming to have information and claiming to represent groups of people without being able to disclosure the information (whether rightful or not) conducive to fostering a change that is needed. 

Alumni aren't the only people that support SCV. I have donated money numerous times to the organization. My broader critique is, if you have ideas on ways we all as fans of the activity and of SCV can put pressure on the situation to get answers, effect change, etc, please, I'm all ears. But the constant attacks on the organization claiming to represent people without any type of evidence or information to share that would provide greater insight just isn't helpful to the situation. 

I want to ensure SCV is around to stay. Not gossip about it. 

[GBugler]

39 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:

Do you have a link? The site is not coming up for me.  

http://www.vmapa.org/