Madison Scouts 2024

[arabica]

Thank you Madison for your moving tribute to Dan Acheson tonight. MYNWA is always emotional, but in service of an alum and celebration of Dan's leadership over the years made it even more impactful. It was great to see you at Finals, but it would be even better to see you in Finals. I don't have any association with Madison aside from believing DCI is stronger with them in the top 12.

For 2024 let's have an honest and passionate discussion about what the corps needs to do to get where we all want them to be, but the circular rantings of "snakes", "dictatorships", "tyrants" and "regimes" by some can take that echo chamber someplace else: it's not welcome here.

2024 Staff Announcement: TBD

2024 Tour Announcement: TBD

2024 Program Announcement: TBD

[BlueStainGlass]

Well this will be fun

[Gantang]

1 hour ago, arabica said:

For 2024 let's have an honest and passionate discussion about what the corps needs to do to get where we all want them to be,

You ask for an honest and passionate discussion and ask for staff suggestions, but also make it clear no one can mention changes in leadership. Nothing anyone suggests will become a reality unless your banned subject is addressed. Your restriction creates an exercise in futility. 
 

[arabica]

1 minute ago, Gantang said:

You ask for an honest and passionate discussion and ask for staff suggestions, but also make it clear no one can mention changes in leadership. Nothing anyone suggests will become a reality unless your banned subject is addressed. Your restriction creates an exercise in futility. 
 

Not at all. My intention isn't to shut down conversation: let's absolutely discuss whatever needs to be discussed good, bad or ugly. But I'd like to think everyone here is capable of elevating the conversation above simply shouting into the void, which is what the Madison thread feels like year after year.

[Gantang]

9 hours ago, arabica said:

Not at all. My intention isn't to shut down conversation: let's absolutely discuss whatever needs to be discussed good, bad or ugly. But I'd like to think everyone here is capable of elevating the conversation above simply shouting into the void, which is what the Madison thread feels like year after year.

I agree with that last part 100%. Sadly, Madison fans have been shouting for change, and the black hole that is the BOD ignores the pleas. As much as I'd like to have objective and thoughtful conversations, I know that people are frustrated to the point of anger.

My hope is that The Corps with Madison in its Name will find its identity, attract BD-level talent, have the best-designed show of 2024, and rise from the ashes to push for its first championship. THAT will show that everything they've done in the past four years was a brilliant move. 

[Cappybara]

31 minutes ago, Gantang said:

I agree with that last part 100%. Sadly, Madison fans have been shouting for change, and the black hole that is the BOD ignores the pleas. As much as I'd like to have objective and thoughtful conversations, I know that people are frustrated to the point of anger.

My hope is that The Corps with Madison in its Name will find its identity, attract BD-level talent, have the best-designed show of 2024, and rise from the ashes to push for its first championship. THAT will show that everything they've done in the past four years was a brilliant move. 

I’m assuming you’re being a bit tongue-in-cheek with that last paragraph? Competitive inertia is very real, and the only corps who has maybe been able to buck it is BAC, but that was because they gained competitive inertia in 2017 from a series of championship caliber staff hires. And despite those hires, they have not been able to get the gold in the 5 years the staff has been together

[MikeRapp]

This is just my own personal observation and it’s not based in anything but experience: it seems most of the design issues around Madison that are clearly not working are likely the result of budget pressures.

Boston always had good designers but they didn’t have the money to fund the sort of commitment that it takes to be a perennial medal contender. This now includes huge props (and all the expenses that go with maintaining and shipping them) and concert level audio systems.

It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that just hiring “better” designers isn’t likely to just change your show and performance quality.

Hiring the educator staff that is now in place at Boston also came with changing and dramatically increasing budgets for training and design—literally committing to an entirely new and frankly scary level of finances. And if you aren’t making finals, your budget just got slashed.

Is it realistic to expect Madison to compete with perennial medalist contending corps on a shoestring budget?

 

[MikeRapp]

37 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

I’m assuming you’re being a bit tongue-in-cheek with that last paragraph? Competitive inertia is very real, and the only corps who has maybe been able to buck it is BAC, but that was because they gained competitive inertia in 2017 from a series of championship caliber staff hires. And despite those hires, they have not been able to get the gold in the 5 years the staff has been together

They seem to have built a sustainable business model, though. With the hopefully temporary departure of SCV, the space near the top also got easier to occupy. Boston doesn’t appear to be borrowing money against next year’s receipts, which as we well know is a pretty certain path to bankruptcy.

[BlueStainGlass]

18 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

This is just my own personal observation and it’s not based in anything but experience: it seems most of the design issues around Madison that are clearly not working are likely the result of budget pressures.

Boston always had good designers but they didn’t have the money to fund the sort of commitment that it takes to be a perennial medal contender. This now includes huge props (and all the expenses that go with maintaining and shipping them) and concert level audio systems.

It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that just hiring “better” designers isn’t likely to just change your show and performance quality.

Hiring the educator staff that is now in place at Boston also came with changing and dramatically increasing budgets for training and design—literally committing to an entirely new and frankly scary level of finances. And if you aren’t making finals, your budget just got slashed.

Is it realistic to expect Madison to compete with perennial medalist contending corps on a shoestring budget?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but Boston brought in a whole new staff in 2016 and then fired that staff to bring in the cadets and crown staffs that are there today. 

[MikeRapp]

Yes but you wouldn’t be able to hire them without dramatically changing the budget and committing to medalist-level design.