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The Staff Merry-go-round


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19 minutes ago, lifeisaround said:

Bill Cook would beg to differ.... 

Are you sure? Star was more like a “Who’s Who” of the drum corps world. 

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2 minutes ago, Scooter Pirtle said:
23 minutes ago, lifeisaround said:

Bill Cook would beg to differ.... 

Are you sure? Star was more like a “Who’s Who” of the drum corps world. 

and who ran the business.... Do some 990 research and youll see the were way ahead of the business game... yes it takes money to make money, so having capital to play is a plus, but having a bus company year round was a stream they figured it out to support the nonprofit and including the fact that they continued on to make money,.. Bill cook brought business mindset that in 2023 a lot of corps are still struggling, so with that being said, having a rando run the corps was absolutely right choice... 

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7 hours ago, Slingerland said:

Hiring people with no background in drum corps to run drum corps organizations has a lousy track record.  

 

1 hour ago, lifeisaround said:

Bill Cook would beg to differ.... 

In what way?  Bill Cook hired Jim Mason to run Star of Indiana.  Mason had extensive experience marching, teaching, designing and managing drum corps prior to that hire.

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1 hour ago, Scooter Pirtle said:

Are you sure? Star was more like a “Who’s Who” of the drum corps world. 

Their first year, they augmented Pride of Cincy and 27 members with high school kids that were marching band people.  Staff, I dunno about.

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1 hour ago, Scooter Pirtle said:

Are you sure? Star was more like a “Who’s Who” of the drum corps world. 

As noted, Bill hired a drum corps guy to run the drum corps operation. He didn't hire someone who worked for his medical supplies business. He also never hired someone whose primary experience was in running drum corps to head up a division of that same medical supplies company.

"Hire people who know WTF they're actually managing" is generally regarded as sound business advice.

Edited by Slingerland
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5 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

As noted, Bill hired a drum corps guy to run the drum corps operation. He didn't hire someone who worked for his medical supplies business. He also never hired someone whose primary experience was in running drum corps to head up a division of that same medical supplies company.

Hire people who know WTF they're actually managing is generally regarded as sound business advice.

And as was noted by many, he ran the business end that supported the corps. His experience was is how to successfully run the business. He did what smart people do. He looked at the landscape, studied other corps successes and failures and put the right people in place to manage the pieces that he didn't have experience in. 

It would be like me hiring corporate trainers whose background is in professional jello wrestling. Yeah I might get lucky 10% of the time, but it's a pretty bad over/under. 

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14 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

As noted, Bill hired a drum corps guy to run the drum corps operation.

Getting off topic, but... it's pretty wild to think back on the decision to hire Jim Mason. He may have been an up-and-comer, but the Colts weren't what they are today - not even close to sniffing finals. Bill Cook hired him because Cook's kid marched Colts.

It goes to show that folks at smaller corps have what it takes to run competitive corps (especially if they have $$$ to do it). 

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47 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

Getting off topic, but... it's pretty wild to think back on the decision to hire Jim Mason. He may have been an up-and-comer, but the Colts weren't what they are today - not even close to sniffing finals. Bill Cook hired him because Cook's kid marched Colts.

It goes to show that folks at smaller corps have what it takes to run competitive corps (especially if they have $$$ to do it). 

I never knew his kids marched Colts. That makes a lot of sense. 

Is that how he got introduced to the activity?

(Sorry mods. I know this is off topic)

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13 minutes ago, fighterkit said:



Is that how he got introduced to the activity?

 

His son suggested they watch the PBS broadcast together.  DCI on PBS was arguably the most important change agent in the history of the activity.

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7 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

His son suggested they watch the PBS broadcast together.  DCI on PBS was arguably the most important change agent in the history of the activity.

Thats pretty cool. I never knew how he got into the activity. 

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