DCI's Next Director

[kdaddy]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

but here's a great tie in with the activity......except for a few ladies in the 80's, how many female snare players there in DCI until recently? few. there's a zillion reasons why, but there were few. it's only recently that you have seen that start to change. heck even into the 90's you didn't see a lot of female bass players. and now it's slowly getting to where you have female percussion caption heads. it can take years to build that pipeline, and in DCI, in so many areas it'll take time. 

Excellent point

 

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

but if DCI doesn't get a candidate considered diverse enough to satisfy everyone, it's not a failure on their part as described here. 

And I agree on this as well. A "good decision" is what goes into the decision process, not necessarily how well the decision works out. That's why I stress that it's important that the pool of candidates be diverse - that's the decision process. Whoever rises to the top after that after a fair process should be hired. 

[Paul Milano]

31 minutes ago, TenHut said:

No one feels safe in Chicago. The rest of the Midwest is wonderful.

In the worst parts of downtown Chicago, yes, many people feel unsafe, as with most of the large urban centers in the good ol' USA.  But for the millions of people who live near, but not in the poor and violent areas of downtown Chicago, most of us love our metropolis and all it has to offer.  
And the rest of the Midwest (aka - white, suburban/rural, conservative Republican) may be safer from violent crime, but I personally wouldn't want to live in most of those places for many other reasons.  
There are many aspects to life and living.  No one group has all the answers or all the problems.  

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, TenHut said:

No one feels safe in Chicago. The rest of the Midwest is wonderful.

LOL, Chicago would've been dreamy. I tried rural and urban Ohio.

[lawdn]

For me, diversifying the candidate pool means expanding it to be sure the best talent is being evaluated and considered for the position, as part of building the best organization with the best people for the mission and the work. I know of some industries, and certainly there are more, that have faced and do face challenges with talent pipelines that are not representative of the population, even if it is currently representative of the people in that industry. It is a long term investment and commitment to grow and expand the pipeline to be diverse, and it is important to growth and improvement in the long run.  At the same time, not every industry/activity is in a financial position to undertake that investment and commitment to make it happen as quickly as possible. Nonprofits like drum corps probably fall in that category. Frustrating? Yes. Are they making some efforts? I think they are. Is it enough given financial constraints and other constraints? I don’t know. 

i do hope that DCI and the corps are taking this issue seriously over the long run, and I agree with others that some degree of change will continue to happen organically. I love the activity and want it to have the best of the best, but realistically I know that is a resource constrained activity that has to pick and choose which initiatives to advance at which pace.

It is great to see how many people here on DCP are invested in this topic, and hopefully that holds true across the activity.

I am weighing in late and am slow to formulate this, which I could not have done without the great discussion and insights shared by so many of you, but any stupid things I have said are my responsibility alone. Maybe that should be my signature on DCP.
 

[lawdn]

1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said:

LOL, Chicago would've been dreamy. I tried rural and urban Ohio.

I am from Ohio and it has always been bizarre for me to go back there. I feel so out of place now but I have cover as a white male native. 

[keystone3ply]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

… and a few miles north is Carmel, and I’m not sure how far $150k would go there

After researching Carmel, I’d probably need a raise. 💲

[lawdn]

10 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:

After researching Carmel, I’d probably need a raise. 💲

You're worth it. 

[Slingerland]

3 hours ago, TenHut said:

No one feels safe in Chicago. The rest of the Midwest is wonderful.

https://x.com/ZachRunsThings/status/1699131351037886867?s=20

[TOC]

4 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

… and a few miles north is Carmel, and I’m not sure how far $150k would go there

When those making the big bucks, including pro athletes, were frustrated with all the stop signs and such, Carmel built over 70 round-a-bouts.  Supposed to be some sort of record for a city their size.

[TenHut]

1 hour ago, keystone3ply said:

After researching Carmel, I’d probably need a raise. 💲

Carmel and Noblesville are great.