scheherazadesghost Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 22 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said: Transparency is not sitting around the campfire waiting for someone in SCV leadership to tell their story. A fellow alum of ours on reddit recently commented that drum corps is one of the best spaces to find trauma bonding. It struck me. For Vanguard, I think this can be especially true whether most of you fellow alum acknowledge it or not. And in the types of environments that generate trauma bonding, waiting for leadership to tell their story by a campfire can be modus operandi. It's literally what our staff did, especially in that FY2003-5 you mentioned earlier. They'd even wake us up on tour (we definitely didn't get a enough sleep back that as it was) to tell us their stories. We'd revel in the chance listen at the time. Another alum, a friend of mine, said she was chastised as a rookie by vets for even unwittingly hinting that she wanted to rest more than be pulled off a bus for one of Myron's storytimes. Just wonder if some never outgrew that mode of info dumping. And, tbh, while I reveled in Myron's storytimes as a kid like the best of us, hero worship isn't really my thing anymore. Same for SCV leadership. Same for Russ. I'll say here what I said to the current CFO: "Prove it." With objectively verifiable metrics like the rest of the respectable nonprofit world outside of drum corps. I'll wait. I haven't given up yet. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keystone3ply Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 57 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said: I also will mention that I was hoping to find out what SCV's bingo profitability was prior to the Bingo fraud of 2005. Unfortunately the "Gaming Operations" break out numbers are not disclosed on 990's prior to 2009. The 990 form was just shorter. After 2009 the IRS forced non profits to provide more detail. This is what is meant by transparency. Independently verified factual numbers to be critiqued with critical analysis by financial and accounting professionals. Transparency is not sitting around the campfire waiting for someone in SCV leadership to tell their story. Maybe they're sitting around the campfire burning past financial documents. 😂🥲😂🤷♂️ 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 3 minutes ago, keystone3ply said: Maybe they're sitting around the campfire burning past financial documents. 😂🥲😂🤷♂️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 40 minutes ago, MarimbaManiac said: Unfortunately, the intended audience for this statement (the 16-22 year old potential members and their parents) will be dazzled by the positive sounding language and vague promises. They always have been, even as those with more experience and insight are banging their heads against the wall. People WANT to hear good news, so any release is considered transparent. It's the incompetent pandering to the naive, and unfortunately it's successful to a degree. I completely understand what you are saying. When I entered the Army I went to basic training at the age of 39. It was a surreal experience in that I was surrounded by marching age young new soldiers eager for the guidance and approval of the high and mighty drill sergeants (who were only a few years older than them). I was in a different mindset with 20 years in finance, an MBA/CFA, and all the life surrounding it. I was just there to check a box and carry on with getting officially trained as a soldier. Anyway........... about the second week into basic training I realized. OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids surrounding me................... THOSE WERE MY DRUM CORPS YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That experience and revelation is perhaps one of the more rare experiences one gets to observe in life. Short of my coconsciousness being pulled out of my 39 year old body and put into my mind back in 1990 all I could do was technically be a peer of all the young solders and watch them get suckered into all the mind games the drill sergeants came at them with. The lies are endless, if only to create an atmosphere of simulated stress. Example: How is it the END OF THE WORLD, if one little piece of lint is on a uniform or a boot is not polished to mirror finish, but on the other end of the equation Drill Sergeants are perfectly OK with soldiers BARELY passing rifle qualification. Shouldn't Drill Sergeants also lose their #### if a soldier misses ONE TARGET??????????? The kids were surrounded by dramatics and they got drank it all up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 9 minutes ago, keystone3ply said: Maybe they're sitting around the campfire burning past financial documents. 😂🥲😂🤷♂️ After I found the 2003 resignation memo the General Manager starting locking the file cabinets and locked me out of quick books (despite the board president given me full access). Anyway, Quickbooks (back then anyway) has rather week security. All it did was lock me out of the query reporting tool. I still could access the raw data and got dates, general ledger account numbers, and debit credit amount. Yea, raw data, but nothing I couldn't easily rebuild in MS Access or Excel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said: I completely understand what you are saying. When I entered the Army I went to basic training at the age of 39. It was a surreal experience in that I was surrounded by marching age young new soldiers eager for the guidance and approval of the high and mighty drill sergeants (who were only a few years older than them). I was in a different mindset with 20 years in finance, an MBA/CFA, and all the life surrounding it. I was just there to check a box and carry on with getting officially trained as a soldier. Anyway........... about the second week into basic training I realized. OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids surrounding me................... THOSE WERE MY DRUM CORPS YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That experience and revelation is perhaps one of the more rare experiences one gets to observe in life. Short of my coconsciousness being pulled out of my 39 year old body and put into my mind back in 1990 all I could do was technically be a peer of all the young solders and watch them get suckered into all the mind games the drill sergeants came at them with. The lies are endless, if only to create an atmosphere of simulated stress. Example: How is it the END OF THE WORLD, if one little piece of lint is on a uniform or a boot is not polished to mirror finish, but on the other end of the equation Drill Sergeants are perfectly OK with soldiers BARELY passing rifle qualification. Shouldn't Drill Sergeants also lose their #### if a soldier misses ONE TARGET??????????? The kids were surrounded by dramatics and they got drank it all up. I started with a “Senior” corps at 16 and being in a group aged teenage to 40 or so helped me in life. Staff couldn’t pull the dramatics without an older person calling them on it. Especially talking like being in the corps is the most important thing in your life. (But have seen posts from BITD Jr corps members who still talk like it. 🙄) Worked IT for the Navy and the line when someone is panicking over a HUGE problem is: “are the ships sinking??? (No) We will get it fixed, just relax”. IOW my BS detector and priority setting was fine tuned in Sr corps. Edit: lol locked out but access to raw data. Yeah like that stops anyone with a bit of knowledge. 😆(My expertise was database) Edited December 16, 2023 by JimF-LowBari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 6 hours ago, gbass598 said: I’m really convinced people just come here to complain because they don’t hear the answers they want to hear. No matter what SCV says or doesn’t say people start flinging #### lol over this forum because it’s not what they want to hear. I think they said some that could be viewed positively as well as avoiding maybe saying more or deflecting. Given that they were radio silent for most of 2023 I’m thinking this is a small but positive sign Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 5 hours ago, Sutasaurus said: Russ is trying to put the best face forward on VMAPA but reciting the tale of woe from 2019-2022 and up to 2023 isn’t helping his cause. I read that paragraph and thought “Why the mass exodus”? What was going on with the organization that multiple staff/admin/ board members decided to jump ship while the ones who stayed on let VMAPA go to hell in a handbasket? Was it a case of not wanting to be liable for what was coming down the pike from both the financials and member safety? To me this letter raises more questions than paint a rosy picture. For Russ’ sake, and the sake of VMAPA I hope he’s given the latitude to turn things around but you have to keep in mind he is surrounded by the people who let this happen in the first place! Godspeed Russ Gavin. The key is what the 8 or however many board members left let him do. But yes the past is the past. And honestly what was said about the past is rosier than the reality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbaManiac Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 3 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said: A fellow alum of ours on reddit recently commented that drum corps is one of the best spaces to find trauma bonding. It struck me. For Vanguard, I think this can be especially true whether most of you fellow alum acknowledge it or not. And in the types of environments that generate trauma bonding, waiting for leadership to tell their story by a campfire can be modus operandi. It's literally what our staff did, especially in that FY2003-5 you mentioned earlier. They'd even wake us up on tour (we definitely didn't get a enough sleep back that as it was) to tell us their stories. We'd revel in the chance listen at the time. Another alum, a friend of mine, said she was chastised as a rookie by vets for even unwittingly hinting that she wanted to rest more than be pulled off a bus for one of Myron's storytimes. Just wonder if some never outgrew that mode of info dumping. And, tbh, while I reveled in Myron's storytimes as a kid like the best of us, hero worship isn't really my thing anymore. Same for SCV leadership. Same for Russ. I'll say here what I said to the current CFO: "Prove it." With objectively verifiable metrics like the rest of the respectable nonprofit world outside of drum corps. I'll wait. I haven't given up yet. As a front ensemble member, stories from people who marched in 95 were the definition of trauma dumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 5 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said: Just gonna sip my tea over here. Curious that no one keyed into this. Maybe too in-the-weeds. Not enough intel to say more honestly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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