BariEuph Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums//ind...showtopic=79107 SNARE SPOTS! lol, elusive, so cross-linked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 I don't really know any details about the cause of Kiwanis Kavaliers going inactive (or folding), but I really believe the activity would be a lot better if more businessmen were involved and these corps were ran like a business. Bill Cook was really onto something.Too many seem to be ran by people who have a great love for the activity and the kids, but don't have the business sense to keep things solid on the backend. If you can get the right mix of bright business minds and bright musical minds, you can take over the drum corps world. Obviously this is harder to do than it is for me to type it out, but there has to be room for more drum corps out there if the right people were willing to make it happen. It really is a shame the way that Bill Cook, and Star of Indiana, were so maligned. If his lesson was learned by more people, we might still have a meaningful Quarterfinals day at Championships...or an even better idea would be having so many corps we had to have Prelims on Wednesday just to make it to Thursday. These days, a love for the activity and the kids just isn't enough to keep the wheels moving. Or another way to look at it might be if everybody was as committed to drum corps as Bill Cook and "if his lesson was learned by more people" we might have a list of 20+ more corps that are now folded... just like Star of Indiana. I for one feel much more credit needs to go to the folks that are running successful corps that are STILL AROUND without the benefit of them personally being multi-millionaires. Care to explain exactly what you mean when you say Bill cook "was really on to something"? I also don't understand what you mean by them being "so maligned". I've heard much worse directed towards the director of the current DCI World Champions and their director...and THEY ARE STILL HERE contributing to the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekneek Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 (edited) Star was despised when it was in DCI, mostly because of myths and fantasy created by members and fans of other drum corps. I don't know how much of it existed before 1991, but it certainly became quite significant after that. I know a lot of people had an "anyone but Star" opinion on the winner of DCI in 1992 and 1993. I know a lot of people claimed Star had an unfair advantage in the activity simply because of the way they were financed. If you were close to the activity in the early 90s, you should be very much aware of it. Bill Cook was aware of it: Please remember that Star was financed by a private company that really asked for nothing in return. I did not realize in 1984 that Star would be criticized because it had a corporate sponsor or perhaps because Star was 'prematurely' successful. Suffice it to say, the company gained little except the satisfaction that 500 young people had an opportunity to participate in the marvelous activity we call drum corps. If asked why I made the commitment, I can only answer that the pleasure of giving to youth far outweighed the criticism. I suspect that nobody gave more to the activity during that time than Bill Cook did, but I don't know for sure. I am pretty certain that nobody was attacked as much for it as Bill Cook was, though. I'm not surprised they packed up and left. It wasn't fun anymore. The animosity between the hardcore drum corps fanbase and Star was pretty strong and evident. At the time I was even caught up in it and believed the lies that were thrown around, and that is something I regret. My point is that Bill Cook was onto the right idea about how to build a foundation for a drum corps. Being a smart businessman, he created businesses specifically to support the drum corps. Today, more than ever before, reveals how running transportation companies could help out a drum corps. These drum corps would be doing much better if they had 1 or 2 profitable business entities funneling the proceeds into their coffers. Star has 3 of them and another business operation that may be close to it. To me, this seems like the smartest way to finance a corps. Not hanging on by bingo proceeds, while watching debt go up higher and higher. Not begging for food donations else the kids won't get to go. Not trying to get staff to work for free. Not needing cash handouts on tour just to get to Championships. There were quite a few corps that had a lot of money go through them with almost nothing to show for it. I've heard and read comments, in the past, from some of those who helped bail out corps on the road that went like this, "I don't know where all the money went, but I wasn't going to let them take the kids home with just <x> amount of weeks left on tour." They need to have a budget. They need to have staff on contracts that bind them to the corps for the season, and pay them the agreed amount at the agreed times. There are some corps that do all of those things right. There are many that didn't and they are either gone or have lost their previous identities. I believe there would be a lot more of them if the right management had been there with the same mindset that Bill Cook had. Can you really argue with this statement from Mr. Cook : "(1) Raise enough money to get started and to field the corps, (2) never go in debt and stay within budget, (3) find a continuing source of income outside of drum corps such as bingo or sponsorship, and (4) don't disappoint young people by allowing your corps to go broke." With some sound business minds around, they could have hedged their bets beyond bingo and the seeking of sponorships. Maybe bingo and sponsorships should just be one of many funding sources. With many of the open class corps coming from their own regions, many of them could have had their own variations of Star Charter Services, Star Travel Services, and Cook Aviation to support them. They could have even come up with other ideas outside of drum corps to pay the bills. Why didn't they do it? Because they were good intentioned people who loved drum corps and the activity and were not able to think outside of that box. Management had been so bad in some corps that even good sponsorship deals were lost. Some even had so little business sense that they didn't fully understand the sponsorship deal well enough to know just how many dollars were coming and when. This is no way to run a serious operation, especially when you have kids out there busting their ### night and day looking for an enriching music/life education experience. Edited May 21, 2006 by Tekneek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan04 Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Colorguard, Soprano and (possibly) Euphonium Openings First, any day that there's an announcement that a corps has went inactive is a sad day for everyone in this activity that we all love. Best of luck Kiwanis on making it back to the field in 07.For any of the Kiwanis family that are still in need of a home, Memphis Sound currently has a (very) few openings in the color guard (with a top notch staff - watching these guys work is mucho fun!) and one opening for a 3rd soprano. We possibly have one euph spot open. If you're looking for a home, Elvis welcomes you to his home with open arms. Contact corps director Trey Moore - he's the man. His info can be found on the Uber - cool ($1 to Heather) Memphis Sound website at www.memphisdrumcorps.org or www.mempho.org. With new horns, new front ensemble equipment, a great staff in place and some of the coolest, dedicated kids, this promises to be the most exciting year yet for Memphis. Wherever you decide to march this summer, please march somewhere! You can never get those few years back that you are able to march. Hope to see everyone that was involved with Kiwanis, Troopers, Marion, Canos, Bandettes, Allegiance Elite, Lake Erie Regiment, Pride of the Lions or any other unit that will not make it back to the DCI arena this season on the field somewhere soon. Best of luck to all of these units in their future endeavors. Bobby Patrick Memphis Sound Visual Caption Head With all the other comments in this thread, I just wanted to bump this post for any more Kiwanis (or other) members who may still be looking for some brass or colorguard spots to march this summer. Perhaps someone with a lot of free time could go through all these posts and the recent announcements and compile a list of all openings in other corps for the displaced members of corps that have taken the summer off. Then maybe a Moderator could pin it up on top so someone doesn't have to dig for the information here or elsewhere....just an idea? Good luck to everyone still looking for a summer home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomR Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 *Seattle- couple of horns (could be filled as of now) *ECJ - lead mello, 3rd soprano *Blue Stars - 1 Baritone, 1 contra, 2 sopranos, 1 mello, 3 CG *SCVC - CG/brass *Pioneer - CG/brass *Magic - 1 sop 2 baritones 1 euphonium *Mandarins - 1 tuna, 1 baritone, 1 mello, 1 soprano *Raiders - 1 mello, 1 baritone, 1 auxillary, 1 bass drum, 1 CG *Shenandoah Sound - All Sections *Spokane Tuhunder - 1 soprano, 2 contra, 2 snare, CG, Pit *Capital Regiment - 2 soprano, 2 contra *BK (as of May 17) 1 mello, 1 contra *Fever - Cymbals, pit *Impulse - brass, CG *Dutch Boy - brass *Crossmen - baritone *Capital Sound - assistant DM, Snare, CG *Memphis Sound - very few gaurd, 3rd sop *Esperanza - 1 soprano/mello, 2 baritones, 1 contra (with scholarships) Obviously, still A LOT of spots left... This is from a few threads on the announcements forum (although I suggest checking it out there for more openings,) and from all the posts on this thread. Good luck Kavaliers! ~>conner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vladdie1967 Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 well, to me it was and is.I just feel for those who had committed to the season with them. :( Hello I am a KK Alumni member and was surprised to see that we aren't fielding a corps this year either. Most of us like you have all read it either on the DCI homepage or here or word of mouth. I know that I personally was looking forward to seeing them march this summer especially since it is the 35th anniversary. It is surprising to see how many people just automatically jump to conclusion about why corps are "folding, merging or whatever it happens to be". I do understand that freedom of speach is very important to everyone and everyone does have their own opinion. However people should seek the facts before speculating about why corps do not field a corps for the season. I do also feel for those members that did come to alumni for support during the last couple of years to help them march. I feel for those who had committed to the season with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruag8tr2 Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 *Seattle- couple of horns (could be filled as of now)*ECJ - lead mello, 3rd soprano *Blue Stars - 1 Baritone, 1 contra, 2 sopranos, 1 mello, 3 CG *SCVC - CG/brass *Pioneer - CG/brass *Magic - 1 sop 2 baritones 1 euphonium *Mandarins - 1 tuna, 1 baritone, 1 mello, 1 soprano *Raiders - 1 mello, 1 baritone, 1 auxillary, 1 bass drum, 1 CG *Shenandoah Sound - All Sections *Spokane Tuhunder - 1 soprano, 2 contra, 2 snare, CG, Pit *Capital Regiment - 2 soprano, 2 contra *BK (as of May 17) 1 mello, 1 contra *Fever - Cymbals, pit *Impulse - brass, CG *Dutch Boy - brass *Crossmen - baritone *Capital Sound - assistant DM, Snare, CG *Memphis Sound - very few gaurd, 3rd sop *Esperanza - 1 soprano/mello, 2 baritones, 1 contra (with scholarships) Obviously, still A LOT of spots left... This is from a few threads on the announcements forum (although I suggest checking it out there for more openings,) and from all the posts on this thread. Good luck Kavaliers! ~>conner Dont forget Teal Sound still has guard spots open and possibly a few horn spots. Give us a call if interested 904-962-TEAL or 772-370-4524. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGreen Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 (edited) *Mandarins - 1 tuna, 1 baritone, 1 mello, 1 soprano How would one audition for the Tuna spot in Mandarins? *hehe* Sorry, I found the typo funny because I am currently involved with the next *tuna* Show (Greater Tuna, A Tuna Christmas, Red White and Tuna) Also, If any member of KK are local to North Texas, We do have a soprano and colorguard spot available. Although I hope all KK members are able to find DCI homes for the summer. I have been a KK fan for a while, loved the 95, 97 & 02 shows especially Edited May 21, 2006 by FrontierDirector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 The BK mello spot is most likely filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TealSoundBrass Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Blue Saints have a Contra spot and a bari spot available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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