Magic's 2007 Info Meeting

[audiodb]

In General, people who havn't marched the Magic don't have any right to bash it. I know first hand that the member's of magic go through things that other corps only see in their nightmares. AND those of you who marched magic and are still bashing us, shame on you! You have no right to bash a corps that you marched with, because the things you say about the corps reflect upon yourself.

If you didn't march, you have no right to bash. But if you did march, you have no right to bash either.

At least he covers all the bases.

[Jeff Ream]

Badger people into helping? Don't quite follow?

I badger the skeptic's and the nay-sayer's about Magic.

When have I ever bugged someone for saying "HEY, I'LL VOLUNTEER"?

It's fine to make a suggestion or two, but when you bring all the negative's of a plan into the public, it effect's retun rate.

I've never told anyone to help "Because I said so"

I never wrote that 'If you don't, it means you hate Magic!' If you don't have the means to help Magic then use the most powerful resourse human's have: Word of mouth.

Many of you have voiced your opinion, or have made suggestions. Thank you, but we really could use your help in making those suggestions a reality. I'd like to see more people instead of saying what we could do, how about you say what you can do to help.

I challenge this community to show how much they are willing to help. NOT BECAUSE I SAID SO! But because, you love the activity, or it would be a shame to see another corps fold, or because your a vet, or a fan, or a member, or on staff.

The way some of us MEMBER'S of magic think: 06 Was an amazing family, We MUST keep that going.

Many people said that Magic had a young corps in '06, but wouldn't it be interesting to see what this particular group of kids can accomplish?

The 40+ member's that are returning to magic still have something to prove, and a lot more room to grow, but there are things that threaten us. Human instinct is to react or to fight back.

I will completely admit that some of the things that I have written may have been unwarrented or a little extreme, and I'm NOT going to apologize for that. I hope that maybe some will realize the severity of this situation in the eyes the member's and completely understand how devoted we really are.

i rest my earlier case.

[Meredith]

Jared, you are not doing Magic any favors. You are coming across as belligerent and arrogant. You were censored on Magic's own forum. Perhaps that might be a hint that you are not the best spokesperson for the corps.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and I really feel for you on seeing Magic go through this. A lot of people here care about Magic as well. How do you know these people haven't offered to volunteer? How do you know that the people reading this thread haven't been a huge piece of that $11k the corps raised in under a week? You are placing blanket accusations without even really reading what people are saying.

As to the question of whether or not this is a band aid. The money they need now is and will put them on the road for 07, but they are also looking at long-term fundraising solutions. They can cover tour expenses and other costs. They handed out a budget summary at the meeting, but I don't have it in front of me.

The pep band idea I think is still a good idea. I know MicroMagic did a lot of events when I was in the corps. I know they have been trying to get a group going, but I'm not 100% sure on the current status.

[MAGICisUNDERRATED]

If there are 40+ members returning, then there are, theoretically, 80 parents that you should turn to. Why don't you contact Meredith, the Alumni coordinator, and see if she can reach out to alumni and past volunteers. My point, Jared, was that when you do reach out, you have to have a plan to fund raise.

Your enthusiasm about a tourist pamphlet is admirable, but the idea isn't executable in a short time frame. That's a fact. I'm not criticizing your enthusiasm or your attitude ~ but you need TIME if you are going to do it right, which the Magic doesn't have. Remember, the Orlando market already has effective tourist marketing, so you'd be entering into a fierce, competitive market, without the knowledge and resources to make it happen. My comments are realistic, not nay-saying.

Find a new plan.

Plan B. My daughter attends UCF and she's met several Magic members at college parties. Those Magic members could be the spark at UCF to raise funds. Small pep bands, quartets at venues... those are realistic options that are executable before December.

Plan C. How about a car raffle, mandating that all returning members sell XX amount of tickets?

If the target market was college kids, then you'd need to come up with ONE car... maybe a Toyota Scion... if you made the tickets affordable ($5), you could focus your efforts on selling tickets to college kids and friends. If this was the case, the planning would involve one Magic executive to find one car dealer that would support the cause, and printing out raffle tickets. Hey, maybe one of those 80 parents has connections to a car dealership that the Magic could take advantage of?

How much does it cost to run a corps? Is $50,000 enough money, or just the minimum needed? If, through the miracle of Paypal, the Magic receives $50,000 from supporting drum corps fan, is that a $50,000 band aid, or all that's needed for the 2007 tour?

I heard one corps director say he budgets $5,000 a day while on tour for buses, fuel, food and minor expenses. (I'm not sure if his number included the staff's salaries?) If that's a sound figure, and if it included the salaries, then that's about $200,000 - $250,000 for the summer. If there are 100 kids that PAY their dues, and if dues are $2,000 each, then that's $200,000 in the coffers. Yikes.

In a perfect world, 40 vet's would mean 80 parent volunteer's. Chances are more likely to see about a handfull of parent's out of those 40 vet's.

The alumni association has it's benefits, but as Meredith has said- it's extremely hard to organize them because not a lot of them were from florida when they marched, and many of the one's that did live in florida have now gone away. Great Idea, we can persue that.

As for the member's who are willing to fundraise in the orlando area. Gig's are a great idea, but the instrumentation is to spread. Sure we could put together a brass quintet, or small ensemble, but the thing that will take time is preparing a reasonable amount of music to perform at the gigs. Definately a possibility! I will make some calls to get an ensemble together, but finding gig's may be the hard part.

Car raffle is great, but... 06 Magic member's were supposed to raise a total of $40,000 by selling raffle ticket's. only about $6,000 was returned. Again, a great idea but we need the people to actively sell the raffle ticket's.

The pamphlet's are intended to put some money into the bank account while setting up a fundraiser that will continue and help support the corps.

=========

On another note

I was censored from the Magic board's because of use of language, and for critisizing vet's who chose not to return, and member's that decide to leave in the middle of tour and screw the rest of the corps over because we have to fill or close the hole.

For those of you who don't know, the reason why Bruce stepped down as director is because of the unfavorable and highly unwarrented negative critisism he recieved from online forums (such as this one). Regardless of what happened or whose fault it was, the blame was always placed on him. Obviously as director, he was responsible for the entire corps, but he does not want to put up with people continually posting negative comment's about the administration in situations he can't control. I don't blame him for wanting to resign, it's a lot of responsibility.

Meredith, I know that I have no way of knowing whether or not any of the $11K was raised by people on this forum. I have no way of knowing if they offer volunteer. I ALSO Never said that NO ONE on this forum had helped.

I realize that everything I say and do represent's the corps, but I'm not an official corps representative. I'm giving this forum MY take on this situation. I have no problem using a more passive way to voice my idea's as long as I stop seeing Magic talked about negatively. The fact that this thread was started in a negative light, critisizing the choice of a meeting place just blew me away. I'm not angry at the people who want to help, I'm angry at the people who have nothing better to do than to say "oooh Magic is having the meeting at a bar." When has something ever ###### you off, and immediately you were able to get over it? It rarely ever happens. Consciously you may be able to overcome the anger, but subconsciously it's still there.

Edited October 23, 2006 by MAGICisUNDERRATED

[Magic1]

In a perfect world, 40 vet's would mean 80 parent volunteer's. Chances are more likely to see about a handfull of parent's out of those 40 vet's.

The alumni association has it's benefits, but as Meredith has said- it's extremely hard to organize them because not a lot of them were from florida when they marched, and many of the one's that did live in florida have now gone away. Great Idea, we can persue that.

As for the member's who are willing to fundraise in the orlando area. Gig's are a great idea, but the instrumentation is to spread. Sure we could put together a brass quintet, or small ensemble, but the thing that will take time is preparing a reasonable amount of music to perform at the gigs. Definately a possibility! I will make some calls to get an ensemble together, but finding gig's may be the hard part.

Car raffle is great, but... 06 Magic member's were supposed to raise a total of $40,000 by selling raffle ticket's. only about $6,000 was returned. Again, a great idea but we need the people to actively sell the raffle ticket's.

The pamphlet's are intended to put some money into the bank account while setting up a fundraiser that will continue and help support the corps.

=========

On another note

I was censored from the Magic board's because of use of language, and for critisizing vet's who chose not to return, and member's that decide to leave in the middle of tour and screw the rest of the corps over because we have to fill or close the hole.

For those of you who don't know, the reason why Bruce stepped down as director is because of the unfavorable and highly unwarrented negative critisism he recieved from online forums (such as this one). Regardless of what happened or whose fault it was, the blame was always placed on him. Obviously as director, he was responsible for the entire corps, but he does not want to put up with people continually posting negative comment's about the administration in situations he can't control. I don't blame him for wanting to resign, it's a lot of responsibility.

Meredith, I know that I have no way of knowing whether or not any of the $11K was raised by people on this forum. I have no way of knowing if they offer volunteer. I ALSO Never said that NO ONE on this forum had helped.

I realize that everything I say and do represent's the corps, but I'm not an official corps representative. I'm giving this forum MY take on this situation. I have no problem using a more passive way to voice my idea's as long as I stop seeing Magic talked about negatively. The fact that this thread was started in a negative light, critisizing the choice of a meeting place just blew me away. I'm not angry at the people who want to help, I'm angry at the people who have nothing better to do than to say "oooh Magic is having the meeting at a bar." When has something ever ###### you off, and immediately you were able to get over it? It rarely ever happens. Consciously you may be able to overcome the anger, but subconsciously it's still there.

As a former Advisory Board member, Jared you know nothing of what you speak of. I know why Bruce has stepped down, and I know more of that organization than you ever will. As a parent I also believe we need more communication as to 2007. Holding off until the last minute will not help the corps cause with membership, unless they are waiting for the dust to settle after all has gone to other auditions. As far as saying there are 80 parents for the returning vets...take a look at the number of volunteers you had last summer. The same handful of people at camps and on tour. There certainly wasn't 80... maybe 8. The cost for tour is phenomenal and 50,000 is only a drop in the bucket. To run effectively your look towards 300,00 to 500,00 a summer.

and by the way, Magic transportation is not free... Now add going to the west coast to the mix, another added expense. You would be better and the corps would be better to aim your cause at the parents and getting them involved. And having the current leadership answer some of the questions needed so that parents and students can make a choice, and not wait until the last minute.

[prodigal bari]

I believe the $50,000 is just what they need to get the ball rolling for this season. Magic's tour budget is considerably less than other drum corps because they do own their own bus company, Magical Charters. Becuase of this, I would imagine they are relying largely on member fees and additional fundraising to be done before the start of tour.

As for the postings from MAGICisUNDERRATED (Jared)......... Please ignore the childish rantings of an overzealous member. His words were already removed from the Magic message boards for bashing fellow members, so instead he takes his sarcastic opinions to a more public forum. I personally apoligize for his rudeness and would like it to be known that your average Magic member is able to take criticism and support (as many of you have given here) with much more grace and tact. Marching Magic for 2 years, I learned much about the activity and how to handle oneself with pride and maturity. I am sorry Jared did not take away the same from his experience.

THANK YOU!!! Me faith has been restored!!!! And I will make it a point to buy a shirt this summer when I see the corps!

I know this activity too well to know that a person like 'Jared" did not represent Magic and the individual in it; and that the cream will always rise to the top. Good luck to you!

And to Jared: Please take a word of advice; your behavior here can jeopardize your position with this and other corps; as you are behaving in a way not in the best public interest of the corps; and you have apparently have been disciplined for it already. You owe your brothers and sisters an apology; and if I were you I would be careful in your statements in the future; as it looks like your actions are being noticied...negatively...by members of your corps administration.

Edited October 23, 2006 by prodigal bari

[Tom Brace]

I challenge this community to show how much they are willing to help. NOT BECAUSE I SAID SO! But because, you love the activity, or it would be a shame to see another corps fold, or because your a vet, or a fan, or a member, or on staff.

I would say a vast number of people on DCP support drum corps. Many, like myself CHOOSE which corps to support because what it means to us personally. You see, fundraising is about a personal connection.

After 1999, it became apparent that Magic was able to reach out and grab personal connections. Let's face it...1999 was a disaster season. The corps management all the way down was a disaster. I know you all consumed a lot of peanut butter that year.

So, the corps took time to reorganize and garnered tons of help...much from outside the current organization.

I guess what I am saying is that I have no personal ties to Magic. I do not feel compelled to help you just because you are another drum corps that might fold. You have to give me more of a reason than that. The current drum corps I support may fold one day too, without enough people with a PERSONAL CONNECTION.

You see, my young energetic colleague...it's not about what you say, it's about what you do. It's not about how many people you reach with your message, it's how your message touches the people you reach.

I'm happy the website/paypal has been good for you and has raised $11,000 for your corps. But, it is not an obligation of anyone to support Magic as you make it seem. It is up to Magic to create the personal connections required to support the corps...not just for this year, but for years to come.

Good luck and I wish you success in your efforts.

[MAGICisUNDERRATED]

As a former Advisory Board member, Jared you know nothing of what you speak of. I know why Bruce has stepped down, and I know more of that organization than you ever will. As a parent I also believe we need more communication as to 2007. Holding off until the last minute will not help the corps cause with membership, unless they are waiting for the dust to settle after all has gone to other auditions. As far as saying there are 80 parents for the returning vets...take a look at the number of volunteers you had last summer. The same handful of people at camps and on tour. There certainly wasn't 80... maybe 8. The cost for tour is phenomenal and 50,000 is only a drop in the bucket. To run effectively your look towards 300,00 to 500,00 a summer.

and by the way, Magic transportation is not free... Now add going to the west coast to the mix, another added expense. You would be better and the corps would be better to aim your cause at the parents and getting them involved. And having the current leadership answer some of the questions needed so that parents and students can make a choice, and not wait until the last minute.

To this former advisory of the board.

Apparently you and cohort of friend's are not understanding one word that I am typing.

I never wrote that we had 80 parent's that will volunteer. I said out of those 80 possible parents(from the 40 vet's), only a handfull would actually volunteer. I actually helped with the Food Truck (I mean food preparation) as often as time would permit. I realize we had a lack of help, and that will be the case in any parent organization.

Were you at the meeting? Did you not hear the word's coming out Bruce's mouth. He made it quite clear that part of the reason of him stepping down was because of all the slander and gossip. Yes, Bruce was at the meeting. Yes, Bruce will still help the Magic in anyway possible. This was all spoken about at the meeting at great length.

I understood the fact that 50,000 is a drop in the bucket, before posting one thing financially. I'm looking at the budget 2007 that I recieved at the meeting. Most everything else (income) has been figured. Member fee's at $1700, each member has to sell $300 in funraising. The 50,000 is offsetting the amount of the horn's.

How can Administration announce a camp schedule if we don't know when we are going to get the horns, or if we are going to have the money to do it? What would happen to the member's if Magic announced the schedule, and then couldn't field? How would that be fair to the member who has decided only to audition at Magic?

At the meeting, we were also told how we would not have a repeat of 2000. I'm not going to blame administration for not wanting that.

[Magic1]

To this former advisory of the board.

Apparently you and cohort of friend's are not understanding one word that I am typing.

I never wrote that we had 80 parent's that will volunteer. I said out of those 80 possible parents(from the 40 vet's), only a handfull would actually volunteer. I actually helped with the Food Truck (I mean food preparation) as often as time would permit. I realize we had a lack of help, and that will be the case in any parent organization.

Were you at the meeting? Did you not hear the word's coming out Bruce's mouth. He made it quite clear that part of the reason of him stepping down was because of all the slander and gossip. Yes, Bruce was at the meeting. Yes, Bruce will still help the Magic in anyway possible. This was all spoken about at the meeting at great length.

I understood the fact that 50,000 is a drop in the bucket, before posting one thing financially. I'm looking at the budget 2007 that I recieved at the meeting. Most everything else (income) has been figured. Member fee's at $1700, each member has to sell $300 in funraising. The 50,000 is offsetting the amount of the horn's.

How can Administration announce a camp schedule if we don't know when we are going to get the horns, or if we are going to have the money to do it? What would happen to the member's if Magic announced the schedule, and then couldn't field? How would that be fair to the member who has decided only to audition at Magic?

At the meeting, we were also told how we would not have a repeat of 2000. I'm not going to blame administration for not wanting that.

Well my friend if you took the time to read everyones post and not so quick to fly off the handle. As a close friend of Bruce, maybe I have more insight then you. To begin with Bruce is a much stronger person than to let posts get the best of him. Secondly, I mentioned the 50,000 because a previous post asked if this was all it took to go on tour. I took my turn in the food truck, I too volunteered my time on the road, I too drove to everdays every other day to deliver mail to the kids, and I too...and I emphasize, paid a full 2000 tuition, unlike some. If all had done that then we wouldn't be talking nearly the financial problems. As far as answers, if you look on the website, parents that could not attend the meeting, (living out of area) were promised answers would be posted on the website, the are not. They should be told something even if it's not good. When you become a parent you might look at this in a different liight. I applaud your enthusiasm, your dedication, and your spirit. However, there are other out here that have a different insight and you neeed to acknowledge that.

Edited October 23, 2006 by Magic1

[BL1977]

I have another, simple fundraising idea. Instead of soliciting financial donations, ask parents, alumni, and volunteers to donate items... for example:

~Tickets to Broadway events or sporting events...

~Admission tickets to Universal or Disney....

~Items from corporations...sometimes called "Samples" or demo items that haven't been used, but can't be sold as new.

~Collectors items that you personally don't want anymore, but other people might (like Snap on calendars, records, porcelain figurines, unopened Avon or Mary Kay).

Once all of the items are donated, the Magic could announce and promote an E-bay auction, with all proceeds going to the corps.

My donation would be considered tax-deductible, and the winner wouldn't necessarily care who the seller was. Sometimes, items sold on e-bay are sold for more than market value. If the winner was a drum corps/Magic fan, they might inflate the price, in order to support the corps.

While parents might not have the time to volunteer, I would think that most of them would donate something for the cause.