G7 (part 1) - background and qualifications

This post is "inside ball." If you follow drum corps intently in the off-season, you don't need more in the headline. If you don't, well, some very recent and public "differences of opinion."

On one side, you have the G7 (aka Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Cadets, Carolina Crown, Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment and Santa Clara Vanguard) position, which you can read at any of their websites; here's a link to one. The position of DCI you can read here; I know the non-G7 have positions that may or may not be official or public.

And ... I guess I have one as well. And ... it is mine alone. But I first need to get out some background and caveats.

I have a deep personal tie to 2 of the G7. I was there in 1990 right at the start of Carolina Crown (though not the original organization, the Charlotte Drum Corps Association). I served in a number of volunteer capacities both in working (occasional driver, show announcer, NightBEAT committee) and in board leadership (Treasurer, VP, President) positions. I have not been deeply involved for about 10 years or so, however; health, family and relocation took my focus. Officially, I am on the advisory board, which is - of course - a very unofficial role.

This corps is close to my heart. I remember early struggles to get into shows, to raise money, to be judicious in our spending, but most of all to judge success on two planes: (1) Did the kids have a good experience?, and (2) Can we - and what can we do to - offer the same or better experience next year? I had the honor of putting the feelings of the leadership into the mission statement. You see it everywhere in the organization. It, and the two items above, are the secret sauce to its success over the years.

The other corps is the Cadets. During the YEA! corps years I served as the Carolina Crown representative to the board. I have kept my relationship with them through the USSBA, where I have volunteered and served as an announcer. I was an early believer in the YEA! corps concept, and believe that it could have been successful if we had been able to maintain our board's focus on non-instructional/creative areas.

For a brief time I also served on the Marketing Committee of DCI, and have long maintained an interest in innovations designed to improve the educational and performance value for the kids, and bring people into the stands. Some may say the evolution of the former has led to the decline of the latter ... I'll get to that.

Now, outside of the G7, I have a son who has a place in a fast rising corps, the Blue Stars. I would never let one of my kids go to any corps that I did not believe had a strong program and infrastructure. In fact, I encouraged him to take a position with that corps over another, even if it is an alternate position right now.

In summary, as background, I believe in Carolina Crown, in the Cadets and their scholastic band program USSBA, and I believe in the Blue Stars. I believe that marching music has an impact on people's lives.

In one of the next posts (probably closer to when everyone meets in the board room and on the competitive field in Minneapolis), I'll give some thoughts.