Report at 7:30 tomorrow

We are now reporting at 7:30 on Friday night, trying to depart as soon as possible, around 7:45.  There is a basketball playoff game at 6:30pm and we want to get going prior to the end of the game.  All the uniforms and instruments are in the bandroom.  We will be boarding the busses, everyone is responsible for getting their own instruments and uniform on their bus.

Considerations for Leadership Positions

I have been working on the contracts to put online with the leadership positions.  As soon as they are ready I will post everything.

Points. How much influence do they have?  Well, for one thing, some people helped just for points and although I cannot tell who that is, people dropping an item in the middle of the field after I pass by are in no way getting away with it.  There are many of those situations throughout the year.  I hear everything and we have 7 other staff people who see everything as well.  So, although the points have a guarantee for anyone in the 1 through 20 spots to get one of the 30 positions, the other 10 spots are filled on a whole bunch of other criteria.  Some of them I will go through now.

Showing your face in the bandroom.  There are people on the top of the list who did not step into the bandroom at all except for rehearsals.  There are, tonight, people that I haven't seen in months, who expect one of the top positions.  To be one of the top officers you must be proactive and be helping all the time, not only when points are being awarded.  You should stop by once in a while to check up on everything, to see if we need some help. I tried, along with the staff, to see what people seemed to do stuff at those unusual times, when nobody else wants to help and those people have been awarded to the best of our ability.  This was taken into account as well as the service points.

Performance, level of musicianship and colorguard skills.  There are people, low on the point list who are superior musicians, great leaders, and helped on the field with their amazing attitude who now have positions.  In most circumstances this is very obvious, sometimes not so much.  We take into consideration how great a marcher and musician/flag twirler you are.

We do our best to make the decisions and sometimes make mistakes.  It is natural and part of this subjective process.  If you are happy with your position, great.  If you are not take a day or two to calm down, and see me tomorrow or another day and I will let you know how I came to that decision. I will be happy to meet with anyone with any questions.  I will not talk about another band member, just your situation.

Leadership positions will be posted tonight

The Marching Band leadership positions will be posted sometime between now and 8pm tonight.  Everyone in the top 20 points received a position. Some other people, who are superior musicians, great leaders, or met the other criteria that we have were awarded leadership positions.  Look at the Leadership page of the website.

To Everyone Going on the Disney Trip

Things you should do this week before the trip

1. DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO NOT GET SICK! GET PLENTY OF SLEEP, EAT RIGHT, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER, WASH YOUR HANDS REGULARLY, AND TAKE VITAMINS IF YOU DO THAT. 
2. Do not pack until late in the week after you see what the weather is down in Orlando.  It can be really cold or really hot which will determine what to pack.
3. Pack light, we do not have a lot of room on the busses for huge luggage and trunks, use the packing list in the itinerary. There are specific directions about what to pack under the bus and in your carry with you in your seat.
4. Bring snacks on the bus with you.  We will stop at the very large and inexpensive truck stops along the way, however you need some initial snacks to get you through the night.
5. If you have a smartphone there are APPS for universal and disney ride wait times.  Download them to your phone.  
6. If you have a smartphone you should download the disney trip pdf itinerary from the first page of the website and save it as a pdf on your phone or iPad for the week.
7. Bookmark the twitter site on your iPad or smartphone.  I have to approve you so do it during the week and make sure there is some way I can tell it is you so I approve you (or send me an e-mail with your name).  I send out tweets throughout the trip.  Many parents already get these tweets.  You can also get the tweets automatically as text messages to your phone.  There is a direction page on the website for all this.
8. Each of our Disney rooms has a theme.  A tradition at the All-Star resort is for people to dress up their room windows with characters (stuffed animals, signs, etc) if they are on the first floor.  All our disney rooms are on the first floor and in a consecutive order.  If you want, you should bring some stuff to put in the window.
9. Use the packing list in the pdf itinerary to make sure that you have everything for the trip.
10. GET PSYCHED! WE ARE DAYS AWAY!