Accessibility, Communication, and Supervising the Band

I take great care in keeping the communication lines open to everyone as much as possible.  My initial rule still holds true, if your child is upset about something to the point where they are having trouble sleeping, text or e-mail me and I will get back to you immediately and take care of it.  If however it is not an emergency, please let me do my job of running the trip.

Let me explain. Moving this band is like moving an army.  There are a myriad of tasks which I must constantly keep on top of at all times to keep things running smoothly.  In addition, I try to keep very organized so that I am available to meet the sudden things that come up with the kids during the trip.  This amounts to everything, from security and keeping track of them, to keeping them from slamming doors, eating right, going to sleep, dressing correctly to the emotional dramatic things that can and do suddenly crop up with teenagers around the clock.  As you are aware, the itinerary and every bit of information is already available on the website, blog and twitter.

Thanks for being great!  We have tons of parents and family members going to Syracuse this weekend, probably more than any other band!  I am excited to take your children on this trip, am looking forward to seeing you all upstate and we will all have a great weekend!  Make sure you get those salt potatoes at the Phoenix Show, that is one of the high spots of the weekend!

Storm Blog

As far as the storm approaching,  I am on top of it.  If the storm is hitting New York we will obviously bring the kids home immediately.  Anyone who knows how I run trips is fully aware that their well being is the most important thing,  I treat them as if they are my own family.  Mr. Pilnick and Ms. Murphy are also on the trip and we will all be monitoring the situation at all times.

Judges Announced, etc.

Last night the band was once again, absolutely amazing.  Look at the show on our youtube site https://www.youtube.com/user/roslynmarchingband?feature=mhee Everyone is happy and proud.

The judge panels went up today for the last weekend of the season and here is my quick explanation.

Of the 6 judges at Phoenix, 3 have seen us before, 3 have not.  The three that have seen us before are judging us the next day at the dome.  The other 3 are only judging us at the Phoenix show this year.

This year 11 of the 12 judges at the dome will have seen and judged our band this year.  There is only 1 judge who will be doing a first read of us at the dome and he has judged our band in the past years. One judge will be doing his 3rd read of us at the dome, the other 10 their second read (each having seen us one time this year at one of the shows).  They were spaced out throughout all the shows that we went to this year.  

All judges have seen our band in the past and are all New York State judges.

A few of my observations of competing at the Carrier Dome.

The dome is an indoor venue.  The sound is totally different in that environment so the band can sound and look totally different to the judges and audience in general.  This is both good and bad. There is an echo in the room and some bands cannot deal with it.  Some bands freak out, get nervous, hear the echo and fall apart while others dig in and do their best performance of the year in that room.  Our band always peaks there. The winds can sound louder and this can help some bands.  Drumlines tend to drown out winds in the dome if they are too loud. And most importantly, the judges view the bands from a much higher angle so they get to see the forms better.  Our parents who go to the dome can attest to this as well.  In that room it is a different ball game. Every band looks and sounds much different from the high vantage point.

There are three areas that bands in our class compete in New York State, the Syracuse area, Binghampton area, and Long Island area.  These three areas do not really compete together until the last day of the season at the dome.  In other words, the two Long Island bands do not ever go head to head against the 5 other bands until the last day of the season at the dome.

Are the judges aware of season placements?  Nobody really knows for sure.  Look at the last week placement in 2011 and the results at the dome on this sheet  2011 Last Week to Dome Results. Corning East moved from 6th place to 3rd at the Dome, and Malverne went from 3rd to 1st when they went head to head with everyone at the Dome in 2011. So yes, anything can happen at the dome.

Roslyn Scoring History at the Dome
Hit the link for our dome history which shows how far we have come. Year to year scores really do not mean much, the judging sheets have been adjusted over the years which is why you see dips here and there throughout the years.
http://patpat15.com/roslynhistory2011a 

Being realistic vs. defeatist 

It is my job to make sure that the band, parents, and community are ready for anything, 1st through 7th place, but also to realize that we are currently slated in the bottom of the class.  This can be construed as my being defeatist but I am not.  With every fiber in my being I am always aiming to win.  However, in a subjective judging environment we must realize, that judges are making the call on everything.  So I say we are being positive, aggressively shooting for first place but being realistic in that endeavor.  We are in a competitive class, we have a very strong band program, and are having a lot of fun.  If we win "great" if we don't, that is ok as well. We should all be proud and exuberant with how everything is going this year, regardless of the judging results. Remember, in 2006 we were slated dead last all year, yet in the dome, we came in 2nd out of 12.

Let's have a great ending to our season!