"Our plan is to assist in establishing small local units throughout North America," said Roger Exposito, event co-organizer. "These groups can then grow, mature and become financially responsible, and then can continue on to take part in the Drum Corps International Tour, if they so choose. We know that we have to be able to manage our organizations as effective not-for-profit businesses and to grow them carefully and with great attention to detail. We need to ensure that our programs are in fact "Major League" enterprises before we endeavor to head out on the road as touring ensembles. Through the creation of DCNA, we intend to do just that."
Craig Coldren, founding member of DCNA, echoes Exposito's sentiments. "We want to create an atmosphere which allows youth of all skill levels to participate in the drum corps activity, and we want to make sure that we're establishing a financially responsible climate which promotes healthy corps growth and business operations every step of the way. We intend to establish a partnership with Drum Corps International right from the very start, and are hoping over time to introduce many more young people to the exciting world of competitive drum corps. We started this as a Facebook page a few months ago, and our following has rapidly grown to over 600 members. Once we see who wants to be a part of this, we will establish timelines and put the wheels in motion to begin to build for the future."
Agenda items for the debut session include a variety of topics of interest to newly formed organizations, such as:
• Providing service to the youth of your local community
• Establishing an identity in the community
• Fundraising and financial considerations
• Short term and long term plans
"We are very pleased to be assisting Craig and Roger and everyone who is stepping forward to help DCNA get off the ground," said Bob Jacobs, Director of Marketing for Drum Corps International. "A fundamental element of DCI's strategic plan is to engage more young people in the drum corps activity. We hope to lend a helping hand to those who will be starting organizations as a part of DCNA and intend to contribute the best practices of many organizations to lessen the learning curve from the start, and do what we can to provide opportunities for collaborative efforts down the road."
Details for the Philadelphia meeting which will be open to the public, are as follows:
Meeting registration: http://tinyurl.com/DCNA-NovMeeting
Date: Saturday, November 13, 2010
Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Hampton Inn Philadelphia International Airport
8660 Bartram Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19153
215-966-1300
Hotel website: http://tinyurl.com/HamptonPHL
For additional information:
Craig Coldren: ccoldren AT satx.rr.com
Roger Exposito: starcrossdirector AT gmail.com
Herschel Vaughn: h.vaughn AT networkcityyouth.org
John McKivigan: johnmckivigan AT yahoo.com
Learn more on the DCNA Facebook page.