The Fall Is Forever Away… Until, It Isn’t by Lindsey Vento
How often do we, as pageantry nerds, (let’s face it, we all are, and proudly) feel as if “we have time”?
“We just finished the fall, I just need a mental break for a few weeks”
now” reactions. Do you see the cycle? Let’s see if we can find some tools and ways to keep the fall marching band train on the tracks without you wanting to lay on them, shall we? It’s possible. I promise.
Things I experience most as a designer: 1.
“It’s winter percussion/guard/winds season…I can’t think about the fall season right now.”
Chasing down answers and responses..we call this “radio silence” 2. The assumption that “the designers will handle it” 3. Months of sporadic communication and then the panic email of “I need music/drill/choreo ASAP!!”
“Once the spring concert is done I will be able to dive in more”
Let’s talk about how to find a better flow to the process and connection to your designers, with still keeping your sanity. WITHOUT THESE THINGS, IT JUST WON’T WORK. OR…I should say, it won’t work as well as it should.
As a designer in this fast paced, overlapping seasons, cross fading activity that allows us minimal breathing time, I hear the above lines more times than I even I can keep track of. As much as I understand the need to compartmentalize the seasons of band and all the things, it’s these lines and “reasons” that create stress, tension, and that panic come mid-September ... spiraling into the need for “mental break for a few weeks” or “I can’t think about the fall season right 22
The Radio Silence Effect – The Biggie!!! The Radio Silence Effect is NOT usually intentional. Designers do not believe that band directors are “ghosting them”. However, intentional or not, it causes delays, unanswered questions, and a disconnect between the hired team and the in-house team that is hard to salvage once we hit the summer months.
