Chapters are constantly sending me clips and links from news coverage they get, mostly from their local newspapers, and sometimes in local and even national magazines. (The above is a recent clip from NEA Today, the magazine of the National Education Association. They got our membership numbers off by about 6,000, but we and Al appreciate the plug!)

Here’s the deal: What these chapters are doing is awesome, and it turns out they’re only sending us a fraction of what’s out there. But I have no idea what to do with most of these clips or how to share them. We already put some of the best on the front page and news section of barbershop.org and also in Livewire. Is that enough? Read the rest of this entry »

We would like you all to think over a suggested change to our competition schedule, for choruses only. We’re in the early “what if?” stage right now, but the Society is investigating the possibility of switching our international chorus competition to a two-year rotation.

Currently, we allow approximately the 28 best Society choruses from each fall district contest (district champs and wild-cards), in addition to a few international affiliates, to compete at the next international contest, which takes place 8-9 months later. We want to gauge reaction to the idea of a system in which (approximately) the 56 best Society choruses would compete on alternating years (an equal top-down mix of still roughly 28 per year). They would also qualify roughly 20 months before the international contest, to give them more time to financially and artistically prepare.

This PDF is a hypothetical example of how a two-year cycle switch could be implemented.

This Excel spreadsheet shows an example configuration based on 2009 scores. (Please note that the spreadsheet opens to a tab that shows the final results. There are two other tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet that show how those results were generated.)

Sweet Adelines International has used a two-year rotation since the early 1970s. Initially, they experienced alternating “strong” and “weak” years, but the “second tier” competitors raised their competitive level, and soon all years were strong years. As seen in the above hypotheticals, were the Society to implement a two-year rotation, we would avoid the “weak year” challenge from the outset. Read the rest of this entry »

Yea, I know, who cares?  Right?

BUT…As a competitor, judge, and staff guy, I get around to many contests each year in several different districts and I always find it interesting how varying barbershop audiences can be with the way they welcome the competitors to the stage.  Read the rest of this entry »

*Update: Please note in the original post that “looking at” = “considering,” and nothing more. Also note that cost reduction is one of the reasons we’re looking at a more permanent membership card.*

The above is NOT a proposed membership card — just a very early proof of concept prototype. The point is, based on member feedback, we’re looking at changing our membership cards. No designs yet, but please participate in our poll about what might appear on the card.

We’re looking to create something more colorful and laminated, closer to the thickness of a credit card. It would be durable enough that the ink won’t rub off or stick to anything in your wallet and flashy enough that you may be proud to pull it out of your wallet and show it off. The idea is that this would become your permananent membership card and would not be replaced each year.

As to what information goes on the card, there are several options: Read the rest of this entry »