DCI Board vote on amplification:
Yes
Blue Devils
Blue Knights
Boston Crusaders
Cadets
Crossmen

No
Bluecoats
Carolina Crown
Cavaliers
Colts
Glassmen
Madison Scouts
Phantom Regiment
Pioneer
Santa Clara Vanguard
Southwind
Troopers
Mike Kehoss*
Mark Stasa*
Tom Yorton*

Absent
Steve Auditore*

*=At-large board member

The Drum Corps International Board of Directors voted down amplification 14-5 at its annual board meeting in Miami, FL during the last weekend of January.

"There were a few of us in the parking lot the night before saying, 'how are you going to vote? I dunno. How are you going to vote?'" said Pat Seidling, Phantom Regiment Director.

Seidling said that The Cadets and Blue Devils offered to use electronics on a test basis and just table the proposal, but that offer didn't get anywhere because both corps wanted to use it in competition.

"It was like, 'why you two?'" Seidling said. Some board members asked about last year's idea to let the two corps use electronics in exhibition, but Cadets Director George Hopkins and Blue Devils Director David Gibbs were not interested in a non-competitive situation.

"When (that idea) resurfaced at the board meeting it was a bit off the cuff," Hopkins said. "So Dave and I weren't completely prepared for it. Using it in a non-competitive situation would make recruiting more interesting. I think everybody realizes that."

Seidling said that after a few hours of debate, the vote was pretty anti-climactic.

"The debate was passionate but never out of hand," he said. "If the gloves started to come off, we all jumped in and said 'put 'em back on. Don't make this personal.'"

Seidling said that he, like many other directors, came in undecided. "It was like, '50-50, leaning toward no.' I had a feeling that a good number of the board members had mixed feelings. We wanted to be sensitive to our fan base but still have an open mind."

Supporters of electronics wanted to have a secret ballot.

"I think it was clear the proposal wouldn't pass," Hopkins said. "So it was a matter of having your name attached to a losing proposal. There were a lot of reasons why people vote against these proposals; some of them I respect, some I wonder about. I think the board members felt the influence of the fans."

"It was interesting to see the fan participation," said Jeff Fiedler, Cavaliers Director and DCI President. "That also speaks volumes."

"I think the response from the fans on electronics was probably the most we've seen here," said Dan Acheson, DCI Executive Director. He said he appreciated the fans that said they would follow the activity with or without the rule change.

After the overwhelming vote on amplification, the motion to allow electronics was then null, void and withdrawn.
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