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Re: Women in brass bands

Monkey wrote (in response to someone else!)
>> (ii) Bands with couples or families mean that when you lose 1 player you
>> lose 2, 3 or more players automatically.
>
>Yes that is true. Anybody supply more evidence to this theory?


Indeed!
We lost 3 good cornet players as a result of a love triangle - 2 were
married to each other. End result, all 3 landed up leaving!

On another occasion, MD managed to upset principal cornet by moving her to
the back row (she could only attend 1 rehearsal a week as she had gone to
music college). End result: Principal Cornet left, Flugel (her brother)
left, Principal Euphonium (ex Boyfriend) left and Principal Bb Bass (current
boyfriend left).

At one point in our history, our constitution didn't allow married couples
to hold committee positions at the same time. (implemented in response to a
situation caused by having too many connected people on board).

I could go on with more examples!

However, I don't approve of moves to keep women out of banding (or men to be
excluded from all female clubs). The key issue here is one of management -
how to manage situations that arise and cause these problems. This is no
different to any other management situation many of us find ourselves in in
the day job.
The big difference in banding is that often, those tasked with managing the
people don't have the skills they need to carry out the job properly.

As a conductor, I'm often faced with dilemmas such as how to deal with a key
player who is persistently absent without upsetting those who are close to
him/her. You ignore these "connections" at your peril!

Bands should really consider the type of person they appoint to key
positions - most of us seek out the accountant when we need a treasurer but
think little about the skills required for the chairman (who often lands up
dealing with the mess!). The same goes for conductors to - it's not just
about waving the wand, you need a lot of interpersonal skills as well.

We're lucky in our band to have a chairman who has undergone management
training in the past - I too am currently working towards the MBA (Masters
Degree in Business Administration) - the skills we have learnt have helped
us through a number of potentially sticky situations.

Whilst unconnected with the present thread, similar issues are often the
cause of some of the other malaises within the movement - because we're all
amateurs (supposedly!), those who run our associations and committees often
do so for the love of the movement. How many of us checked the skills of the
person we last voted in to represent us say, on the Regional Committee of
the National Finals? No, we land up voting in whichever mug volunteers! And
then moan when it all goes wrong!

So, don't blame the women, get some training in!

Andy Wooler


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