Elections 2016

Ben and Spencer here. It's 6:15 and the calls of "Magic! Magic!" have died down. The hall murmurs in anticipation.

6:15 and Bandos are planning an impeachment. Greer wants to start, begging calls of magic again. Spencer is back from the bathroom.

Ben is now talking about what he does *hint* basically nothing. He claims that it's mostly handling curveballs but no one knows what a curveball is. Ben explains that it's like regular ball but not straight.

(Spencer is projecting.)

Laura is talking. This is her 117th week in the Penn Band. One of the best things is that there's a place for everyone. We're one of the most diverse, welcoming places at Penn and there is no "typical" bando. She loved being on Board as treasurer, working with a lot of people but with some independent responsibilities. Anything important to band is important to her as well. She wants to work closer with Council, to help them grow in their positions, to thrive. The Band would be lost without council. Diversity is a blessing and a curse, and Laura will never let opinions go unheard. She wants to be accessible to the whole band.

We don't really know to run this blog thing. Help please.

Richard now. Richard is running to be your president, not just board and not just council. What does it mean to have a Penn Band experience? The heart of what we are is community -- literally anyone can come here and make music. We're a family. It's a cliche, but it's true, from Greer to freshmen to alumni's kids. This band is a home, a place not to worry about school or work, but a place to make music with people who care about you. He loves us, all of us. Even Travis. His intention is to devote all of his time to band, and he hopes we'll give him the chance to do that: not just to lead, but to provide and push.

Question Time

Matthew asks how you are going to manage your time.

Laura says that she has learned a lot when she was in leadership about that- sometimes you have to put band first. She's learned how to manage her time as Treasurer, like when budgets are due. It's not easy but she'll make time.

Richard says he spends most of his time here- last semester his attendance was around 91%. He's going to miss things for sure just like everyone but he wants to assure everyone that it's a priority.

Ben has a question. As president you get a lot of feedback from people and sometimes it's useful. Other times, people just need to blow off steam. How do you tell the difference between both types of criticism.

Richard says that you need to take a step back. Where is it coming from? What's the context, is it at a party? Maybe wait a little bit to think about it and work through it deliberately, don't make snap judgements.

Laura - It's important to know that sometimes things that are destructive could come from a valid point. You have to ask the question where did that comment come from? You have the ongoing support of the rest of board to work through everything you have to face.

Jeanette has a Q- both of you have been involved in conducting. How do you think that board and DMs should interact? How will the positions interact if they're the same person?

Richard thinks that they are separate entities for a reason. Board deals with philosophical issues while DMs deal with performances. If they're the same person it could be difficult to divide the two responsibilities. Although he also says it wouldn't be the worst thing if someone did both of them.

Laura wants to see more of a dialogue between board and DMs. There were some instances this past year where more communication would have been helpful.

Renee has a Q - What's your number one goal for this next year and how will you get there?

Laura's most important thing is being accessible to everyone. Checking in with council to see what they need but also to maybe have office hours. She doesn't want board to be secretive at all. There's a lot of issues with transparency sometimes and she wants to clear that up as best as she can.

Richard wants to cultivate the culture of the band. This should be a place where people want to spend their time. He wants to reach out and try and figure out why people want to come to band. Make a concerted effort to reach out to individuals.

Jenna's Q - How would you integrate the opinions of council at large?

Richard - He wants to be more upfront with the band about board meetings and other meetings like council meetings. Let people know what's being talked about.

Laura - We have made use of polling the band for some serious questions like what events we should go to. Council helps out with that because more people can be brought into the conversation.

Molly's Q - Diversity in the band. How do you get the input from people that aren't as confident speaking up?

Laura - People shouldn't be afraid speaking up about. It's important to identify those personalities so that you can be more approachable.

Richard - One thing to do is be present. Section leaders are always present so some people that are quiet could reach out to the SLs who would then reach out to the Board.

Jimin's Q - What do you do if people express discomfort with Band traditions?

Richard - Traditions are important, but if people feel uncomfortable they should be made to feel welcome. No participation in traditions is a prerequisite for membership.

Laura - Nothing should be forced, everything is voluntary. That includes attendance, outside events, traditions. We want to do whatever we can to accommodate them on a case-by-case basis. It depends on the origin of the discomfort.

Richard closing statement: He'll do everything he can to make this a welcoming, fun place where we can feel comfortable, loved, and appreciated.

Laura's closing statement: It's the friends and connections we'll remember most. She has the experience to make Band a place people will love coming to.

Ben goes to help Adam count votes.

Koosh petitions people to buy coffee mugs. They're $20 and the proceeds benefit everyone in this room. HE SAYS HE'LL AUTOGRAPH ONE!

If you're a new member, we need to get the sweaters back since the new ones were v-necks.

Thirdly, we're selling penn band bumper stickers. You can put them on your computer!

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The next president is Laura! Results are in!

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Aaron Mittleman is nominated for VP.

What did JSS do as VP. You run Zoo Animal Elections, you write field shows, and you run PB decides twitter during elections.

The Twitter account @PBDecides has experienced a coup. Further bulletins as events warrant.

JSS is talking now. In iambic pentameter and rhyme. Not sure how many people can appreciate this. The iambs are falling apart a little... NO it's back. Sort of. Oh no, what rhymes with pitch? Crisis avoided, rhyme maintained.

Aaron is talking: Since he got here, we're the only people he's liked at all. He's been to show writing. He has a beard. What else do you need? Vote for him... if you want. Much laughter.

Questions now.

Spencer's Q - tell me a joke:

Aaron: Knock knock... Abraham Lincoln... You've never heard of Abe Lincoln?

JSS: A woman finds an empty seat in the front row of the Super Bowl. The old man says his wife used to come with him, but she died. The woman asks, no friends or family could come? No, they're all at the funeral. Lot's of reactions.

Koosh's Q - Who's our audience? (People don't realize this is a really old question.)

JSS - We've talked about this a lot. We want people to laugh, even opposing fans. All the censors.

Aaron - Obviously people show up for more than just the band, believe it or not.

Nick's Q - JSS why not run for Pres? Aaron, why wait for floor nomination?

Aaron - I have time.

JSS - I want to help Laura.

Kyle's Q - How to get more people to show up to show writing?

JSS - Free food! Just kidding. Maybe more virtual show writing? But he wants more voices and more people involved.

Aaron - Free food. Talking to the band, showing them bad shows as a warning. Once people come once they're hooked.

Max's Q - What if you're as creative as a cinder block?

JSS - I can speak from personal experience, but what's important isn't people contributing the funniest joke. It's more 40 mins of sifting through the bad stuff to find the gold. We shouldn't promote Communism. So we need people to shoot some stuff down.

Aaron - Cinder blocks are creative, can make many things. Other than that, agree with JSS.

Renee's Q - Legs are wolves question. Classic @DKJ.

JSS - I would get Anna to take my midterm.

Aaron - Poke them with a stick.

Aaron's closing statement: I was put on the spot, but I love you guys.

JSS's closing statement: It's been an honor being VP for the past year; it's the only time people pay attention to us. I would be honored to do this again.

JSS is the next Vice President!

Next position is Treasurer. Anyone else being nominated? Richard was nominated but he declined.

Nick is going to give the speech for Emily since she's in a midterm.

"I'm not a great musician" Nick clarifies that Emily was the one who wrote that. Emily loved first rehearsal even though she didn't play an instrument for a while. Emily LOOOOOOOVES doing band things. She will never ever fall asleep during frozen again.

Emily is the next treasurer!

Spencer says what he did: attendance, google forms, google docs, spreadsheets, emails. It's exciting. Thrilling.

Richard accepts a floor nomination. Aaron is nominated: "I guess so." I (Ben) was nominated, but HELL NO. Renee accepts a nomination. We now have 3 candidates: Richard, Renee, and Aaron. Spencer forcefully and disrespectfully declines.

Renee's speech: Hi, everyone, she's Renee! Why did she accept a floor nomination? She came to the conclusion last-minute that Board is a time commitment she wants to make. She's done some priority shuffling and Band came out on top. Cough -- sorry, she's sick. As EM she already has experience keeping track of things. She'd also pick good memes for emails.

Questions:

Spencer's Q - name 6 freshmen not in your section.

Aaron - Dominique, Martina, Connor, Madeline... um...

Richard -- Max, Connor, Aaron, Trevor, McKay, Sean.

Renee - She also named a bunch of people but I can't type this fast. Lots of repeats.

Derek's Q - How do you think you'd work with the rest of the board?

Richard - Nobody I don't like; I think we'd work well together.

Renee - I know everyone on Board too, and I spend time with all three. Plus, I know how to communicate with all three and we'd have a good group dynamic.

Aaron - I know these people as well as I know any other bandos and I'd try not to step on toes.

JSS's Q - How have Council positions influenced you? Aaron, how about your general band experiences?

Aaron - I've spent enough time that I know how things work, and I'm willing to learn.

Richard - From being ADM, my goal with Council would be to make things more transparent. More can be done to make better informed decisions.

Renee - being on Council has taught her about how the band organization works and what each group wants from the others - council, board, conduct, the whole band.

Anna's Q - Most of secretary is being present at events to take attendance. What does your schedule look like?

Renee - My biggest conflict is biochem major, but I'm good at managing time and planning ahead. I've made band a priority.

Aaron - I'm taking 5 credits next semester but they're all intro level classes. I'm mostly involved in Band, not other things.

Richard - I schedule myself around Band. I'm only focused on major requirements.

Renee's closing statement: Thanks for listening. I think I'd do a good job, organized, clear and concise.

Aaron's closing statements: I took floor nominations because I want to serve Band as much as I can. I will rise to the office.

Richard's closing statement: He wants to put everything he has into band: time commitments, attendance, google forms. Always.

7:30 now, and Spencer has gone to help count votes. The band is growing restless. Usually we're done by now, and Every Every has been played.

Greer is introducing Horse's Ass. Shout out to @F. Scott. Nominations from the floor.

Jackie nominated Joe for using PB Social as his personal Tinder.

Nick nominated the CUMB.

Someone nominated Princeton Band's outgoing President, Sweetheart.

Jeanette nominates her dad for turning 50 again. #PFree

Nick nominated Urffer for making his own water.

Nick nominates Jeanette and Emily for the stupid ice cream thing. #Wedon'tshoutoutcompetingblogs.

Did I just get impeached? Who knows? How many do we need? Who cares, IMPEACH?

Thomas? Maybe. No. But seriously.

JSS nominated Emily for sleeping through Frozen on the bus. Greer refuses to acknowledge.

Anna nominates the popcorn maker. @Joey we should have bought the Great Northern.

Jeanette nominates Scott for screaming "Burn!" just now.

Sean nominates -- drowned out in the din.

We're voting on the Drexel Dragon amid chants of Amy Gutmann.

Update: They got more than 67% to impeach me. By exactly 2%. I don't think Derek could be more proud. I've given him my keys. I'm out, people.