European judging fraternity closer to common ground

Bristol, UK was the venue for an extremely well attended seminar that covered the entire process of the Drum Corps Europe Competition Manual, concentrating on the responsibilities of the judging system, the philosophies of its application, and the physical system itself were presented by a very capable DCE judging administration and training team, lead by Adriaan De Kruiff and Tony MacKenzie-Jones.
 
The process of understanding the DCE manual is an integral part of the process that all prospective judges must go through before attending the more detailed accreditation college in April of 2007, and thanks must go to Tony McKenzie-Jones for working hard in the background helping to pull together Judges and interested parties from all over the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
 
Contingents from the Judges Association UK (formally known as the DCUK Judges Association), The British Youth Band Association and from The Irish Marching Band Association were taken through a whole days explanation of just how the manual works and should be applied, and there were some extremely positive and encouraging debates that provided a stage for yet more co-operation and support for the manual going forwards.
 
Commenting on the day, Neil Cuddeford, Chairman of the Judges Association UK said "We have been extremely impressed with the way that both Adriaan and Tony have conducted the day, and with 10 of our members in attendance for the day and more hoping to go through the process that were unable to make this meeting, I feel very confident that Europe will be served by fantastically qualified judges going forwards where the DCE manual has been adopted or is being considered."

Marcel Matthijse, Chairman of DCE, commented that in addition to the incredibly well received seminar that was conducted beautifully by both Adriaan and Tony, it was wonderful to see so many ideas shared between the Dutch, Irish and UK attendees. Many new friendships will no doubt flourish as a result of this historic meeting, and we are all extremely pleased and excited to watch the hard work of so many provide nations with a great opportunity to embrace this common ground. We would like to also thank our host for the day and DCE Project Manager Andy Hewlett and his team of helpers for making us all feel so welcome here in Bristol."
 
For more information on this seminar, and in taking part in the College in April, please contact Adriaan de Kruiff or Marco Janssen.