On October 24th, I left the United States for The Netherlands where I had been kindly invited to do a combination Pyware and show design clinic. I had connected my friend Paul Doop with the great people at Pyware in order to help him and others make a decision about drill design software. He is a founding and current member of Corps Style Concepts (CSC), a collective of music and visual designers of marching bands. After some great conversations between all parties, Paul asked if I would consider presenting a master class in Pyware to both CSC members, as well as to others in that part of Europe who may have shown an interest in attending. I was grateful for the offer.

I arrived on the 25th of October, and had a casual meeting that evening. Other than that, I just rested at the Ibis Hotel Schiphol, right near the airport. It was really convenient to both the clinics and the trains to get downtown from the airport.

On Friday, the 26th of October, I presented a Pyware session to the members of CSC. This was both an opportunity for them to learn, as well as an opportunity for me to get suggestions on the topics that the general clinic would be interested in the following day. . They were all extremely attentive, as well as extremely helpful. I felt very confident going into the clinics the following day.

Over the course of the weekend, over 100 people from 4 different countries showed up. It was really amazing to see how many people share the passion of the marching arts! On Saturday, we had a fantastic facility in which to hold the class. Attendees brought their own laptop computers, and Pyware graciously provided software for everyone to use throughout the weekend. As is usually the case in clinics such as these, all levels of proficiency were represented. It can often be difficult to teach multiple levels like this, but I had so much help. There were 4 or 5 guys there who both knew the software AND knew the Dutch language in case there were any translation issues. I was so happy that they were there to help things run smoothly.

We covered everything from starting Pyware up to all of the new and fantastic features in version 7 of the application. It was a long but fulfilling day.

Sunday I shared a morning session with Frank Wienen from The Netherlands. I shared thoughts on design and he shared thoughts on rehearsal and technique. We discussed how one can help the other in certain situations. It was a very interesting discussion.

From there, my day became about discussing the indoor activities such as WGI color guards and WGI indoor percussion ensembles. Colorguard Netherlands helped to sponsor this day, and it was great to see some familiar faces such as Edwin Beens, as well as to meet new friends.

I discussed both percussion and guard, as there were representatives from both activities. I had a great video screen to use, and so we did a history of the evolution of color guard, followed by a discussion of how the percussion activity is mirroring the evolution of the guard activity. I used Aimachi Percussion 2010 and Pride of Cincinnati 2012 to have design discussions. Overall a great time!

Monday was the day I had reserved for myself to go walking around Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it was pouring down race and COLD! So that day didn’t turn out the way I envisioned. But, a great trip nonetheless.

My thanks to Pyware, CSC, and CGN for sponsoring the weekend, and allowing me the opportunity to visit with everyone!