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| Vice Versa as M.O.D. attending Epiphany's 2009 spring show |
So we last spoke about how infighting, unstable leadership, unstable membership, and lack of consistent branding factored into the group’s demise. Now we shall focus on the other factors: moving off campus, drastic organizational transformation at the wrong time, and administration.
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| Clip from Vice Versa's first show |
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| 2008 Wal-Mart Show |
Too Much Change At the WRONG Time!
In the spring semester of 2009, the leadership of VVP decided that the organization needed to undergo drastic change. Change that included having older members re-audition that semester, changing the name of the group to Models of Destruction (M.O.D.) with out official approval, and moving off the yard. I understand that some performance organizations (i.e. Cheerleading Squads and HBCU marching band dancers) make older members re-audition at the beginning of various academic periods but for a modeling troupe with struggling membership recruitment and numbers, it’s SUICIDE! Why further frazzle the few committed members you have and tell them that despite their hard work and dedication of time and financial resources, they have to re-audition? A cheerleading squad that is of substance can do this. A marching band dancing squad can do this. An award winning troupe with audition numbers above 30 EACH semester can do this. Any performance group with high camaraderie and low membership turnover can do this. Not VVP at that point in the organization’s history.
As for the name change of the troupe to Models of Destruction…since it was not legally done officially through the Office of Student Activities is was illegal and not blessed with the university’s approval.
Administration’s Response to M.O.D.
When we last spoke about VVP, the last post talked about the embezzlement issue the troupe endured the fall of 2008. The scandal went all the way to administration at WSSU who by this time had had enough of modeling troupe drama from all three campus organizations. Add VVP’s change to MOD to the equation and it all ended in trouble…Because of the lack of practice locations for performance groups on the school campus, Greeks, dance troupes, modeling troupes, and even the Christian miming group all practice ILLEGALLY in secret locations on campus (WSSU’s administration has done a superb job this year in offering more spaces to these groups by the way
). VVP practiced in Hall Patterson, along with Epiphany and the Kappas. Before the epic Wal-Mart Show competition of 2008, the troupe used spray paint on a few clothing and stage items. Instead of placing a covering on the ground to protect the linoleum, they sprayed on the bare floor! Strike one! Then the embezzlement case during the 08 Homecoming, strike two! Illegally changing the name of the troupe without consent and promoting the new auditions, strike three! What transpired was classic HBCU administrative castration. A memorandum was issued to the student body and faculty stating that WSSU at that from that moment on only had two troupes, Mozik and Epiphany. VVP, or MOD, was effectively banished from campus. |
| 2006 Wal-Mart Fashion Show |
After being kicked off the yard the group attempted to function like DMV troupes, by being a community performance group. However, since most of the members lacked the transportation or time to get to the location of practice, the troupe inevitably dissolved. Thus was the end of Vice Versa Productions.
So to avoid this sad chain of events happening to your troupe it's integral for leadership (because it starts at the top) to know how to do several things:
- Brand the organization
- Maintain good relations with and between members
- If you're a performance modeling troupe based at a school, follow administration's rules, no matter how mundane they may seem
- Cultivate team work amongst the organization as much as talent (one without the other is a waste).
- Do not embezzle money, and DOCUMENT where the monies of your members go in an accounting ledger so that if accused, you can defend yourself
- Do not have practice or move off the campus of your university or school if the majority of your members will have transportation issues getting to said practice
- Allow members to advance in leadership positions over time, the same people should not be running the organization
- Cultivate a positive image of the troupe in the minds of students on campus so students will audition in great numbers (i.e. 30 or more).
Videos of VVP Below:
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