The editor of Field&Floor does not think he is the right person for the task of offering a keynote address to such a gathering. "Does this fellow have any idea who I am?" he wondered, when asked to offer his take on pageantry in such a setting. I am no one. I have no affiliations of any kind with anything in the pageantry world. I am, as I contend on the web pages of Field&Floor -- a "fan in the stands." Never marched a step, never taught a drill. As a fan in the stands I do not think that pageantry is rocket science. I do not think that it takes degrees in anything to understand the activities, to appreciate the rigor, to delight in the outcomes, to savor the memories. Nor do I think it takes involvement to be knowledgeable about the process. Most entertainment critics have never been involved in the industries they critique; they are, instead, professional writers or journalists who stay current in their industry by inundating themselves into every aspect that they can. While historical study is a part of the process -- and one area that does not exist for pageantry, save for unavailable 8mm film -- immersion is the best way to stay current with the subject matter. I have done that for 30 years, and continue to do that, by choice, gladly, and with great enthusiasm. I find it fascinating that the pageantry worlds of drum and bugle corps and color guard work so hard to keep the only valid criticism as that of the judges. There are literally hundreds of valid best lists in television, cinema, music, and publishing, but for pageantry -- and for reasons that I will never understand -- the only valid judgment is that of the judges. While any other criticism is disregarded if there is no affiliation, and if there is -- obvious "name-of-group" bias -- absolutely no one questions the judges' credentials. That questioning should take back seat, however, to the judging system itself. Granted it was designed by the competitors for their deification, but given the system's increasing gray areas, the folks in charge have opened up the process for the variety of observations and criticism also increasingly offered both in print and via the Internet. In the absence of quantifiable, measurable standards of excellence, you are left with a championship event that was subjectively decided between, as I was told, "teams with technique, 'the show,' and style." What to choose: technique over style, style over 'the show,' or 'the show' must rule? There is nothing wrong with this process, but it has nothing to do with education - the desired affiliation by both Drum Corps International and Winter Guard International, nor does it really have much to do with competition. No longer can a successfully performed show designed with the level of talent of the young people in mind, have a solid chance at competitive strength. Why? Because our beloved pageantries are no longer "about the kids," they are both about the adults. Most of the adults who work with drum and bugle corps and color guards today are paid for their contributions of talent. Again, there is nothing wrong with that. But when the entire system is virtually turned inside out to become a marketing campaign for those adults and the products they offer, the young people become little more than the "widgets" that get the job done. By and large, those widgets have great experiences and are well taken care of, but it is fallacy to think that they are receiving a music education. More and more instructors particularly in drum and bugle corps also teach, but the regime and rigor of travel and performance each summer vastly limits any substantive, measurable music education. I will beg off a discussion of the sorry state of color guard instruction, the independent classes are mostly deplorable vanity programs for former assistant band directors. But as I fondly recall good seasons for both color guard and drum and bugle corps, I still smile. I smile remembering the exquisite ballad The Glassmen offered on the field this summer. I smile thinking about the long-term success of such exemplary high school color guard programs as Choctawhatchee and Center Grove. I smile at the outpouring of love and emotion shown our own Jason Lowe this summer, an outpouring from my fellow fans in the stands as well as his fellow performers that underscored the fraternity of pageantry in laudable ways. I smile every time I feel our commonality. So, let the weeklong fanfare continue! It is in our similarities where we will find strength, where we will find - together - the utopian place in our society where we all know our beloved pageantry belongs.