Trailing Drones: talkin’ ’bout a resolution

Focus on what’s best for competitors, part 2

Everyone who’s paying attention knows the huge costs and sacrifices involved to get to Glasgow for the World Championships. Even UK bands have a huge financial barrier to leap to get the bands to Glasgow, provide buses, dry practice locations and even just enough reeds and drum heads to get that oh-so-heavenly sound. What if instead of a huge VIP tent with whisky, tea and cucumber sangwiches where otherwise fairly unimportant people get to pretend they’re the Oban gentry at the Argyllshire Gathering, the estimated £20k was put into enhanced prize and appearance money for pipe bands? Or, even a series of “tuning tents” to keep bands dry/shady in the early stages of tuning, like staged final-tuning rooms at a big solo contest? The RSPBA could in 2018, find ways to make the event pay for more real band costs.