SoundstageEDU: Building Better Theater Tech

I can't believe we have been doing this for an entire year! Seriously... I had no real plan when I started this, but, here we are. This is the origin story and the plan that we have now... Thanks for being here. For real. Thanks. We ain't goin nowhere.

This one's for the band dads. Somewhere between pulling the trailer, filling water jugs, and standing on the sidelines, many of us discover something unexpected—we fall in love with marching band too. This episode is about giving dads permission to care deeply, to be proud, to be emotional, and to embrace the journey right alongside their kids. Because one day, there will be a last parade... a...

Join SoundstageEDU as we sit down with a parent booster and discuss life as a booster! I am joined by Christine Rognerud from the Great State of Texas! Interested in joining me on an episode like this? Reach out to us and let us know.

This wasn't a planned episode. It's an Emergency Episode. With Fourth of July parades, summer rehearsals, and band camps beginning across the country, thousands of students will spend hours performing in dangerous heat. Every year, preventable heat illnesses send students, staff members, and volunteers to emergency rooms. Today we're talking about something more important than music. M...

What happens when "good enough" becomes the standard? In this Culture Minute, Mike explores the delicate balance between excellence and perfectionism, and why organizations rarely become mediocre overnight. Whether you're leading a booster club, a student organization, a nonprofit, or a performance program, culture is shaped by what we consistently accept. Excellence is contagious. M...

Culture is the operating system underneath every system currently running within our organizations. This series of brief talks will address a lot of the issues we have seen inside of the booster and volunteer led organization space and we will connect them to culture. The aim is to give you practical steps you can take to get your organization back where you want it, or to at least give you langua...

Why healthy leaders stop measuring success by who leaves and start investing in the people who stay. We spend so much time worrying about retention that we sometimes forget the real purpose of leadership. In this Green Room conversation, Mike explores a powerful lesson he heard from another director: "Even Jesus only kept 11 of the 12." What if leadership isn't about keeping everyone...

Every parent eventually asks the question: "What am I supposed to do now?" In this episode, we explore the real role of a band parent—not as a manager, fixer, or sideline coach, but as a steady source of support while students grow through the challenges and opportunities that music education provides. This conversation is about trust, perspective, resilience, booster culture, and why si...

This episode is a letter to drum corps parents, especially those sending their kids off for their first summer on tour. When they come home, they may be different: tired, quiet, grieving, independent, restless, and still emotionally connected to the people and world they just left behind. That change is not something to fear. It is something to understand.

Every year, as marching arts programs begin hiring staff, designers, arrangers, clinicians, consultants, and support personnel, the same conversation resurfaces: "We don't have a budget, but it would be great exposure." Today, we're tackling a difficult truth that many organizations need to hear. Creative work has value. Expertise has value. Experience has value. And while many o...

Everywhere I look right now, I see the same conversations happening inside booster organizations across the country. “We need more fundraising.” “We can’t get volunteers.” “The boosters and director are fighting.” “The school won’t fund us.” “The same parents do everything.” “We’re exhausted.” But what if fundraising isn’t actually the real problem? In this episode, we unpack the deeper issue quie...

If controversy is the standard, then why are only certain stories considered dangerous? A Wisconsin school board removed a student concert piece because of the historical figure it honored. That decision sparked a much larger question: Why are some controversial artists, composers, and historical narratives accepted in arts education… while others suddenly become unacceptable? In this episode, Mik...

What happens when a school board removes a piece of instrumental music from a student concert because of the historical figure it honors? In this episode, we unpack the controversy surrounding the removal of Omar Thomas’s A Mother of a Revolution! from a Wisconsin high school concert program after months of student preparation. The work, inspired by the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewal...

Every year, the same exhausted handful of parents quietly carry entire fine arts programs on their backs… until they can’t anymore. In this episode of the SoundstageEDU Podcast, Mike DeJohn dives deep into the real volunteer crisis happening inside marching bands, theater boosters, choir programs, and arts organizations across the country. This is not an episode about blaming parents. It is about...

A Wisconsin school board is considering pulling a wind ensemble piece from a spring concert just days before performance because of its ties to LGBTQ+ history. No lyrics. No explicit content. Just instrumental music. But the controversy surrounding “A Mother of a Revolution” raises much bigger questions about arts education, fear, politics, trust, and what happens when communities begin demanding...

Every time the topic of 501(c)(3) status comes up in booster groups, the same question follows: “Is it really worth it… or is it just more trouble?” And if you’ve ever been part of one of those conversations, you already know… This isn’t just about paperwork. It’s about trust. It’s about control. It’s about past experiences where things didn’t go the way they should have. In this episode, we break...

A recent controversy surrounding Westfield High School has sparked outrage across the marching arts community after comments made by Micah Beckwith questioned the nature of a student indoor percussion performance. In this episode, SoundstageEDU founder Mike DeJohn breaks down what’s actually happening—and why this conversation has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with misunderstan...

There’s a conversation happening right now across booster groups, parent forums, and leadership teams about fundraising models that “give money back” to participants. On the surface, it sounds fair. It sounds modern. It sounds like a solution to one of the biggest tensions in school-based programs: “If my family is doing the work… shouldn’t we see the benefit?” But underneath that question is some...

If you’ve recently found yourself deep in a Facebook thread about booster club fees, fairness, or “what’s legal”… this episode is for you. Because right now, across the country, parents and board members are trying to solve complex nonprofit governance issues in comment sections—and it’s creating more confusion than clarity. Questions about required band fees, 501(c)(3) rules, fundraising practice...

I recorded this sometime last week and apparently never uploaded it. So, we will fix that today. If I did publish this and I can not find it, for whatever reason, well, listen to it again. In this episode, I talk about a few real cases that are currently ongoing right now in our nonprofit booster world. These cases are not unique... They are a pattern I am seeing inside of these organizations. Fol...

A parent asked a simple question: “Are our bylaws even being followed?” Within 50 comments… she became the problem. In this episode, we break down a real-world booster conflict that spiraled fast—and what it reveals about governance, culture, and the uncomfortable truth behind “just keep the peace.” This isn’t about drama. This is about systems, accountability, and why so many organizations quietl...

Everyone says burnout is just “part of the deal.” It’s not. In this episode, we break down the myth of “the nature of the beast” and expose what’s really happening inside many programs: systems built on overextension, unclear structure, and unspoken expectations. If you’ve ever wondered why: the same few volunteers do everything new help doesn’t stick and exhaustion feels normal This episode is fo...

You don’t wake up one day and decide to run a broken organization. It happens slowly. Quietly. One decision at a time. In this episode, we unpack the concept of incremental drift —how well-meaning booster organizations gradually move away from structure, compliance, and clarity without even realizing it. From skipped meetings and ignored bylaws to blurred roles between directors and boards, this i...

Most booster organizations don’t realize they are operating in high-risk territory… until it’s too late. In this emergency episode, we break down a real-world conversation happening right now among band parents and booster leaders—and why the most common fundraising practices may be exposing your organization to serious compliance risk. Topics include: Individual student accounts “Pay instead of f...

“It’s not that treasurers steal. It’s that we built systems where they can.” ~Mike Every time it happens, the headline is the same: Booster treasurer arrested. And every time, the reaction is the same: anger, disbelief, outrage. But what if we’re asking the wrong question? In this episode, we break down why these situations aren’t random… they’re predictable. This isn’t about bad people. It’s abou...