Every year after Grand Nationals, we conduct voting to decide which bands to name the Illinois Marching Online Bands of the Year.  This year’s voting consisted of  13 voters, which consisted of Illinois Marching Online Staff, as well as band directors, staff members, and judges from across the state of Illinois.  Also this year, the users of the site had input into Bands of the Year as well.  All of the bands listed below have achieved high quality compared to the other bands in their class, and are worthy of special honor.

A quick explanation of how we conduct voting:  Every band that competes once in Illinois is eligible to be voted for.  Each voter is asked to vote for their picks in 4 divisions. Voters are allowed to submit half-completed ballots, if they are not comfortable voting in a division.  Division 1 (enrollment of 1600+, plus all 2011 Bands of America Grand National Semifinalists) has 10 selections, Division 2 (900-1599) receives 10, Division 3 (450-899) receives 10, and Division 4 (under 450) receives 10.  Each voter this year was also asked to vote for the “most improved band” in each class, and that was determined on their performances this year as compared to years past.

The points for each band are determined based on votes a band receives.  For example: Band A receives a 3rd place vote in Division 1.  As there are 10 bands being voted for, that band would receive 8 points towards their cumulative vote total. All ties are broken by the number of first-place votes received, if applicable.

A few more fun facts:

• 18 people overall cast their ballots in the public vote, and their total results counted as 1 ballot in the official Bands of the Year vote.
• 12 people (not counting the public ballot) voted in the official Bands of the Year vote.
• Marian Catholic received the most first place votes, with 13.
• 117 different bands were voted for in the staff polls; 165 in the public voting.

And now, the 2012 Illinois Marching Online Bands of the Year!