Every good project grows bigger than its creator can handle, and that’s precisely what had happened a couple of years ago when I started the Contributor program at ILMarching. The experiment could not have gone better, and today the site is in much better condition than I ever could have made it.

As time has gone on, this tiny website that I started in the summer of 2003 has grown enormously. In October 2008, we had over 336,000 hits and served up 3.8 gigabytes of data – a HUGE amount for a primarily text-based website. And that’s not even counting our message board, which has grown to over 1100 posters. Our community has never been stronger!
All of this growth has come at the same time as big changes in my life as well, and anyone who has been around this site for a while knows that the Contributors/Admins put a whole lot more work in than I do. This situation is not right, and has certainly held back the site more than once. As my life continues to pull me away from this site, I couldn’t let that affect everyone else’s enjoyment.

Due to all of these situations, I am stepping down as the Director/Owner of Illinois Marching Online effective December 20, 2008. I am extremely excited to announce that the site will remain in capable hands: site ownership is being transferred to Dan Balash.

Almost everyone who checks this site knows Dan. He’s a former Marian Catholic marcher, current ILMarching Admin, and future BOA Trivia champion – and I’m convinced that under his leadership this site will improve enormously. Dan has been aware of this plan for many months, and the groundwork for this transition has been in place for a while. Dan will bring a lot of great new ideas to this site, some of which you have seen already, and some of which you will see before next season.

As for me, I will still be around occasionally. Dan has asked me to stay on as an Admin, both for administrative advice and as another source of moderation and technical support on the site. I won’t be the head honcho anymore, but I’ll be trying to make sure that the website I created grows into new and even better things.

Marching band serves as an amazing dichotomy: a production of sheer beauty and athleticism displayed by a small group of teenagers, and I’m glad to have been able to bring together its greatest fans.

Thank you all,

-ilmarching