Eleran Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) To better evaluate the attendance, I'd like to see figures (with year to year comparisons) for all of the shows. After all, the article cited "More than 320,000 spectators headed to more than 100 live events on the 53-day DCI Summer Tour", but failed to give an overall number for last year. A combined increase of 2,500 at Championships/Atlanta/San Antonio is good, but what if the the overall numbers across those 100+ events are down? And I'd really like to see all the numbers for each show, to see where the upticks and downticks are occuring. For example, what if the upticks are for the Tour of Champions events? Success for the decision to have the top corps compete with each other more? But what if that came at the price of even greater downticks at other shows that may not have as many top corps competiting? I don't know if any of that is true at all, but that represents the type of questions I would really want answered before I considered the season successful or not. And yes, I'm sure DCI and its board are looking at those things, since it's their job (not mine) to act accordingly - but I'd still like to see those numbers myself for curosity's sake! I simply don't like being given "some" of the facts, and told what conclusion to draw from them, but that's the nature of press releases. For that matter, though, it makes me wonder of overall numbers ARE down, or else they would have made sure to mention that they were up! Gimme all the facts!!! [Open Class finals were flat, with only a 20 person per day increase from last year - not bad news, certainly, but not exactly enough to be considered good news either - those could have simply been been fans of Patria, which didn't perform in 2013] . Edited September 18, 2014 by Eleran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 More butts in seats, and (presumably) more Fan Network subscribers and Big/Loud/Live tickets sold at the same time. That's a win-win-win, no cannibalism of the fan base. Which is the chicken, and which is the egg? A. A strong lineup of entertaining, competitive, shows, from top to bottom, all across World Class. B. Improved attendance in person, in the theater, and online. Or is it a virtuous circle? IMO, you can't have on without the other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Freedman Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 To better evaluate the attendance, I'd like to see figures (with year to year comparisons) for all of the shows. After all, the article cited "More than 320,000 spectators headed to more than 100 live events on the 53-day DCI Summer Tour", but failed to give an overall number for last year. A combined increase of 2,500 at Championships/Atlanta/San Antonio is good, but what if the the overall numbers across those 100+ events are down? And I'd really like to see all the numbers for each show, to see where the upticks and downticks are occuring. For example, what if the upticks are for the Tour of Champions events? Success for the decision to have the top corps compete with each other more? But what if that came at the price of even greater downticks at other shows that may not have as many top corps competiting? I don't know if any of that is true at all, but that represents the type of questions I would really want answered before I considered the season successful or not. And yes, I'm sure DCI and its board are looking at those things, since it's their job (not mine) to act accordingly - but I'd still like to see those numbers myself for curosity's sake! I simply don't like being given "some" of the facts, and told what conclusion to draw from them, but that's the nature of press releases. For that matter, though, it makes me wonder of overall numbers ARE down, or else they would have made sure to mention that they were up! Gimme all the facts!!! [Open Class finals were flat, with only a 20 person per day increase from last year - not bad news, certainly, but not exactly enough to be considered good news either - those could have simply been been fans of Patria, which didn't perform in 2013] . I agree that with press releases what they don't say is probably more important than what they say. But in this case what they say is pretty strong evidence of improvement overall. Which suggests that elements such as artsy shows, the introduction of band instruments, and perennially dominant corps are not hurting the activity after all. Maybe, just maybe, these guys know what they are doing. I also agree it would be good to see the numbers for every show. It would allow us to plug them into a spreadsheet and calculate the total audience for each corps. I thought George Hopkins said the Cadets would be seen by over 300,000 live audience members, but that seems to be the total number for all DCI shows, of which the Cadets went to maybe half at most. Still, it would be interesting to see per-corps audience totals. However, I doubt show promoters gave their permission to publish these numbers. After all, some of them may be under-reporting to their venues. I'm not saying they are, just that DCI probably wouldn't want to spill those beans publicly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 This past summer more money was spent in travel and tourism than in the past few years, an indication that at least for some the economy is improving. Since most people who go to Indy use vacation time and travel, this could be a reason for increased attendance. Not a very exciting conclusion, but one with merit. However when you combine increased attendance with more people attending Big Loud and Live in movie theaters, along with increased attendance in Atlanta and San Antonio which take place on weekends and not as many people need to travel long distances (compared with Indy) and probably do not have to use vacation time, you see healthy growth. Attendance at local shows, especially outside venues could be a bit harder to analyze. It seemed as if weather was not a friend to many shows this summer, some claiming more this year than ever before. Were local, non DCI shows well publicized? Have some shows seen better days? My guess is that increased attendance probably has a great deal to do with an increased presence of young people at shows, and the success of the previous season cultivating curiosity. In 2011 many thought we saw the best season in many years. 2012 topped 2011 and in 2013, we thought we saw the best season in eons, only to be topped in 2014. I don't recall heaps of overall praise after 2009 and certainly not 2010, or many of the years of the 2000's. If this generalization, and I realize there have been great shows even in the years where many were critical so it is a sweeping generalization, has any merit, we will see increased growth in 2015 since 2014 was so strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 DCI corps directors and DCI BoD meet for next two days to wrap up 2014 and to discuss stuff (scheduling, venues, 2015 and beyond...) It will be interesting to hear the re-shape of the audience figures' discussion after these two Indy days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 In today's world, ANY increase in attendance is a good thing. Although numbers can be spun in different directions, it's mostly impossible to know for sure what is accurate, and what is not. In any case, numerous accounts are out there indicating an increase for DCI (however small) is contrary to what many other paid attractions are experiencing. Pro sports team attendance has dipped, college football bowl game attendance is down, on-campus attendance some places is down, too, as student sections are emptying. Even some 'big draw' entertainment acts are playing smaller venues. I find this DCI attendance news VERY encouraging, particularly the impressive crowd at Atlanta. I look forward to what plays out in 2015. To me, there was an obvious move by corps this year to produce shows that are more 'fan-friendly.' The satisfaction level with the product, as expressed here, was outstanding, upbeat, and can only drive more fans to attend next summer. The market potential of a 'fun night out' will always exceed the appeal of paying for bewilderment and deep symbolism. Hopefully, DCI designers will remember it's about producing a show, not surgery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 More butts in seats, and (presumably) more Fan Network subscribers and Big/Loud/Live tickets sold at the same time. That's a win-win-win, no cannibalism of the fan base. Which is the chicken, and which is the egg? A. A strong lineup of entertaining, competitive, shows, from top to bottom, all across World Class. B. Improved attendance in person, in the theater, and online. Or is it a virtuous circle? I suspect it's cyclical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 To better evaluate the attendance, I'd like to see figures (with year to year comparisons) for all of the shows. After all, the article cited "More than 320,000 spectators headed to more than 100 live events on the 53-day DCI Summer Tour", but failed to give an overall number for last year. A combined increase of 2,500 at Championships/Atlanta/San Antonio is good, but what if the the overall numbers across those 100+ events are down? And I'd really like to see all the numbers for each show, to see where the upticks and downticks are occuring. For example, what if the upticks are for the Tour of Champions events? Success for the decision to have the top corps compete with each other more? But what if that came at the price of even greater downticks at other shows that may not have as many top corps competiting? I don't know if any of that is true at all, but that represents the type of questions I would really want answered before I considered the season successful or not. And yes, I'm sure DCI and its board are looking at those things, since it's their job (not mine) to act accordingly - but I'd still like to see those numbers myself for curosity's sake! I simply don't like being given "some" of the facts, and told what conclusion to draw from them, but that's the nature of press releases. For that matter, though, it makes me wonder of overall numbers ARE down, or else they would have made sure to mention that they were up! Gimme all the facts!!! [Open Class finals were flat, with only a 20 person per day increase from last year - not bad news, certainly, but not exactly enough to be considered good news either - those could have simply been been fans of Patria, which didn't perform in 2013] . That type of analysis would be interesting; while I was never a fan of statistics in college, I find this sort of numbers analysis fascinating. I do think, however, that analyzing local shows is a bit harder, since there are many varying factors. The DCI events were marketed and run by DCI and therefor are at least somewhat of a "control," or consistent handling of each show. I've seen some local shows run amazing, and some run awfully, and each show would likely have its own individual caveat as far as attendance figures. But it would be interesting to see a bit more breakdown; as others have said it seems irrefutable that attendance was up across the board at shows, FN streaming, and theater attendance - at Championships and big regional shows alike. Very cool news and would love to see this as a trend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 That type of analysis would be interesting; while I was never a fan of statistics in college, I find this sort of numbers analysis fascinating. I do think, however, that analyzing local shows is a bit harder, since there are many varying factors. The DCI events were marketed and run by DCI and therefor are at least somewhat of a "control," or consistent handling of each show. I've seen some local shows run amazing, and some run awfully, and each show would likely have its own individual caveat as far as attendance figures. But it would be interesting to see a bit more breakdown; as others have said it seems irrefutable that attendance was up across the board at shows, FN streaming, and theater attendance - at Championships and big regional shows alike. Very cool news and would love to see this as a trend! yeah I think a show by show breakdown would be cool. it may kill some theories or make some run even more rampant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I know that we're primarily talking about paid attendance here -- but in terms of how attendance translates into any current reading or inference into Drum Corps' popular appeal, we can't discount attendance at such appearances as "in the park" free demonstrations/performances, civic street parades, etc. I'm sure that there are times in which an appearance by any of the World Class (or Open Class, for that matter) Corps in a civic parade may very well draw people who ordinarily may not attend. I know there is no way of knowing the numbers...but I'm sure the situation exists. Besides...I would assume that the corps are making something for their time -- and I doubt that an organizer would pay out the extra expense for the appearance if there wasn't some form of profiting -- even if it's nothing more than the added prestige. Just thought I'd kick that one out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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