Dan Detweiler Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Dan, that sounds encouraging. Seems to me, July 4 might be a great weekend for something like that! In DCA, to bring in all corps requires a full 3-day period for travel. Helps many fans, too! I mean, how many corps can afford to fly here and there, except maybe uber-wealthy corps like Atlanta CV? Uber-wealthy!? Well if we are considered uber-wealthy that is a SAAAAD statement regarding other corps financial situations! Thanks for the vote of confidence though. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 So I thought about this during the car ride home from practice. While I understand the hypothetical the original poster was presenting, I really thing we're trying to fox a problem that simply doesn't exist. One of the draws, for me, with the total DCA Championships weekend is that it's got everything a fan could possible want. You have the two day competition, to be sure, but you have the cool factor of I&E, and the fun-factor of minicorps, along with the social aspect of both of those events. For the folks that dig alumni corps, the Spectacular is there (maybe that event could be tweaked to promote more interest, but that's a topic for another thread). Am I wrong in thinking we might be trying to create a solution in search of a problem? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkmummer Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I agree with some earlier posts. July 4th is a money day for most corps. On the year that it falls on a weekend, you force corps to give up a chance to earn some income. Secondly, color guards simply wouldn't have the amount of time to be fully ready or designed by July 4th when most corps don't call them in until after the indoor season is completed. From what I saw most guards were in house by the first or second weekend of May whereas the music side has been going since late November through January (Starting) and on the field around the first of March. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 DCI's championships have been in August since the creation of DCI, correct? And the audience manages to get the time off work to attend, correct? Now with a very large portion of the members of DCA corps being of school age it isn't as crucial to have championships on a long weekend. When it was an 'adult' activity it was better because adults could participate with only losing one or two vacation days. At least that is my understanding of it, please correct me if I am wrong. I personally do not like the idea of a completely anticlimactic championship which I believe you would have if championships were held 4th of July week (sorry, since it is so rarely on a weekend, I can't see touting it as the same). Many guards are rarely in full swing prior to Clifton (that was always the do or die point - have the show finished by Clifton). I can't say the drill or music is anything close to what you would hear 6-7 weeks later either. I, personally, would have no interest in investing in a ticket for championships held that early. Championship tickets aren't cheap, and you are paying to see who has the best show at the END of the season. I understand people like NASCAR, but I don't see why anyone who participates in an activity that thrives on improvement and changes would compare itself to a 'sport' where people don't really change or improve a thing. A car goes in the same direction for multiple times and all that changes is speed and participants. There isn't a learning curve. There is no way you can compare what one does to the other, including the crowds that come to one, as it is a nationally televised 'sport'. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Now, let's all calm down about the NASCAR example. I could have used Horse Racing, Golf, Indycar and probably other organizations that have significant, high-focus events before many of their other events occur. I do believe the 3-day component is preferred by most corps and fans. How could everything involved be squeezed into just 2 days? Unfortunately, not enough fans and corps representatives post here anymore. We might never get any meaningful consensus with this thread. I guess the point is, we all would like better results (finance and attendance) from DCA's biggest weekend. It's just that we don't see any real traction in that direction. Troubling, and I reject the word 'hopeless.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 So your options are Memorial Day weekend or Labor Day weekend if you want a 3 day component. Corps don't even start competing at Memorial Day weekend now so ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Good points, however, I'm not so sure the Alumni & I&E events can't stand on their own. Look at Plymouth, it's doing just fine every year, and it's held in November! It's a two day event with a show and parade...add in the I&E and such a weekend could be cultivated into a sucess. As for the off weekend. It certainly shouldn't be mandatory for anyone. But there are surely enough hard core devotees among the ranks that would gravitate towards such a weekend... many to participate in the I&E, and others as fans. Having a weekend off dosen't have to mean "No Drum Corps".....note, several corps take the Allentown weekend off so interested members can attend the DCI show...some go, some don't. Compitition is clearly the focus for corps, but one must factor in so many other elements when summing up the overall drum corps experience we all embrace...soo many memories both on and off the field, they last a lifetime! Plymouth is alumni driven, and mostly limited to corps within the region. DCA isn't. So therefore you add in extra travel and related costs to get there on a separate weekend. And...Plymouth does well because it's locally driven. DCA isn't. People that would travel for the weekend as it is now would not travel for a second week. Why? costs. So you're guaranteed looking at lower number of participants and spectators. No way it breaks even. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 So I thought about this during the car ride home from practice. While I understand the hypothetical the original poster was presenting, I really thing we're trying to fox a problem that simply doesn't exist. One of the draws, for me, with the total DCA Championships weekend is that it's got everything a fan could possible want. You have the two day competition, to be sure, but you have the cool factor of I&E, and the fun-factor of minicorps, along with the social aspect of both of those events. For the folks that dig alumni corps, the Spectacular is there (maybe that event could be tweaked to promote more interest, but that's a topic for another thread). Am I wrong in thinking we might be trying to create a solution in search of a problem? ding ding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) Thought Plymouth attendance had dropped off the last few years from what I had read. And the corps concert is only one part of the whole weekend. IIRC the other corps events is the one concert and the parade (and corps are only part of the parade). Edited May 18, 2015 by JimF-LowBari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Thought Plymouth attendance had dropped off the last few years from what I had read. And the corps concert is only one part of the whole weekend. IIRC the other corps events is the one concert and the parade (and corps are only part of the parade). Good points, Jim. At least the years I've been attending that weekend... since 2011... it seems the parade is the biggest draw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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