Tekneek

1984 was easier to accept on a first viewing than 1988 was. Not that I don't enjoy 1988 Suncoast, but that show still leaves me scratching my head a bit. As controversial as Star 1993 may have been to some, it never even got close to Suncoast's 1988 show with me.

Nobody has said anything that I did not already know, but I enjoyed the discussion anyway. What is important with corporations is not their home state for purposes of incorporation, it is where they claim their headquarters to be. In the types of corporations you are talking about, their headquarters are not likely to be in Delaware. I don't get the point with bringing up how professional sports players don't live where they work. They are also signed to contracts that pay them and don't portray themselves as educational entities. DCI has an identity problem when it comes to this "major league" marketing thing. A lot of things in and around the activity are not the type of things you would associate with a "major league" anything. In my ideal drum corps world, most corps would be comprised of reasonably local people with a few hardcore types that make long drives and plane flights to be a part of a particular corps. While I admit that this remote camp thing with the Blue Stars is not indicative of this, I do believe that most corps today have remote audition sites and camps to further their own competitive goals and not to spread the drum corps love. I expect most could find enough members to field a unit without doing so, and that this is merely an attempt to fish out the better players from other areas in favor of bumping out inferior local types. I could be wrong, but that is the impression I get from it.

I may be wrong, but I think Randy Nelson has been involved with the corps, at least at times, for many years.

Makes me wonder why they have their corps headquartered in such a place anyway then. Maybe it is time to make a permanent move.

Why not just move the corps to this new area completely then? Make it the new home for the corps since they actually support the corps. I never said anything about "kids" having to "stay local." If they want to march with a corps a thousand miles away, find a way to get there. I don't believe corps have camps in multiple areas for the convenience of potential members. I think they do it because they don't want to "settle" for those who would come to a single location. Gee, that is so obvious that I wonder why you even bothered to type it yourself. By the way, I stated that as sort of my ideal preference. I thought it seemed rather clear by my actual word choice, but perhaps not.

Not intending to say that the sky is falling, but I think it is just this kind of thing that hurts growth of the activity (referring to number of corps). There are constant attempts to move into other areas, having auditions and camps in multiple states and so on. It seems like it meant a lot more when corps were generally in their "home area" and those who wanted to march there would get there by whatever method was required. I would much prefer new corps be developed in other areas instead of having established corps put their footprint on it.

As exciting as this may be, I'm not even sure it is necessary. Div I corps these days are turning away lots of people. There appears to be more supply than demand when it comes to them, so I'm unclear on who needs to have their view of DCI/drum corps changed. Directing these kids toward the Div II/III corps that don't get all their spots filled is the real marketing void in the activity today. Something I would be excited about would be if DCI did this type of thing for the business side of the activity. Where potential founders/directors and others involved, or interested in, drum corps management could come together and learn from those already doing it. Where they could find out the things others do to keep the buses on the road all summer, review example balance sheets, etc. That is something that I think the activity desperately needs more of. The prospective members are already out there knocking down the doors. Let's teach people how to run corps properly so they all have a place to march that isn't on the verge of folding every fall.

Not surprising that The Cadets would opt out. It should actually be expected. I'm not trying to attack the corps or George Hopkins, but not being involved is exactly what I would expect from them. You can bet that DCI would not exclude them intentionally.

That was a point I had expressed before. By not arranging to have this shown on TSN, at least, which ESPN owns a stake in, DCI is effectively saying they have no intention to reach the Canadian market with this "infomercial" aside from organizations that might request DVDs of it.

I really like this analogy. I think there have been a few of those over the years, but feel like these days I am left celebrating singles, maybe a double or two, or if really lucky somebody might eek out a triple. Not only are there no grand slams happening, I don't think there has even been a home run the past few years. Unfortunately, I see DCI giving strong consideration to aluminum bats (electronics), and that is going to be even less appealing. Sure, they work well enough (to some degree) in the college/highschool game, but it will be just another gimmick in the "major league" that cheapens the whole thing.

Which is why serious fans of things like the Olympics try to get coverage from other nations by any means possible. Everything we get, in this nation, is edited down as much as possible. The opinion in the business is that people have extremely short attention spans and are idiots. You've got to bounce around and dumb it down as much as possible. By the way, you can bet that Disney and other media monoliths love this talk about ESPN2 being free. It is that sort of thing that was allowing Disney to force 20% increases in fees per subscriber every year on the pay TV services (cable, satellite, etc). The masses, somehow, don't think they are paying for these channels. Do you people think you are just paying Comcast/DirecTV/Dish Network and that none of that money has to be paid out to the content providers? For each subscriber that has access to the ESPN networks (whether they ever watch it or not), ESPN is paid up to $3.50 per month. That may sound like a small amount, but it certainly isn't free.

Once I feel like I'm not getting appropriate entertainment/enjoyment for my money, I am out the door. If there is a rule change that I do not like that is embraced by virtually all corps, I could be gone forever. I will watch DVDs of the good years and settle for the memories.

I keep hearing and reading this, but I would certainly love to see some data on it. Not all PBS stations have integrity when it comes to these claims. I was giving money to my local PBS stations when I was as young as 13. With few exceptions, the programs that inspired me to support the station were dropped in short order. After this happened enough times, I felt like I wouldn't give them a penny for anything.

Over the past two years, the amount of show shown for 11-12 combined is less than one full show, based on my recollection. It may even be less than what was typically shown in the old "highlights" show.

Sure would be nice if they could find a way to play to both. Seeing it on TV the way it was broadcast in 1988-1989 was enough to get me hooked. Kids are being turned away from the Div I corps in droves, from what I read. An "infomercial" designed solely to attract newbies to those corps seems completely unnecessary based on that. Pumping up II/III would seem like a better choice if they want to drum up interest and spread the word.

Bad scenes can make it past the final cut in any sort of production. That, alone, does not mean it is a good segment.

How many of the other members are "trained" or "professionals" at what they are doing on the field? If a corps decided to use people who weren't trained drummers, preferring instead to field a snare line selected from the guard members that could hit a drum with a stick, should they get a pass on their execution of that part of the show? In all my time as a corps fan, I've never heard or read people say, "Man, that was a very good solo, considering he is not a professional." They either say it was a very good solo or they don't. They don't say, "That was a very good drum line, for being amateurs." It was either very good or it wasn't. Likewise, I don't think we should give speaking parts a pass simply because they aren't professionals at it. It was either very good, or it wasn't. It is assumed in drum corps that you are not professionals. It is also assumed that drum corps will put members on the parts that they should have the greatest success at. Not parts they won't do well at with the hope that the "they aren't professionals" excuse will bail them out. I have nothing against any members of any corps. I have issues with the use of those members by the staff and those who might attempt to excuse mistakes by hiding behind the 'amateur' level of the activity. Maybe everybody should just get a 100 since nobody is being paid to march/participate and being critical of non-professionals should be removed from the activity.

Cadets 2000 and Cavaliers 2000. I was entertained by the music and the drill at a great level. It was the last time I got really excited about new drum corps stuff. "Machine" was really good, and Phantom/SCV this year was really good, but something has been lost. Nevermind that I've not been as excited about anything in the activity as I was from 1988-1994.

When I got dumped from the Semifinals webcast before the Kingsmen performance and was unable to get back in, I reported my situation to DCI and never got a response. I told them I would not ever be a Platinum subscriber again unless they made it right. I guess they decided it would be better to just kick me to the curb since I never got anything. For an organization that is supposedly so dependent on fans, they have a rather cavalier idea of what customer service is about.

I'm guessing the problem with the "old way" is the word "old." DCI seems to have a lot of change merely for the sake of change, usually sold as being innovative, increasing creativity, and allowing to make artistic masterpieces. I'd much rather they just increase show lengths if they want longer shows. There is nothing especially creative or artistic about having an announcer talk over your "introduction", and the problem is not the announcer. It's an activity that can't seem to figure out what it is trying to accomplish.

Ok. It should not be banned simply because some do not like it. If that is a valid reason to not discuss restrictions or removal, then liking/tolerating it is not a valid reason to continue it. If it could be clearly demonstrated how it is judged, I wouldn't have as big of a problem with it. Up to this point (as far as I know), despite having people around DCP that have been on staff with corps since this 'innovation' hit the field, nobody has clearly explained how this is judged, revealing how it has been discussed on sheets, how it has been talked about in critique, and how it has affected scores.

Why change something that isn't really broken? Even the current system is better than staff member amateur announcing roulette.

I think that most corps play to the judges and that, overall, the activity is more self-serving than ever before. I hope the intended audience of drum corps is the fans, but at worst it should be 50/50. Right now it isn't even at that point. Yes. If drum corps need fans of them/the activity to keep their buses on the road, they should care what the fans think. They should know they are going out with a show that fans will love instead of hoping they will at least be given polite applause for their art. Force them to play more to the crowd by making it a component of the score. I am not sure how you might put this into practice, but if drum corps are largely caring more about scores than entertainment, you must make the entertainment of the crowd a component of the score to force them to make it a program consideration. Ideally, I would hope that you get people that represent different generations to combine on a fan component score so that individual bias can be mitigated. As well, let fans have a say on how the activity is ran. Give them some input on rules proposals/changes. An activity that is so dependent on their fans for both recruitment and support should consider their input in virtually everything they do.

I'd much rather every corps get the "Now on the field...", "Drum major, is your corps ready?", etc. It would be nice if the drum majors had to salute when asked if their corps was ready and given permission to perform. I know that rule was wiped out sometime ago, but that was another cool thing about drum corps that is dying off.

Suppose the concept of "junior corps" holds little significance to some.