ampfan

Andy Grindle is the new BCH. https://pioneer-corps.org/staff/brass.html

She was actually a trumpet player in her college marching band.

They'll do better this year, they're coming out of the gate much stronger than previous years.

I'm a brass guy, so the only note I made to myself was "The guard is missing a large chunk of work - they're at right shoulder for a pretty big impact point"

I was there. They were noticeably better than 2014. I couldn't get a great count, but counted 48-52 or so horns. They sounded decent in the lot - they have a much more ambitious book than in the last few years. I was also excited that the show branched out from their typical programming. Man of Steel could be pretty cool by the end of the season. Did they deserve an 8.6 in brass? Well, it was a rough performance but it is their first show. Plenty of time to improve. Anything else you'd like to know?

Yes, yes, and yes. Blue Knights 2002 is one of my favorite dark shows out there - pretty terrible visual package, but outside of Cavaliers...that was a pretty weird few years of visual design.

That was the summer that BD came out with a show that was nothing like what was on the field for finals. Devs had them by 4 points at their first show together, but Crossmen took them iGE visual at the show.

Really embarrassing reading pages and pages of grown --- adults arguing about a youth activity.

Oops - I stand corrected! I'll go check them out. Thanks for letting me know, garfield. Following up with lapsed donors is probably the worst part of fundraising, but is essential. You spend all of this time, energy, and money to land a new donor and then you let them walk away with...nothing? Mind-boggling. Do you know anything about the makeup of their fundraising team? I just can't see them having a large staff.

That's where comparing numbers across organizations gets a little weird. I currently fundraise for a very large nonprofit, and sit on the board of a few smaller nonprofits. Those numbers really are upside down. These numbers will never be released, but I wonder how many Friends of DCI members they have. There are quite a few DCI alums that've moved into lucrative positions after they age out...why not start a master participant database? Approach the younger ageouts for micro-donations. $25 bucks to fund...something. Instill the idea of giving back at a young age, and hook them before another organization scoops up their philanthropic dollars... What I also want to see is DCI to roll out an enhanced Corporate Partner program. I take a look at the Corporate Partners page on the website and notice that they are doing great with support from music companies, and have very little outside of that. I'd like them to make a bit of an effort to build non-musical corporate partners in Indianapolis. Klipsch, the speaker manufacturers, are Indy based, along with a ton of other companies. With Finals based in Indy, put together a recognition concert Finals week for sponsors...get a few corps to pop in and play a tune or two and showcase the activity. Perhaps extend the sponsor showcase at Lucas Oil to include companies that might be recruiting for internships? Lots of kids that march aren't music majors, but are brilliant in other fields. Having the ability to recruit dedicated folks has to be worth something, right? Free ideas. Steal away, any DCI fundraisers that might be reading...

Garfield, you are entirely correct. Donor expenses include several things: solicitation mailings (these are often shipped out to a mailing house), donor premiums (the seats, free programs, DCI yearbook, etc. All goodies), and cultivation costs (the money they spend wooing potential/current donors). A good way to think of this is, "How much does this organization spend to make $1?" Average organizations typically run $.25-$.30 per dollar raised. I do believe DCI has been in need of a shakeup in fundraising staff for a bit, but I could be wrong.

Bingo! I'm not sure why everyone thinks that DCI should be essentially giving away content.

2002 BK is one of my favorite dark shows. Love, love, love the Shostakovich. A little rough visually, but a solid performance from most of the other captions.

No input from me, but thank you Lansing for an open conversation about the corps!

Crown is unbelievably dirty visually tonight, BD should open the spread to 1.3-1.4. Any word on a tough rehearsal day, or what?