How would you breathe life into Indy?

[mingusmonk]

13 minutes ago, Dream Theater said:

I was looking for something with a bit more substance and meaning than a fun run. Also DCI could get the Corps not competing to be the course entertainment. You could even get the IMS involved where the runners could do a lap on the speedway.

Maybe one day. As is the M.O. for the folks at Inspire Arts & Music, they are being diligent and deliberate to ensure as much success as possible while developing their programs. The current organizational strength and financial of BAC can attest to this. 

Good luck getting the Speedway involved considering they are a cornerstone of one of the most popular half-marathons in the midwest as part of the 500 Festival. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by mingusmonk

[Cadevilina Crown]

Honestly, if we're not going to be able to breathe life into Indianapolis, we should at least try to breathe some life into the rest of the tour. Some suggestions:

• Move the first show of the year to a different venue every year, and include a combination of corps from both east and west of the Mississippi.
• Make the Texas regional rotate between SA, Houston, and DFW.
• Have all the corps perform on the West Coast later in the season.
• Make DCI East a one-night stand in a big stadium somewhere besides Allentown, like East Rutherford or Foxboro.

I don't care what they choose to do. What I don't want is for all the weeks leading up to Championships to be virtually the same format every #### year. It's driving me nuts.

(Maybe for Open Class the current format can be kept due to budget limitations, but this should be doable for World Class.)

Edited July 26, 2017 by Cadevilina Crown

[MikeRapp]

Have dramatically more participation from African American marching members, especially musicians.

Have more organizations with bigger, more innovative shows.

The first would go a long way to meeting the second.

[jmc5682]

1 hour ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

Honestly, if we're not going to be able to breathe life into Indianapolis, we should at least try to breathe some life into the rest of the tour. Some suggestions:

• Move the first show of the year to a different venue every year, and include a combination of corps from both east and west of the Mississippi.
• Make the Texas regional rotate between SA, Houston, and DFW.
• Have all the corps perform on the West Coast later in the season.
• Make DCI East a one-night stand in a big stadium somewhere besides Allentown, like East Rutherford or Foxboro.

I don't care what they choose to do. What I don't want is for all the weeks leading up to Championships to be virtually the same format every #### year. It's driving me nuts.

(Maybe for Open Class the current format can be kept due to budget limitations, but this should be doable for World Class.)

I think these are all great ideas.  I especially like having a west coast show later in the season, even though I know the cost and location of Indy makes that impossible.  It really sucks though.  You have your top two corps (at least right now) both from the SF Bay Area yet the last time we got to see these corps live was late June.  

Edited July 26, 2017 by jmc5682
spelling

[Jeff Ream]

On 4/19/2017 at 5:26 PM, 2000Cadet said:

Here's a thought. Move finals to East Rutherford. The City is 15 minutes away and it NEVER sleeps!!!

fewer thunderstorms in August too

[garfield]

4 hours ago, ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar said:

The fan part of me mostly agrees with you.

But as a member: I hated retreat. It always depended on the show. Some were nice and quick about it, and others took forever. The worst was always the midwest shows, where we would get eaten alive by bugs while staying locked down ... meanwhile the Cavaliers/BD would be talking and making a mockery of the entire thing. This was at every single show, even the ones in podunk towns where nobody cared about scores anyway.

When they got rid of it for every show, we actually had free time to decompress or practice.

There were some great retreat moments. We did a traditional one at one show where every corps played off and left the field ... which was really cool (especially hearing SCV play "Send in the Clowns" for the first time). It was also nice to see smaller shows actually be treated the same as bigger regionals.

But the logistics outweigh the nostalgia. DCI can and should do more to help the fan experience, but full retreat isn't it (in my opinion).

Excellent post.  Good sentence structure, sound arguments from experience, respectul in opinion.

I don't particularly care about your decompress or practice time, but I sympathise about the Midwest 'skeeters.

Interesting that the corps most-complaining about retreat are the lower-placing corps because they generally go on earlier in the show.  So they have to hang around the longest when they need the most practice/sleep time because they gave up the most of same to make their early step-off time.

I appreciate your perspective.

[Jeff Ream]

On 4/20/2017 at 1:20 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:

Equipment truck race at the speedway.

 

& make it so position finished impact the owning Corps' semi-finals score.  

Example - For every place the truck finished, 0.1 is deducted from the semi-finals score.  First place truck has 0.0 deducted; second place 0.1 deducted, third 0.2 & so on.  Could make things sporty in the 10-14 place semi-finals Corps.

 

 

 

pit cart races

[Jeff Ream]

3 hours ago, Rhumbline said:

The housing issue is going to make Indianapolis non functional. It has become an enigma. Yes, the show will go on, but with how many corps in a few years,  Housing Corps in another state, necessary to stay in hotels. 

I wonder how many corps are on the verge of saying screw it.  Open class will be history in another two years .  the logistical and financial cost of housing, and transport is over riding the positives now...  Many fans are using Allentown as their semi's now.  Indianapolis is now more of a negative thsn a positive

i agree on the costs but.....Indys attendance is going up...except for one huge year, Allentown has stayed stagnant. I have no desire to go back to Indy after 10, tho when my daughter is older I'm sure I will, but I was amazed at how early downtown shut down. the 3 hotel bars i stopped by were totally unprepared for the amount of people after the show. 

 

food trucks outside the venue and encouraging a big tailgate type of gathering would be a great idea. the food in the stadium is meh and NFL pricey. I'm not looking for St Elmos quality, but for the price it should be better than McDonalds.

 

the consurse downstairs was a pain, but after i heard from people about it going to the main level, i'd probably have claustrophobic attacks.

 

but alas...it's not moving unless something huge happens. CA is so owed some finals it's laughable.

[Jeff Ream]

2 hours ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

Honestly, if we're not going to be able to breathe life into Indianapolis, we should at least try to breathe some life into the rest of the tour. Some suggestions:

• Move the first show of the year to a different venue every year, and include a combination of corps from both east and west of the Mississippi.
• Make the Texas regional rotate between SA, Houston, and DFW.
• Have all the corps perform on the West Coast later in the season.
• Make DCI East a one-night stand in a big stadium somewhere besides Allentown, like East Rutherford or Foxboro.

I don't care what they choose to do. What I don't want is for all the weeks leading up to Championships to be virtually the same format every #### year. It's driving me nuts.

(Maybe for Open Class the current format can be kept due to budget limitations, but this should be doable for World Class.)

IMO....honestly...i get Allentown has its issues. But NJ costs will turn fans off

[2muchcoffeeman]

On 4/19/2017 at 11:50 AM, ouooga said:

what would you do/want to see happen to make an every-year-Indy-Finals as interesting/exciting for out-of-town travelers to help generate some new excitement?