Jeff Ream Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 5 hours ago, Jim Schehr said: If you change nothing, nothing's going to change. I pointed out that the most difficult thing will be to agree change needs to occur. If there's no common ground on that, discussion over. oh i agree something needs to happen. i'm just not sure what the win win is 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 3:29 PM, Jeff Ream said: showing my age, but there were no games Labor Day weekend when i was in school My school actually starts games the week before Labor Day weekend. It's a giant PITA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 10:20 AM, Jim Schehr said: If you change nothing, nothing's going to change. I pointed out that the most difficult thing will be to agree change needs to occur. If there's no common ground on that, discussion over. I doubt common ground has been reached yet. Over the past decade, messaging has been all about making DCA more youth friendly, and reaching out to them in a recruiting sense. Meanwhile, the competitive rewards of increasing the physical/visual demands have made it necessary to recruit younger performers to the point of replacing those too old or unfit to perform modern visual shows. Despite all that, the leadership of DCA sees no issue. Their website still spends half their bandwidth touting DCA as the place where whole families can march together, when the reality is that most moms and dads can only march with corps who are not keeping up competitively with their more mobile peers (or by giving up on "marching" positions and joining the front ensemble). 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadasmoothie Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 5 hours ago, cixelsyd said: I doubt common ground has been reached yet. Over the past decade, messaging has been all about making DCA more youth friendly, and reaching out to them in a recruiting sense. Meanwhile, the competitive rewards of increasing the physical/visual demands have made it necessary to recruit younger performers to the point of replacing those too old or unfit to perform modern visual shows. Despite all that, the leadership of DCA sees no issue. Their website still spends half their bandwidth touting DCA as the place where whole families can march together, when the reality is that most moms and dads can only march with corps who are not keeping up competitively with their more mobile peers (or by giving up on "marching" positions and joining the front ensemble). Well, families CAN march together in the corps I volunteer with, as long as Mom & Dad are relatively fit. I mean, we've had a 60-year-old within the last few years, and a couple 50-plus folks now, and most would say we do pretty well, competitively-speaking . And I would argue that you may have the "chicken or the egg question" wrong. Seems to me that BECAUSE it has become necessary to recruit younger performers, we've increased the demand to make it attractive to them. I get it - Nearly everybody's facing at least SOME recruiting challenges. I just don't think making it easier for older folks to perform our shows is a significant part of the solution. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 I really think SoundSport is the real venue for guys like us, Smoothie. Whatever DCA can do to get involved with that somehow would be good for them- whether including SoundSport in I and E- whatever. I know Minicorps is similar, but yeah- if DCA is supposed to be 'all age' and unless you're parked, you can't hack it anymore and still want to play- it's an option. Heck, the Indoor Winds thing could also be viable. Kind of been studying that as well, believe me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 17 hours ago, grenadasmoothie said: Well, families CAN march together in the corps I volunteer with, as long as Mom & Dad are relatively fit. I mean, we've had a 60-year-old within the last few years, and a couple 50-plus folks now, and most would say we do pretty well, competitively-speaking . Yes, but those people (maybe 3 people over the past 3 years?) are the exception, not the rule. Quote And I would argue that you may have the "chicken or the egg question" wrong. Seems to me that BECAUSE it has become necessary to recruit younger performers, we've increased the demand to make it attractive to them. Not sure there is a link there at all. The increasing visual demand is just one of countless examples of DCA emulating DCI, and forfeiting the unique identity they once had in the marching arts. It would have happened anyway. Quote I get it - Nearly everybody's facing at least SOME recruiting challenges. I just don't think making it easier for older folks to perform our shows is a significant part of the solution. There is no way to force the genie back into the bottle, so you are essentially correct there. A far more impactful solution, in my opinion, would be what the DCA mission should be... fostering more corps. If we are to have a successful activity for weekend warriors, we cannot afford (literally or figuratively) to be spending the majority of the weekend on buses. The less corps we have, the farther they must travel to get together for a contest. Most failures of DCA corps cite the time/cost of travel as a cause of death. Now we complain about needing more time to learn and refine demanding programs. Less time traveling leaves more time to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 2 hours ago, cixelsyd said: Yes, but those people (maybe 3 people over the past 3 years?) are the exception, not the rule. Not sure there is a link there at all. The increasing visual demand is just one of countless examples of DCA emulating DCI, and forfeiting the unique identity they once had in the marching arts. It would have happened anyway. There is no way to force the genie back into the bottle, so you are essentially correct there. A far more impactful solution, in my opinion, would be what the DCA mission should be... fostering more corps. If we are to have a successful activity for weekend warriors, we cannot afford (literally or figuratively) to be spending the majority of the weekend on buses. The less corps we have, the farther they must travel to get together for a contest. Most failures of DCA corps cite the time/cost of travel as a cause of death. Now we complain about needing more time to learn and refine demanding programs. Less time traveling leaves more time to do that. and starting corps isnt exactly cheap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 6 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: and starting corps isnt exactly cheap. Which is why things are headed more to the grassroots level with Minis/SoundSport. Easier to envision finding 15-18 people with less extensive demands on time and $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 1 hour ago, BigW said: Which is why things are headed more to the grassroots level with Minis/SoundSport. Easier to envision finding 15-18 people with less extensive demands on time and $$$. the only problem i've seen with that and the mini corps thing is people too get too ###### competitive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Just now, Jeff Ream said: the only problem i've seen with that and the mini corps thing is people too get too ###### competitive The worst decision in DCA history was when someone decided minicorps needed scores. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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