THeShadeOfNight Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 But wait, electronics are going to save DCI! That is what we were told a few years ago. There will be more kids and fans than DCI will know what to do with. How about corps go back to being corps as the first step. I know a lot of people and money that has left the activity in the last 4-5 seasons due to the electronic issue. Im curious where everyone finds these numbers on DCI losing money and for attendance. If anyone could point me to these figures I would appreciate it. Also, I understand the long running tradition of community corps and love the idea of training marchers so they may later step up. But go in a bandroom and who are they more likely to have heard of: Cavaliers or Racine Scouts? If OC went on its own, they would die off almost immediately. The financial issues and advertisement problems would magnify ten fold. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hup234 Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Forte is the FOURTH corps this year that couldn't make it to Indy. Teal Sound Racine Scouts Forte Velvet Knights Also, this corps could not make it member-wise to tour this year: Citations. Regarding the current concern about recent disbandings: The bulk of the mass-disbandings took place thirty to forty years ago when the activity was hijacked by the money-driven artistes who though their Machiavellian politicizing and coincidental defeatism among the remaining units forced them to buy incredibly-expensive equipment, pay living wages to instructors, raise competition budgets through the roof (which killed off most of the local contests and forced ever-more-distant travel to be able to compete. What's happening now is end-stage. "Another poster made mention of people watching corps in the lot and not seeing the smaller groups. We NEED to support the little guys that struggle every year. We are each responsible in a small, indirect way for not helping these guys out." The public cannot be blamed for what they do/don't want to see, and the smaller units all feel they must do world-class-type shows - albeit scaled-down - to be able to participate, and in honesty those shows can at times painful to sit through, and the participants know it, which doesn't help their morale. "I say we start a massive fund-raising drive to help get the corps back on their feet by donating to them. It seems that corporate structure is not an issue, but money is." Money is an issue, but that lack of money stems from overpaid staff, overpriced equipment, and the diminishing appeal of the smaller units. And what nobody seems to be able to grasp is that there's a very finite number of what the artistes have managed over the recent decades to base the entire concept of the reinvented-away-from-rookies activity around: musically-experienced youth with money, time and interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Im curious where everyone finds these numbers on DCI losing money and for attendance. If anyone could point me to these figures I would appreciate it. Well as far as local shows go, it's all anecdotal, other than the fact that there are fewer shows and fewer corps. For finals, there are quite a few numbers that have been shared by DCI over the years. Below is the data I have--all from dci.org News Archive section. I don't have specific citations for each number, but it's searchable on dci.org. On the finals numbers, "att" means attendance, "tix" means tickets sold; some years only one was reported, some years both, many years none, some numbers are extrapolated by percentages given by DCI, round numbers are estimates. Clearly actual attendance is singificantly (10-30%) higher than ticket sales. Note that only attendance is reported for recent years. Draw your own conclusions from the numbers. DCI Championship Finals 1981: tix 32,427; att 36,000 1995: tix 19,100 1996: tix 13,771 1997: tix 13,773 1998: tix 12,693 1999: tix 19,931 2000: tix 18,423 2001: tix 16,406 2002: tix 20,230; att 26,000 2003: tix 18,865 2004: tix 22,047 2005: att 20,542 2006: att 21,232 2007: tix 24,309 2008: att 20,534 2009: att 17,865 2010: att 15,900 2011: att 17,363 Open Class Finals Atttendance 2006: 4,190 2007: 3,221 2010: 916 2011: 1,191 Quarterfinals Live Cinema Event Tickets 2004: 17,603 2005: 18,363 2006: 22,715 2007: 22,956 2008: 33,955 2009: 37,570 2010: 39,143 2011: 38,722 Preseason Cinema Event Tickets 2005: 17,000 2009: 19,000 2011: 23,044 Fan Network Subscribers 2007: 6,332 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) There needs to be a way that a drum corps can compete every weekend, from mid-June until mid-August, within a 250 mile radius of their 'home' location. Like DCM was in the 70's - 90's. We did not go to DCI, yet I assure you no one had more fun marching than I did. Throwing $$ here & there, unless it amalgamates to a Bill Cook level, is the proverbial 'band aid on a sucking chest wound'. As an side, I suggest all the members from the 4 corps that folded so far this season get together at I&E and do a production called 'Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic' Edited July 29, 2012 by IllianaLancerContra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkingqm Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 How about not letting ppl enter the stadium after the first 2 corps have gone on. Not a good idea. When a spectator travels over two hours one way to a show to an unfamiliar venue they may be (and I have been) delayed for various reasons. If you turn them away they will never return. How about, not letting ppl leave the stadium? ... If you have to take a potty break ... no problem .. Bad idea. Are you going to ask people why they are leaving then tell them to go back to their seat if they don't need a take a #1 or a #2? I went to a show where I wasn't allowed to leave to go to my car during intermission. I raised a stink here in DCP and vowed to never return to that show. I still like my DCI Jumbotron idea. Do live feeds from the lot between corps. I like that idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewSkool Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Forte is the FOURTH corps this year that couldn't make it to Indy. Teal Sound Racine Scouts Forte Velvet Knights Also, this corps could not make it member-wise to tour this year: Citations. Another poster made mention of people watching corps in the lot and not seeing the smaller groups. We NEED to support the little guys that struggle every year. We are each responsible in a small, indirect way for not helping these guys out. I say we start a massive fund-raising drive to help get the corps back on their feet by donating to them. It seems that corporate structure is not an issue, but money is. It's time for us as a community to corps together and help those corps that need it the most, particularly the ones mentioned above. I'd like to see all of them on the field, IN INDY again in 3 years, tops. I think we on DCP can make that happen. fixed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 DCI Championship Finals 1981: tix 32,427; att 36,000 1995: tix 19,100 1996: tix 13,771 1997: tix 13,773 1998: tix 12,693 1999: tix 19,931 2000: tix 18,423 2001: tix 16,406 2002: tix 20,230; att 26,000 2003: tix 18,865 2004: tix 22,047 2005: att 20,542 2006: att 21,232 2007: tix 24,309 2008: att 20,534 2009: att 17,865 2010: att 15,900 2011: att 17,363 Open Class Finals Atttendance 2006: 4,190 2007: 3,221 2010: 916 2011: 1,191 2008: 33,955 2009: 37,570 2010: 39,143 2011: 38,722 So, attendance is always fluctuating. Even in the late 90s, when people still '' loved drum corps'' before it all changed, attendance was comparable to now. Same in 2003. People just really hate orlando? Those open class numbers make me really sad, especially since they were in the same stadium as world class. Go support Open Class everyone, before they're gone. Looking at the numbers, it really looks like the theater showing is a huge market for dci across the country 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexL Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 How about not letting ppl enter the stadium after the first 2 corps have gone on. Can't say i'd agree with this. While sure, some want to see all of them, some just want to see some of the groups, and that is their decision with their money. No different than buying a ticket for a band (the drums\guitar etc kind you might find in a bar) and skipping one of their opening acts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexL Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 So, attendance is always fluctuating. Even in the late 90s, when people still '' loved drum corps'' before it all changed, attendance was comparable to now. Same in 2003. People just really hate orlando? Those open class numbers make me really sad, especially since they were in the same stadium as world class. Go support Open Class everyone, before they're gone. Looking at the numbers, it really looks like the theater showing is a huge market for dci across the country Looks like people didnt like Orlando and repeating in orlando, just like people don't like the dome and repeating in the dome\indianapolis. When you're taking off that much time, for a lot its a vacation. Planting it in the same city year after year, whether it be orlando or indianpolis, removes some of the 'vacation' aspect of it as people rarely want to go to the same city year after year after year for that... especially if its a place like Indy (don't get me wrong, its a nice town... but not many would name it as a 'vacation destination') I went to 2 finals in indy (plus the finals in bloomington) and i'm likely done going to finals (only thing that might bring me back is i may have work bringing me to indy in 2014 right before finals). Not a good drum corps venue and i've got a fantastic one just north of here in Minneapolis. If they'd ever shake up the schedule (which they really should) i'd have zero reason at all to go to Indiaapolis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Looks like people didnt like Orlando and repeating in orlando, just like people don't like the dome and repeating in the dome\indianapolis. When you're taking off that much time, for a lot its a vacation. Planting it in the same city year after year, whether it be orlando or indianpolis, removes some of the 'vacation' aspect of it as people rarely want to go to the same city year after year after year for that... especially if its a place like Indy (don't get me wrong, its a nice town... but not many would name it as a 'vacation destination') Yeah I worry about this after a few more years at LOS, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. If DCI doesn't announce numbers a day or two after Finals, you can guess attendance was back down this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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