danielray

Yep, there needs to be more diversity. There are less than 5 designers out there.... and only a few manufacturers all doing pretty much the same thing.

Well, seeing as everything we have been doing these days has been 100% free for the kids, i'm sort of sucking at the making money from kid's marching band thing. If my aim was to make money, I would shut up and do it, rather than talk about it here. If anything, the thought would be to give some other groups out there some ideas to potentially explore. Anyway, uniforms are kind of outdated.

Bend at the waist. Seriously, drum corps in polyester uniforms and nurses shoes is like watching olympic track stars jump hurdles in pantsuits.

Cost is roughly the same. Current styles of uniforms run about $300 per performer and can last about 3 seasons. Stuff I'm talking about would probably runs about $100 per performer and last a season.

Or just pants... ditch the pseudo military thing and you can wear proper pants. The bib thing makes guys in the lot look sloppy... like kids heading out on a ski trip or to plant potatoes. Drum corps is a very athletic activity, but athletes are running around in nurses shoes and polyester. Makes zero sense. Guard uniforms are only marginally better. They are usually some shiny unitard with various scraps of fabric added on with big hair and bold makeup. Best guard uniform in the history of the activity - Star 93. It caused you to focus on what the performer is doing, not what they are wearing. P.S - front-striped pants

First... let me start off by saying I am continually amazed and how much the activity has progressed over recent years, the technical ability, musicianship athleticism and sheer creativity is amazing. In spite of all of this, there is one glaring trend that I might suggest is going very much down the wrong path. A break from the past here is certainly needed, but this can't be the right direction. Uniforms... Frankly speaking, guys are just trying too hard and can't seem to completely break away from some sort of pseduo-military element of the past that makes it feel even more awkward. The end result is something that seems so out there to the uninitiated, to the point where it seems kind of amateurish. What is most strange is that all are sort of moving very much in the same sort of waves (something old, something new, something borrowed, something half and half, etc.). Everything is a mashup, rather than a concrete or cohesive idea. What is wrong with simple? What is wrong with a wide range of possibilities out there? Why does everyone need to follow a trend vs. putting something out there that makes both programatic sense and is appropriate to the type of movement guys out there are doing? The roots of this trend are in WGI, more specifically winter percussion, where pretty much everyone (with some very recent and breakout exceptions) is wearing Star Trek pajamas. How did this happen? Where did this come from? Most of these things look like those velour jumpsuits my grandpa used to wear back in the day. Nothing about this is remotely connected with this decade and needs to change. Anyway, we're stuck in this sort of loop (is it the manufacturers driving this and influencing this, having to put out something so attention getting each year?) and there needs to be some fresh horses and new exploration and more diversity. Rather than designs that are force-fit to be marching bandish.... something completely clean... from zero... re-imagined? Rather than starting with a traditional military influenced uniform and deconstructing, start from more dance and athletic wear foundations and build up from there? While we're at it... it is time for these silly ski bib pants to go. There is no body shape out there that this looks good on... also, costuming needs to be considered in the full context of the performance, which is wherever people are hanging out watching you do stuff. Watching guys warm up in bib pants is silly. On the topic... shoes. With so much revolution going on out there in the athletic shoe world (and drum corps is athletics from the neck down) we're still out there wearing souped up nurses shoes? Really? Bottom line... guys out there are trying way too hard. Seems like it is the manufacturers driving this... it isn't helping to make things more accessible, not at all. Time to go back to the drawing board... everyone tabula rasa with a build up, rather than tear down approach and hopefully the result will be something that is not only contextually relevant, but movement appropriate and a little less awkward for the general public.

Loads of pics and videos of the trip on the BD Facebook page. Was an absolutely fantastic experience for all the kids. Looks like there are a few hundred more new drum corps fans out there.

The reality of it is that the experience may be similar, but is not the same. Kids often want to march only a specific place because of the brand. Kids are very brand conscious. You're not going to change their mind. It also really isn't about placement, but attitude.... stye... and how this reflects on the individual brand of the organization. Anyway, neither penalizing the corps nor rewarding them for recruiting tactics is going to change the situation. Kids want to go where they want to go. It really is hard for some corps to recruit enough to fill a full corps. The only thing many of these corps could do to improve their current situation would be to charge less for tour, but in doing so, they would threaten their own stability. Only way forward is slow and steady, sustainable progress and the development of an identity and brand that attracts kids regardless of placement.

Well... we created a new little business with less investment that is throwing off more cash than that in less than a year. It can be done.

Going to try a bit of an experiment, and I know it isn't exactly the same, but similar enough to drum corps scenario.. When BD All-star guys get off the plane here, we'll be giving each member a brand new state of the art Android phone (8 mega pix camera, HD video, 4G, etc.) with unlimited data on a 4G network. Goal is to actually document and share as much as possible without distracting from activities. The cool thing is that this will all be posted to both BD social media and the phone manufacturer sponsor social media feeds. Again, an interesting sort of experiment with integrated sponsorship and always-on mobile engagement. Interested to see where this goes... and if it works... I think this sort of thing could hint at the future of drum corps sponsorship.

Caught this one on my way home tonight...

Stopped to grab a coffee on my way to work this morning... seems these are all over town.

yeah, it's a typo.... But, with $2M you could shuffle around some currencies for a few of days and probably pick up an extra $50k.... or lose it :)

Keep $550k in reserve and seed 3 new entirely unrelated businesses with $500k each. Each business should have the objective to return to DCI a min of $500k per year after the 2nd year. Loads of possibility.

Depends really on the context. I remember playing loads of gigs in a pit orchestra where we were drinking, ordered in pizza, played frisbee, cards, whatever.... boring to play the same thing night after night. So long as you play what you need to, you need.... at the top of your game... not a big deal. Was conducting a rehearsal today.. started to get extremely annoyed at a mobile phone that kept ringing... then realized it was mine. :-) was using it for a met/tuner. Anyway, mobile phone is not that big of a deal, so long as guys don't miss their individual responsibilities. The brains of kids these days are simply wired differently and are more geared toward multi-tasking.

Very nice, but does seem a bit old school... even in 93.

Here is why to do this, which is all about inspiration/motivation... 1) Kids actually see what is possible, first hand. Meet role models. Interact. There is no substitue here for this type of inspiration/motivation, 2) Educators learn from best practices and are also similarly inspired/motivated. They have new threads to pull on. 3) Local community and business leaders actually see/experience what it is you are aiming for and can see the level of excellent that can be achieved with their support. They are much more inspired/motivated to support. Bottom line, the chances of achieving the goals are much greater based on bringing a group like this out. Also exploring how to make events like this more accessible to guys around the world, as well... virtually. Should be interesting and maybe a little bit different. :-)

Neither BD, nor the kids pay for this. Trips are fully-covered by international partners. Any corps can do this. They just need to make an effort and build relationships to make it happen.

Should creature comfort take priority of developing a sense of optimism? Building self-confidence? Having a means for expression? Learning to set and achieve goals?

Performers and clinicians are guest of the local sponsor in these cases. Artspark is covering 100% of all costs. It is also free for all participants and open to any kid who wants to show up, regardless of experience. Artspark is pretty much Sam and myself. Billboards are coming up this week all across the city, bus shelter posters, newspaper ads, media articles, guys will play on morning tv news programs... several rock/pop musicians are promoting this through their own outlets. A couple of the performances will be with BD drummers and musicians that are very popular in this part of Europe. All brand placement/mention is done according to BD style guide and under their direction. A camp, some performances, a lot of fun. A lot of work by some great people. It will reflect on the BD brand in exactly the same way everything they do does, no matter where they are in the world. The guarantee of quality... you're kidding, right? Keep in mind that this sort of thing is not a competitive event and the goals are considerably different. The goals here are to increase the awareness of marching music among the general population of a part of the world where it is non-existent, to share best practices with educators in the region, to provide an great and influential experience for both the kids involved and the performers. It's going to be fun. :-)

The model could be transferrable to other corps. It simply requires a local partner organization to sponsor and promote the event.

www.artspark.org Short flights from nearly everywhere in Europe. Extremely inexpensive to hang out. There will also be a small percussion festival and a street festival going on at the same time, loads of stuff happening in addition to BD.

Agree with quite a lot of this, but... you do end up getting a lot more girls. :-)

Or hot pants. :-) It was military. Guard was in flight suits. Why do people get so worked up over a band uniform? I know Ray very well. I knew him when he was marching and he was teaching the corps when I was there.

You are against the street music festival?