Kansasfan

Great job Garfield. You motivated me to actually log in and comment instead of just lurking. Three or four years ago I went and tried to pull numbers off the 990s for everybody - not in anywhere the detail that you are doing, and not with the same degree of sophistication and understanding. They are complex, often confusing, and only present part of the overall financial picture of a given group. That said, it's what we've got, so understanding what we can without stretching assumptions tooooo far is worth doing.

It tends to be mostly members and staff, but in my experience parents are always welcome. I've been to two different corps banquets; neither one had anything near a $100 charge to attend - that sounds like the banquet is designed to be another fundraiser. And while I completely understand the need to do fundraisers pretty much all the time, that seems high. A 3 to 4 hour length is not unusual - most corps will have all their age-out members give speeches, which can take quite a while.

Barring any last minute changes, here's where everybody is staying: Blue Devils - Blue Springs HS Blue Knights - Olathe North HS Boston Crusaders - Excelsior Springs HS Cadets - Smithville HS Colts - Olathe Northwest HS Colt Cadets - Blue Valley HS Crossmen - Olathe South HS Glassmen - Olathe East HS Spirit - Basehor-Linwood HS The Colts will be in town on Sunday and will have an open rehearsal on Sunday evening at the show site - College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe. If you haven't gotten tickets yet it's not too late but tickets in the center sections are almost completely sold out, so don't wait until Monday. On line ticket sales at http://www.colts.org/brassimpact_kc11.asp end Sunday morning.

You may also want to look at the Colts. I know they still have openings for at least 2 or 3 baritones/euphoniums in 2010. In the last few years they have had international members from England, Netherlands and Japan, and also do video auditions. Take a look at www.colts.org for instructions on how to send in a video and good luck!

There is in fact additional money that will be dispersed on a discretionary basis by an "advisory board" that Chase has created. The organization that gets the most votes receives $1,000,000, the next 5 get $100,000 each, AND the advisory board then has an additional $1,000,000 that they can hand out to whatever organizations they chose - most likely it will be split among several groups. So there is the possibility that seveeral groups that have strong support but finish outside the top 6 still could receive partial funding for their idea(s).

Some of you may be tired of reading about this, but it's not too often that there is the opportunity for several corps to be handed a check for $25,000. Just in case you haven't heard: Chase Bank has established a program called Chase Community Giving on Facebook. Any Facebook user can vote for the non-profits that they think should be awarded money. The 100 groups that have the most votes by next Friday, Dec 11th, will each receive $25,000 and move into a second round where they could receive even more. ALL corps are eligible - here is a link that lists them all. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220882264111 Please vote!!!! And then get three friends to vote also - don't just tell them about this. Stand and look over their shoulder and make sure that they do this. As a person who wrestles with corps budgets, you wouldn't believe the difference that this could make. As of Dec 4th, Crown, Phantom, Cavies, Colts, Academy, Troopers and SCV all have significant vote totals, with several other corps not too far behind. No one knows how many votes are needed to win, but we all need more than we have. Thanks!

Bump

Here's the link for Colts - under their original name of Legion Aires Drum and Bugle Corps http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiv...harities/818143 I encourage everybody on DCP to go and vote for ALL corps. From what I've seen looking at the Chase page, there aren't many groups that are over 1,000 votes yet - if we all vote for several corps then there actually is a good chance of more than one ending up in the Top 100. If anyone spots a group with more than 5,000 votes, please post so we get a sense of what the goal needs to be.

Note that the Colts are listed under their legal name from when they were formed in 1963 - Legion Aires Drum and Bugle Corps.

A variation that I've been thinking of for a while: Create four groups of corps based on rankings: One: 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 Two: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 Three: 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 Four: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 Top four from each group advance to semis, plus the next highest Could create some interest and some interesting scoring, especially for the 17th spot. I understand the argument about "they've earned the right to go on later" but keep thinking that there are a lot of lower ranked corps who work just as hard but who almost never go on later in the evening at any show, this would allow some of them that opportunity, especially those for whom this is the last show of the year.

So have you gone on tour this year? I haven't, and keep on looking at the calendar and my work schedule trying to figure out if there are a few days a could sqeeze in.

Welcome! and yeah it is a great year for everybody. Wish I was at the show and not sitting here!

Not a bad idea, too bad so many shows are so far apart. Need to do some thinking out of the box for how to keep the fans coming back. I can't help but think that there are a lot of newbie dci fans that go away mad if their first show experience is a rainout. And then maybe never come back.

Call it an unfortunate edit - here is what the original announcement said: "We are marching a full 64 person brass line and are filled to capacity with the exception of a few final members. If you know of anyone who has the desire, skills and dedication to be successful with us, please let them and let us know about it." The Colts will not contract members and then cut them later, as suggested by the previous poster. Once you have a contract you are in the corps.

I believe that the Colts are marching four female contras this year. No snares this year, though they had a girl from Japan last year.

Just wishing

Everything that I've heard is that the Colts have been working hard this week (and every week) and are really focused on their show. Now if only the judges would show them the love!

Sorry, but I think that you're misreading that - all the corps listed were Division I (last year's name for what is now called "world class"). I simply copied the way that it was listed on CorpsReps.

DCI West Texas (Lubbock), last August Took a while to find it, but I knew there was a show last year with partial scores that were posted. And look who was the last corps to go on before it rained! Position Corps Score Performance rained 0 Boston Crusaders 0 Carolina Crown 0 Madison Scouts 0 Phantom Regiment 0 The Cavaliers DIVISION I 1 Colts 84.150 2 Blue Stars 82.500 3 Spirit from JSU 81.450 4 Pacific Crest 78.700 5 Southwind 76.850 6 Pioneer 72.000

Is PC coming east for finals or are they staying on the west coast only?

I neglected to add in my post that the revenues and expenses listed in Guidestar filings for each of the four corps I mentioned (BD, SCV, Glassmen, Colts) ran from $900K to $1.6M and that was for tax years that ended in some cases over 24 months ago. So I'd agree with comments above that a ballpark budget to run a Top 12 corps today is +/- $1M. Note that the budget numbers in the Guidestar filings include all costs for the organizations - winter programs, school and community programs, off-season events, etc. - note just the summer touring corps.

For those interested in budgets, Guidestar.org allows you to look at the IRS Form 990's that all non-profits are required to file. You have ot register, but it's free and easy to do. The 990s generally are 12-18 months old, but give an idea of what kind of money is involved in running a corps or Youth Arts Organization. The last time I looked at them (a while ago) the top four in total revenue were BD, SCV, Glassmen, and Colts. I suspect that those four would still be at or near the top, which is consistent with the OP regarding who are the Top 12 in "business performance."

So it's Monday of finals week. Time to submit reviews/opinions of any of the corps that you have seen this year. The rules: five words only, can be serious or not, and don't name the corps - we have to be able to figure it out from the five words. Here's a few to start us off: Horse racing way underappreciated, giddyup! Seasons change, so did you! Let's go to Vegas now! Would Christie be proud? Yes! Good sound, but five fleurs? Nice but safe in AL Irish ok, need better drill Float away with those horns Good Power, deserve higher finish Cubism ok, liked others better Dancing fine, too much kneeling (haven't seen this one in a month, so maybe it's changed) Ok, add yours.......................

A $2500 fuel stop for a corps on the move is not unusual. Probably doesn't even fill up all the tanks. Fuel for a Div 1 tour is probably well upwards of $40K. Instead of MPG, think $PM to move the whole caravan.

Great review! I didn't make it to this show but saw many of the same corps in Coon Rapids and Omaha. Granted that's almost ancient history by now, but we seem to have had similar reaction to many of these shows. Some very brief comments: Pioneer - great to see a larger horn line, better sound than ever, new unis are a good step. Somebody needs to write these guys some more challenging drill. My money says they can perform it. Colts - yes, yes yes! Great step up, fabulous new look, sound is great, love the addition of the euphs, and key your eyes on the guard - after the show somebody asked me "did you see the move where the guard member tossed a flag through/over the block just before they spun?" Huh? What? So much to watch I missed that!. It's going to be really really fun to see how the Colts/Crossmen/Glassmen/Academy/BK group shakes out. BK - I'd echo the comments above - this one just doesn't do it for me. Nicely played with a bunch of good moments, but the overall concept leaves me, well, indifferent. :( Almost hate to say it, but I think of this as the "kneeling show" IMHO. That said, the corps does a great job of selling it and there are some tough dance moves in there that every member has to pull off - and they do. PR - It's just not fair! The sound is awesome, the drill great and man do they move! Love the closer! All that said, I really enjoyed every one of these shows - I took a first-timer to the Coon Rapids show and he was just blown away. Couldn't stop talking about the shows afterwards - "how can they all run across the field faster then me and then put that much air through the horn at the same time?" Good question. Looking forward to seeing them all in Columbia in a few weeks.