Newseditor44
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Posts posted by Newseditor44
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2 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:
Definitely not wrong, but also so much focus on the big corps and not enough on the little ones. More corps is better for the activity. More corps means more fans, more sales, more fundraising, more merch sales etc etc. But with the loss of the "regional" and "local" drum corps and more focus on national talent, there's not foundational support anymore.
Unfortunately there are not enough corps remaining to do a regional touring model. That ship has sailed. Corps are performing in less shows, which means less money.
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The issue is simple, the cost to operate a drum corps has out-paced the revenue models that are sustainable for most orgs. Fundraising dollars are no longer enough to push 6 busses and 4 trucks down the road anymore. DCI has not done enough to contain the costs, and the writing has been on the wall for sometime now. The fact that they haven’t moved to in a direction to proactively cut costs, coupled with inflation and increases in food, fuel and housing, will make it very difficult for corps to survive another five years. This is just the beginning. To be fair, this is not solely on DCI, but they share the blame.
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Unfortunately, they will be just the first. There will be more.
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Score tonight: 72.150
Spirit of Atlanta has entered the chat.
Spirit: ‘Sup y’all! 😉
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55 x 3 = 165. Most charter buses carry 55 seats now, which is the reason for the change. Economically, it makes more sense to raise the minimum to 165 so you can collect more tuition. If not, you'll have to lower it back down to 110.
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1 hour ago, MikeN said:
MLS made $462 million in 2022, and AppleTV's contract for next year *still* has an out clause if league broadcasts don't increase subscribers to the service.
DCI made 11 million a few years ago, and has managed to get booted off of *PBS* and had to self-finance its own production to get on ESPN once.
Mike
That’s probably more an indication of competition in the TV world rather than a reflection of the status of DCI. Even PBS is pay for play these days. While all of us think there would be tremendous upside, the folks at PBS certainly don’t think so, otherwise DCI would still be in their lineup.
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1 hour ago, KVG_DC said:
Hmm.
I wonder if this will threaten Flo's existence in any real way. I don't see DCI looking to bail on Flo unless Flo goes kaput to be honest. DCI doesn't seem to have the will to leave Flo.
Box 5 would be a logical choice for a next streaming company given their expertise with the field and connections.
Although MLS ended up leaving Flo and now has a deal with Apple on the Apple+ platform. Given Apple's hands all over the eduction market with university and k-12 deals and their reach into sound/music production software that might be an avenue too. Particularly if DCI were savvy enough to broker some win/win with Apple to "fund the arts education through support for DCI." But that presumes DCI is at all savvy in that way.
There is not a big enough audience nor enough revenue to be made for Apple to want to touch this. These shows cost money to produce. These are not money-making ventures for a typical media company.
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On 7/20/2022 at 8:34 AM, keystone3ply said:
2) Set the 'High Cam' & leave it alone. Simply have the operator monitor. (10 yd line to 10 yd line is fine. See Blair Witch Project.)
3) As to the Multicam, why do I have to watch a brass ensemble setting up on side 1 while there's a snare feature just to the right on side 2? Also, why am I watching color guard members moving equipment on the front sideline while there is awesome drill being performed right dead center between the 40 yd lines?
4) Why is your audio balance inconsistent from show to show as to the field brass/percussion vs the front ensemble/soloist, etc? In this case, it's not venue.
I actually prefer the Multicam, but it's just unwatchable sometimes. I will try to email these comments but I doubt they read them. I put the comments in red (like Jesus in the New Testament) so maybe they'll read them on DCP. I hate Facebook (cesspool) but I may post on their wall. I think they have their messenger disengaged.
Thank you for your time & consideration.
Having worked on the DCI broadcast for several years as a producer, I get your frustration. However, what I can tell you is this - getting those shots right and knowing when they will hit is incredibly difficult, especially for novice producers and directors. What you probably don't know about the DCI broadcasts are the enormous amounts of man-hours that go into preparing for that show. By the end of the season, Tom Blair has a notebook full of notes on each corps, has talked to all of the design teams, and had shot lists created to direct broadcast with a full team of network-level professionals. The Flo broadcasts generally have a couple of camera operators and one person switches the cameras. That's it. So before we beat down on Flo, let's take a moment and consider the fact that we're even getting the shows on TV and be thankful, because Im sure if this all went away y'all would be crying about how great it was while you had it.
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I could probably write a book about my feelings on this topic, but I’ll keep it short. The bottom line, IMO is this, the member experience is everything. Winning in a competitive sense is incredibly difficult, and takes years for an organization to get to that point. And there are only a handful of groups that have the resources necessary to do it. However, every organization has the ability to give an amazing member experience, and to me that transcends anything competition can offer. Yes it’s great to “win”, but you can do that without having the highest score. I would much rather be part of an organization that teaches life skills, allows for personal growth, teaches the benefits of hard work and perseverance, and goes above and beyond in the field of health and safety for its members. If you focus on these things and give the performer a creative vehicle that connects with the audience, the numbers don’t matter.
Just my two cents.
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7 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:
Agree and disagree. Yes, techs are not paid that much, but 25 to 30 techs x $1000 to $2000 or more still adds up. Also you still have to feed them. They take up room on the bus. My point is that those caption heads and designers who are being paid a lot more money do not need as much help if they are required to do most of tour and camps. I'd say the number of techs has gone too far. Again, this is not the solution for every corps especially if you are financially OK. But for those on tight budgets it isn't going to hurt to cut back.
Your numbers for techs are a tad bit too high. And yes, I said too high. A majority of those techs will be with the corps for a week, tops. A majority do it for the experience, not the money. Nobody is getting rich.
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6 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
I would suggest an ‘all of the above’ approach to cutting costs. Going from 3 semis to 2 semis may not save much, but it will save some. Going from 4 snare techs to 3 may not save much, but it will save some. Going from 85 brass to 70 brass, pit of 17 to pit of 12 etc will save some money, perhaps one less bus. It all adds up.
Reducing the number of kids actually hurts more than it helps. The answer is not just in reducing costs, but generating more revenue. Reducing students reduces revenue.
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9 minutes ago, C.Holland said:
One.. no. Go dig a few up. Look for patterns over years. They’re there.
Not saying you’re wrong, however, they only tell part of the story. Yes there are patterns, but there is much more to it.
It’s easy to be upset and think we all have the answers, but in fact we probably don’t. What’s not being talked about was the fact that a responsible and difficult decision was made and there are good people trying to save this organization. We can beat them up for getting to this point, but that doesn’t help anything.
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990’s only tell a part of the story, they don’t add the color that’s needed to give you a full picture of what is going on inside an organization. I would caution anyone from trying to read into a situation by looking at a tax filing.
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Just now, IllianaLancerContra said:
Serious question- does the transportation category include the cost to flying staff members to and from various tour & camp locations, or are staff transportation costs covered under, well, staff costs? I could see it argued either way.
Staff travel is generally a separate line item and not a free for all. I think most here would be surprised at just how little support staff is actually paid. I know the staff sizes seem large, but a majority of staff have year round commitments and can spend the entire season with a corps like before. It’s a complex juggling game.
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Staff costs are normally a smaller portion of the budget for most corps, as are props. Most corps get their uniforms/costumes for free as part of marketing agreements.
Transportation, housing, fuel have nearly quadrupled over the last decade and are what is killing the activity. Renting tractor trailers, buses, finding drivers, increased insurance costs, and revenue streams that are more difficult to find are what is pulling the activity under. In fact, if you polled most corps directors they would probably tell you the thing they worry about the most is revenue. It’s getting more and more difficult to find ways to make money to support the rising costs.
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37 minutes ago, jjeffeory said:
Looks like Matt Harloff is now the Percussion Caption Supervisor for Crown.... 😏
Source: https://camp.musicforall.org/marchingband/
Under: Carolina Crown Faculty
Well, they would be the loudest drum line in DCI. 🤷♂️
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It’s so bad I left the stadium to go have dinner at a sit down restaurant. I’ll just watch it on Flo.
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DCI is aware of the situation, and there is nothing they can do about it. This is on the Lucas Oil side, I don’t think they were prepared for this weekend. According to one DCI official I spoke with, Lucas Oil officials say they don’t have enough scanners. Translation, they don’t have enough people to work the scanners.
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Quite honestly, the service at Lucas Oil this week has been absolutely terrible. They were not prepared for this at all. 45 minutes lines to get drinks during the intermission. Horrible customer service. It’s been nothing short of a disaster.
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I hope they decide to delay the start of the show.
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Was just told by a security guard that the wait to get in is at least an hour. The line is wrapped clear around the building.
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As I’m watching that run I’m thinking “holy crap, do they have a chance?”
Brass really put some work in and added a lot of texture.
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The Staff Merry-go-round
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
There are moments when I wonder why I still log on to this website. Especially when I see people arguing over the timing of a social media post that was most likely automated, which is what 99% of social media managers do these days.
For the love of God, y'all. Focus.