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hairbear

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Everything posted by hairbear

  1. Like others have said, my generation is growing old and dying. I suppose I'll grow old and die, too. I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone. πŸ™‚ DCA is for high school and college kids now. Their friends and family can go to the shows and cheer them on to victory. Whatever DCA has to do to make that happen is fine with me. Let's hope more All Age Corps find their way to Indianapolis. It won't be what my generation remembers, but it will be what the current generation wants.
  2. It makes sense. DCA no longer serves working adults that used to make up the corps membership. They serve high school and college students. Of course, you must also accept the fact that DCA gave up the "brand recognition" when they began to serve those young folks. Show designs that lean toward the DCI side of the activity being just one aspect of the changes. Ohio has three DCA member corps today. In my day, Ohio had zero DCA member corps. The only Ohio corps that had a chance of making the night show from 1980 to 1983 was Ohio Brass Factory, and they didn't get in. I was a member of that corps for four years. That was a lot of money spent in order to sit in the stands on finals night, every year. I wonder how the Alumni corps will handle this change of venue and date? * I might add that this change doesn't impact me in any way. I'm busy working on my "Bucket List". πŸ™‚
  3. It occurred to me that when DCI was founded, and the touring drum corps model became imperative as a result, DCA wasn't competing with DCI for an audience. DCA had its own identity, audience and marching member base from which to recruit. The DCA corps were all in fine shape in the 1970's, 80's and 90's. DCI buried the neighborhood Jr. corps over time, when those corps lacked the extensive fan base of the big-name corps and naturally, the funding thereof. Even while this was going on, DCA thrived. Could it be that only when DCA began embracing the "DCI Lite" approach, attendance declined? I'm just trying to find the "elephant in the room".
  4. Sitting on the sidelines (no longer participating in the activity), it seems pointless for me to suggest a course of action. That's a job for the "powers that be". Empty seats are saying something. Somebody ought to listen.
  5. "I don't want to go on the cart!" (1 dollar to Monty Python) πŸ™‚
  6. I participated in DCA in the 80's and 90's. I remember regular season shows with attendance that exceeded attendance numbers at many of this decade's DCA finals. I remember when DCA had personalities that entertained and engaged the audience. This was DCA's uniqueness and its identity. I remember when almost everyone in the audience could name at least four or five of the drum majors. I also remember a time when competition could get, for lack of a better word, rowdy. This includes individual behavior in the stands. The finals awards ceremony of the 1990 season comes to mind. Behavior such as you described was not uncommon during my time in DCA; not frequently, but one could say occasionally. Your concerns are certainly valid when today, young folks populate the DCA corps and more than likely, their parents are in the audience. The behavior you and your partner witnessed is "out of place" within the current iteration of DCA. My point is that the product has changed, and that change is permanent. Creating and implementing a marketing strategy to grow the "new" brand, is imperative.
  7. Precisely. At a minimum, a marketing effort beyond occasional Facebook posts would seem to be a logical step.
  8. It seems to me that DCA has the corps members that want to do the "DCI Lite" thing. All that DCA has to do now, is find an audience that wants to buy tickets to see "DCI Lite". And if you're going to go in that direction, move DCA championships to a date that accommodates "DCI Lite" participants.
  9. Nothing out of the ordinary in my encounter with Ken. He located and purchased a trombone here in Cincinnati. He sent me the money and I drove to Kenwood (suburb of Cinti), paid for it and shipped it to him, via UPS. It was a special trombone, as trombones go. If it were a guitar, it would have been a vintage Fender Stratocaster. I told my junior corps director about it, because when I was a kid, Ken Norman was number one in his book. You never know where life will take you, or who you'll be introduced to. πŸ™‚
  10. While still employed and not yet retired, I gave funds to several students who were participating in DCI corps, and recently, DCA corps. This was always in the form of cash directly to the marching member, sometimes before the season and sometimes during the season. One kid was polishing members horns for pocket change. The corps director pointed him out to me, and he didn't have to polish any more horns that season. Some were "full ride" cash grants that covered all fees and included spending money for tour, others were partial grants. I used money from playing gigs, overtime pay and/or tax refunds. I do know this: The kids I assisted are today: Gainfully employed responsible adults, mothers and fathers, teachers, medical professionals and more! It was money well spent!
  11. Go back and read my post on this thread from June 10th. That'll give you the reason "why", but not necessarily "how". I don't know how I did it. In ten years from 1987 to 1996: no breakdowns, never hit a deer and only one speeding ticket.
  12. Try getting in your van and driving right to your employer's parking lot on a Monday morning for an 8 hour shift. I did that many times. It wasn't easy living 500 miles from Harrisburg!
  13. DCA has always been a self-serving organization. If you wanted to participate in DCA competition and you lived outside the Northeast of the country, you had two choices: 1: get in your vehicle and drive to a DCA member corps. 2: Join a senior corps that's not from the northeast of the country and roll the dice at prelims. Choice #2 was (with a couple of exceptions) always a disappointment. Case in point: Ohio Brass Factory Sr. corps from Alliance Ohio, 1980 to 1983. How much money did you want to spend chasing a slot on the night show? After a few seasons, you realized you were wasting your time and money. Choice# 1 was still expensive, commuting to the DCA member corps location, but your prospects for a rewarding season were better. That's the way it was when I was in the thick of it, commuting anywhere from 5 to 14 hours, one way. Today, there's a DCA member corps 20 minutes from my driveway. The irony doesn't escape me, but I'm not a member. I'm not on the staff and I just retired from serving as a volunteer with them. I have health issues that make participating in any role, impossible. Moreover, I don't relate to the high school and college age kids that comprise the majority of the membership. The age gap is just too wide. I don't see interest today, from the 30 and 40-year-old DCI alumni that would raise the average age (and experience) of DCA corps membership. DCA will most likely find a way to perpetuate itself, but the product won't be (and isn't) what it used to be. Truth be told, I have little interest in what the product has become. That's because at this point in my life, my priorities have changed. That shouldn't be taken as a negative comment, or a verdict against current creative trends.
  14. Not that this is something I'm overly concerned with, but I'm wondering how a horn from Westshoremen and/or Westshoremen Alumni corps finds its way to a flea market in Southwest Ohio? I assume said flea market was in that area, based on the original poster's location of Batavia Ohio. As far as I know, I'm the only member of Westshoremen from this area. You never know what you'll find at a flea market. Cozy Baker! Yeah... he'd go off the rails over a wall mounted vintage bugle. Cozy Baker story: After DCA finals one season ('08) Cozy stayed at my apartment for a while. That long commute is difficult, when we're no longer spring chickens. When I say "a while", I'm taking about weeks, not hours. I didn't have a problem with that. "Make yourself at home". Cozy bought a frozen pizza. I don't know why. I had Dominos on speed dial. πŸ™‚ Am I the only single guy who stores pots and pans in the oven? Now that's something I AM overly concerned with. The pizza box said "preheat the oven", which Cozy did, but not before taking a look IN the oven. All of a sudden, he jumps off the couch and runs into the kitchen! I had a plastic cullender in there. Now I have a hot blob of yellow plastic. "Cozy, your cullender is done!" πŸ™‚
  15. We found that out in Dayton and Chicago in 1989, as we discussed in another topic. "You want to compete in DCA? Get in your car and drive." That hasn't changed.
  16. There's another option: The Midwest/south could organize its own circuit and championships. This has been done twice in the past, with the RCA and ICA circuits. The problem with those two attempts was that a very strong DCA existed at the same time. The east coast corps had their reputations already established, years ago. They were the corps to beat, if one had the product. Understanding that I have always competed out east (with ONE exception), DCA today isn't as strong as it was in those days.
  17. The most fun two corps in 7th place could have! πŸ™‚
  18. That was 1989 DCA finals and it was FUN! I wore one of Cru's Phantom of the Opera face masks! We were trading uniform parts, flags... what a good time that was! Then in 1990 at Cru's show, we tied again!
  19. 1990? We were in 8th place (SCA) Any drama up in the top box didn't apply to us. LOL!
  20. Flourishing? In what way? Chicago 1988 and 1989: there were more people at a soccer game next to where the DCA sanctioned senior drum corps show was being held. Dayton 1989: More people in the corps on the field, than fans in the stands. I don't think that's flourishing. I don't think that even showed a potential to "flourish". I think those shows were failures, in terms of exposure and revenue.
  21. 1989 Chicago show: There were more people attending a soccer game at the field next to where the drum corps show was.
  22. You with Westshore and me with Steel City, in 89. Steel City went to Chicago in 88, as well. Michigan in 90: Steel City and Minnesota Brass. Both Chicago shows were not well attended, Dayton was pitiful. Michigan show in 90 was alright....
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