jkmummer

It should also be noted that the true spirit of competition is a mutual repsect for your friendly rival. Late Friday night, MBI & Reading each performed a run of their shows for each other, with each corps alternating positions on the field and in the stands. I wasn't fortunate enough to be there, but I would bet that each corps were in full HYPE mode, and had inspired performances. True class and respect shown by both organizations and a little reminder that the competition is best left on the 50 yard line.

You're right John. This was a camp weekend with a performance at the soccer game. I can't speak to prior to 2012, but last year they only had 3 weekends off from competition. The weekend in between WW and Bridgeport and then the week in between Bridgeport and Clifton. Then their standard first weekend in August where there was no camp or practice. I think this year it will be 4 non competeting weekends. If I'm not mistaken last year the 3rd weekend in July was Downingtown, and the 4th was Robbinsville NJ. Since there is not a Robbinsville show, my guess is that Downingtown was able to move back a week. The rankings are a nice diversion. Nothing more. The only relevant numbers are those that are head to head.

We don't have penalties. We compete once a year. Break a rule and you're disqualified. Stuff gets straightened out much quicker that way.

Hiya....tthe mummers were also a part of the festival back in the mid to late 80s...great entertainment but WOW a fortune..at least back then...maybe even they have felt the change of tides We have felt it and maybe in a worse way. I've marched with a Mummers String Band for 40 years and "retired" to do drum corps last year with my son. It also checked something off my bucket list that I didn't do when I was in my 20's It's amazing how much both of these organizations are in the exact same boat. We both have a decreasing amount of performing units form year to year. Dwindling fan base, less financial support from the city which provided almost 25% of what a group needed to get up the street. The struggle for corporate sponsors. The biggest difference is that DCA has a much more organized vision and management than what we have. Agree or disagree with the method, they are light years ahead of us in actually formulating a survival plan for the future. And yes you are right about the hotels costs. Many of my mum friends, would not know what to do if they had to play Bridgeport, and sleep on a gym floor.

I gave you the + to balance this out. You are spot on with this. What's worse is this "Style" of DM is filtering down to the HS level. Having had the opportunity to judge this at that level, I find it hard to give young DM's constructive comments on even the basics of showmanship like acknowledging your audience when I know that they are not in control of their individual presentation and simply doing what is being ask of them by the staff. The reality is that when the "train jumps the tracks" the only possible person who can try to correct it is a DM who is in control of the unit and their own show. He was mentioned earlier and I thought I would see his name more but my vote is George Parks of the Buccaneers. There are many generations of DM's who are and have performed at the DCI and DCA that attended his Drum Major Academy and not only learned how to conduct but how to be a field leader as well as entertain their audience.

I was getting excited that there was going to be a MUMMERS INTERNATIONAL. Who cares about the merger.

Tried it on 2 players and it won't load after multiple tries

Received my Blu Ray, and it doesn't load or read. Went to the DCA website only to find that I cannot call anyone to rectify this I can only email. This is after many notifications that the Blu Rays were selling out and not being re-stocked. This was to be a Christmas gift, let's see how attentive the customer service is.

Thanks for you feedback on this. You're kind of making my point by laying out the obstacles and challenges that face both of the west coast corps. DCA does not hold the Renegades to ANY guidlines in order to perform at championships. The only loss is that they can't be a full voting member. So the real issue here is the total lack of respect that has been shown to DCA by the corps for giving them the opportunity to attend championships without enforcing any type of performance guidline. Every corps has their membership vs. real job issues that they have to deal with especially the midwest and southern corps, but they make the effort to get their sanctioned performance in. MBI comes east (even though they host a show in MN) because that's where the home base is and they usally have to do it without a full corps, but they make it happen. Their membership has to deal with 2 trips to the east coast. By them coming east in Junr it created a GREAT show in Bridgeport with a great line up and some great early season competitive buzz. Atlanta CV also made a couple of trips and a great mid season match up with C2. It's not DCA's problem that the Renegades membership wouldn't support a week long trip to championships in order to perform in at least one show the week prior. What if DCA decided that upon the Renegades return in 2014 they would have to follow that guideline and show some apprecitation? Yes Kidsgrove made it a trip, but it also served them and DCA well. They got to perform and compete as well as get some valuable feedback prior to championships. They also showed some appreciation to DCA by performing in 2 shows that weekend and strengthened the line ups of both shows. The Renegades have that kind of name recognition and could do the same. It's apparent that DCA's view has been "The more the merrier". It strenghtens their overall product, and the Renegades have held up their end (on the field) of providing an entertaining and exciting show. After this incident, the question is are they more hassle than they're worth. Where is the upside for DCA if a corps that really isn't a member jeopardizes their most marketable event? It's not like we're talking about Bucs, Cabs, Hurcs, or Empire. A suspension like that to one of those corps would hurt the regular season show hosts with lost ticket revenue as well as the the corps. If the Renegades could really exist without a big year end performance, then going to Europe wouldn't be on the table. They'd simply do everything that they do now and not go anywhere. And, if that was the case, I'd venture to say that they would see a significantly different membership number than what they've fielded in the past. They need the "year end trip/goal" in order to sell something to the membership. It's not like there's a summer long competitive schedule to sell. I'm pretty sure they aren't going to fly to Europe for the weekend. There's going to be some work schedules that are going to have to be juggled. If they can make that happen, then they can handle a week on the east coast.

Which is a great point Tyler, but let's take this a step further. Not only did they take away their own voting rights, they BY CHOICE do not even give themselves an opportunity to be full DCA members by not performing in a DCA sanctioned show. They are the only corps on that list that does not perform in at least one show and yet this is the corps that caused the problem.. What I'll get from the peanut gallery is "We're way out here on the west coast we can't perform at a DCA show" Seems to me that Kidsgrove figured out a way by arriving the weekend before championships and performing in 2 sanctioned shows and then doing championships. Essentially what we have is a corps who does not actively participate in the DCA regular season. DCA allows them the opportunity to perform at THE premier event of the season without adhering to the guidlines that could earn them the FULL MEMBER status. In other words, they are "guests". That corps then causes an issue that escalates into DCA having to take discplinary action in order to manage/save the business relationship with the host city. This will in turn will most probably create a whole new set of rules and restrictions for the 18 other corps that will not only attend championships, but also actively participate in DCA sacntioned regular season shows. Everyone else is left holding the bag for a corps that is a member in name only. Maybe that's the reason why an apology might be in order. They fly in, do championships and fly out. They don't host or make the effort to organize their season in order to perform at one DCA show. What else could DCA do to them other than suspending them from championships. They didn't have any other way of addressing the issue.

Sorry Jim, I think you buried the lead. This is the the statement after 20 pages that is the head scratcher. Whatever the hotel rules were YOU FOLLOW THEM. Justifying it by stating that strict rules and the corps in question was a recipe for disaster is pretty telling of the overall attitude. I get the whole "Bad ###" rep. It's a cool hype thing, but in 2012 where all you have to do to get sued is look at someone the wrong way, save it for the field. As for the second sentence, It's unfortunate that things were allegedly stolen. I'm sure you would have had sympathetic ear with the hotel, but you gave up your leg to stand on by whatever occured. Lastly, to claim that this would've occurred with any other corps and that hotel is pretty weak. I'm sure every other corps had rules to follow with wherever they were housed, and they all seemed to be able to handle their business without jeopardizing a whole organization's business relationship and reputation.

I'll do you one better. I was in "The Shoe" when John Glenn got to do it 3 years ago. I also met him outside the stadium. What an experience.

Nobody knows the facts. Let's assume that bad decisions were made on both sides. The issue here is big picture and perception. Because we're involved in this activity, it's easy for us to narrow this down to a few bad apples in one corps and minimize the PR damage.. From the outside it doesn't work that way. We all get painted with that brush from the outside. I know this from personal experience in my other activity that I participate in. Whatever happened, happened. Whatever was done was interpreted, by the hotel, host city, whoever, to be an issue FOR THEM and apparently reported to DCA. From the outside it looks like "THOSE DRUM CORPS PEOPLE . . . . " Not the Renegades, not John Smith and Bill Jones (not real names) from the Renegades. Whoever reported the incident doesn't know the Renegades from the Statesmen. All they know is that a drum corps did something, and DCA is responsible. Now DCA has to take action and show that they've addressed the issue in order to preserve a business relationship which are pretty hard to come by. It's easy to say that they may have made a wrong decision or possibly went too far, but we aren't the ones who signed our names on the contracts and entered into the business relationship with the hotels and host city. In Annopolis's eyes, DCA is responsible for the actions of it's members. Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a crackdown on all corps next year to insure that whatever occured does not happen again. So be careful with your well wishes. They'll be in Europe and you'll be in Annapolis dealing with the true ramifications of what went down. It only takes one host city to bad mouth the whole activity and you're going to end up having your championship weekend as a one day event on some high school field because no one will want to take the risk.

I had the chance to spend Monday with friends in the Annapolis area. While it's anectdotal evidence, these non-drum corps people were very aware of our prescence by way of the media attention we received in both print, as well as TV. That is the true measure of how a community "REALLY" values you. They were excited that we were there. One of the things that stuck out was as part of the reporting that was done. It made mention of the fact that there are NO drum corps in the Maryland area. Which had me going through the roster of both DCI and DCI and I couldn't think of one at the top of my head. So who knows, not only could this increase attendance but maybe add a corps or two and build a geographical bridge to DCA South and allow for the possibility of a DCA schedule that includes some MD and Northern VA shows.. Personally, I thought it was a great venue to perform in, and the fact that the Annapolis communtiy was willing to work with DCA on the noise ordinance issue in order to get the show in on Saturday night was another example of a host city embacing us.

My DCA friends will have take a breath with this, but . . . . . . If the true argument is a decline in participation why isn't the easier option to raise the age out limit to 23. By changing the instrumentation there MIGHT be an upside, but there could also be too much of a change in the product that it potentially pushes away the fan base. Is that risk worth taking? The first rule of marketing is "Once you have them, keep them" Someone would have to tell me that if they had the chance to stay in the activity, would they? I would think the only reason those folks stopped marching is because they are told they can't. What is the difference? They're still of college age, and at a time of life where marching corps would still be an option. I don't think raising the age higher than 23 would see that much of a benefit as "One's life has to start sometime" Time to grow up! Speaking as a WW player, it's too much of a risk to the product to go down this road when there are other options that are less drastic and could be more easily implemented.

I'm not sure what recently you're speaking of, but in the last 2 years DCI has hired Cesario to focus them into more entertaining shows So much so that it has changed the judging system for the 2012 season and an introduction of an Entertainment caption. Last year DCA has added the communication caption to the judging sheets in order to reward a more fan friendly approach I think all of the drum corps world has realized that this was a problem and has made great strides recently to turn the tide and take the fan enjoyment into account. Hopefully with these changes we'll see the same attendance rises that everyone experienced last year.

And so the question begs to be asked, where is this spike in the existing fan base that says that it will support a professional DC. You're putting the cart before the horse. We haven't been able to grow the fan base. If we were selling out in stadiums all across the country then one could see the support, but we're not. And like pro sports salaries and operating costs rise which is passed on to the fan base that you'd hope to build off of. How much will they pay. Also the fan base dollars that you rely on also has to be distributed to the other non-professional drum corps. They aren't going to allow your drum corps to be paid at a higher rate simply because you have a higher overhead. Also in the above post you mention market forces and UNIONS. With unions come higher salaries than $35k a year. As well as work place rules and guidlines like rehearsal schedules which would not be negotiated at what your competitve DCA/DCI corps currently rehearses at. All you have to do is look at the new NFL collective bargaining agreement to see that gone are the days of 2 a day practices. Pretty sure 12 hour practices would be gone. You also have to take into consideration that as a business that is employing above the table you would have to provide Workman's Comp. With the physcal nature of the activity those rates are going to be high. Based on your salary calculation of $35K the ball park take home is $26,250 and health care isn't even included in that number. Who's living on that? You're going to argue about starting small. This is small. The costs are always going to be higher in the start up than in the maintaining of the business. Largely because so much money goes out in the beginning before dollar one is ever brought in. These comments from all who have posted are not simply naysayers. They are a very real reality. Failure is an option.

Gotta go with this guy. He's never been wrong!

As a Buckeye Fan, I can tell you that game is scheduled for the Raven's stadium that weekend.

I didn't have that problem. Video and Audio quality are great. Graphics editing however is a different thing all together. To my surprise the Reading Buccaneers placed 7th with an 89.00 at prelims. Nice comeback to place 2nd guys!!!!

Have to agree on this one. Tim I appreciate the offers to those who have posted about ordering early, but you've created a sour impression. I've been in retail sales/customer service management for over 20 years, and while I appreciate the "Sales" incentive and trying to build business, you've created a bad feeling for those who placed their orders early at championships or before the ship date, and now have created a "wait and see" buying perception for next year. Why order early if there's the possiblilty of a better deal down the road? While I don't remember what the Championships "Sale" was I don't believe it was a $30 off (20+shipping) offer. I peronsally waited until I saw that you were shipping and ordered on 12/8, because I didn't want that money tied up back in November waiting for the item to ship. I'm not posting this because I'm looking for a deal, merely pointing out the issues caused by this promotion. What I've learned over the years is "The most devastating customer service issues are the ones that you never hear about." Just some feedback. John

Hopefully this isn't a posting issue, but it is off of TV. Here's one way to do high wire. It helps that our shows are at street level and not viewed from a press box.

And would agree with their exclusivity there. If they're footing the bill they should reap the marketing benefits as well.

Just a point of info. Calvalcade is up to 110 bands and has seen an influx mid season. They have had to split their champsionships into 2 sites this year moving one whole class to a different venue to compensate for the mid season swell. But agree that it is an ever changing situation.