ContraFart

I would never spew hate. People are allowed to be wrong 😛

Does a regional tour, say in the southeast actually save gas? The distance between Genesis and Crown is longer than Heat Wave to Boston

My brother is a mortgage originator and I have worked as a processor in the past so I get your analogy My point is that you do not go from a 5th place corps to inactive because you have props and an extra truck. In these situations there is always something bigger and no cost cutting is going to prevent these situations in the future.

Or maybe the paradigm of extra curricular activities has changed and there are far more choices that are far cheaper to set up.

When in the history of the activity has tuition been 15% of the revenue? At least be realistic

I will bet you every penny I have and will ever earn that props, 10% of the staff and a week of spring training is not the reason why they are not touring this year. When you go from 5th place corps to not touring, the problems are larger and small cuts do not prevent circumstances like these from happening in the future

Are they a 3rd rail because people think they in infallible, or are they a 3rd rail because all of the arguments have already been heard? Where in the scoring sheets does it say you need props and electronics to score better?

OMG SWIFITES ARE THE ANSWER!!!!! You are a genius

Can Spartans Vote? They seem to be doing pretty well along with a few other open class corps.

That tells me everything I need to know about your intentions

I will ask this question again. Are Cadets not touring this year because of the 5% of the budget they could have saved, or because of bigger reasons?

I honestly believe that those asking for cuts believe that corps do not have agency to know what is going to put them under.

If they were that irresponsible, there would not be corps that operate in the black, and not just the ones in the top 5.

I am a more of a Cro-Magnon, younger than the dinos.

WGI works in the spring and a majority of groups can operate within a 3 or 4 hour car trip before going to Dayton. You cant just magically create a few dozen drum corps out of thin air to make the regional model work.

If they were that unnecessary and added that much of a financial hardship, they wouldn't use them. People are acting as if the corps do not know their own costs.

Are the Cadets not touring this year because of their props and electronics? Or is the overall issue bigger?

What is the distance between San Antonio and Ft Mill, SC? What is the distance between San Antonio and Atlanta (the closest geographic WC corps to Crossmen and Genesis.) What cities will these "regional shows" be in? Who will organize them? What will the payouts be? Will every corps have a home show? If so how many miles in travel will that save? Is there a housing and rehearsal infrastructure in each region? What happens to Open Class? Wouldn't the regional model actually increase the travel for groups like LA Stars and Heat Wave? There are a ton of things I do not know, but you do not know them either. But just doing 5 seconds of critical thought shows the flaws in the idea. I am not just dismissing an idea out of hand. I am saying the flaws in that idea are too great to be feasible.

Do you think every WC drum corps is frozen in indecision? There are organizations that struggle in this system and others that thrive. The system is challenging, but it is not broken.

Well if you read my other comments, I suggested prioritizing staff that can do longer stretches on tour to save on air fare and payroll. But I am also not complaining. I am saying that corps are smart enough to know what is going to break them and the suggestions I am hearing, while mostly with good intentions are half measures that really do not solve the problem and only devolves the activity. But if you actually engage with my premise, you would know that my point is that no corps is going to fold because of props and an extra truck. The problems Cadets and SCV face are much larger. If the one truck was the difference, they wouldn't have brought it on tour.

You are asking me to solve the finances of DCI and give solutions to things that DCI cannot legislate. My entire argument is not about how to solve the issue, but its about why half measures are not the answer and when a corps folds its usually not the small stuff that causes it.

Through everything Marching Members are the customer, forcing them out of the corps of their choice is not a good move.

If I had those answers, I would be DCI CEO. Let me ask you guys a question.... Would Cadets be marching this year if they did not bring out props and an extra truck, or are their problems larger?

I am still not understanding. By limiting to 2 busses, you limit the membership of any corps to about 110-115. That is 50 fewer than the current number. Are you saying that the 50 people who cannot be in the corps they want will spread to other corps?

I am not mentioning anything specific either. I just think that death by a thousand little cuts is not going to work without bastardizing the product. Nobody is saying "do not tighten the belt" I am saying that corps have the agency to know when to pull back and that you cannot legislate what corps needs cut. If even $100k in a $1.7 mil budget is the difference between touring and folding, then you should not be touring in the first place.