Poppycock

The real question is how many people will like, and how many won’t like the sound of woodwinds in drum corps. Or will it be called band corps?

A lot of disposable income from the legacy group (donations, volunteers and sponsors).

Be careful of what you wish for! Understand the pros and cons argument, just don’t believe there’s any real value to be added by allowing WW use unless there are limitations to how they are to be used. IMO initially the departure of legacy fans will be huge. Those departures will require new marketing to fill vacancies, not just for DCI regionals or championships either. Some local shows will feel it the most. Other than increases in revenue for instrument manufacturers it’s another incurred cost to organizations who already operate in the red. A impact study needs to be conducted from both fans and individual organizations prior to adoption of a proposal.

Circuit could use a good dose of honesty. BTW Stephan agreed with me you’re wonderful. Takes a lot of character to be truthful, unlike a kolboynick shmendrik.

Did a better interpretation in the earlier years not so much these days. Just saying!

Like you haven’t taken shots at the on field product of DCI corps. Pot-Kettle-Black!

After watching videos, those deficiencies are very obvious.

Never said it shouldn’t exist and watching organizations trying to be like DCI corps on a weekend rehearsal schedule and small budgets is IMO DCI-lite. The videos I’ve watched from the 80’s and 90’s the corps seemed to have an understanding of their style of drum corps Clear to me that both fan and participation interest has diminished. Perhaps things have just run its course and that’s difficult to accept.

I’m not aware of any organizations not recommending another organization to audition if not offered a contract. Some carry more than needed and wait too long to make final cuts which makes it difficult to find openings in other organizations right before move in’s. Don’t see this as not wanting to build the activity.

Trashing! please LOL 😂 have you even read your post? Hypocrite comes to mind. I don’t know if there is a need for a weekend circuit let alone an all-age one, but trying to be something they don’t have either the time or money to be just seems odd to me. Like I said I’ve seen videos from the 80’s and 90’s that makes sense, musically entertaining.

If it’s important to reach a broader audience to survive the next five years, it’s important to know why you’re not. Entertainment and competition get my attention, but I’m guessing not so much for you. I thought you were the person with all the answers to save this circuit, maybe I’m mistaken.

If the winning corps scores a 100 or a 50 doesn’t change the end result, and if the spread to second place is two points, still doesn’t change the end results. As long as the placements are correct and the spreads relative, that’s all that matters. 10th is still 10th no matter what the score.

Numbers are irrelevant! Placements and spreads are far more important. Seen videos of all-age corps including those you mentioned. Didn’t find it as entertaining as advertised and I won’t be attending or streaming. Found some all-age videos from the 80’s and early 90’s to be far more entertaining especially musically. IMO seemed to me both audience and MM’s were enjoying what it was. Which is better than trying to be something it wasn’t.

It’s called return on investment! There has to be value.

After watching videos - one in particular posted recently explained a lot.

Been a lot of drum corps history that is now just that - history! Have watched both corps and circuits fold or fade away for years. Excepting the inevitable is equally painful. If things don’t change, nothing changes and it’s clear there will be no changes. So difficult for organization’s to be something they can’t afford to be, which is in many ways the largest disparity in both World and Open Class DCI organizations besides the obvious talent level discrepancies. Can only imagine the inherent challenges of a weekend only rehearsal and performance schedule, travel expenses and lack of recurring monthly revenue. Don’t know how DCA lasted this long.

With all change comes the question of what makes it special? If there's an opportunity to increase revenue and participation, I'm completely certain that the inclusion of woodwinds will happen. Believe there will be a max number for particular instruments allowed since woodwinds add no value to the visual elements with regards to any production.

Okay!

Good lord! How about Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel and PoPo the Clown they might sell more tickets to these DCA show’s. LOL 😂

Looking forward to seeing and reading about the member experience throughout the season.

Makes sense to me. If the organization is going to spend a lot of money to cross the pond they would want the most bang for it. DCI provides far more exposure and offers better venues for their members to perform for larger audiences than DCA. According to post on DCP by those who attended DCA in little league town attendance was less than 2k, was held at a high school stadium that faces the sun with bleacher seats and no aisle railings. Understandable why they are not attending DCA.

Besides being contentious your point is?

No! The current tour model is not financially sustainable for the majority of corps. The annual incurred cost between 1.8 and 2 million dollars for corps to operate will continue to rise. The return on investment is a shortfall that in itself has to be part of the budget listed as a drag on the annual P&L. Less regional participants create long term financial issues due primarily to most members not being vested to the organization. The majority of donors and financial support for many of these corps comes from rooted drum corps people as private and corporate donations. Many if not most are baby boomers and genX. Those dollars will eventually go away as people get older and there is less disposable income Organizations are looking at creating new revenue streams outside of alumni support knowing that they cannot depend on substantial donations from alumni. For an example; if a rookie age out from Nebraska trying to pad their resume to become a band director after college by marching with BD, what do you think the likelihood of that individual becoming a donor to BD? Slim to none. Why! Because they’re not really vested in the organization. Less regional participation has also had an affect on attendance. The days of attending a show by friends and relatives to watch someone they know in a corps is practically gone. No local participation is a challenge for show sponsors trying to sell tickets to a disconnected audience.

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Yep one side of the story doesn’t exactly explain or validate either.