garfield

Wait! What? Trust people to make decisions for themselves? Pfft. Clearly, you've been sleeping for the last few years. (\sarcasm) Both of my kids are at college. If both colleges are demonstrating actions that pass the very demanding cleanliness requirements of most freaked-out adult babysitters and their lawyers of today, I'm absolutely confident that schools will do the same for the benefit of their more widespread sports and activities including music programs. It's all in the timing. Ten months from now the schools could very well be clean and welcoming, but planning in November for that possibility takes a leap of faith that might be required for drum corps to stay relevant.

Yea, you'd think that Mandarins know a thing or two because they've seen a thing or two. One lesson learned: throw a big net and let none escape. If there's cancer, cut it out immediately. Follow the law to the T. Don't succumb to the mob and follow the advice of counsel. But protect no one and follow every lead. Too bad for Mandarins, but it appears the S.O.P. for such reporting is becoming adopted and ingrained, so good for the activity. Thanks Jim and Mandarins BoD and counsel.

Umm, kinda important. I'd missed this. Thanks. Anyone who works in our world knows that there are tons and tons of ways an employee can be dismissed. "Personnel" means confidential. If it's legal, it'd still be confidential unless and until. Smart move on the corps' part. Now, about those "reports" from two years ago...

Or, in the world of speculation and condemnation for not doing something, anything, maybe telling EVERYONE is a mea culpa to eliminate that threat along with the actual one. Quietly letting him go would never satisfy the rage if the story, or ANY story, surfaced after the fact. They would have been accused of hiding it.

Hopefully one at which they taught their students to not end a sentence that way. 😀

Yes, it is. It provides a reason to be optimistic. The easiest thing in the world is to be pessimistic. It takes no effort at all and almost anyone can do it.

I know first hand that DCI execs and BoD members were severely chastised for inking this deal. But I can't help thinking what a stroke of luck it was to make the deal when the enterprise value of drum corp was much higher than now. Something tells me that the same deal between Flo and DCI, made today, would have netted DCI much, much less than the 5-year deal did. Did DCI offices know, when they made the deal, that DCI's value was about to fall off a cliff? Probably not. But any business leader will share that success is generally built with as much luck as it is skill.

The very best thing for the country as a whole is for every American to do what is in the best interest of him/her self and their family.

Fog machines can de-gaus a bus bus in 20 minutes. While it's getting fuel. Life finds a way. Especially American life.

You do realize that you're only defining your version of "the right thing", don't you?

We delivered both kids to colleges this week. One is doing marching band - practice started last night. Their football season is cancelled, but the band directors know that music majors can make music and learn. They intend to do a field performance, tape it in the stadium, and broadcast it out to the students. The other is doing shooting sports. Now 14 shooters on the shotgun team from all around the US (and one from London). Practice started yesterday. Life will find a way to return to "normal", even if it's a different normal.

Of course. My real question is What is DCI worth if Varsity wants to buy it? I'd say two times the present value of, say, five years' worth of all revenue above expenses (excluding corps payout). Two-times-"book" value is really ONLY gate cash flow as the activity as a whole has little or no assets to buy. Varsity would be pretty much buying the brand. (But WAIT! The corps ARE the brand! Well, we'll see if VS (not Victoria's Secret!) puts in a bid for any of the "brand" drum corps.)

Nobody seems to remember the gritty details. In the end, follow the money.

The question is: What's it worth?

What's really striking is that Jersey Surf, for decades, has been ridiculed for not making a full tour and for being a "part time" drum corps. I suspect that Surf is probably better positioned to make a "short tour" both meaningful and profitable than many or most corps in the activity.

Roger. "D" is where you get put on notice and "F" is when you get the boot. Let's try to stay on A's and B's and I really don't care if "C"s are thrown out! It is a discussion thread after all! (And capital D rhymes with P and that stands for POOL!)

If you look really close, you can see lots of social distancing going on in the pic, which maybe helps explain why CNN reported it only being 50,000. Still, that would be a great attendance at ANY drum corps show!

Thank you for the compliments and let me reassure you that I'm the exact same person now as then. Yes, I've seen several threads closed for bickering that I wasn't even contributing to; it's the nature, I think. I'm not a rocket scientist but I'm still not sure what your A+B=C is referring to, but don't feel compelled to explain. The topic is DCI in the post-Covid drum corps world, not Belarus, political writers, or immigration unless they relate to drum corps. I was literally trying to be accommodating to a very prodigious poster (NEBrigand). I find the question intriguing (if worthy of its own thread): what of "importing" musicians to fill the ranks? Isn't that what's supposed to be incubating in SoundSport?

It's OK! I REALLY don't intend to trigger people. I like the word inane and, if it's not what you meant, please correct it if you care (I don't mind if you don't). Search Results Dictionary: in·ane /iˈnān/ adjective silly; stupid. "don't constantly badger people with inane questions" [EDIT: or posts, as it raises the mods ire] Similar: silly foolish stupid fatuous idiotic absurd ridiculous ludicrous

fixed

I was trying to, and I think I actually succeeded in, relating NE's post to the thread, instead of coming right out and stating he was off-topic. But sorry you thought it was silly. It was a stretch, I'll admit. Fixed

Even with all of the immigration into the US in the last 75 years, the number of performing groups has declined. Is that because of "depopulation"? If so, why were there not more suburban and smaller city corps started to pick up all of those stranded performers? Edited: If this subject relates to the thread, then should DCI's function include lobbying to increase the number of O-1 visas because not enough American kids don't want to march drum corps? I think this might be an interesting discussion about contributing factors of the declining number of corps, but not sure how it relates to the thread.

Well, this is the root of the matter so, yea, it's not a new predicament, is it? But it's the crux of the issue. The individual corps need the gate and wants DCI to make the best gate possible, but then starves DCI by refusing to create a line item for "rainy day fund" or even an operations fund, then demands that whatever is left be paid out to the corps under the aegis that the corps are better marketers of the activity than DCI is (regardless that the responsibility is drafted in the mission documents of DCI).

You might be wearing sunglasses but, in any case, isn’t “anytime soon” too vague to be meaningful? And relevant to the topic, should we just wait until “soon” arrives to figure out DCIs role, if any, when it does?

This is still exactly the point. How much should corps “pitch in” to assure that DCI has the funding to organize, pitch, and get funding support for whatever “stage” the members want? I’ve wondered aloud if a reverse of the DCI payout scheme would do it well. They more payout a corps gets, the more they put into the DCI operations funding. And yes, I’m fully aware that the biggest cats are the hardest to herd.