Jeff Ream

hell, some people still call the Cavies "Chicago" and the Cadets "Garfield"

thanks Bob!

love that episode

it's not just judging. think in terms of marketing...."wow that corps has all the newest toys" or "wow that corps going old school" which do you think attracts the kids? and whether judges have or say biases or not...go back thru the history.....if it's changed, within a few years everyone does it. why...because it's like the old Garfield shirt...."first we zigged then everyone zigged, so we zagged"

probably because YEA has it's own PR department. it seems anyone not under the YEA banner does their clinics with DCi backing them

doesnt matter if it had impact John...the perception is there and has been with every major rules change back to the first valve added to a bugle. if the rule is passed, within a few years, everyone has it because the perception is "you need it"

electronics, extra staff to run and maintain the electronics....the touring model oh I know...you'll say the electronics are "optional". We also know thats ########

see, i'm not really a brand snob. i even give Phantom props for their Dienatsy sound. but they're the only corps in DCI i give props to for that. funny how it seems DCA corps do a better job making Dienasty sound good

except Rimba, the cap is 22

GLAD's got some good stuff. looking forward to what Murph and CJ crank out for this

good. I wish more kids would look elsewhere and not just give up

did you ever look into an Open Class corps to continue your training?

the age issue is where I wish we had more OC corps and they had a marketing clue.,..they'd be a great place to get younger members involved and get them training so they could go to WC corps.

picturing Nanci in the yard posing as a flamingo has had me laughing for hours

OC has the limp

I understand the need to keep finding new fans. however, I see no business sense in casting old fans away. I worked in the wireless industry for many years. All you heard until 2002 was "get new customers, get more new customers". then they realized...in doing so, they weren't retaining customers. Then you began to see a priority in how existing customers were taken care of, as well as getting new customers. the key demo became the "churn rate"...losing customers mean you "churned" them out. 2% was considered unacceptable annually. 2% of 30 million customers, yeah that's not a lot in the big picture. 2% of DCI's customer base....while not drastically bringing new fans in...which I'm not convinced they are seeing as NO attendance numbers for 08 and 09 have been released ( and you know if they were good, or could be put in any kind of good spin, DCI would have done so)....2% is hurting the business. there is logic in retaining and adding. I'm just not sure they want to do that or know how to me...really....despite my dislikes of some of what I see on the field....i want to be entertained. sometimes really technical shows do that. sometimes shows that tug the heartstrings do that. and for paying those kinds of bucks to go to finals, not being in a thunderdome does that. if attendance drops annually like Orlando did, it may not matter what deal DCI has with Indy...public perception may be too damaged to fix

well..not Surf when you were Open Class. But most Open Class corps do not do a lot of marketing to get their name out. IMO, a few World Class corps don't do it all that well either, but have the rub of being World Class. It is too often incorrectly viewed that Open Class corps are 'inferior". Open Class offers a lot of great things for kids, from sometimes limited schedules, to training to help them move to WC, to just a great environment for kids that want to do drum corps. And you don't see or read about it 95% of the time. A few corps do ok, such as Surf, but most don't, and yes, we all know DCI loses money on Open Class, but maybe they could also give the corps more rub and maybe...gasp...just maybe...they could break even on it. I see tremendous value in Open Class. Shame is, most of those corps directors don't do a ###### thing to back up what myself and a few others say on here. in fact...sadly on DCP anymore, most OC class news/discussion is about corps going belly up and horrible management. And if DCI waned to make a few bucks on OC events in the Echo Dome...market it! That's what drew the huge crowd in Madison in 2002, which to this day is still one of the top 5 drum corps shows I ever watched in terms of quality and entertainment

couldn't tell ya about the Grammys. Most popular music released today makes me turn the channel. and, IMO, Super Bowl haftime to me means bathroom run and food refill. and sadly, that's what drum corps inside is starting to feel like to me...something I don't want to see. What's sad is more and more people agree with me. I mean...drum corps survived rain for decades. I've sat thru 2 hurricanes to watch big shows. I practiced in rain. marched in rain. Marched in heat and cold too. someone else used the word "wussified" in relation to drum corps in another thread, maybe even this one.....and I think in some ways....that poster is spot on

yep. but, i'd imagine Phantom spends a ton of time on it. I know we used Stingrays in the 90's, and the drums sucked, but we spent hours upon hours to get em to sound awesome

starting in the 70s, several all age corps had dci aged kids. it has grown as time has gone on, especially as DCI costs have risen...and also because there are fewer corps in DCI. I'd also say the lack of merketing for the Open Class Corps, by DCI and the corps themselves have helped DCA grow.

imagine if they held the Super Bowl and only 10,000 fans showed up. or the Yankees had home field advantage in the playoffs and they averaged 10,000 fans a game. yet the Yankees went to Boston 3 weeks before and played before an SRO crowd. that's a possibility with the LOS deal. I can pretty much expect if Allentown could hold 25,000 fans, they'd get that size crowd. In fact, it makes me worried that Allentown will be replaced by a dome

well you're feeling better

it is getting there for me as well, but...my favorite show from 2009 worked inside and outside. it all depends on the arrangement ( and less low end synth patch at the big push)