bobjacobs

But what about the bus shots? They count too super sleuths!

The first championships were the beginning of the circuit. Thus, it is the 40th anniversary season which will be capped off by the 41st World Championships.

Greetings, all. It's been a while. Expanding the reach of the theater presentations has long been a goal of ours. There are two fundamental issues... the first is related to international copyrights and the second is related to distribution beyond American soil. Fathom Events has partnership agreements with different distribution arms outside of the United States. Our economies of scale make it a bit tougher for us to navigate the maze in a fashion similar to what the Metropolitan Opera and others have been able to do. Our goal, however, is to continue to work on this so that even if live programming isn't available, we can still get the show on the big screen on a delayed basis in Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Japan and beyond. As Facebook and YouTube continue to expand our presence in all corners of the world, we would love nothing better than to feed the passion of drum corps fans everywhere. Stay tuned, and keep the popcorn popping! —Bob

This is not a road we want to travel. This is not a situation where consumer demands are going to be of benefit and may actual make things a bit more difficult than they are already. Just mho, of course.

We voted to do this... to promote the activity and to invite more folks to have a reason to get excited about drum corps.

That's not what we're doing, Stu. A few thoughts: • We've never turned away a prospective member due to financial challenges. In that regard, this program is no different. • We don't have the luxury of allowing folks to stroll through the door free of charge, and we're certainly not going to throw away 21 years of debt-free existence by suddenly abandoning our values and good business sense and trying to spend money we don't have. Further, we would never take the corps on the road without delivering a safe and World Class experience. We don't cut corners at the expense of the corps members. • The plan is relatively straightforward: members can name an amount which they think is fair and within reach, then we can agree on how much we'll need to fund-raise together to cover the total cost of participation. Let's create a solid game plan to achieve our goals and let's work the plan. There's no misrepresentation and no bait-and-switch... and we've had a few thousand kids go through the program doing it precisely this way. • Each year including this one, several members are able to march for little or no out-of-pocket expense, by taking advantage of the numerous grass-roots fund-raising opportunities we provide. We're adding to that effort this year. Others may be able to take advantage of incentives for their parental involvement in key operational roles. We also have generous alumni and friends who contribute to make it possible for people to participate based on their willingness to work hard to achieve the goals and requirements of membership. Some of the corps members will raise funds this year to rollover for 2012 fees, and some will raise funds beyond their own quotas in order to help other corps members who fall short. • The impact of the current economic situation as it relates to our members and prospective members seems to be different this year than it's ever been before. We're trying to be in tune with that and to adapt to their needs. We have quite a few age-eligible vets who absolutely need to work this summer in order to cover their college expenses this fall, and couldn't do the tour even if we were to waive all fees. Some families simply don't have the cushion they've had in the past, for a variety of reasons... and thus, priorities need to be adjusted to manage "real world issues" ahead of participation in drum corps this season. • We don't do a full tour by choice... and providing the alternative to the full time tour is fundamental to our mission. A large percentage of our membership are high school students who would not be able to participate in an extended "Spring Training" sessions and the full 8 weeks on the road. Some have summer classes, some have summer jobs and others need to deal with other issues. Although this decision not to tour may put us at a competitive disadvantage, this is what we are... and many of our members, volunteers and instructional team wouldn't be able to do this if we changed the format. It's not that we don't want to "win" nor that we don't have competitive pursuits... we discuss our goals and priorities each year and this year will certainly be no different. We just want to make sure this is sustainable, which gets more difficult for the entire drum corps activity every year. By rolling this out, we're hoping to eliminate the "big scary number" as a perceived barrier to involvement. If someone really wants to be a part of our team, we can collectively set our sights on how we can make that happen. I hope this provides a little clarity. I've received several notes over the past few days, some of which surprise me. It seems that there are some folks who seem to feel that we should pack it in since, in their opinion, we're obviously not committed to building a World Championship-caliber competing unit. Like many other businesses, we're trying to survive, to deliver on the promise of our mission, and to continue to grow. I'm more than happy to discuss this further with anyone who has questions, comments or concerns. Thanks! Bob

All drum corps are, by definition, marching bands. The cool thing, however, is that not all marching bands are drum corps.

Thanks, Mike. It wasn't half of the audience that left... but it was several hundred. And besides the inherent conundrum of the parking at TCNJ causing some folks to want to get out of Dodge, there was undoubtedly a sentiment that the "home team" wasn't one of the big dawgs. We learned from the experience... and the corps members of the Surf chose to go on last. It was an interesting experiment, since we're usually one of the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" corps, on right after the National Anthem. When we go on first at a show, we need to end rehearsal at 2:30 in the afternoon, so we can shower, eat, pack, load and move to the stadium. It was fun to see what it was like arriving at the show site when the first corps was going on the field. Something to which we can aspire, I guess. If and when the opportunity arises again, I'd imagine we'd handle it the same way... or however the corps members wished to handle it. We're looking forward to the start of our "second tour" next weekend. We hope to make some new fans along the way. Peace!

We could use a little lovin' too, as we're "on the bubble." Here's the direct link.

Everything helps! Please vote and encourage everyone else on your friends list to do so also. Thanks!

I finally had the chance to see and hear DCI on Blu-ray Disc last night... a set of the "check discs" arrived at the office for the final sign-off prior to the receipt of the finished product. The video is stunning... I didn't even realize what I wasn't seeing until I saw it last night, even though I've grown accustomed to the difference between standard def and HDTV at my own home. For example, really fine-line details like sabers spinning and drum sticks in motion are now evident in a way that was largely indiscernible previously. You can see scratches on horn bells, for cryin' out loud! The audio is perhaps even more stunning. I remember how excited we were when DCI entered the digital era in 2000 with the first DVD production, and the Dolby 5.1 has been great at high volume levels. The DTS-HD Master Audio is pretty remarkable at a whole new level. You can practically turn off the picture and "see" the show through your ears... if that makes any sense. I know that I'm far from objective about these sorts of things... but I can tell you that I wouldn't have bothered saying anything at all if this wasn't really, really good. I think that I'll now be able to show folks who don't understand my fascination with drum corps something that looks and sounds so incredibly vivid, I might just be able to get them interested in coming to check it out "live."

For the past few years, we've been working with our partners from Fathom Events and National CineMedia on the process of getting "The Countdown" and the "Big, Loud and Live" quarterfinals broadcast into Canada (and beyond). There are a BUNCH of challenges, relating to distribution of the product outside of US borders... before we even get to the ever-present 10,000 pound gorilla known as "music licensing" thereby making it even a bit more challenging. Beaming digital broadcasts across national borders... working with many different theater operators in other countries... it's a rough road for a niche market like ours. We are continuing to work on this, however! There are many people who would love for the corps to make it to the big screen in throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe, Japan and beyond! Although we were the first event of its kind ever distributed through movie theaters, others have followed our lead and have create a great distribution channel. As one example, the Metropolitan Opera is doing this sort of stuff quite successfully through its movie theater series, following and vastly expanding upon the trail we blazed. Beyond the technical and legal issues, one of our challenges is simply not knowing how big of an audience there would be in the major Canadian population centers in support of such an effort. If you have any thoughts to share on this, please feel free to PM me, or to e-mail me at bjacobs@dci.org. We'd need to be able to make a case that after all of the costs related to various royalties and fees and licenses are covered, there would still be a sizable enough audience to make it worthwhile for the theater operators to get excited about our offerings.

I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss your take on all things drum corps, and to perhaps gain a better understanding of your concerns through a face to face discussion. Perhaps we'll enjoy some of that great deep dish pizza in your neck of the woods the next time I'm passing through that way, and when we're done, you can take me to a store which actually sells Shinola, since I have a hard time finding it out here. My cards are on the table. I don't hide behind any other "handle" because I don't need to do so. My motivation here is pure: I really enjoy drum corps and I'm attempting to play a little part in furthering the cause by sharing information. It's not an easy task... and you are entitled to your opinion about my perceived glibness. I'd love to have someone with your energy working for the cause, rather than simply taking every opportunity to pounce. If ever you'd like to roll up your sleeves and assist the effort, I'm sure we'd benefit from your vast experience and keen perspective.

Wow. Now that this cat is out of the bag, we need to regroup and come up with another tactic. We hadn't considered the kidnapping part, however. We're short on storage space and need as many people in the seats as possible.

Well... once you go that route (adding an actual audience) then a whole new series of things kick in... security... concessions... additional lavatories... additional lighting beyond "work lights," etc. It's not impossible... but under this scenario, we're going from a simple "can we come in for a sound test," to "can we stage an event." It's hard to ask for the favor when the gig now translates into an actual "event."