SkyRyderFMM

Nope. We found out after he had been offerred a contract that he could juggle. He is a member of the trumpet section.

I'll be there, and I'm really looking forward to seeing all 4 of them. It sounds like they are all very good this year with fan friendly shows.

Voted again today! I've been trying to remember to vote every day this month for all of htese corps. I haven't hit every day, but most of them. Good luck to all!

You can count on a vote from me every day this month. And I Used all of my power votes to help you guys out as well (I have several - Diet Pepsi addict here).

I am fully aware of the SOI situation, but even that analogy shows how flawed your logic is. Whether the revenue comes from a business activity or from performance fees, in both situations you are projecting what future revenues, and based planned expenses off these future revenues. The revenue stream is just different. Operating based on projected future revenues is how it has always been done (and was done in the case of SOI as well), and as I said, few corps operate based on deficit spending. If you would take my advice and read the corps financial statements (available for free on Guidestar), you would see this is true. I do not think you understand the business and tax implications to a non-profit organization of running unrelated businesses. Perhaps you should figure this out before stating this is how it should be done. Further, the stay local routine doesn't work from an economic standpoint either. If you are staying local, you are not generating as much revenue, yet there are little if any cost savings. The cost side of the equation is fairly fixed. Fuel cost is the primary variable. Once the season begins, it is in the best interest of every corps to perform in as many revenue producing events as possible to offset the relatively fixed costs. Further, staying local increases many costs and introduces many logistical challenges that can be very difficult to overcome (the number one being housing). The DCI budget used to be heavily dependent on ticket sales at Championships. The current model of hosting major events each weekend around the country has reduce the dependence on Championships, and increased revenues. Some of the weekend regionals are as profitable, or close to as profitable, as Championships. This is a very smart business move. It has it's drawbacks from a fan perspective (corps all go head to head each week, so there is little surprise on where placing end up at the end of the season, vs. the old model where everyone went head to head only once before Championships). And the corps must travel to these events. The touring cost is offset by the additional revenues earned. But to earn these revenues, you must tour. The old "regionally focused" tour didn't do much to cut down on mileage. Corps still traveled all over the country, but to smaller regionals (there were often two regionals in different parts of the country on the same day) that were less profitable. Why do dues increase? Again, look at the financial statements and you will see why. The cost side of the equation keeps increasing (food, fuel, insurance, regulatory costs, travel costs for staff, personnel costs, payroll taxes, etc.). Your explanation makes it sound like corps are spending with wild reckless abandon on frivolous things. Look at the drivers of cost increases (food, fuel, transportation, insurance, etc.) - the costs of running the business - and tell me where all this waste is? Look at member dues as a percentage of total revenues, and see whether it's increased, remained the same, or decreased. That is a better indication of whether corps are doing everything they can to manage revenues and expenses. And if you are familiar with the SOI situation, you should also be familiar with the fact that many of the businesses they set up to support the corps barely turned a profit before the corps ceased to exist. You need to seperate the fantasy from reality.

I'm sorry, but your logic is flawed. Corps depend on a variety of revenue streams to operate, including member dues and performance fees. Corps are not, and never have been, able to generate sufficient revenue to operate without considering these revenue streams. Almost all corps operate at the margin. This has always been the case. Most corps today are running themselves like a business. To be eligible to join World Class, a corps must undergo a review, which includes administrative operation. All corps must submit copies of business documents to prove they are complying with the various state and federal requirements. Some corps operations are more successful than others. But when you operate at the margin, it doesn't take much to put you behind, which can send you into a downward spiral fast. For example, if you are a finalist getting paid finalist performance fees, receiving endorsement deals that finalist receive, have the higher souvenir sales that finalists enjoy, and attract more prospective members at auditions, and you miss finals, there will be many negative consequences to a variety of revenue streams. To make up for these losses, corps have to work extra hard to compensate, or shrink. If they shrink, the likelihood of returning to finalist status will decline significantly. If you are charging $3,000 and you cannot operate, perhaps it's because donations are down, performance fees are down, souvenir sales are down, a corps didn't land a grant they had planned on, etc. It's far more complicated than you make it out to be. As I said, there are 2 finalists where this is not presently the case, but these two might be counting themselves among the rest if they do not diversify their revenue streams and prepare for change (which will come, like it or not). There are only a handful of corps operating like our "Federal Congress" (i.e., operating with significant deficits). They were not the corps leading the G-7 charge. Read the corps financial statements. They are available for free on Guidestar. You might want to spend a little bit of time reading them, and you will be much better informed about the motivations of certain organizations.

But it costs something to operate the system that requires the venue map to be built, creates the web page for the event, links payment processing to credit card gateways, allows you to pick your seats, gives you the option of paper tickets or print at home tickets, host the space on servers to run everything, and e-mail you your ticket, etc. Or you can just wait until the day of the event, stand in long lines, and hope and pray you can get a good seat (or arrive hours in advance to get the seats you want.

Thanks! I marched all three of these.

The new Minnesota stadium looks fantastic. I believe the logistics in Minneapolis would be much better than Akron as well. It's a hub for Northwest, so there will be plenty of direct flights, and there are plenty of hotels and things to do in the Twin Cities.

All I can say is where I can see that show?! Can you imagine a line up like that?

Donations made to pay a specific members dues or tuition are NOT deductible for income tax purposes. If the donation is made to a corps scholarship fund, and the corps decides who receives the money, it is deductible. Also, you cannot donate to the corps with a wink and a nod arrangement to pay a specific members dues. The donor could get into trouble with the IRS, and the corps could lose its 501©(3) status as a not-for-profit organization.

In 1986 at our home show in Hutchinson, KS, we have just completed our warm-up and were at dress center. We were wiating for the DM to give us the ready front, then start the show. Well, he forgot the ready front command and just started the show. The opening statement was an utter disaster, as half the horn line was facing back field and only about a third of the horn line started on the count. The entire show was a debacle. He repeated the mistake in our final run through before semi-finals (and was just about lynched). Tim Kviz Sky Ryders 85-88 Various Others 78-84

I think the bigger probelm was the conductor in all his excitement of the addition and the fan noise forgetting hw to count to 4 and miscueing. Half the corps, followed, the other half didn't. Tim Kviz