SkyRyder_FMM

Still have one seat in Section 220, Row 10, and ten tickets in Section 318, Row 6 available. They can be picked up at the stadium.

The Blue Stars have the following tickets available for Saturday night in Allentown: Section Q, Row 14, Seat 21 Section Q, Row 15, Seat 21 Click Here to Purchase

The Blue Stars have the following tickets for Atlanta available for sale in their online store: Section 220, Row 10, Seat 7 Section 318, Row 6, Seats 1 through 10 Click Here to Purchase

These tickets are still available if anyone is looking for good seats. I can deliver them to you near the ticket window tomorrow.

The Blue Stars have tickets available for Allentown. The following tickets are available: Saturday, Section Q, Row 14, Seat 21 Saturday, Section Q, Row 15, Seat 21 Saturday, Section I, Row 20, Seats 1 to 8 Saturday, Section I, Row 21, Seats 3 to 8 Click Here to Purchase

The Blue Stars have tickets available for Atlanta. The following are available: Section 222, Row 3, 1 ticket Section 220, Row 10, 1 ticket Section 318, Row 6, 10 tickets Click Here to Purchase

The Blue Stars have tickets available for San Antonio. The following seats are available: Section 113, Row 30, 3 tickets Section 214, Row 6, 1 ticket Click Here to Purchase

Blue Stars have tickets in Section I. Click Here to Purchase

Blue Stars have tickets for sale. Click Here to Purchase

Blue Stars have 1 ticket in section 222, row 10 for sale. Click Here to Purchase

The Blue Stars have tickets for Finals available in their online store. Click Here to Buy Your Finals Tickets

The Blue Stars have tickets available for 2015 DCI Minnesota. Seats are available in the following sections: Super Premium Section 140, Row 30 - 3 tickets http://shop.bluestars.org/dci-minnesota/dci-minnesota-super-premium/

If you are looking for tickets to the DCI Regionals or Championships, the Blue Stars have very good seats available in all price categories for the following events: DCI Minnesota DCI Southwest - San Antonio DCI Southeast - Atlanta DCI East - Allentown DCI Championships - Prelims, Semi-Finals, and Finals Click Here to Buy Tickets

Sky Ryders did full horn line body movement briefly in the 1985 drum solo, and again during the 1986 drum solo.

My wish from Madison - BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE,BILL CHASE, BILL CHASE!

Reward your supporters and entice others to do the same. Smart marketing in my opinion.

If they have not sold tickets to the venue before (meaning the venue map has already been built in their system), then they are not likely to make any money from fees the first year. If the venue map has already been built and used before, they may be making a small amount of net revenue from ticketing. Then there are the other operating costs to consider, such as ticket printing, equipment, mailing, manpower, customer service, etc. There is money to be made in ticketing, though not much - and it takes a few years to recoup the initial investment in equipment and constucting the venue maps.

Operating in various locations is one thing. Running charitable gaming is another. You must obtain alicense to operate charitable gaming, and it is almost impossible to obtain a license to operate charitable gaming in a state where you do not reside.

Look at the 990 thread to see how much revenue the 7 generate from member tuition. Revenues from the shows would have to increase to eliminate this source of revenue before members could begin to be paid. Ticket prices would have to rise by about $125 just to cover tuition. If the members were to be paid, they would need to rise further to cover payroll. Anyone interested in paying around $400 per ticket so the members could get paid for their 6 shows?

Or the Nina Simone version 😎

For the top corps, uniforms for the corps proper do not cost them anything. Guard uniforms are an expense the corps must absorb. Larger guards mean more expense. Uniform changes mean more expense. Instruments depends on your vendor contract. You either buy at a discount and sell them used (there is a cost to the corps for this option, though it is not all that significant relative to the cost of full ownership), or they borrower equipment and return it to the manufacturer. If you purchase and sell the equipment, there is a cost for additional members - particularly if you are adding tubas. It is next to impossible to purchase tubas and sell them for a profit. If members are paying around 40% of the cost of participation, the more members added, the more money the corps must raise through other means. The primary driver is the need to move to a larger bus. Once you make the move, filling every seat with a dues paying member makes sense. If the size is limited so that the smaller busses can be used, there is substantial cost savings. Once the limit is raised, corps cannot choose to not grow - they must to remain competitive. If the limit were set at 128, that would level the competitive landscape, and all corps could move to a smaller bus size and save money. If a corps wanted to choose to lease the large busses even though they didn't need the space, they could do so. But there would not be competitive pressures to do so. There are plenty of 45 passenger busses available for lease, so this is not an issue.

Let's evaluate the costs to dispel this myth, shall we? Housing - If you are not touring, you still have to house the kids. When you are not touring and performing, housing is not provided to you (the show sponsor is required to provide each performing unit with a free night of housing). So if you are not performing, you are on your own to find housing. if you cannot find it for free (VERY difficult these days), you are paying for it. So touring reduces housing costs. Food - Whether you tour or not, you have to feed the kids. The only impact that touring may have on food costs is regional differences in costs, which even out over the course of the summer. So touring does not really impact food. Insurance - Whether you tour or not, most of your insurance must be maintained. The only potential cost savings is that if you are not leasing vehicles, you do not have to insure them. For example, if you only tour for part of the season, rather than the whole season, you will not need to rent a tractor trailer to haul the equipment trailer or kitchen trailer. If you are not leasing that vehicle, you do not need to insure it. However, if you are not touring, you are not earning performance fees or receiving free housing. you save money on insurance (a few thousand dollars), but incur losses of revenues and increases to other expenses that more than offset this savings. Instruction - Whether you tour or not, you must still have a staff to teach the kids. Traveling or stationary, their pay is the same. Some staff may fly in and out a couple of times over the course of the season to fulfill other commitments. Which city you are flying in and out of may impact flight costs, but this difference is not all that significant in the grand scheme of things. Bottom line, instruction costs do not change. Bus lease - this one is a bit tricky. If you are not touring, meaning you are staying in one location, you do not need the busses. However, if you do not have busses under lease, you have no way to move the corps around. No local performances or parades (unless they are within walking distance from your housing/rehearsal site), no shows (unless they are at the housing site, and I hope there is a laundry mat within walking distance or it may be a long time until the kids get to do their laundry. If you want to perform in a show, even if it is within the region, you need the busses. It is far more expensive to lease busses for a day, a couple of days, a weekend,etc. and just lease periodically all season long, than it is to lease the busses for the duration of the tour. You need to lease the busses in blocks of time - first tour, break, second tour, or all season long. While national touring essentially means you lease the busses for the duration of the season, it is actually LESS expensive than leasing periodically all season. Fuel - Fuel costs are directly impacted by the distance driven. The average World Class corps has 7 to 8 vehicles in addition to the busses. I would wager a lot of money that oat, if not all, corps include the cost of fuel in their bus lease. This locks in the price for the season, so the bus company bears all price risk. For the remaining vehicles, the corps pays the cost of fuel. These vehicles average 7 to 8 miles per gallon, so for each mile driven, the entire fleet consumes 1 gallon of fuel. Take total mileage for the season times the price of fuel, and there if the fuel cost for the season. So the less miles traveled, the lower the fuel costs. Less touring would likely reduce fuel costs. But as noted above, less touring means lower performance fees, and higher housing costs. The way regional touring or limited touring saves costs is if the corps owns their own tractor trailers or busses. This increases insurance expense and maintenance costs, and in the long run, is not a wise move. Most corps figured this out long ago, hence why almost all lease their busses. Ways to reduce costs include eliminating equipment that corps must pay for out of pocket (i.e., electronics, multiple guard uniforms and flags, props, etc.), changing the length of the season (either limiting the amount of time corps can spend in spring training - impossible to police - or limiting the length of the season by cutting off time from the end of the season), or reducing the size of the corps. Members do not pay even 50% of the cost of their participation, so increasing headcount increases costs. So long as their are empty seats on busses, the logic has been that filling them with members increases revenue. This is only partially true, and it is primarily due to bus leases of 55/56 passenger busses (the most expense). If we truly want to cut costs, reduce corps size so that the corps could travel on 44/45 passenger busses, which are MUCH cheaper. Further, the argument has been that if kids do not get a spot in the corps they tried out for, they do not march. This may be true, but increasing the size of corps to allow more of these kids to march has a very direct increase to the cost for the corps. Reduce corps size to 128, so we can lease smaller cheaper busses, and shave the last week off the season to reduce costs - these would result in very significant cost savings to all corps.

In the past year, I have met 3 individuals that had marched corps - all becasue I was using my Blue Stars branded Visa card. When I pulled it out to make a purchase, they recognized the photo and name, and we stated talking. The first was in an auto parts store while running errends on tour last summer. The gentleman helping me had marched with the Blue Devils a few years ago. The second was in a Bose store. The cashier had marched with Pioneer the prior year. The last encounter was in NYC last month. The man at the front desk that was checking me in had marched with the Colts and Crown. He was kind enough to upgrade my room and comp my internet service.

You are correct. They are included in fundraising activities, and are listed as event #1 on Part II of Schedule G.

The gaming revenues were from the raffle we have run.