How much higher can fees go?

[corpsvalues]

2800? That's OBSCENE!

If obscene means an incredible value, you may be right!

Based on what my colleagues at the office spend on their kids' soccer, hockey, field hockey, cheerleading, midget football, lacrosse, baseball, gymnastics, competitive dance and swimming camps and activities, drum corps is BY FAR the best deal going. For the quality of experience in a touring corps, anything less than $5 grand is a ridiculous bargain.

[Cathie Wiener]

( yeah they say that you only need a couple hundred, but honestly...WHO can get through tour with less than 1000 spending cash?)

Uhhh... I've definitely never spent anywhere close to $1000 on tour.

Ditto. I didn't spend that much on FIVE YEARS of tour TOTAL.

As I have mentioned before in this thread I was buh-roke when I marched. Yet I still bought corps shirts and patches of course. I limited myself to two current years' corps shirts, if that, and was very good with the $5 and $7 "last year" shirts of the corps. Then there's candy bars and stuff which I spent more on while touring with Freelancers because Blue Knights didn't travel as much plus they wouldn't allow any shopping when stopping for gas. It was always "restroom breaks only" which actually was really nice because it always meant more floor time for sleep since we weren't waiting for everyone to get through the line in the convenience store before we could leave. The laundry costs are minimal especially if you make good use of shower time. Plus sometimes if you explore you'll find there's access to washer and dryers at some schools. :sshh: DOH. Did I say that out loud? :P

Then you add in a meal in a nice restaurant for your one free day (Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, D.C. etc.) and you're still not close to $1000. I'm not sure how much patches and T-shirts are now, but I'm sure I could still get by on tour with only $200 cash. Will I get every single thing I want? No. Do I NEED every single thing I want? Definitely not, so no big deal.

That is all.

Carry on.

[shostahoosier]

If obscene means an incredible value, you may be right!

Based on what my colleagues at the office spend on their kids' soccer, hockey, field hockey, cheerleading, midget football, lacrosse, baseball, gymnastics, competitive dance and swimming camps and activities, drum corps is BY FAR the best deal going. For the quality of experience in a touring corps, anything less than $5 grand is a ridiculous bargain.

$5k is a semester of tuition money!!!!!

I think drum corps WAS an incredible value. I was always amazed at how corps could have 3 month tours for only $800 (late 90s)....

....but $3k IS INSANE...and as creative as some people were/are (I worked two jobs AND held off on buying a car too)...I think people now a days are GREATLY overestimating the "gap" that sponsorships can cover.

In a few years year you'll have to work for a drum corps to be able to march for one.

And where are these $5,000 soccer, cheerleading, LAX, hockey, etc. camps? The Hamptons?

[shostahoosier]

Ditto. I didn't spend that much on FIVE YEARS of tour TOTAL.

As I have mentioned before in this thread I was buh-roke when I marched. Yet I still bought corps shirts and patches of course. I limited myself to two current years' corps shirts, if that, and was very good with the $5 and $7 "last year" shirts of the corps. Then there's candy bars and stuff which I spent more on while touring with Freelancers because Blue Knights didn't travel as much plus they wouldn't allow any shopping when stopping for gas. It was always "restroom breaks only" which actually was really nice because it always meant more floor time for sleep since we weren't waiting for everyone to get through the line in the convenience store before we could leave. The laundry costs are minimal especially if you make good use of shower time. Plus sometimes if you explore you'll find there's access to washer and dryers at some schools. :sshh: DOH. Did I say that out loud? :P

Then you add in a meal in a nice restaurant for your one free day (Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, D.C. etc.) and you're still not close to $1000. I'm not sure how much patches and T-shirts are now, but I'm sure I could still get by on tour with only $200 cash. Will I get every single thing I want? No. Do I NEED every single thing I want? Definitely not, so no big deal.

That is all.

Carry on.

I'll agree. I once survived an entire summer on $135! (1996). Got an awesome SCV drumline t-shirt for $5....our corps made us buy our own gloves which was a bummer...of course those $2 spent on the latest Drum Corps World were well worth it.....I think I spent most of my money feeding myself in Disney World. Maybe things have changed now though....that was over a decade ago.

Edited October 1, 2007 by shostahoosier

[lindap]

Don't forget, too, that the volunteers shell out a big chunk of change. Taking time off work, travel expenses, hotel, money given to the corps...and so much more....and in the case of my wife and myself we actually donate an entire years worth of expenses to one lucky corps member, but thats for another post.

But, it's worth EVERY penny.

Getting back to drum corp after 30 years away, but your statement interests me and you are very kind. When I was marching and poor, I got some of my fees waved. However, I was determined to give back. I taught other drum corps for a small fee or no fee. Otherwise, I was a waitress after school. The money would go back to the outstanding fees. I was an instructor later and asked for no pay except to travel with the corp, just feed me and find me a place to sleep. Personal tour money for Europe was by working at a job knowing I was going to quit before tour. I see alot of forum members that ask for sponsorship, now I know why. I will try to continue to give back to drum corps. Thanks for the inspiration.

[corpsvalues]

And where are these $5,000 soccer, cheerleading, LAX, hockey, etc. camps? The Hamptons?

It's not that one camp costs $5,000. It's that a year of participating in multiple leagues, traveling teams, week-long camps, registration fees, uniforms, clinics, combined with the cost of mom and dad having to drive and/or fly with the kids to the events winds up being well into the $5,000 range. The guy who sits next to me has two kids playing ice hockey and both are goalies. The cost of their skates and protective gear alone is in the thousands, before they ever step on the ice. And he's flying them back and forth from the states to Canada for tournaments, plus matches throughout the north east and midwest. Another woman in my building is constantly selling fund-raising items for her daughter to go to the Disney Wide World of Sports complex for dance team competitions 2 times a year.

That's just a few examples. I may be in the minority, but I believe that drum corps is an incredible value, when you add up the total number of hours and what you pay for them. Maybe my old-school upbringing bleeds through my thinking, but my father always told me that if I wanted something bad enough, I'd have to work my tail off to have it. (If the internet would have existed back then, I know without a doubt that I would not have been allowed to post something asking for a handout.)

[Shadow_7]

Back when I marched....

Camp Fee ------------------------ $20 (x8) (regardless of veteran status)

Audition Fee ---------------------- $0

Equipment Fee ------------------- $0

Tour Fee -------------------------- $450

Out of town lodging for 9 to 9's - $125

Some uniform expenses ---- $2 gloves --- $15 shoes

And of course whatever it costs for YOU to get to camps/pickup points.

Either way, most seasons were under $800 total and that includes some spending cash for laundry days on tour. So for FIVE years of the same, it would be about $4,000. But then again, we didn't get fed for the two weeks of 9 to 9's. As I recall some budgetary types living on 50lbs bags of rice or the equivalent in potatoes. But there were on tour work programs to offset the fees for those who couldn't pay them. Like taking out the kitchen trash during what would have been your dinner time. And if you were local, you could work bingo to help offset your expenses.

[ssorrell]

Seriously - you should tell your parents to do the math. A teenager at home for several weekends in the spring and home all summer long costs a LOT more than 3 grand.

Sorry...I'm not buying that argument. I have a teenager and one that will be soon. I guarantee you that it doesn't cost anywhere NEAR $3000 for my kids...BOTH of them to stay home during the summer and the few weekends in the winter and spring.

Okay...being a parent, you want us to do the math...here it is: December through May camps would equate to approximately 2 weeks of tour. The summer rehearsal and tourning season is 10 weeks long...that makes 12 weeks total that my kid/s would be away from home at the tune of +/- $3000 (travel expenses excluded). $3000 divided by 12 weeks equals $250.00 per week. I guarantee you that it doesn't cost $250 per week to keep a kid at home! If it does, it's way overdue to have a heart to heart talk with that kid about the cost of living...OR they can get a job!

I'm not arguing the value of drum corps fees...but just make sure if you argue with your parents about the fees, please give the correct support to back up your side of the argument.

[Walter]

It's not that one camp costs $5,000. It's that a year of participating in multiple leagues, traveling teams, week-long camps, registration fees, uniforms, clinics, combined with the cost of mom and dad having to drive and/or fly with the kids to the events winds up being well into the $5,000 range. The guy who sits next to me has two kids playing ice hockey and both are goalies. The cost of their skates and protective gear alone is in the thousands, before they ever step on the ice. And he's flying them back and forth from the states to Canada for tournaments, plus matches throughout the north east and midwest. Another woman in my building is constantly selling fund-raising items for her daughter to go to the Disney Wide World of Sports complex for dance team competitions 2 times a year.

That's just a few examples. I may be in the minority, but I believe that drum corps is an incredible value, when you add up the total number of hours and what you pay for them. Maybe my old-school upbringing bleeds through my thinking, but my father always told me that if I wanted something bad enough, I'd have to work my tail off to have it. (If the internet would have existed back then, I know without a doubt that I would not have been allowed to post something asking for a handout.)

I didn't spend $ 2,800.00 my whole ten years in drum corps in the 70's.

My how times have changed.

[kac]

Sorry...I'm not buying that argument. I have a teenager and one that will be soon. I guarantee you that it doesn't cost anywhere NEAR $3000 for my kids...BOTH of them to stay home during the summer and the few weekends in the winter and spring.

Okay...being a parent, you want us to do the math...here it is: December through May camps would equate to approximately 2 weeks of tour. The summer rehearsal and tourning season is 10 weeks long...that makes 12 weeks total that my kid/s would be away from home at the tune of +/- $3000 (travel expenses excluded). $3000 divided by 12 weeks equals $250.00 per week. I guarantee you that it doesn't cost $250 per week to keep a kid at home! If it does, it's way overdue to have a heart to heart talk with that kid about the cost of living...OR they can get a job!

I'm not arguing the value of drum corps fees...but just make sure if you argue with your parents about the fees, please give the correct support to back up your side of the argument.

I'm not necessarily buying your argument either. :P Depending on where you live, it could be pretty costly to keep your child at home for the summer.... and sometimes the cost of living doesn't have much to do with the child's expenses, and much more to do with where that family lives.

Have you factored in car insurance, gas & maintenance for the car, food, clothing, elevated utility bills from having someone in the house all day, their portion of the costs of the family vacation, and any summer camp fees? That is a lot of money and I'm not even putting in cell phone bills or going out with friends because the child's job usually offsets those costs.