DCI Returning to Florida in 2008?

[Lancerlady]

:P Okay, you got me on the you're in memphis and you looked it up part. I was lazy and didn't care enough to search it out myself. So you definately win in that regard. I was really just looking for some smart FL person to come on and give me the answer, but your google skills have prevailed.

:P LOL..I must admit, I lived in the Orlando Florida area for 5 years and just moved back.. But I am fast on the google.. b**bs

Edited October 8, 2007 by Lancerlady

[CoHmempho04]

Are Florida high school band directors or parents requesting shows down there??? Are they going through the process that a show has to go through to get a show??? Also, are there shows in south Alabama, South Carolina, south Georgia, that will make it so there can be a tour towards Florida??? When you look at a map and where all the shows are at, you could probably find a drum corps home within a 5 hour drive of it (probably not Kansas or Idaho but they are on the way to other places). The closest 2 corps would be either Spirit or Crown. As been mentioned, Spirit's home of Jacksonville, Alabama is 6 hours, 59 minutes and 8 hours, 19 minutes from Orlando.* Crown is 5 hours, 37 minutes from Jacksonville, FL and 7 hours, 48 minutes from Orlando.* I understand where you Floridians are coming from, but to drive 7 or 8 hours to Orlando for one show then back to at least that site is hard to see.

* denotes numbers from mapquest.com.

[Galen]

DCI, when are you coming back?!

When the state gets the housing issues with schools sorted out.

[MiamiNight]

From what I understand, the housing issue is on a county-by-county basis. For instance, Broward County doesn't allow overnight stays at the school.

I really hope there is a return of drum corps shows to Florida in some way. The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area has a ton of interested kids with fantastic high school and college programs that are begging for a local show (note: whether or not they are trying to make it happen is another issue). For me, I made the full day drive from Miami up to Atlanta for the regional and spend the weekend there. I really wish there was a closer show. Won't be a problem this summer though, cuz I'll be on tour! But I wish my friends actually had an opportunity to see me in person instead of on the DVD.

[HoltonH178]

Let me just say I'm a little bothered by the whole "Florida isn't good for drum corps" mentality...I mean sure the weather is less than fantastic for it in the summer...but honestly, there's plenty of interested kids in good bands all over the state, and especially in Tampa/Orlando/Miami that don't get any love from DCI on the summer tour.

And if BAC can find a place to stay overnight and rehearse, I'm sure that housing issues for at least a handful of corps wouldn't be that much of an obstacle.

Edited October 8, 2007 by HoltonH178

[Iplaytimpani]

Let me just say I'm a little bothered by the whole "Florida isn't good for drum corps" mentality...I mean sure the weather is less than fantastic for it in the summer...but honestly, there's plenty of interested kids in good bands all over the state, and especially in Tampa/Orlando/Miami that don't get any love from DCI on the summer tour.

And if BAC can find a place to stay overnight and rehearse, I'm sure that housing issues for at least a handful of corps wouldn't be that much of an obstacle.

Don't forget man, I spent 3 summers with a FL drum corps. Nobody is saying the talent in FL isn't worth having a show. But everyone's saying that the location and obstacles of a FL show don't seem to be worth the travel, especially with weather that is usually not good for a show.

[Tom Brace]

Here's the real deal with Florida from my perspective. Orlando hosted some of the poorest attended finals in history. What track record does Florida have in attracting people into the seats.

Atlanta had great attendance in 2006 and a less spectacular crowd this past season. (with an earlier season show) I figure if Atlanta's attendance rebounds, DCI has found their most southeastern home.

You better be able to draw 15K+ fans to bring a big show to your venue from now on.

[Jared_mello]

That makes Florida 12-14 miles out of the way for all the corps... assuming that's around 500 miles each way, and you'd probably have 8 corps or so, you're asking corps to spend about $1000 each for the gas to go and go back...

It's a little different when you remind yourself Florida is a peninsula.

lol, come on now. first off, i assume you meant hours rather than miles. nothing that was just said makes "florida 12-14 hours out of the way" for any corps. that makes southeast florida out of the way.

i havent forgotten that florida is a peninsula. that has nothing to do with the northern part of the state (jacksonville also happens to usually have much better weather than orlando by the way....orlando is disgusting), really. theres been a dci show in el paso texas for the last few years, and id personally consider that more out of the way than a show in north florida before/after the atlanta show.

if the primary mission of having a florida show is to gain interest, then be aware that having no show within the enormous amount of land that the state covers doesnt do a very good job of that. i know i could personally be responsible for 10 or so people attending a show somewhere around here, at the least. deal with a day of potentially unpleasant weather (i dont get on here and bash kansas for it too often, haha) and if nothing else, accept that what youre doing is for the wellbeing of the activity.

there, i made it sound completely unselfish, see that?

[MikeD]

:P Okay, you got me on the you're in memphis and you looked it up part. I was lazy and didn't care enough to search it out myself. So you definately win in that regard.

No, actually YOU win...you got someone else to do the 'grunt' work! :P

[HoltonH178]

Here's the real deal with Florida from my perspective. Orlando hosted some of the poorest attended finals in history. What track record does Florida have in attracting people into the seats.

Atlanta had great attendance in 2006 and a less spectacular crowd this past season. (with an earlier season show) I figure if Atlanta's attendance rebounds, DCI has found their most southeastern home.

You better be able to draw 15K+ fans to bring a big show to your venue from now on.

Alright, now this is just plain ludicrous. 15k+ fans? I know I've played shows with less than 5k...

Just to make it clear, I'm not even asking to bring back the Orlando regional. I'm all fine with DCI Southeast being in Atlanta. You don't have to argue very long to convince me that it's a better venue than the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

However, Florida turns out kids in almost every one of the top 12 corps (check--I'll bet you more corps have at least 1 kid from FL than don't) and make up pretty large portions of a couple others (BAC and Cadets come to mind). Not only that, but Florida is one of the richest, most populous states in the nation, AND DOESN'T HAVE A DRUM CORPS SHOW. We trek through the deadlands of places like Oklahoma and Ohio and Colorado and Illinois, yet all of the money and people and talent in this state aren't even worth a trek down to Tampa or Jacksonville for a few corps after the Atlanta regional?

I'm sorry. I just feel like FL does make up a pretty decent portion of the drum corps community, and easily the largest unserved portion of DCI patrons in the country right now--which isn't good for the FL DCI community or DCI in general.