Cutting the cost of Drum Corps

[audiodb]

How long of a process would that be? How long before the Spartans, Surf, etc...rise to be competitive with BAC, let alone the Cadets.

Obviously, you can't put a timetable on that, Mike. All I can say is that:

1. There are one or two Eastern corps petitioning for promotion to world-class right now.

2. A year ago, few could imagine Wisconsin supremacy changing hands in 2007 competition. A lot can happen in just one year.

Could the existing World corps survive for that long if there was no competition?

Where are you getting "no competition" from? My idea would only apply to the early-season anyway.

And...no one has yet seen fit to explain how this would save all that much, as the corps would still have to house and feed all of their members, as most are not local to where the corps is located.

No corps is required to house their members all summer. For that matter, no corps is required to recruit so many people from so far away as to require they be housed all summer. Some corps today opt to recruit more locally and do shows primarily on weekends in early-season, as Academy, Pacific Crest, Jersey Surf and others do.

If corps are interested in cutting costs, they should consider these options. If they're not, then whatever we suggest here is moot.

[MikeD]

Obviously, you can't put a timetable on that, Mike. All I can say is that:

It WAS more a rhetorical question...did not expect you to provide an answer.

1. There are one or two Eastern corps petitioning for promotion to world-class right now.

2. A year ago, few could imagine Wisconsin supremacy changing hands in 2007 competition. A lot can happen in just one year.

I used Northeast as an example, but even one or two additions to the existing 2...and new ones at that, will hardly make for much of any REAL competition.

Where are you getting "no competition" from? My idea would only apply to the early-season anyway.

What competition is there for The Cadets if there is only one World corps in the area, BAC? What competition is there in the South if the only two are Crown and Spirit...Texas with only the Crossmen.

No corps is required to house their members all summer. For that matter, no corps is required to recruit so many people from so far away as to require they be housed all summer. Some corps today opt to recruit more locally and do shows primarily on weekends in early-season, as Academy, Pacific Crest, Jersey Surf and others do.

Ah...what you are really looking for will, IMO, reduce opportunities for potential members all over the country. Esp areas with NO World class corps at all. That model went away when the corps went away. Where would, say, a kid from Nebraska march locally at the World level, close enough to drive to and from rehearsals and shows as I did? Beyond a couple hours away from the home base you are no longer in a real commutable distance for an entire season, or even 1/2 a season.

If corps are interested in cutting costs, they should consider these options. If they're not, then whatever we suggest here is moot.

Well, there are ways to cut costs that are not these options. As you said, ending the ESPN2 show is one. Just because they do not consider these options in no way indicates a lack of desire to cut costs.

IMO this would be a real killer to DCI. Just MHO...and I might be wrong.

[elphaba01]

That's about all it would be worth.

"All It's Worth":

Maybe: But it would still be DRUM CORPS. Not the "Wonderfull World of Summer Marching Band, Trapeeze Artists and Dog & Pony Shows " that you and others LIKE YOU my pretty, want to replace the drum corps activity with.

Elphaba

WWW

[madscout96]

DCI needs to work on getting corporate sponsorship for the organization and help to underwrite costs for all corps

...

I agree. So DCI needs to work on making its product noticeable by and interesting for corporate sponsors. Much like Honda is sponsoring the Battle Of The Bands (or at least they did last year?). They get Honda! Who do we get? AJ Wright... We need to be more entertaining and more accessible to more people to make potential sponsors take notice.

[dbc03]

How about if you're not "pretending"?

....and getting another $2000-$4000 in tour fees each year for having one or two more kids in the pit.

I didn't say anything about smaller corps. I said smaller pits. You can have 150 members with 10 people in pit or you can have 150 members with 150 people in the pit and you are receiving the same amount in tour fees.

Let's face facts. Pits did not get any smaller with amps. No one uses amps to get "the same amount of sound out of fewer mallet instruments". Certainly, anyone who used that rationale to justify the proposal was, um, incorrect. But anyone who uses this rationale now to try and justify it after the fact....

Well, I don't agree. In the real world, there are two primary reasons why that doesn't happen:

1. The effects of summer weather (heat, humidity, rain, direct sunlight, etc.) on the equipment, and the wear and tear incurred in repeated loading, unloading and travel over rough terrain, are the factors that reduce the lifespan of a drum corps marimba. Softer mallets and gentler strokes don't really extend that lifespan (though the mallets may last longer, at least).

2. No one chooses the option of "more sound from fewer keyboards". It doesn't make sense in practice. Small corps don't need to amplify pit in the first place. And larger corps, as it turns out, have a greater supply of percussionists than members in other sections. They are not going to turn pit players (and their tour fees) away to keep their pit small.

I was really referring to the cost of breaking into drum corps. A corps just starting out now has the option of getting the same volume out of fewer mallet instruments. There is now an intermediate step that a corps can use to get on its feet, and really I think the only thing holding a corps back from using fewer mallets indefinitely is the thickness of the pit arrangement. It is an option that they can consider though, if they choose not to use it they choose not to use it.

I also think it would be a good thing to consider for div 1 corps that are struggling to get by when it comes time to replace a worn out marimba.

[dbc03]

At the risk of rehashing (something I take people task for) . . .

. . . for a young corps, you are correct. Yet, the larger corps (of which, if memory serves, A CERTAIN DIRECTOR used smaller pits as a rationale for amps) continue to have pretty much the same size (larger?) pits.

George said that corps would have the option to use smaller pits, he never said that The Cadets would do so. He can't control what other directors do with their money.

MOST of the large corps are in fairly decent financial shape, so they don't have a need to use smaller pits to save money.

[WonderWallFlwr]

1. Reduce the maximum size of the corps to 100

Thats less money the corps brings in. Its not about the size; its about finding the right number that balances out the budget. I assume 135 worked well, as it was the number for years. However, the number just INCREASED to 150 which will (in my opinion) result in "smaller" corps folding.

2. Reduce the tour travel distance (maximum of 10,000 miles)

Half of my memories are of riding a bus with the people I love. We were able to perform for people from all over the US because we traveled so far.

3. Put a salary cap on all directors and instructional staff. (no more than 20-25% of any corps budget)

Most staff doesn't get paid enough as is. There are exceptions, I'm sure, but those are rare.

4. Reuse previous show material (musical scores, flags, props, etc.)

Most corps don't reuse show ideas. How can you create an entire new concept on the field with used equipment. Plus, the use of said equipment for an entire summer daily wears on it. It usually isn't in good enough condition to reuse under such strenuous conditions as drum corps.

5. Shorten the season to five consecutive weeks

WTF? No. Its already short enough. Did you even march world class? REALLY?!?!

6. Limit corps camps to a maximum of 5

And reduce training? I don't think so.

7. Limit move in time to a maximum of 15 days

And, reducing the training?

My guess is that many of these things will happen naturally over the next ten years as the cost of drum corps continues to escalate.

I doubt hardly any of these things will happen naturally over the next ten years. However, I can tell you that smaller corps are having a harder time finding the money to field, but thats always the case. You must also consider that our country is is a recession and that too is felt in the drum corps community.

Money is tight for everyone. But if you try hard enough, you can always afford corps. I know. I found the money and I'm a broke college kid who is completely independent of her parents AND marches winterguard. Its possible. It just takes a lot of hard work and commitment.

[marimbadude]

Three things come to mind off the top of my head:

1. Revenue Sharing ala professional sports. Less to create parity among the corps and more to maintain the infrastructure itself in order to preserve the longevity of the activity. These monies can go to support DCI itself (see point no. 2) and to other member corps to help subsidize expenses. Yes, many will balk at the idea.

2. Give DCI audit authority and takeover powers to prevent corps from making decisions that could possibly jeopardize their solvency and subsequently jeopardizing DCI's solvency.

3. As someone else mentioned, rethink our institutional advancement (i.e., fund raising) efforts. Look to other successful organizations who consistently outpace their peers in gifts received, endowments whose earnings outpace the market, etc.

[MikeD]

Three things come to mind off the top of my head:

1. Revenue Sharing ala professional sports. Less to create parity among the corps and more to maintain the infrastructure itself in order to preserve the longevity of the activity. These monies can go to support DCI itself (see point no. 2) and to other member corps to help subsidize expenses. Yes, many will balk at the idea.

DCI already does return a portion of it's net proceeds to the corps.

[marimbadude]

DCI already does return a portion of it's net proceeds to the corps.

I meant sharing of the corps' revenues, not DCI's, ala major league baseball.