DCIHasBeen Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 This is a bummer. I mean, it's a bummer any time a corps can't field, but in Fever's case it comes after a very good year with a corps and show that really looked like it was going somewhere. Hope they can come back soon ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosski47 Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 Here's what I know: The organization is $60,000 in debt. Because of this they decided to do a California-only tour. When the members were told that Fever would not be attending finals, A LOT jumped ship. Not only rookies, but also a lot of vets. Most went to BDB and SCVC. Because of these factors combined, the staff felt it would be best to take the summer off and try to get the whole mess sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndzoneEric Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Here's what I know:The organization is $60,000 in debt. Because of this they decided to do a California-only tour. When the members were told that Fever would not be attending finals, A LOT jumped ship. Not only rookies, but also a lot of vets. Most went to BDB and SCVC. Because of these factors combined, the staff felt it would be best to take the summer off and try to get the whole mess sorted out. Sounds like discretion IS the better part of valor in this situation. Good for them! Here's to hoping that Fever uses this as an opportunity for future growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 All fine and well, Liam... and although you're not calling out DCI specifically, your inference regarding the spin doctoring is that poor little old Fever can't possibly be at fault for its own demise. How quickly things become black-or-white, with no shades of gray. (And by the way, I don't see any such inference in Liam's words. As usual, he has been very careful to avoid playing the blame game.) The "Activity" is only as strong as the sum of its parts. If corps are poorly managed, The Activity will suffer... no doubt. Not that this was your intent....but these words do remind me of the growing number of people who, in their drive-by analysis of past corps failures, attribute them all to "poor management", and continue on thinking that DCI is perfect just the way it is now. But if 550 of the roughly 600 different DCI-era corps have all folded due to "poor management", could we at least agree that it would be justified for DCI to make corps management their #1 agenda issue before the remaining 50 45 go down too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 And before someone provides the inevitable response to my previous post....yes, I am aware that DCI does a LOT to help corps management. I know about the evaluation process, the "how to start a corps" book, the management seminars, and so on. As wonderful as those things are, a look at the continuing erosion of the junior activity and shortage of corps administrators suggests that even more effort is needed in that department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baritone9172 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I mean, it's a bummer any time a corps can't field, but in Fever's case it comes after a very good year with a corps and show that really looked like it was going somewhere. To be honest, they have had an incredible past 5 seasons. Last season wasn't the only year that would have shot them into even more success. They have been a very competitive organization and a worry to all corps who wish to make top 6 placement because Fever could have just gone ahead and taken it away from them. The organization is $60,000 in debt.Because of this they decided to do a California-only tour. When the members were told that Fever would not be attending finals, A LOT jumped ship. Not only rookies, but also a lot of vets. Most went to BDB and SCVC. If this is the straight up reason why they called it off for this season (which imo is very possible although i know nothing about the organizations problems besides this) luckily $60,000 isn't impossible to recover from. It is a lot of money but nothing that will bury a corps immediately. If it is more than $60,000 then that could be a bigger problem. I also wouldn't blame some vets or rookies who decided to go somewhere else after they found out the corps wasn't going to finals. There was a lot of talent and hard work at that corps coming from membership and the ultimate goal has always been to show it all off finals night. It is sad that maybe no "loyalty" or "emotional attachment" was shown from the kids that they would decide to stay purely for the organization's continuity but if you lose the rookie base which would have been probably the easiest to lose (who have no emotional attachment yet to the corps) then you have a long way to go. And if a few vets leave then some other vets will start trickling out too because there is less and less hope as more bodies leave. I am not saying the kids lacked loyalty or emotional attachment to the corps but sometimes this will just happen and some people will make the dreaded decision to leave when leaving their first corps is the LAST thing they want to do. Recover from that debt Fever and come back strong like you did your first two years out! There is no doubt that your staff can pull that off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndzoneEric Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 And before someone provides the inevitable response to my previous post....yes, I am aware that DCI does a LOT to help corps management. I know about the evaluation process, the "how to start a corps" book, the management seminars, and so on. As wonderful as those things are, a look at the continuing erosion of the junior activity and shortage of corps administrators suggests that even more effort is needed in that department. Even more effort is needed in that department? DCI should now become chartered as a university so it can teach people how to run a business? What you seem to be implying is that "the activity" should be dumbed down so it wouldn't be so hard to run a corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndzoneEric Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 To be honest, they have had an incredible past 5 seasons. Last season wasn't the only year that would have shot them into even more success. They have been a very competitive organization and a worry to all corps who wish to make top 6 placement because Fever could have just gone ahead and taken it away from them. I seem to remember this corps having members posted at the exit gate in Brockton, Mass., begging for spare change to get home. I'm not sure how that ranks as an "incredible" past season. Competition does not equal success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well, not what I was trying to imply -- sorry if it came off that way. But it's clear (to me anyway) that there is something amiss in this wonderful activity of ours that is causing corps to "inactivate" more than activate. Whether the causes for any single instance are internal or external or (more likely, imo) some combination thereof -- how many more instances do we have to suffer before we decide to look at overarching solutions instead of writing off each instance as an anomaly in our "growing" activity?. That's all I was going for Pre-DCI corps folded as well...all the time. The difference was that there were more startups to take their place in the 50's and 60's. It was the late 60's forward that (IMO) we saw fewer and fewer startups, esp accelerating through the "merger happy" 70's (at least around NJ mergers seemed to be the rule more than the exception at times!) into the 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HYPErMom Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well, I know in Ontario - it's membership that keeps our corps down and out - if you dont get the bodies, you cant march.........know someone in Ontario, New York or Michigan interested in marching - contact HYPE!!!!! www.thehype.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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