DCI Fan Network Platinum Membership News

[EndzoneEric]

I have been a big supporter of this every year until last year. I purchased a subscription and was let down. The problems were greater than the hype. I hope it is much better this year. It looks like it could be worth the cost...maybe.

The key is the content that is not up yet and how it is delivered.

The issues are as follows (and I would love to hear from Ricky on how these are being addressed differently this year).

1 - Is DCI outselling their purchased bandwidth as they did last year or will they actual purchase enough to deliever content to all of their subscriptions?

2 - Has DCI learned from the experience of spotty customer service last year and improved that service to a level that will serve all of their subscribers needs in a reasonably timely manner, particularly for live events?

3 - The main reason for purchasing a subscription is not just getting see the previous year's shows, which might justify the cost in itself, but to see how the 2008 season progresses. The announcement stops short of saying that 2008 on-demand content will be the entire show for all participating corps at that show, so I will wait on this one until the first show, unless someone can confirm this now.

4 - The web team providing the image and sound at the selected 2008 show sites makes the resulting product a primary responsibility of what they are there for, not just sticking a camera and attached mic out a window.

5 - Providing the subscribers information and status on a realtime basis when technical issues are encountered. Not just leaving us in the dark and guessing.

I may break down and buy a subscription, but not right now. I will wait for these questions to be answered, either directly or by the performance on the first shows. The archive material will still be there if I decide to join. Bite on the hype, I did last year, I will wait.

Maybe it's just me... but I think this is a little heavy-handed, and makes this post seem pretty darn self-righteous. Before I'm accused of shilling for DCI or making a personal attack, please allow me to explain.

As a consumer purchasing a product or service from DCI (or anyone else for that matter), we have every reason to expect that we will receive a fair value for the money we spend.

Where my opinion differs from this post, however, is in the manner of our expectations of A) what DCI is able to deliver and B) where our role of "consumer" ends and our role of "fan" or "supporter" kicks in.

If what we are served up is no worse than last year, we're already in good shape, in my opinion.

They (DCI) seem to be trying harder than ever to deliver an enhanced experience to the corps, the fans and the corps members. For a relatively small non-profit association, they do a pretty darn good job (again, in my opinion) of giving us the "Major League" experience to what essentially amounts to a niche marching band activity. My world will not come crashing down around me if there are a few technology hiccups along the way... and I'm certainly not going to act like $69 is the difference between my family living in squalor or enjoying retirement in paradise.

Based on the response that's been documented here in the past 24 hours since this new program launched, it seems that they've learned a lot about the need to increase customer service and support. After reading the above post, however, it sounds like some folks would rather not even TRY to do anything new or creative with their limited resources. I'm glad they're continuing to try new things. We're the ones that benefit from it.

[audiodb]

The DCI Fan Network worked on the first try for me....on a computer so overextended that it couldn't make this post on the first try.

[SCVNemo]

Its ok, i finally got it to work. No idea what the problem was though!