Daycare at Finals

[Newseditor44]

However I didn't know they would have to take out liablity insurance but don't they when the kids go off to march too? Corps have to have some kind of insurance for kids who get hurt and have to go to the hospital..etc..Right?

I know that toddlers need to be cared for, I have one.

DCI is a promoter, therefore does not have direct liability for the kids, except under extreme circumstances. Their liability has more to do with the show and and providing a safe area for the fans and the performers.

The individual liability rests with the corps themselves. They are the ones responsible for the safety and well being of the kids.

As for daycare... I'm sure everything would be fine, with no problems. But all it takes is one small incident. Yes, DCI runs risks everyday, as do all businesses. But when it comes to dealing with parents, kids, and the potential for risk, this is far to great. Not just from a liability standpoint, but from a PR standpoint as well. Financial liability can be overcome by insurance, but the effects of bad publicity can have lingering effects for years.

There is no fiscal reward in this for DCI. With the costs of daycare, most if not all of the money would be going to the daycares themselves. It will not affect their gate one bit, as most people travel to finals without their kids.

But as I said previously, contacting a local day care center in the Indy area and 'suggesting' the idea would probably be the best way to go. Leave DCI out of it all together, because it's more than likely to be tossed out the window.

And yes, your little drummer boy is a cutie. I expect he'll be on the field before you know it!!!

[CrunchyTenor]

Last year we had the advantage of finals in SoCal. We were able to leave our then 2 year old at grandmas with her big sister (who was 22, with a 1 year old of her own).

Going to Indy would be more difficult. We couldn't take her to SoCal for a few days. My Mom is almost 80 and disabled. My other daughter has a home and job of her own. My in-laws live in the Chicago area, but if we went to finals they'd want to come along.

Our little girl is a drum corps kid. We both marched. She did her first drum corps gig at 4 months IN the Renegades for a parade in San Francisco. (That was also her first time flying. Turbulents made her giggle.) She attended her first show at 7 months at Stockton, and also the next day at Regiment rehearsal and the San Jose show. She definitely had her favorites. We also exchanged seats with someone so we could be on the aisle for quick escapes. We came prepared with things to entertain her. She had dinner in the top row of the south end zone at Stockton.

If you take a little one, be ready to sacrifice some seat time. It's gonna happen.

BTW, we use a 24/7/365 day care. We pay by the week, but when she was still just going occasionally it cost us $21 for 4 hours or less, and $42 for 4-10 hours. That included care and food. Around-the-clock childcare is a little more common in Las Vegas, though. Parents with two jobs, single parents working in gaming, etc. In our case, I'm in the hospitality business and my lovely bride flies for a major air carrier. We couldn't do it without 24/7 childcare.

I could see someone arranging something with a KinderCare-type national chain, maybe even through their local KinderCare. Ours is local, so that wouldn't work for us. I like the concept, though, with a reputable agency.

Garry in Vegas

PS Just for fun, I sent off an e-mail to KinderCare in Indy. I got an auto-response within seconds stating I would have an answer to my question by Tuesday. I'll post their answer.

Edited August 16, 2008 by CrunchyTenor

[Liam]

I have to say that I am beyond amazed at some of the comments in this thread and I would have quoted a post to start this but I wouldn't even know which one to choose.

This thread is a perfect example of what is wrong with this internet site and with the world in general. "Let's not even address the possibility of a new idea because I have a made up a reason why it won't work". Geez, don't let facts or common sense get in the way -- that would be downright detrimental to our ability to denigrate potentially good ideas.

We're talking about DCI making an arrangement with EXISTING., LICENSED facilities that care for children every day. Again, it's the same as DCI contracting with the food service or the security company or the parking company or anything else. It's legal and possible and protected and doable. So let's just end the pointless claims to the contrary on that.

Is it feasible and/or beneficial to DCI -- well that's really the question, isn't it? My take, which I stated long ago is that I think this would be slow to catch hold as parents are understandably reticent about leaving their children with stangers. But over time, as the comfort level and word-of-mouth increased over the years, I think this could become a real selling point and boon for both DCI and whatever day care partner was involved.

[Phillygwm]

Its comments like that that make it a little more personal for some of us. Prohibit?

Sorry, I don't mean to make it personal. But drum corps has long been compared to Broadway or sporting events. Children under a certain age are prohibited at many of those events. The Super Bowl isn't a place for very small children and neither is Finals. As long as DCI puts a workable alternative in place, they SHOULD prohibit those under a certain age.

Even if they're impeccably behaved (and, again, parents' definition of behaved will often differ from seatmates) they're at an age where few would appreciate what's going on. Nor are most comfortable sitting through a 5+ hour performance. I realize there are a few exceptions, so if you don't believe this applies to YOUR kid, try this experiment: call a non-family member who is into drum corps and see if they'd mind sitting next to your child through the show. If you sense any hesitation, then it's really not a good idea to bring little Johnny along.

As for DCI's risk, there are a few ways to address it. One is to get an iron-tight waiver. Another is to get a legal indemnification from the daycare. Or purchase a rider to the event insurance policy for the three nights covering this potential liability.

I do understand that we want to introduce the next generation to the activity, but there are better ways to do that; take them to one of the corps get togethers that week where the performance is in conjunction with a picnic, etc. Or the State Fair has some corps exhibitions. Just don't go to the competitions.

After all, how many of us are fans today because we were dragged along to an event that bored us silly as a kid? It doesn't seem like a great formula for increasing the fanbase.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Phillygwm

[Ben]

Not an option since my kids cannot cook yet. One of them cannot open doors yet. So leaving them at home (if I didn't live at finals) would not work. However, this thread is for a daycare option. It would derail that to start a meaningless discussion about kids not being at home.

LOL, I'm not talking about leaving your kids home ALONE. I'm also not trying to derail the discussion of daycare. I'm merely suggesting that a better option would be leaving them at home with a family member or family friend, rather that traveling with the kids and leaving them at a daycare with no one they know, licensed or not.

[User412]

Sorry, I don't mean to make it personal. But drum corps has long been compared to Broadway or sporting events. Children under a certain age are prohibited at many of those events. The Super Bowl isn't a place for very small children and neither is Finals. As long as DCI puts a workable alternative in place, they SHOULD prohibit those under a certain age.

Sporting events? Almost every sporting event I know of tries to create a family enviroment for all, esp kids. Why do you think every team has a mascot? Many sports teams have a children's club with special deals. DCI is part sport. Many things in a DCI event would not be acceptable at Broadway and the Opera. Those are formal and not the scene for kids. DCI is not. While I do not bring my kids to shows, I would stop going myself if they prohibited kids from going, even if they had an alternative. If I ever decide to buy a ticket for my kid (for whatever reason I so choose) then I should be allowed. Yes I can take them to a local practice, or a smaller event. But I could also take them to finals. My choice at my discrection.

I agree with the previous poster that an idea should not be put down just because someone decided to post on an internet board that it is impossible. Are you trying to discourage people from seeking this out? Some people do not have options with thier kids to leave at home. For some, this would be the only way they would buy a ticket. So lets see what happens.

For those who sent off to DCI. What did they say? Post when you know.

Edited August 16, 2008 by User412

[Linda Slocum]

There are a lot of comments and assumptions on this thread... some valid, some likely not.

1. Daycare has a much higher liability risk (and public relations risk) than food vendors. If a child gets mishandled or injured at daycare, the liability is exponential compared to someone complaining about (or even choking on) a burnt hotdog. Yes, there's insurance, but it's expensive and wouldn't necessarily cover 100% of the liability if DCI were to get sued by the family of a kid who got a boo-boo while their kid was in DCI's care.

2. The cash to be received by DCI for the sale of additional seats to families with babies/toddlers would likely be minimal, and even combined with some sort of daycare fee would not offset the cost of insurance, let alone the cost of renting out another portion of the facility for the kids to stay in (Lucas Oil has adjacent conference rooms) and the personnel to staff it. You can't just rope off a section of the vending areas and call it a daycare center.

3. The seats that were unsold were mainly near the end zones. From the comments on this thread thus far, the posters want to sit in premium seats AND have their babies/toddlers either in hand or at daycare sponsored by DCI. The obvious (and inexpensive) solution is to have people with babies/toddlers sit in these more open seating areas where there is plenty of room to spread out, but that has apparently been rejected by the posters.

4. DCI didn't even have the ability to find housing for all of the participating corps this year. Some were 2+ hours away, and some didn't have a place to stay/practice as late as a few days before finals. Taking care of the kids performing must be a higher priority than diverting limited staffing to other projects like finding daycare for a handful of families who wish to bring babies/toddlers along.

5. Adding additional costs and liabilities to DCI for daycare at a time when DCI and many of the corps are experiencing financial difficulties just doesn't make sense. Isn't it more important for DCI to still be around when your youngster is old enough to march than it is for him/her to have DCI-sponsored daycare at Finals right now?

6. Are there enough families wanting on-site daycare to even justify this request for DCI-sponsored facilities? Thus far, only a few posters have indicated that it would affect them. Others said they leave their youngsters at home with family or friends. If you're intent on having DCI participate in this daycare idea in some manner, it would make more sense to get some sort of petition or other document together with a large number of families expressing interest in this than to have a few people sending emails to DCI.

7. Is on-site daycare a high priority, or would nearby off-site daycare be as good (or better)? Seems the best route to take would be to leave DCI out of this entirely, and seek some sort of offering from local daycare centers (Kindercare, etc) without DCI's involvement. DCI could help publicize this in their "Latest Headlines" or "Top News" sections on their website or in their magazine without incurring any risk. All they would need is some sort of story/writeup suitable for publishing.

[TerriTroop]

I've been thinking about this thread for a few days before answering. Here's what I've got:

1. Finals week is a very special occasion, and I would personally avoid bringing very young children into the mix. I've got a 4.5 year old, and until I know she can handle it I'll either be skipping finals week or leaving her with family while I go. She's not ready to be left in the hands of unknown care providers at night. During the day, though, I would consider it.

2. I absolutely would not bring a child under 10 (or so) to Finals night. That night is very special, and I would not want to jeopardize the experience for anyone around me. I feel it's part of my responsibility to the larger drum corps community to help foster the more grown-up experience of that particular night.

So, I'm not fully sure I would use this potential service, but I think having it would benefit others who are interested. Go for it.

[dans]

Judging by the behavior of some corps members at retreat last week, maybe some of these members could be sent to the daycare to learn how to behave in public!

[BlueR36]

I have to say that I am beyond amazed at some of the comments in this thread and I would have quoted a post to start this but I wouldn't even know which one to choose.

This thread is a perfect example of what is wrong with this internet site and with the world in general. "Let's not even address the possibility of a new idea because I have a made up a reason why it won't work". Geez, don't let facts or common sense get in the way -- that would be downright detrimental to our ability to denigrate potentially good ideas. (hehehee -- that's good)

We're talking about DCI making an arrangement with EXISTING., LICENSED facilities that care for children every day. Again, it's the same as DCI contracting with the food service or the security company or the parking company or anything else. It's legal and possible and protected and doable. So let's just end the pointless claims to the contrary on that.

Is it feasible and/or beneficial to DCI -- well that's really the question, isn't it? My take, which I stated long ago is that I think this would be slow to catch hold as parents are understandably reticent about leaving their children with stangers. But over time, as the comfort level and word-of-mouth increased over the years, I think this could become a real selling point and boon for both DCI and whatever day care partner was involved.

DCI has agreements with not only food and security and parking, but also hotels. If something "bad" happens at one of these hotels that resulted in a lawsuit of some sort, would DCI be responsible? I'm sure they'd get sued -- people and their lawyers usually spread the lawsuits to hit everyone who might be even the least bit responsible or willing to settle to make it go away.

What's "in it" for DCI to have you book a room at these hotels? Does DCI get any profit? The hotels, besides getting customers, do they pay DCI for the publicity?

It could be set up just the same for daycares, couldn't it? DCI provides a list of hotels, they could also provide a list of "daycares available by reservation only" for the week, the nights of the shows, etc.

This is a great idea, and one that is more feasible b/c Finals are going to be in the same place for 36 of the next 37 years or whatever it is.

Edited August 16, 2008 by BlueR36