The Economy Has Tanked; Time To

[Tom Brace]

Thank you Garry!!!! This is what DCI should have never got away from!!!!!! Yes, Yes and Yes! Costs would be down and local involvement up. This is why allowing the regional circuits to Die before is what so many people were clamoring about. DCI needs to get back to it before its too late. Instead of DCI looking at why it should allow the regional circuits to fail they should have looked at what they could have done to improve them! But it seems as if the good of the elite outweighed the good of the activity.

no.

DCI getting rid of small show after 150 miles later another small show followed by a small show and then finally a regional are over and good riddance.

To date....no one has ever explained how the regional model saved anyone any money. Adjusted for inflation, a top DCI corps was just as expensive to run in 1995 as it is today.

[bmroth1]

no.

DCI getting rid of small show after 150 miles later another small show followed by a small show and then finally a regional are over and good riddance.

To date....no one has ever explained how the regional model saved anyone any money. Adjusted for inflation, a top DCI corps was just as expensive to run in 1995 as it is today.

Yes

One fuel would go down. Maybe not much (like you said earlier) but it would go down. Also, I'm not sure what your saying in your first sentence. To say good riddance like you did illustrates my very point. Yes, something had to be done in the mid 90's to improve the regional circuits sure, but that doesn't mean eliminating them it means finding ways of improving them. It means figuring out what went wrong. Shows should draw interest locally and they did once upon a time. They also use to help draw interest to march in local corps. If it wasn't for me attending a local DCM show, because I had a relative participating, I would never have marched the 4 years that I did. It was a show in the early 80's. The Cavaliers, Guardsmen, Colts, Pioneer, Emerald Knights, Kilties, Royal Grenadiers, Illiana Lancers and Vaqueros(sp?) were there, maybe a couple others. The High School Stadium was sold out. It was great! There use to be GOOD shows that helped the activity grow all over, and you seem to be blind to the fact that Drum Corps is missing this. If DCI Can not exist with this type of local promoting structure then perhaps DCI should no longer exist. Whats funny is I believe if things aren't changed than basically thats going to happen anyway and has been an ongoing process for a while now.

Edited March 10, 2009 by bmroth1

[Tom Brace]

Yes

One fuel would go down. Maybe not much (like you said earlier) but it would go down. Also, I'm not sure what your saying in your first sentence. To say good riddance like you did illustrates my very point. Yes, something had to be done in the mid 90's to improve the regional circuits sure, but that doesn't mean eliminating them it means finding ways of improving them. It means figuring out what went wrong. Shows should draw interest locally and they did once upon a time. They also use to help draw interest to march in local corps. If it wasn't for me attending a local DCM show, because I had a relative participating, I would never have marched the 4 years that I did. It was a show in the early 80's. The Cavaliers, Guardsmen, Colts, Pioneer, Emerald Knights, Kilties, Royal Grenadiers, Illiana Lancers and Vaqueros(sp?) were there, maybe a couple others. The High School Stadium was sold out. It was great! There use to be GOOD shows that helped the activity grow all over, and you seem to be blind to the fact that Drum Corps is missing this. If DCI Can not exist with this type of local promoting structure then perhaps DCI should no longer exist. Whats funny is I believe if things aren't changed than basically thats going to happen anyway and has been an ongoing process for a while now.

I'm not blind to this at all. Times...they changed. It's not 1995 anymore and as much as some people are upset about it...DCI is not going back to 1995. It's not in the interest of DCI and when I say DCI think the corps who are the members of DCI.

[audiodb]

I've given this some thought. So... if there were a regional tour first, followed by the national tour, the only way it would be a real cost savings would be if the regional tour forced the corps to send everyone home between the weekends.

Hear me out...

Corps staying in their regions still costs the same as corps going cross-country because all of the fixed costs are the same.

- since most of the corps charter their buses now, a day's rental is still a day's rental, whether the bus is sitting still or going over the road.

- if the corps are sitting still, you still have to feed them and house them, you still need staff to instruct them and volunteers to take time off from work to feed them and drive them and sew for them, etc... the same as if you were on the road.

So... and this is not directed to you, jthomas, where is the big savings of staying regional for a part of the season?

Makes sense on the first read. Then I start thinking....well, then, it should cost the same to tour coast-to-coast as to tour right around home. So why isn't everybody touring coast-to-coast every year?

1. Mileage does matter. Whether it's fuel costs, wear-and tear on corps-owned vehicles, or just the time spent on the road, a multi-regional tour is more "costly" than a regional tour. It is not as dramatic a difference as the miles suggest....but there is a difference.

2. Much of a drum corps' needs are filled through donations and volunteerism. It is more difficult to obtain the necessary volunteer support to cover a longer, wider tour, both because of the length of time involved and because their presence is required at locations far away from home base.

3. And yes, there is considerable savings in actually going home in between weekends. Why, some world-class units still do that today, so it must be an option worth preserving. When you take your corps out-of-region, though, you often lose that cost-saving opportunity.

You raise good points. For those corps of sufficient health and wealth, it would seem silly to curtail their tours in light of what you say. But the regional tour is still a concept worth promoting as an option for reducing cost and risk.

[bmroth1]

duplicate

Edited March 10, 2009 by bmroth1

[bmroth1]

"I'm not blind to this at all. Times...they changed. It's not 1995 anymore and as much as some people are upset about it...DCI is not going back to 1995. It's not in the interest of DCI and when I say DCI think the corps who are the members of DCI."

Tom, You didn't read my post. I didn't reference 1995. Blind is still the operative word. And, when I think DCI thats exactly what I'm thinking about the corps that are members of DCI. Where did they go?????? Tom, I'm not saying DCI has to recreate DCM and the others and such. I'm saying you need to take a page out of their book when it worked well and restructure in order to prevent the collapse of the activity. Especially in these economic times. Perhaps that may take a little redefining who you are??? I'm not one of those leftovers who can't get past the past. I truly love the activity and want to see DCI succeed, I just don't see it happening right now and I'm telling you that I honestly believe that what happened in the past contributed to where you are now. It needs to be revisited not reinvented.

Edited March 10, 2009 by bmroth1

[MikeD]

Makes sense on the first read. Then I start thinking....well, then, it should cost the same to tour coast-to-coast as to tour right around home. So why isn't everybody touring coast-to-coast every year?

1. Mileage does matter. Whether it's fuel costs, wear-and tear on corps-owned vehicles, or just the time spent on the road, a multi-regional tour is more "costly" than a regional tour. It is not as dramatic a difference as the miles suggest....but there is a difference.

2. Much of a drum corps' needs are filled through donations and volunteerism. It is more difficult to obtain the necessary volunteer support to cover a longer, wider tour, both because of the length of time involved and because their presence is required at locations far away from home base.

3. And yes, there is considerable savings in actually going home in between weekends. Why, some world-class units still do that today, so it must be an option worth preserving. When you take your corps out-of-region, though, you often lose that cost-saving opportunity.

You raise good points. For those corps of sufficient health and wealth, it would seem silly to curtail their tours in light of what you say. But the regional tour is still a concept worth promoting as an option for reducing cost and risk.

Except I still do not see how you save cost. What savings are there if, say, Holy Name goes back to Allentown for some period of time? They still have to house and feed their members. And...are you saying that there would be no shows for some extended period? Not sure what you are trying to say there. What are they doing while in Allentown? Where are they staying? It seems to be, from reading here, tougher and tougher to find housing for a single night...let alone for some extended period.

If some corps do it now, and others do not, then why is there a need to change anything? Who are you talking about? if they have the need and the built in capability to "go home" sometimes, then fine...they can still do so.

[bmroth1]

Makes sense on the first read. Then I start thinking....well, then, it should cost the same to tour coast-to-coast as to tour right around home. So why isn't everybody touring coast-to-coast every year?

1. Mileage does matter. Whether it's fuel costs, wear-and tear on corps-owned vehicles, or just the time spent on the road, a multi-regional tour is more "costly" than a regional tour. It is not as dramatic a difference as the miles suggest....but there is a difference.

2. Much of a drum corps' needs are filled through donations and volunteerism. It is more difficult to obtain the necessary volunteer support to cover a longer, wider tour, both because of the length of time involved and because their presence is required at locations far away from home base.

3. And yes, there is considerable savings in actually going home in between weekends. Why, some world-class units still do that today, so it must be an option worth preserving. When you take your corps out-of-region, though, you often lose that cost-saving opportunity.

You raise good points. For those corps of sufficient health and wealth, it would seem silly to curtail their tours in light of what you say. But the regional tour is still a concept worth promoting as an option for reducing cost and risk.

Another thought too is how it helps families financially. Which in turn effects ticket sales. There would be less burden to commute unGodly distances to shows to see your kids, brother, sister etc. And lets face it, much of the fan base right now comes from family members. Perhaps DCI likes it this way, that way they can sell more "Fan Network".

Edited March 10, 2009 by bmroth1

[MikeD]

Another thought too is how it helps families financially. Which in turn effects ticket sales. There is less burden to commute to shows to see your kids, brother, sister etc. And lets face it, much of the fan base right now comes from family members.

But corps memberships in the World class corps come from all over the country. And...just how small would the regions have to be for that concept to work at all, if it were remotely possible given the spread-out geographic locations of the members?

Do you really see enough interest in the, say, Northeast region, from NJ up through Maine and west through PA, to have a lengthy and full regional season of shows with only two world corps in EVERY show, BAC and Holy Name? Even if it is only the first month...that is a lot of shows to schedule and fill...all with the same basic corps.

I just don't think the idea will really work in this day and age.

[BOSMarcher]

I'm graduating before I age out. That doesn't really make sense as a reason. I know I might get myself into some trouble on this one, but there are more important things in life than drum corps. If someone really can't afford it (like myself), especially with the way things are going, they shouldn't march. There is no point in setting yourself back 3,000 dollars to march when you could be doing other, more productive things with your time.

When I told my parents I wanted to march my age out this year, they told me I was smoking something mighty fine. It makes a lot of sense to me now. I'd rather get a job and be able to support myself than march my age out year.

OH MY GOSH! Is there a corps with $3,000 dues?