Scerpella Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Ive listened to a few informal reports on membership counts in DCA corps and quite a few of them seem to be down. I know DCA experiences a cyclical sort of phenomenon with numbers, but is it possible with the economy so bad people are foregoing marching to mind the home situations a bit more closely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybusmgr Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSop66 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Very likely. The basic fees to march, individual travel (price of gas), food is more expensive, lodging is more expensive, bus transport is more expensive, costs for equipment trucks is crazy (fuel, insurance, etc) and then just wanting to stay close to home "just in case." Doesn't bode well the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKatzmellophone Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Very likely. The basic fees to march, individual travel (price of gas), food is more expensive, lodging is more expensive, bus transport is more expensive, costs for equipment trucks is crazy (fuel, insurance, etc) and then just wanting to stay close to home "just in case."Doesn't bode well the next few years. Actually, if you check the DCA website, many of the corps are performing most of their shows close to home. I would imagine that was intentional. With only one or two travel weekends that would require buses. I believe the Cabs only have one major road trip that would need bus transportation, that is besides Rochester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsBuff Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Actually, if you check the DCA website, many of the corps are performing most of their shows close to home. I would imagine that was intentional. With only one or two travel weekends that would require buses. I believe the Cabs only have one major road trip that would need bus transportation, that is besides Rochester. That is, of course, for members who live close to their corps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jware Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) Poster Scerpella...Please don't feel that I am beating up on you. I do, however, need to get this off of my chest. I take issue with those that feel it easy to jump on the bandwagon and tell us the bad news. Bad news is easy to deliver when you're not the one who is driven to make things work. We see it on television, hear it on the radio and read about it in the newspaper. The nation and the world gets pounded every day about how bad things are. Our problem is, the more we hear it, WE BELIEVE IT! Things are not great, but they are made worse by everyone parroting "the bad news". Those of us that volunteer for our organizations and make things happen despite of, and in the face of adversity, continue to drive for excellence and success despite "the times". Take the high road. Due to "the economy", the activity is different this year than in years past. DEAL WITH IT! Do what you and your organization or the corps that you support have to do to achieve what you determine as success. Get on with the business of playing the hand that you were dealt. The people that deserve this philosophy more than anyone else are the ones that have decided to march in your drum corps. Those that are sweating and rehearsing and giving every ounce of themselves in a performance. If they don't believe in the people that lead them, teach them and the ones that march next to them, the battle is over before it starts. Why do we do this? BECAUSE WE CAN! Drum corps will survive these tough times because we decide that it will. WE DECIDE THAT IT WILL! Thanks, Jerry Edited May 12, 2009 by jware Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyroo Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Why do we do this? BECAUSE WE CAN! Drum corps will survive these tough times because we decide that it will. WE DECIDE THAT IT WILL!Thanks, Jerry Jerry, You've worded your response perhaps a bit more strongly than I would have, but I agree with your conclusion. I had a choice. I could either sit in my back yard all summer, moaning about how bad the economy is, or I can do again what I've done for the past four summers, despite the bad economy. I chose the latter. And don't forget, at this time last year gas was running almost $4 per gallon. Drum corps managed to get through that "crisis" reasonably well. So today, with gas at about $2.25, things aren't that bad at all. And someone alluded to hotel and motel costs.... I've made all my reservations for the summer and I've seen no increases at all in most cases, and in one situation that I use fairly often, an increase of just under $4 per night. ...hardly enough for me to cancel my season. On the other hand, we could all sit around and listen to the doom-sayers - and call off the entire season. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiddle Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I can say that our numbers are up. But we are only a 2nd year drum corps. Our challenge, financially, will be getting to Rochester. It looks like we may have a good corps and we hope that we can go all the way this year to the finals. Most of our budget expense is bus travel. Most of our members are DCI-Age and will be challenged to raise the money needed to make the long trek to Rochester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonHill Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Due to "the economy", the activity is different this year than in years past. DEAL WITH IT! Do what you and your organization or the corps that you support have to do to achieve what you determine as success. Get on with the business of playing the hand that you were dealt.The people that deserve this philosophy more than anyone else are the ones that have decided to march in your drum corps. Those that are sweating and rehearsing and giving every ounce of themselves in a performance. If they don't believe in the people that lead them, teach them and the ones that march next to them, the battle is over before it starts. Why do we do this? BECAUSE WE CAN! Drum corps will survive these tough times because we decide that it will. WE DECIDE THAT IT WILL! Thanks, Jerry Part of DECIDING THAT WE WILL and a large part of DEALING WITH IT and getting marching members to BELIEVE THAT WE CAN and THAT IT'S ALL WORTH IT and that they should GIVE EVERY OUNCE OF THEMSELVES and whatever else anyone wants to put into all-caps for emphasis, is recognizing the realities and circumstances of the various difficulties and opportunities that come along in any given season. The only real way to DEAL WITH bad news is to ADMIT THAT THERE'S NEWS IN THE FIRST PLACE, and be open to the possibility that it MAY BE CONSIDERED BAD. Acting as if there is NO bad news, or even worse, shooting in the general direction of people who might be wondering if there's news and if perhaps it could possibly be somewhat bad maybe, does nothing particularly useful. It can even lead to some spectacularly bad business decisions, which have been known to kill corps. Is it possible the economy is affecting membership numbers? I'd say "yes", from what I'm seeing, that would be an accurate guess. Best thing to do is recognize the possibility, and deal with it as it effects each of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabsleadbari79 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Don’t blame the economy on any perceived problems with our activity. Recruiting is just deferent than it was years ago. As all age corps we have to understand that the corps is becoming younger and younger every year. This changes the winter programs because we don’t really see all of our members all the time during the winter. It does take us longer to fill our ranks because of school commetments. If you give your members a way to work off their dues and keep the dues within reason the all age activity is the best value for your dollar. As contest goes there are contests running every weekend and if you want to compete you can find a contest within striking distance. The Cabs believe we practice to compete and we will do everything in our power to give our members the opportunity to compete every weekend. This year we have nine contests not including championship weekend and we even give our members a week off for vacation. The state of our activity is strong and will continue to grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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