Drum Corps vs. The World

[isortoflikemusic]

DCI seems to have done very little over the years to reach out to audiences that aren't involved with DC in some way.

Sure they've broadcast a little bit on PBS or ESPN and they've even started doing their theater thing... Yet after traveling for 2 summers with a top 5 drum corps, people still have no clue. Its gotten to the point that I don't even try to explain to the people in McDonalds that, no this is not the band from the high school across the street.

I'm sure if you are reading this you agree with me that drum corps is a pretty special thing. It really blows my mind sometimes that the vast majority of people don't even know that it exists. One of my favorite things about going on tour is when I see people that have never seen a drum corps stop and watch in amazement.

So I'm just wondering your opinion.. Would it be better if DCI reached out to a broader audience or do you enjoy being a part of this exclusive club of educated people. (Keep in mind DCI isn't doing so well).

In my opinion DCI needs a complete image change. I think a lot more emphasis needs to be laid on the entertainment value and competition and less on the inherent "dorkyness" of marching band. They should not be having all these tiny shows at high schools in rural (insert state) where they get the school football coach to read the scores and mispronounce the names of the corps and the mayor who nobody cares about comes out and gives the trophies.

I think there should be less shows and they all should all be regionals, in NFL stadiums, where all the corps travel together, instead of being split up the entire summer. You don't see Mini Nascar races with only 4 of the racing teams present. The attraction is that all the competitive forces are present. The way drum corps stands now, everyone is competing against an invisible opponent. It makes no sense. Spend the extra money on radio advertisements... SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY Drum Corps International comes to your city.

DCI is really good at advertising finals night to people who were already going to go. Lets use that creativity and turn drum corps into something people can at least nod their heads to in recognition when I talk about it.

Furthermore: Get Redbull to sponsor corps... They'll sponsor anything. "Entering the field... The Redbull Cadets"

[CrownStarr]

DCI seems to have done very little over the years to reach out to audiences that aren't involved with DC in some way.

Sure they've broadcast a little bit on PBS or ESPN and they've even started doing their theater thing... Yet after traveling for 2 summers with a top 5 drum corps, people still have no clue. Its gotten to the point that I don't even try to explain to the people in McDonalds that, no this is not the band from the high school across the street.

I'm sure if you are reading this you agree with me that drum corps is a pretty special thing. It really blows my mind sometimes that the vast majority of people don't even know that it exists. One of my favorite things about going on tour is when I see people that have never seen a drum corps stop and watch in amazement.

So I'm just wondering your opinion.. Would it be better if DCI reached out to a broader audience or do you enjoy being a part of this exclusive club of educated people. (Keep in mind DCI isn't doing so well).

In my opinion DCI needs a complete image change. I think a lot more emphasis needs to be laid on the entertainment value and competition and less on the inherent "dorkyness" of marching band. They should not be having all these tiny shows at high schools in rural (insert state) where they get the school football coach to read the scores and mispronounce the names of the corps and the mayor who nobody cares about comes out and gives the trophies.

I think there should be less shows and they all should all be regionals, in NFL stadiums, where all the corps travel together, instead of being split up the entire summer. You don't see Mini Nascar races with only 4 of the racing teams present. The attraction is that all the competitive forces are present. The way drum corps stands now, everyone is competing against an invisible opponent. It makes no sense. Spend the extra money on radio advertisements... SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY Drum Corps International comes to your city.

DCI is really good at advertising finals night to people who were already going to go. Lets use that creativity and turn drum corps into something people can at least nod their heads to in recognition when I talk about it.

Furthermore: Get Redbull to sponsor corps... They'll sponsor anything. "Entering the field... The Redbull Cadets"

Absolutely not, absolutely not, absolutely not. I'm sure you'll get ripped apart worse by others here so I'm not going type up the numerous reasons this would suck, but I'd hate it.

[perc2100]

DCI seems to have done very little over the years to reach out to audiences that aren't involved with DC in some way.

Sure they've broadcast a little bit on PBS or ESPN and they've even started doing their theater thing... Yet after traveling for 2 summers with a top 5 drum corps, people still have no clue. Its gotten to the point that I don't even try to explain to the people in McDonalds that, no this is not the band from the high school across the street.

I'm sure if you are reading this you agree with me that drum corps is a pretty special thing. It really blows my mind sometimes that the vast majority of people don't even know that it exists. One of my favorite things about going on tour is when I see people that have never seen a drum corps stop and watch in amazement.

So I'm just wondering your opinion.. Would it be better if DCI reached out to a broader audience or do you enjoy being a part of this exclusive club of educated people. (Keep in mind DCI isn't doing so well).

In my opinion DCI needs a complete image change. I think a lot more emphasis needs to be laid on the entertainment value and competition and less on the inherent "dorkyness" of marching band. They should not be having all these tiny shows at high schools in rural (insert state) where they get the school football coach to read the scores and mispronounce the names of the corps and the mayor who nobody cares about comes out and gives the trophies.

I think there should be less shows and they all should all be regionals, in NFL stadiums, where all the corps travel together, instead of being split up the entire summer. You don't see Mini Nascar races with only 4 of the racing teams present. The attraction is that all the competitive forces are present. The way drum corps stands now, everyone is competing against an invisible opponent. It makes no sense. Spend the extra money on radio advertisements... SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY Drum Corps International comes to your city.

DCI is really good at advertising finals night to people who were already going to go. Lets use that creativity and turn drum corps into something people can at least nod their heads to in recognition when I talk about it.

Furthermore: Get Redbull to sponsor corps... They'll sponsor anything. "Entering the field... The Redbull Cadets"

I think that DCI has been doing a much improved marketing job the past several years. The key to marketing is identifying your target audience, and it's obvious that DCI's target audience IS marching band folks. With the economy currently, DCI needs to go where the shows are, and if/when some of those are at rural type high schools, then so be it. For what it's worth, the ONLY drum corps show in my town has been at a 'rural' high school (as in, there is literally a cow or bull pen within seeing distance of the field). It's a well attended show, and the fans eat it up every year (especially when an east coast or mid-west corps comes out).

For your other tour model, I don't know: Regionals only would get old, I think. If I understand things correctly, DCI hosts the Regional shows, and other groups host the week day/local shows. Some of those shows are the biggest fundraiser of the year, and it would be a shame to take those away. The way the Regional schedule works out, corps compete against everyone pretty much every weekend, right? There's no 'invisible opponent' except at the smaller shows I guess (if you look and see how BD's scores in AZ stack up to Cadets scores in MA and Cavaliers scores in OH). But that's no different than the BCS system (although that's WAY more crazy, as teams are ranked while often not playing against all of the Top teams head on), or speculating on how the Chargers will do come NFL playoffs, etc. I honestly think that DCI's tour model is the perfect competitive balance. In the early 90's when I first got into drum corps as a fan, there were many regional competitions that were attended by a scattering of different corps, and only once before Finals did they all get together to compete at one show (Preview of Champions). Then in the mid/late 90's, the stopped the Preview formula and instead had two day regionals where all of the World Class corps competed, but randomly (for example, Cadets, Cavaliers and SCV would go on Friday, and BD, Phantom, and Madison would go on Saturday). It was a different judging panel (I think: I might be remembering wrong), and everyone to compete on the same day at the same show until Quarterfinals. You really went into Quarters not having a 100% strong idea of who would beat who.

Now, we have the local shows during the week and weekends until mid-July, then Regional shows every weekend that includes just about everyone (minus those on the Regional tour schedule who might miss one or two of the earliest regional shows). I like how that works, as each weekend the pressure for the corps in competition with everyone, and the fans know each week how their favorite corps stack up in the grand scheme of things.

Now, if your argument is that a weekend only schedule should be implemented due to financial reasons, that would be a better argument, IMO. But I think in general the current touring model is fine.

Obviously, anyone would be foolish if they didn't want a bigger audience at DCI shows. And I think that DCI doing the smaller shows is good for introducing people to the activity. I bet if you did a poll, the large majority of us first experienced live drum corps at their small local show (at least I did, as did just about everyone else I know) and killing the small shows in favor of a weekend only Regional type schedule would not help bring in new fans, and might impede growth.

[mellodcd]

DCI seems to have done very little over the years to reach out to audiences that aren't involved with DC in some way.

Sure they've broadcast a little bit on PBS or ESPN and they've even started doing their theater thing... Yet after traveling for 2 summers with a top 5 drum corps, people still have no clue. Its gotten to the point that I don't even try to explain to the people in McDonalds that, no this is not the band from the high school across the street.

I'm sure if you are reading this you agree with me that drum corps is a pretty special thing. It really blows my mind sometimes that the vast majority of people don't even know that it exists. One of my favorite things about going on tour is when I see people that have never seen a drum corps stop and watch in amazement.

So I'm just wondering your opinion.. Would it be better if DCI reached out to a broader audience or do you enjoy being a part of this exclusive club of educated people. (Keep in mind DCI isn't doing so well).

In my opinion DCI needs a complete image change. I think a lot more emphasis needs to be laid on the entertainment value and competition and less on the inherent "dorkyness" of marching band. They should not be having all these tiny shows at high schools in rural (insert state) where they get the school football coach to read the scores and mispronounce the names of the corps and the mayor who nobody cares about comes out and gives the trophies.

I think there should be less shows and they all should all be regionals, in NFL stadiums, where all the corps travel together, instead of being split up the entire summer. You don't see Mini Nascar races with only 4 of the racing teams present. The attraction is that all the competitive forces are present. The way drum corps stands now, everyone is competing against an invisible opponent. It makes no sense. Spend the extra money on radio advertisements... SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY Drum Corps International comes to your city.

DCI is really good at advertising finals night to people who were already going to go. Lets use that creativity and turn drum corps into something people can at least nod their heads to in recognition when I talk about it.

Furthermore: Get Redbull to sponsor corps... They'll sponsor anything. "Entering the field... The Redbull Cadets"

I understand this completely, and agree with you. DCI has been successful because it has been the innovator. Drum corps do what no one thought was possible. Some people don't want to see drum corps change from what they remember, but that is selfish on their part. DCI will grow and continue being an amazing youth activity by doing things that have never been done before. Some of your ideas are pretty far out their ("The Redbull Cadets"), but if that is what it takes for this activity to grow and continue, then who am I to say no?

[wturner901]

Im all for getting more public attention, but cutting shows is a no-no for just about everyone involved.

Edited December 25, 2009 by wturner901

[BRASSO]

I don't think it's possible for DCI to become more " popular " if the General Effect judging caption ( in particular ) so disregards the audience. The key to high placement and high scoring is to impress 6-12 people at a show. ( the judges), not the thousands of the paying customers. Thus, in the last 35 years it is rare indeed when the DCI Titlist is likewise the national audience fan favorite for that year. Corps show designers know that the key is to impress these 6-12 people, and that audiences are essentially non factors in the scoring and the placements. These judges tastes are pretty much well known too, as there is little change in the judging community personnel from year to year. Show designers are saavy and know what these judges tend to like.... and not like. With such a dynamic it becomes an oxymoron to say" DCI" and "popularity", in the same breath. As a result, the current shows tend to reflect this reality. And in my opinion, will continue to reflect this reality. Will DCI audiences grow in the coming years ? I find it hard to see how a compelling case could be made that it would, given the current disregard to audiences in scoring and placements and the conservative make up of the judging community where there is very little turnover and we tend to see the same names and faces judging year in and year out.

Edited December 25, 2009 by BRASSO

[Michael Boo]

What DCI really needs is a DCI blimp. It can travel the country advertising DCI from the air and it can be used for overhead camera shots at the major DCI shows; Allentown, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indianapo...uh...

[BRASSO]

What DCI really needs is a DCI blimp. It can travel the country advertising DCI from the air and it can be used for overhead camera shots at the major DCI shows; Allentown, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indianapo...uh...

That's an intriquing idea. I could go for that. 'Just so long as DCI does not hire Richard and Mayumi Heene as Consultants for such air excursion promotion.

[perc2100]

What DCI really needs is a DCI blimp. It can travel the country advertising DCI from the air and it can be used for overhead camera shots at the major DCI shows; Allentown, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indianapo...uh...

Awesome! Last summer when I traveled from So Cal to OH to visit family, I looked out my window at about 30K feet and thought "a drum corps add here would be PERFECT!" Not only that, DCI can move it's headquarters to the DCI Blimp, and then we can REALLY feel like the DCI Board is an evil organization

[2000Cadet]

Awesome! Last summer when I traveled from So Cal to OH to visit family, I looked out my window at about 30K feet and thought "a drum corps add here would be PERFECT!" Not only that, DCI can move it's headquarters to the DCI Blimp, and then we can REALLY feel like the DCI Board is an evil organization

I used to think about DCI having a blimp for a long time, especially when I lived across from Qualcomm Stadium and used to hear that annoying blimp hover above my house. But it would have been cool to see a blimp hover above a stadium during a drum corps show.