Best use of the $1million

[Penn State]

To say this is selfish when an orginization is going to donate 2 if not more vehicles to the red cross to prepare meals for disaster victims is redicilous.

Agreed, drum corps is more than a 10 minute show on a football field...

[Colts411]

Also, everyone that is a fan of DCI and is able to vote needs to vote for all four drum corps. If we split the vote....not one single corps is going to make it in the top 10, let alone the top 5. If we have all of the drum corps fans voting for all 4 corps, who knows.....maybe all 4 will be in the running for at least 100,000.

[bmroth1]

Agreed, drum corps is more than a 10 minute show on a football field...

That is the one thing that (IMO) has made the Colts the Class organization they are....They get that. Not that the others don't, but Greg and the Colts organization have fostered an organization that truly recognizes the entire drum corps experience beyond the competitive aspects of the activity and off the field. From their support organization to their interaction with the community and surrounding areas they are absolutely second to none.

[Sluggo]

Hey Guys,

Each geography and each organization has needs and goals to help their particular area. I wish this wasn't a poll of "Who has the better" but how about "Who is going to support our activity by voting and/or mobilizing votes for these 4 corps?" ... Homelessness, Cancer Research, Disaster Relief, Music Education Programs for those in need and so much more, are ALL worthy causes from the groups that are in the Top 100.

Hopefully, all of the loyal and devoted drum corps fans that come here already know the benefit of our activity on young people. I know what it has done for me and how it changed my life. Imagine, just imagine, what each of these corps can do with money to help the way they see fit and are able to help those in need in their area.... and how many people could benefit?

To me, this is an amazing opportunity for each corps to do something... extraordinary.

What if we as an activity, instead of over analyzing, just voted for something that we are already so passionate about?

This is not the moment or the place where some "sit on their hands" because they don't like somebody's show. This is a time, the first that I know of in our activity, that drum corps can be more powerful then the shows we put on the field? How many new fans would drum corps have if any of these groups win the million? Or if a few of them are in the $100k round?

More information from www.dci.org here - http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=3...0a-88c002e0635f

Please spread the word to vote from the 1/15 to 1/22!

Please vote... for all 4 corps!

Very powerful post IMO! We have literally watched, over the years, Drum Corps dwindle in numbers. Many great corps have folded, as well as missed opportunities for the youth of our future experience a chance to march, audition, or even receive the type of education they should receive at home.

With the volatile cost of fuel in touring the country, many corps had to drastically reduce their presence at MANY shows around the country. This alone has taken away the experience for communities to witness what a Drum & Corps Bugle Corps entails. From practicing at a schools, community centers, or even any open fields, no matter where a corps practices, it always attracts new people to the Musical/Marching Arts.

I think it's great that these 4 corps have been included in the Top 100. Please remember that they have the potential to educate inner city youth who may never have the experience because of the lack of funding for the Arts in their school programs. Many of these corps are in the mid-west which gets hit often with natural disasters. Buses, Trucks, and/or mobile kitchens could possibly be utilized as some sort of aide during such disasters. 'Soup kitchens' immediately comes to my mind not only during disasters, but during the 'off-season' as well.

I remember when I volunteered my time with a corps back in 2003, how another corps kept wondering how they were going to feed their kids not from day to day, but meal to meal. How they were going to get from one town to another before a vehicle broke down, or when a tire might blow because it was bought from re-threaded tire due to lack of sufficient funds.

We have gone from watching DCI Finals on PBS during Thanksgiving, to ESPN2, to not even being on the air because the 'attraction' isn't sufficient.(?) What does this mean for the future? Does this mean our grand-kids will not know what Drum Corps is?

Many of the organizations that are listed in the top 100 already get some sort of funding through the Government. Not any of the Drum Corps. If one of these corps win, they ALL win. It could even lead to a newer(used) bus, kitchen truck, or possibly put instruments into the hands of kids who may never thought of having instruments in their hands at some school in the future.

I LOVE Drum Corps. It has molded me to who I am today. I wish best of luck to all the candidates in the Top 100, but most importantly, I hope for one of these 4 corps to win because not only do they win, all corps will win as well as the future of drum corps.

[shostahoosier]

Where are you getting $50/day from? Average season is 80 days (61 days in June July, plus a week or so in May, and a week or so in August), Let's say that it cost's $3000 a season (A lot of corps are around the $2000 range, but we'll add another $1000 for camps and travel expenses) 3000 divided by 80 is 37.5. If you take away the money for camps, and just divide the $2000 tour fees by 80 days, it's $25 a day. Now let's take $25/day times 31 days in a month, that's $775 a month to live, that's not expensive at all.

$25 a day is pretty darn good. Tell me where you can get 3 meals, an awesome snack, housing, transportation, and world class instruction for $25 a day? I see two week music camps that cost $2000.

The reason drum corps is expensive is all the money you don't make for an entire summer. I could make a killing teaching band camps, and other summer band stuff, on top of a full time job for a summer.

First, you cant subtract the costs for camps because thats part of what it costs to run the corps and to be a member.

Second, how many corps tour for 80 days anymore? its probably closer to 60.

Third, drum corps IS expensive. Just because its a bargain doesnt make it cheap.

Either way I'm going to vote for all 4 corps because I believe that they do a great thing for youth. I dont think they'll win the big one so I'm not concerned about them taking away $1 Million from a needy NFP, but I do see a chance of them winning the $100K and I think that each organization is deserving.

[Jeff Ream]

if i go solely on video production, Crown wins, but my heart tells me the Colts idea is the best

[Kansasfan]

There is in fact additional money that will be dispersed on a discretionary basis by an "advisory board" that Chase has created. The organization that gets the most votes receives $1,000,000, the next 5 get $100,000 each, AND the advisory board then has an additional $1,000,000 that they can hand out to whatever organizations they chose - most likely it will be split among several groups.

So there is the possibility that seveeral groups that have strong support but finish outside the top 6 still could receive partial funding for their idea(s).

[wcmello09]

off topic, but where are banks getting this money to give away if earlier, now last year, the gov was bailing out banks?

[Paralda]

Vote for all 4 drum corps, nuff said.

[G-Rott]

if i go solely on video production, Crown wins, but my heart tells me the Colts idea is the best

I haven't seen the videos, but just based on the ideas, I think I have to agree with you...