CymbalFan Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 " A house divided against itself,.. can not stand ".....(.President Abraham Lincoln) There is very little fan support for this proposal, and the majority of Corps in DCI are opposed to it. Drop the proposal, or move on, and don't let the door hit you on your way out the door. I'd call the G-7's bluff. I really don't think the 7 Corps (as good as they are ) can make it on their own by touring around the country with their own organization they'd have to create. I really don't. People want variety, and seeing just 7 Corps.. over and over again... will get stale pretty fast. And if the G-7 think that the majority of current DCI fans will follow them to their new organization..... well.... good luck with that assumption. What DCI judges will follow them ? Good luck with that too G-7. Do they really think the G-7 can split the 13,000 fans at last years DCI Championships, bring them with them, and make MORE money to start up a new organization, elect officers, market and promote their new gig, etc ?.... Ok.... my guess, they will have ran full tilt over the cliff into complete oblivion within a year,if not sooner. So I'd call their bluff to drop this narcissistic proposal. The non G-7 may not survive, without the G-7 Corps, but I suspect theyd be in a better position to reform in a leaner and meaner way, and they might actually survive longer than a G-7 that goes out into the world with more challenges than they might think they have to make it profitable and successful for them collectively from coast to coast .. 3,000 miles apart as the 7 are from one another. :thumbup: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: Thank You! I also believe they will run themselves financially into the ground with this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Mike Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Clever. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Scott personally told me what happened in that meeting? I'm not a conspiracy theoroist, nor is Scott known to lie or mislead. You can always call or e-mail him personally and ask him yourself. He is the current Director of the Kilties and he's fairly easy to get a hold of. Sorry if it came across THAT way, I've met Scott and believe he WAS pushed out, not in the detail that you know. People have poked fun at me over the years because I view most of what DCI does as a self serving group that makes their living and fame off the back of kids. It's been MANY years since it was a youth activity FOR the kids. I believe Scott was really for the youth activity that served the kids. Sorry for any misunderstanding. I have not cared for the direction of DCI for many years and while impressed with the product on the field, felt the general direction behind the scenes was more for almighty $, not for the youth. DCI in general is in bed with too many suppliers that use the top corps as moving billboards for their products. When the slick new band catalogs come hit my mailbox with the < insert corps name> "endorsed product" within a week or two of new product being voted in ? Well, it stinks worse than the oil spill off the coast. ( and yes, we can smell it when the wind is from the south east ) Wasn't it the great Proff. Harold Hill that said "Drum Corps = Marching Band" ? Ahhh but the Kool Aid drinkers told me to take the tin foil hat off and that Harold Hill only had the best intrest of the kids at heart. Look like his velvet tongue has sold the ice maker to the native Alaskans. Now, he has power and can depend on others to be his mouthpieces, I wonder if they will all be playing "Tommorow Belongs to Me" for retreat ? Few too many people paid attention to the men behind the curtain while the devil worked his plan. Yep, follow the money. How does my tin foil hat look now ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 (edited) This is a difficult issue, but I think the fact that something like this has even come up means that there is some significant amount of external pressure of which we may not be aware. Obviously it's about money, but my impression is that it's really about the survival of the activity. To quote a very smart guy I know, "this corps doesn't run on love".I think the top corps are really struggling to make ends meet, and I don't think it has anything to do with electronics or uniforms or anything like that. My personal opinion is that it is just a sign of the times. That there is even going to be a 2010 season is something for which we should all be thankful. One does not have to watch the news for very long to understand the dire straits our world is in financially. Not that I have any knowledge of the finances of any one corps, but my guess is no one is getting rich off of this activity, if they are even in the black at all. I've always thought that one of the issues of groups of people acting as one (be they corporations or nonprofit entities or whatever else) is that it gives them a license to do almost whatever it takes to continue to serve the mission of the group. For many corporations in America these days, that means laying off thousands of people. For others, it means denying health insurance to potential clients deemed too risky to insure. I don't fault them for that. For some drum corps, it means experimenting with proposals like this one, even if it is to the potential detriment of their peers. I don't fault them for that. I always thought it ironic that an organization that prides itself on musical tone quality could be so fundamentally tone deaf when it came to the paying customer. If DCI ultimately fails it will be because it violated the single most important guiding principle of ALL successful businesses : " KNOW THY CUSTOMER " The "customer " is not " the colleges "...." the High Schools"..... the " Advertisers "..... the " students "..... the " equipment manufacturers....... The " customer " is the person who buys a ticket, goes to their seat, sits down, and looks to receive entertainment value for their ticket that they purchased. If they think they got their monies worth, they come back. If the feel they didn't, they won't. While DCI was interested in improving the quality of their product as their predominent priority ( which they succeeded in, imo ), they forgot the fundamental guiding principle of all successful businesses that I cited above... and did so for over 25 years.... and at their own peril. They are at this precarious position right now financially, because sadly, when it came to the paying customers.. they were tone deaf. Edited May 21, 2010 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Rocco Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Yes, we are the willing, the ignorant and the naive. Now that you and "nemesiscorps" have set us on a path of certain truth and the "real story" we should all be grateful for saving us at the precipice. See how easy that is...you just say things on the internet and people believe you. It's really quite simple. Good night you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England! Like nemesiscorps, I also apologize for naming names and getting too heated and personal. It was not classy or appropriate the way I responded. I've been spending too many hours fuming over this issue and will now take a walk outside. Nice Cider House reference by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Mike Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 I always thought it ironic that an organization that prides itself on musical tone quality could be so fundamentally tone deaf when it came to the paying customer. If DCI ultimately fails it will be because it violated the single most important guiding principle of ALL successful businesses : " KNOW THY CUSTOMER " But, they know their suppliers well ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Rocco Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Sorry if it came across THAT way, I've met Scott and believe he WAS pushed out, not in the detail that you know.People have poked fun at me over the years because I view most of what DCI does as a self serving group that makes their living and fame off the back of kids. It's been MANY years since it was a youth activity FOR the kids. I believe Scott was really for the youth activity that served the kids. Sorry for any misunderstanding. Thanks for the clarification and apology, but at the same time I realize that airing the dirty laundry as I have seen it on here doesn't really help matters either. And by the way, I am a pretty big Art Bell and George Noorey fan. Have you ever heard of Phil Hendrie? He does a great send up of Art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMadMan Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 This is directed at every one of you who scoffed at others and rolled your eyes at the idea that Hopkins ultimately wanted to cast off the supposed "bottom feeders" who were diluting their take of the profits... To those of you who dismissed it as a wild and slanderous "conspiracy theory"... TOLD YA!!! The arrogance of these to assume they will always be at the top...some of which having only recently arrived. Your greed will be your downfall. Expect to see your souvie sales take a hit this season...along with donations. Also, I hope you get your ##### handed to you by some of the non-G7 corps this summer. Poetic justice for your elitist attitude in an already obscure activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraFart Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 ok I may be dumb, but all I am reading is that they want to expand the number of shows for a handful of top tier corps within the current tour structure. Its much like the "tour of champions" and I also think that adding 2 corps out west every year is a good thing. Is there something I am missing, or are the people on this forum just poo pooing it because it comes from George Hopkins? I voted wait and see because I refuse to be fully for or against something before I fully understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papasmurf Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 ok I may be dumb, but all I am reading is that they want to expand the number of shows for a handful of top tier corps within the current tour structure. Its much like the "tour of champions" and I also think that adding 2 corps out west every year is a good thing. Is there something I am missing, or are the people on this forum just poo pooing it because it comes from George Hopkins? I voted wait and see because I refuse to be fully for or against something before I fully understand it. Read the full DCW article. It outlines Hopkins' proposal to not pay out evenly amongst the corps, the top 7 should get more. There's a lot of other stuff, that's just the one that stuck out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Mike Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 This is directed at every one of you who scoffed at others and rolled your eyes at the idea that Hopkins ultimately wanted to cast off the supposed "bottom feeders" who were diluting their take of the profits...To those of you who dismissed it as a wild and slanderous "conspiracy theory"... TOLD YA!!! The arrogance of these to assume they will always be at the top...some of which having only recently arrived. Your greed will be your downfall. Expect to see your souvie sales take a hit this season...along with donations. Also, I hope you get your ##### handed to you by some of the non-G7 corps this summer. Poetic justice for your elitist attitude in an already obscure activity. I never did like the idea of being a Kool Aid drinker but I do keep my tin foil hat handy just in case Hoppy starts talking about ANYTHING he deems "good for the activity". Sure wish they would have done this before killing off so many corps and circuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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