Official DCP G7 Proposal Discussion Thread

[Jeff Ream]

I'm not sure if DCI offers discount ticket prices for seniors or underage children, however I would'nt be suprised if they charged admission for the fetus of pregnant women....

they do often offer discounts for bands that buy in bulk

[Jeff Ream]

TO THE INSTANT DETRACTORS of the much discussed proposal from "G7":

After 3 different announcements/comments (including Hop's and Dan's) we basically know:

"At the center of the proposal is a detailed plan to feature DCI's top acts, while sustaining the structure of the World Class, Drum Corps International and Tour Event Partner events that are currently in place. Since the proposed events would be in addition to the regular DCI tour schedule, the seven groups understand that on top of their usual performance commitments, they would shoulder a greater commitment to miles driven and number of events on their schedule.

They are also reviewing the possiblity of reducing overhead of their marketing componentl, bringing a couple more top corps to tour in CA and considering a closer linkage to the scholastic music (the feeder and life blood of Drum Corps). This is all pretty horrible stuff, huh? What else am I missing here?

Dan represents the status quo (or current strategy, if any) so it makes sense that he would be sensitive about the proposal. The other "supposed non-G7" directors are at least conflicted and at worst resigned to a "preceived take over" seemingly out of their control.

Many on here have repeatedly announced, "it's about the money".....duh! But money is only a medium for the goal...survival and hopefully growth. Same as any company, corporation and even a missionery in the outbback.

These G7 directors have serious chops from show design, to organization, to consistency. And in my world, that gives them (at a minimum) the right to be heard.

I say we wait and find out what is "real" and what is just posturing on both sides of the argument (including that of the INSTANT DETRACTORS - who come to the debate bearing their own particular "stuff" with regard to their DCI experience).

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." Abraham Lincoln

and some corps they beat on the field are actually more financially sound.

your point?

[Jeff Ream]

Wow, okay.

It's pretty obvious both you and G either missed his point or just plain chose to ignore it. But that's okay. If there's one thing this thread needed more of, it's made up drama.

All he was saying was that back in his day, a lot of corps DID play the pop-culture tunes of that era. Today, with more stringent music licensing laws and whatnot, it's harder to do that. And maybe (gotta look for the question mark in his post there) that's a reason for why it's harder to attract kids these days to the activity. No where do I get that he feels classical music sucks.

But what do I know. I love to drink Kool-Aid while dancing naked to Gaga.

and yet at WGI percussion finals, I heard all kinds of current music out there, and less "music of dead people"

[scv guy]

BRING IT ON #####ES!

DCI is just so...1980s! Get with it people! About time we get the #### Blue Devils (and their arch rivals) to HOLLYWOOD where they belong. This activity deserves it's own reality show culminating in an anything goes style "blood feud" battle of the bands decided by TV Polls and "band fans". It's just made for TV. @#$ INDIANPOLIS!!! Finals should be in LA every year and shot in front of thousands of adoring "band" fans. You want this activity to be more popular? Get it on TV. Another thing: get this activity indoors so that the performers will have total control over their environment. Fireworks? Water? Jet Packs? Guard members flying on a wire? Synths? Amplification louder than a Motorhead concert? You wouldn't pay for such a spectacle?

GO LOS ANGELES BLUE DEVILS!

Edited May 24, 2010 by scv guy

[wishbonecav]

Reamer...good discussion points...and thanks for the birthday wish.

Question: is any of the G7 conversation really that surprising? Isnt this what we have known for quite a while? That the big dogs set the bar, win the championships?

When was the last time anyone else earned their way into the competitive conversation outside these corps? 95 Scouts?

For real?

We can pooh-pooh their "power grab", but haven't they had it a while already? This goes back to '83 for heaven's sake. Short of Star (and wasnt it neat how they were treated once they weren't playing Disney) and Madison creeping in on the party (once every couple years), this has been 25 years in the making.

they've been making the rules for years, too...pushing the envelope in so many different ways.

This conversation isnt really a surprise, is it?

Maybe the surprise is that they didn't do it sooner.

They have led the way in making this performance thing go waaaaay over the top...Innovation all over the place...playing, movement, ensemble...it's worlds apart from where it "used to be." Drum corps as an art form isnt worse off because of the Santa Clara Vanguard or the Cadets or the Blue Devils. What is demanded/expected/judged/performed is mind boggling and most of that lay at the feet/altar of the G7.

They have the performance formula. They have the business formula to sustain all that. The "others" chase while this group leads ....

Now they are "leading" again.

I am interested to see where it goes, as most of us are.

And new ideas always follow the same pattern: FIRST, they are resisted (by existing inertia); SECOND, they are violently opposed (out of fear?); THIRD, they are accepted as truth (or something like that).

We are somewhere between stage ONE and TWO...and we've only been at it a few days :)

The Earth was FLAT....until it wasn't. No matter how many people went to jail for saying differently, when that Magellan guy came back from circumnavigating the globe (he was first told he was a FOOL to try!, then the King sent a Naval detachment to SINK HIS BOATS), it was hard to argue the former point.

:)

[CorpsFan.]

There are 23 world class corps... you have to be in WC for X number of year (3?) before you get a vote, yes (this might be wrong)? This would mean that Teal Sound and Jersey Surf don't have a vote yet, which would leave 21 corps.

Greedy7 get 2 votes = 14

other corps = 14

This would allow the Greedy7 to block any more. Of course, according to DCW, some other corps will have 1 vote, and some will have 0 votes. So the other corps might not even be at 14. It could be 14 for the Greedy7 and 10 for the other semi-finalists.

It's actually more like this:

G7 = 2 votes each

8 to 17 - 1 vote

Everyone else - no votes (or shares)

The 8 to 17 range was squishy (like most everything in the proposal). You had to be a solid touring corps to make the cut, but it seemed pretty clear they were gunning for a semi-finalist cut. That assured that the G7 would control everything.

[PunkRawkBandGeek]

They have led the way in making this performance thing go waaaaay over the top...Innovation all over the place...playing, movement, ensemble...it's worlds apart from where it "used to be." Drum corps as an art form isnt worse off because of the Santa Clara Vanguard or the Cadets or the Blue Devils. What is demanded/expected/judged/performed is mind boggling and most of that lay at the feet/altar of the G7.

I wouldn't say this group has done literally ALL of the innovating within the activity. That actively discounts groups like Suncoast Sound, Sky Ryders, and the Velvet Knights, to name a few. And two of those seven do not have the historical similarities in innovation or excellence, either--they are recent newcomers.

Why alter the system to prevent other groups to make meteoric leaps as such in the future? Isn't the competitive aspect what draws more than anything? When you brush aside most of the competition, I think that storyline is gone, and thus makes the overall product far less interesting, especially to the average drum corps fan.

[Gary Matczak]

It's actually more like this:

G7 = 2 votes each

8 to 17 - 1 vote

Everyone else - no votes (or shares)

The 8 to 17 range was squishy (like most everything in the proposal). You had to be a solid touring corps to make the cut, but it seemed pretty clear they were gunning for a semi-finalist cut. That assured that the G7 would control everything.

this just smacks of "we are great and the rest of you suck"

[garfield]

this just smacks of "we are great and the rest of you suck"

Just thought of something...

There are three "At Large" board members, totaling 25 votes.

The G7's 14 votes would not be a majority by itself.

Don't I remember reading that these three were also "removed" in the board shakeup?

I'd like to know how these three voted because they're supposed to represent the opinion of the fan base, I believe.

Feel free to correct.

[dans]

this just smacks of "we are great and the rest of you suck"

No, this just smacks of "DCI is in trouble financially", and if everyone sits by and pretends everything is all right, we may lose this activity forever. The expense of keeping this activity going is staggering, especially in an economy like we are experiencing. Can you imagine if this activity we love does vanish and the powers of DCI did nothing to try to save it? Folks would be screaming for Hopkins head and asking why the folks in charge did nothing to try and save the activity? The issue hear is actually quite clear. Some are just flat out cynical when it comes to the powers in DCI (mostly Hopkins though). Anything that is proposed by the likes of Hopkins is automatically considered to be self-serving, a power play or something intended to ruin the activity. I don't share that view, I actually respect Hopkins for the passion he has given to this activity and the Cadets. This whole G-7 thing is just another perceived opportunity to attack Hopkins. Some of the venom that has been spewed on this site in the past week is way more polarizing than anything Hopkins has said or done. I want to thank Hopkins and others that have made preserving this activity part of their life's work.