Official DCP G7 Proposal Discussion Thread

[garfield]

What's the question, exactly?

Thanks for this. He confused me so bad that I didn't know how to respond.

[dbc03]

But Crown is already in the G7.

But they have only recently moved up to that level. It could be what someone else said and they are using it as an excuse to keep Phantom in after their tough showing last year

[HockeyDad]

So, here we've been, strung along (stringed?) for years.....everything is great......attendance is great...... taking in a lot of money.......appealing to new audiences......streaming video.......drum corps in movie theaters.... ticket sales are strong......

So....... where does this proposal come from? Haven't we been led to believe the everything is sound? What is this, ENRON? All of a sudden the end is near and drastic measures need be taken so that the 7 chosen corps can survive and best wishes to the rest of you "filler" corps?????

Where is this coming from????

I feel lied to. And the chief liar is now proposing the fix. No discussion - here's what we're gonna do... Take it or leave it.

Wow, George, you must have taken different management classes than I did.

[MCL_Contra]

Oh, brother.

They use pits with lots of odd instuments (including bass guitars, marimbas, et al) and they're still D&BC. The Yankees are using metal bats and their still Major League Baseball. This isn't the subject here, but it shows how much the blatant detractors on DCP are not the target audience for this innovation.

Sorry brother but guitars and electronics of any kind do NOT belong in D&BC. And if they are complaining about poor attendance and ticket sales then maybe they should go back and tack a look at what made Drum Corps poular and exciting in the first place....great music that people can relate to and enjoy.

[CorpsFan.]

But a retroactive clause for top 8 corps doesn't help 9th-place Phantom Regiment.

With a 3 year look at status it does. Once you are in the G7, you are in for at least 3 years. If you fall outside of the top 8, you are still in for another 2 years. If you get back into the top 8, your position is safe. If you miss a second year, you still have one more year to get back in. If you miss the third, then you are out mathematically, but there is still the vote of the G7 that could keep you in. If they make it retroactive to 2008, Phantom's position is temporarily secure.

[dbc03]

The proposal definitely left me wondering how "united in our goals" the G7 really is. It shows a lot of signs of hasty editing - typos, contradicting itself in multiple places, missing a lot of necessary detail. The Cavaliers certainly distanced themselves in a hurry - it wouldn't take too many more fence-sitters to make the AAA tour (or the between-the-lines threat of leaving DCI) impractical.

I also found it interesting that the presentation just assumed that DCI is financially doomed and that most people in the audience would share that belief (Assertion #1, p. 5). Hop didn't spend any effort at all demonstrating that there's a crisis. If most people on the inside think there's a crisis, then DCI and the member corps are going to need to do something. If not this, then a leader needs to show up awfully soon with a vision of something else.

The presentation wasn't intended for the general public. It was intended for the board of directors who are privy to DCI's financial situation so he didn't have to go step by step explaining the finances to people who already knew about them.

[garfield]

The proposal definitely left me wondering how "united in our goals" the G7 really is. It shows a lot of signs of hasty editing - typos, contradicting itself in multiple places, missing a lot of necessary detail. The Cavaliers certainly distanced themselves in a hurry - it wouldn't take too many more fence-sitters to make the AAA tour (or the between-the-lines threat of leaving DCI) impractical.

I also found it interesting that the presentation just assumed that DCI is financially doomed and that most people in the audience would share that belief (Assertion #1, p. 5). Hop didn't spend any effort at all demonstrating that there's a crisis. If most people on the inside think there's a crisis, then DCI and the member corps are going to need to do something. If not this, then a leader needs to show up awfully soon with a vision of something else.

This proposal, as-is, is a dead letter. The "AA" corps killed it by restructuring the board. My prediction is that next fall, a couple of the G7 corps will "defect" - in exchange for the rest of the corps approving a watered-down version (probably with some AAA-exclusive shows, without the $$/governance changes).

Everyone should go look at the 990s for DCI. It's a $10-million dollar organization. The corps sure aren't getting that return. Whatever DCI is doing with all that cash flow is presumed to be wasteful. The G7's assumption is that they can accomplish the same thing - and split that admin. pie - by doing it themselves.

[Richard]

Here are some questions for those of you that think this proposal is on the right track:

- Where will additional corps come from, or will the only corps from this point forward be the current A and up corps?

- What are Open Class corps supposed to do when there are not enough corps near them to have a regional circuit - e.g. Canada, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Northwest...pretty much anywhere except the midwest (barely) and California.

For example - I live in New England...where is this regional circuit supposed to come from? 7th Regiment, Spartans, maybe Citations if they come back and....??? Maybe Raiders and/or Spirit of Newark? There are no proposed AAA shows up there, so how will we convince high school band kids to participate in this?

Also, I teach high school and I'm very close to Open Class, and tour is a HUGE draw for potential members. With regional touring/weekend shows, you're essentially offering them a summer marching band circuit. With no tour, recruitment numbers will decline sharply, I am sure of it.

So what is your solution? Open class in remote regions can go screw or figure it out somehow? So, unless corps are coming out of California, there will be no one left to fill the ranks of any A, AA or AAA corps should they fold.

dbc03, Plan9, corpsband and others...I'll be waiting on your answer to this

[CorpsFan.]

The proposal definitely left me wondering how "united in our goals" the G7 really is. It shows a lot of signs of hasty editing - typos, contradicting itself in multiple places, missing a lot of necessary detail. The Cavaliers certainly distanced themselves in a hurry - it wouldn't take too many more fence-sitters to make the AAA tour (or the between-the-lines threat of leaving DCI) impractical.

I also found it interesting that the presentation just assumed that DCI is financially doomed and that most people in the audience would share that belief (Assertion #1, p. 5). Hop didn't spend any effort at all demonstrating that there's a crisis. If most people on the inside think there's a crisis, then DCI and the member corps are going to need to do something. If not this, then a leader needs to show up awfully soon with a vision of something else.

This proposal, as-is, is a dead letter. The "AA" corps killed it by restructuring the board. My prediction is that next fall, a couple of the G7 corps will "defect" - in exchange for the rest of the corps approving a watered-down version (probably with some AAA-exclusive shows, without the $$/governance changes).

Oh so true. "We have the backing of our boards, we have discussed matters in depth, and we are united in our goals." Word is, 2 of the G7's BOD never even saw it, and one of them the BOD is opposed to it. I think you are right. There are cracks already, and this will crumble. But it's not gone.

[garfield]

Oh so true. "We have the backing of our boards, we have discussed matters in depth, and we are united in our goals." Word is, 2 of the G7's BOD never even saw it, and one of them the BOD is opposed to it. I think you are right. There are cracks already, and this will crumble. But it's not gone.

I have personal knowledge of one board member who was completely unaware that this whole "event" happened until after the DCI board conference call.

Just sayin'

Edited May 25, 2010 by garfield