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BITD when I marched there seemed to be regional circuts all over the country where corps could compete on a somewhat local level without the HUGE expense of touring. These corps could actually guage how well they could actually do on a national level (or get a very good idea) based on compition in the circut that were possibly national level contenders themselves. Corps thrived when these circuts were around. My question is; do you think that DCI could benifit or more importantly Drum corps, if circuts were once again established and corps with smaller budgets could compete on a weekly basis, until the the championships rolled around

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Been saying this for years! I guess it would mean less money for DCI. I think the home and home thing works well. (You do mine and I'll do yours). Penn-York, NY=Penn, ODCA, etc. Might help with growth too.

Discuss!

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BITD when I marched there seemed to be regional circuts all over the country where corps could compete on a somewhat local level without the HUGE expense of touring. These corps could actually guage how well they could actually do on a national level (or get a very good idea) based on compition in the circut that were possibly national level contenders themselves. Corps thrived when these circuts were around. My question is; do you think that DCI could benifit or more importantly Drum corps, if circuts were once again established and corps with smaller budgets could compete on a weekly basis, until the the championships rolled around

YES, YES , YES!!!!

DCI needs to change, and be about all drumcorps, not just the G7.

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BITD when I marched there seemed to be regional circuts all over the country where corps could compete on a somewhat local level without the HUGE expense of touring. These corps could actually guage how well they could actually do on a national level (or get a very good idea) based on compition in the circut that were possibly national level contenders themselves. Corps thrived when these circuts were around. My question is; do you think that DCI could benifit or more importantly Drum corps, if circuts were once again established and corps with smaller budgets could compete on a weekly basis, until the the championships rolled around

The problem is that local circuits are no longer feasible. Let's look at a corps like Music City. Where would their local circuit be? How about Revolution? The Academy? Even corps like Teal Sound and Spirit of Atlanta would have an issue. There are no where near enough "local" corps in their areas. The cost of starting enough corps in all of the areas of the country that would need them just to fill the contests is more than the cost of the current touring model. And then there is the lack of interest. With the advent of competitive HS bands, etc., not enough people are interested in going through the time and expense of starting corps to populate the former "regional circuit" model.

The past is gone. Drum Corps needs to live in the present and plan for a realistic future.

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But this might give growth for other corps a chance too.

The problem is that local circuits are no longer feasible. Let's look at a corps like Music City. Where would their local circuit be? How about Revolution? The Academy? Even corps like Teal Sound and Spirit of Atlanta would have an issue. There are no where near enough "local" corps in their areas. The cost of starting enough corps in all of the areas of the country that would need them just to fill the contests is more than the cost of the current touring model. And then there is the lack of interest. With the advent of competitive HS bands, etc., not enough people are interested in going through the time and expense of starting corps to populate the former "regional circuit" model.

The past is gone. Drum Corps needs to live in the present and plan for a realistic future.

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The problem is that local circuits are no longer feasible. Let's look at a corps like Music City. Where would their local circuit be? How about Revolution? The Academy? Even corps like Teal Sound and Spirit of Atlanta would have an issue. There are no where near enough "local" corps in their areas. The cost of starting enough corps in all of the areas of the country that would need them just to fill the contests is more than the cost of the current touring model. And then there is the lack of interest. With the advent of competitive HS bands, etc., not enough people are interested in going through the time and expense of starting corps to populate the former "regional circuit" model.

The past is gone. Drum Corps needs to live in the present and plan for a realistic future.

If DCI would divide the country into 5 regional divisions[ n, s e, w, mw], they would have enough corps for each region to compete.

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Having regions is bound to create growth of exsisting corps in those areas as well as new corps that have a limited start up budget. Eliminate the demand for long expensive tours (especially for cash strapped units) until the trek to the Championships. By then, the struggling corps will have a good idea, weather or not they can afford to compete in the championships, without having to sell Ma's cow, to stay afloat during the winter. You could even make the regions smaller. It was suggested earlier that this wasn't practical because in some areas there weren't enough corps of like calibur to compete against one another and it was expensive to start new corps. All To True, and yet, corps do start up every year it seems. Perhaps this would give them the "leg Up" that they need. The corps that I marched with (Avant Garde) struggled finacially, mainly because they were under obligation to tour, whenever and wherever DCI scheduled them to appear. I truely believe that was the death of them,,in fact, I know it was. It seems to me that this suggestion, if supported properly, would only make DCI and drum corp in general a much MUCH stronger Activity. Less exclusive perhaps, but much stronger.

It was suggested that the past is gone and that drum corp needs to look towards a realistic future. If you shoot down ideas that are intended to expand drum corp there will be no future. Look at the decline in active drum corps just in the past ten years, now go back twenty, and then thirty. Exclusiveness will only breed extinction evetually.

Would you tell the 27th Lancer to give it up that the past is gone, if they were trying to get back into it? I'm certainly happy that the Blue Stars didn't follow that advice

Edited by BariBrian
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Excellent! Well said!

Having regions is bound to create growth of exsisting corps in those areas as well as new corps that have a limited start up budget. Eliminate the demand for long expensive tours (especially for cash strapped units) until the trek to the Championships. By then, the struggling corps will have a good idea, weather or not they can afford to compete in the championships, without having to sell Ma's cow, to stay afloat during the winter. You could even make the regions smaller. It was suggested earlier that this wasn't practical because in some areas there weren't enough corps of like calibur to compete against one another and it was expensive to start new corps. All To True, and yet, corps do start up every year it seems. Perhaps this would give them the "leg Up" that they need. The corps that I marched with (Avant Garde) struggled finacially, mainly because they were under obligation to tour, whenever and wherever DCI scheduled them to appear. I truely believe that was the death of them,,in fact, I know it was. It seems to me that this suggestion, if supported properly, would only make DCI and drum corp in general a much MUCH stronger Activity. Less exclusive perhaps, but much stronger.

It was suggested that the past is gone and that drum corp needs to look towards a realistic future. If you shoot down ideas that are intended to expand drum corp there will be no future. Look at the decline in active drum corps just in the past ten years, now go back twenty, and then thirty. Exclusiveness will only breed extinction evetually.

Would you tell the 27th Lancer to give it up that the past is gone, if they were trying to get back into it? I'm certainly happy that the Blue Stars didn't follow that advice

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Having regions is bound to create growth of exsisting corps in those areas as well as new corps that have a limited start up budget. Eliminate the demand for long expensive tours (especially for cash strapped units) until the trek to the Championships. By then, the struggling corps will have a good idea, weather or not they can afford to compete in the championships, without having to sell Ma's cow, to stay afloat during the winter. You could even make the regions smaller. It was suggested earlier that this wasn't practical because in some areas there weren't enough corps of like calibur to compete against one another and it was expensive to start new corps. All To True, and yet, corps do start up every year it seems. Perhaps this would give them the "leg Up" that they need. The corps that I marched with (Avant Garde) struggled finacially, mainly because they were under obligation to tour, whenever and wherever DCI scheduled them to appear. I truely believe that was the death of them,,in fact, I know it was. It seems to me that this suggestion, if supported properly, would only make DCI and drum corp in general a much MUCH stronger Activity. Less exclusive perhaps, but much stronger.

It was suggested that the past is gone and that drum corp needs to look towards a realistic future. If you shoot down ideas that are intended to expand drum corp there will be no future. Look at the decline in active drum corps just in the past ten years, now go back twenty, and then thirty. Exclusiveness will only breed extinction evetually.

Would you tell the 27th Lancer to give it up that the past is gone, if they were trying to get back into it? I'm certainly happy that the Blue Stars didn't follow that advice

Agreed.

It is so sad that DCI does not have a 27, or a North Star, or even an East Coast Jazz anymore. Can we even claim that Boston is from Boston anymore?

DCI is not the friend to the new startup , small , or struggling drumcorps, and this will never change until ALL drumcorps in DCI have an equal vote, whether top 12 or a corps with ten kids in its first year.

Edited by Howdy
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If DCI would divide the country into 5 regional divisions[ n, s e, w, mw], they would have enough corps for each region to compete.

I sure wish you'd look at this map: http://www.dci.org/corps/map.cfm?class_id=1&submit=Filter

and tell us how 5 divisions wouldn't bankrupt the "western" division.

And, frankly, how you divide the corps' locations to create 5 divisions in the first place.

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