2000Cadet Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Wait. First you say "Come off it" and then you say it could be the model for the future? What happened to the "...competitive activity" line? Did you forget it between sentences two and three? I don't think this will become the model for the future but I'd bet that corps become less and less reliant on tour fees for balancing their budget. Oh, and competition can equally mean challenging the entire corps to raise funds as much as it can mean competing for a place in the show. The challenge to "make it happen" can be as equally powerful on a kid as a challenge to make finals. Because that line makes it seem as if most other corps focus strictly on the competition aspect of this activity when that is not true of most corps (at least the corps I know of). So yeah, COME OFF IT! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 (edited) It's only competitive among small groups of corps though. A few at the top (2-3, maybe 4 occasionally) compete for the title. Everyone else is only competing in their little group (the top few are also only competing in their little group). I'll be sure to change my opinion if a semi-finalist makes a run for the title in the following year though. Last time I checked, every corps gets a score and that score is compared with all the other corps that have scores. Therefore, it does not matter HOW you stack, or what your goal is for a placement number, it's COMPETITIVE. You don't have to have a shot at the title in order to be "competitive", I have no idea how you came up with that definition... Edited April 3, 2011 by charlie1223 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelloHorn13 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Because that line makes it seem as if most other corps focus strictly on the competition aspect of this activity when that is not true of most corps (at least the corps I know of). So yeah, COME OFF IT! Not strictly, but a good amount of corps emphasis is "silently" put on competition and scores. I've left 3 corps for this reason. I wouldn't say it's the corps so much as it is the staff. As long as money is envolved, it'll always be that way. Sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Not strictly, but a good amount of corps emphasis is "silently" put on competition and scores. I've left 3 corps for this reason. I wouldn't say it's the corps so much as it is the staff. As long as money is envolved, it'll always be that way. Sad. Try doing it without money......it just doesn't happen without it!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Not strictly, but a good amount of corps emphasis is "silently" put on competition and scores. I've left 3 corps for this reason. I wouldn't say it's the corps so much as it is the staff. As long as money is envolved, it'll always be that way. Sad. As long as money is involved, the corps will STAY involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Last time I checked, every corps gets a score and that score is compared with all the other corps that have scores. Therefore, it does not matter HOW you stack, or what your goal is for a placement number, it's COMPETITIVE. You don't have to have a shot at the title in order to be "competitive", I have no idea how you came up with that definition... Well, I think of "competitive" as being competing for the championship. No one would call the last place NFL team "competitive" (I don't think). But if you are using "competitive" in a way that Blue Devils and Mandarins are equally "competitive," then I will agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Well, I think of "competitive" as being competing for the championship. No one would call the last place NFL team "competitive" (I don't think). But if you are using "competitive" in a way that Blue Devils and Mandarins are equally "competitive," then I will agree with you. All the corps are competitive. Some are competitive for 1st place, others for 12th place. Others are competitive to beat the corps in-front of them, and others to keep their lead over the corps behind them. Same name, different game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 With all due respect, come off it. This IS a competitive activity. I commend surf for trying this out and I'm hoping it works out. Maybe it'll be a model for the future for other corps. We shall see though. to be honest, Surf has never strived to bring home trophies, and what most people thought would fail 20 years ago is now a World Class corps, and in better financial shape than some above them in the scoring ranks. In these economic times, thinking outside the box is never a bad thing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 to be honest, Surf has never strived to bring home trophies, and what most people thought would fail 20 years ago is now a World Class corps, and in better financial shape than some above them in the scoring ranks. In these economic times, thinking outside the box is never a bad thing Jeff: What a great idea!!! Contact Scott Anspach, President and Co-Founder of Main Street Financial, and tell him that in these hard economic times you want him to model his mortgage business after the Bob Jacobs "Name Your Own Price" model because out of Love and Compassion people deserve the experience of owning their own home even if they cannot pay for it. Come on; lets see what he says!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobjacobs Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Jeff: What a great idea!!! Contact Scott Anspach, President and Co-Founder of Main Street Financial, and tell him that in these hard economic times you want him to model his mortgage business after the Bob Jacobs "Name Your Own Price" model because out of Love and Compassion people deserve the experience of owning their own home even if they cannot pay for it. Come on; lets see what he says!!! That's not what we're doing, Stu. A few thoughts: • We've never turned away a prospective member due to financial challenges. In that regard, this program is no different. • We don't have the luxury of allowing folks to stroll through the door free of charge, and we're certainly not going to throw away 21 years of debt-free existence by suddenly abandoning our values and good business sense and trying to spend money we don't have. Further, we would never take the corps on the road without delivering a safe and World Class experience. We don't cut corners at the expense of the corps members. • The plan is relatively straightforward: members can name an amount which they think is fair and within reach, then we can agree on how much we'll need to fund-raise together to cover the total cost of participation. Let's create a solid game plan to achieve our goals and let's work the plan. There's no misrepresentation and no bait-and-switch... and we've had a few thousand kids go through the program doing it precisely this way. • Each year including this one, several members are able to march for little or no out-of-pocket expense, by taking advantage of the numerous grass-roots fund-raising opportunities we provide. We're adding to that effort this year. Others may be able to take advantage of incentives for their parental involvement in key operational roles. We also have generous alumni and friends who contribute to make it possible for people to participate based on their willingness to work hard to achieve the goals and requirements of membership. Some of the corps members will raise funds this year to rollover for 2012 fees, and some will raise funds beyond their own quotas in order to help other corps members who fall short. • The impact of the current economic situation as it relates to our members and prospective members seems to be different this year than it's ever been before. We're trying to be in tune with that and to adapt to their needs. We have quite a few age-eligible vets who absolutely need to work this summer in order to cover their college expenses this fall, and couldn't do the tour even if we were to waive all fees. Some families simply don't have the cushion they've had in the past, for a variety of reasons... and thus, priorities need to be adjusted to manage "real world issues" ahead of participation in drum corps this season. • We don't do a full tour by choice... and providing the alternative to the full time tour is fundamental to our mission. A large percentage of our membership are high school students who would not be able to participate in an extended "Spring Training" sessions and the full 8 weeks on the road. Some have summer classes, some have summer jobs and others need to deal with other issues. Although this decision not to tour may put us at a competitive disadvantage, this is what we are... and many of our members, volunteers and instructional team wouldn't be able to do this if we changed the format. It's not that we don't want to "win" nor that we don't have competitive pursuits... we discuss our goals and priorities each year and this year will certainly be no different. We just want to make sure this is sustainable, which gets more difficult for the entire drum corps activity every year. By rolling this out, we're hoping to eliminate the "big scary number" as a perceived barrier to involvement. If someone really wants to be a part of our team, we can collectively set our sights on how we can make that happen. I hope this provides a little clarity. I've received several notes over the past few days, some of which surprise me. It seems that there are some folks who seem to feel that we should pack it in since, in their opinion, we're obviously not committed to building a World Championship-caliber competing unit. Like many other businesses, we're trying to survive, to deliver on the promise of our mission, and to continue to grow. I'm more than happy to discuss this further with anyone who has questions, comments or concerns. Thanks! Bob 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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