Increased Perception of DCI as a League

[BRASSO]

I would agree with this draft idea "if" corps paid their performers professional career type salaries; however, since DCI participants pay dues out of their own pocket, they should be able to chose which corps that would like to audition for.

The pro sports analogy is a bad analogy, imo. The NCAA is a better analogy with DCI if such an analogy is to be made, as both DCI and the NCAA have amateur " performers ". Sticking with the analogy, the NCAA has a restrictive policy in place for amateur college athletes regarding the ability to transfer between one Division 1 program and another. As most know, the ability to transfer is not a willy nilly easy thing to do. They have implemented a transfer policy for a reason. And far be it for us to criticise those reasons as these transfer rules seem to work. Also, for the record, the concept of an imposition of transfer rules of SOME sort is not unprecedented in the annals of the Drum Corps activity. Prior to DCI, most local regional Drum Corps Associations all had transfer policies in place for marchers. A marcher could find a way to march another Corps if they really wanted to, but there were procedural transfer policies in place that seemed to protect the interests of all. It was not willy nilly. I've said before that any Corps that wants to bring in a marcher from another Corps should be required to pay a "Finders Fee " to the other Corps. The other Corps in many cases took in that new marcher, taught them the initial training and skills, the travel, the work habits and so forth, only to lose the marcher to another, usually higher placing Corps who reaped the benefits of that marcher having at least the fundamentals and the whole summer tour thing down pat. Look, we can keep on doing the same things over and over again regarding off season recruiting by Corps... or we can do something else to properly level the playing field a bit.. Otherwise, we are all just kidding ourselves if we think we are going to see major shifts in placements from year to year in DCI. Go look at the Placements of Corps in the World Class Division in 2009 and in 2010. Tell us how many Corps moved up or down more than 2 places. It happens, but it's rare. Now tell me that we don't need to level the playing field regarding off season transfer rules of some kind. If some fans are against the imposition of transfer rules of ANY kind, then they really are in favor of not much change from year to year in the placement of Corps of any major magnitude. The chances of an underdog basketball team like Butler getting to the NCAA Basketball Championship game would be akin to ( for example ) the Troopers or Crossmen jumping 12 or more spots in DCI and getting to 1st or 2nd place in one year. There is a reason why this is possible in college sports but literally impossible in DCI. I just explained one of the major reasons here.

Edited April 13, 2011 by BRASSO

[Stu]

I've said before that any Corps that wants to bring in a marcher from another Corps should be required to pay a "Finders Fee " to the other Corps. The other Corps in many cases took in that new marcher, taught them the initial training and skills, the travel, the work habits and so forth, only to lose the marcher to another, usually higher placing Corps who reaped the benefits of that marcher having at least the fundamentals and the whole summer tour thing down pat.

I do not see higher ranking universities paying finders fees like this to small colleges or junior colleges. However, forcing the DCI members who want to transfer corps to lay-off a season "similar to a redshirt" would be very equitable and fair because this is what is done in the NCAA; and it would help correct the disparity in DCI very quickly.

[audiodb]

Fan Network only means something to those that are already fans. It means absolutely nothing to potential corporate sponsors or local media in various cities that could potentially run stories on the shows before the event.

Actually, the "viral" section contains interviews and human-interest content that would be of interest to both media and potential sponsors. But of course, both of those entities should probably dig deeper than a website to do their jobs....and that applies whether it is DCI or the NFL that they are looking at.

[danielray]

Actually, the "viral" section contains interviews and human-interest content that would be of interest to both media and potential sponsors. But of course, both of those entities should probably dig deeper than a website to do their jobs....and that applies whether it is DCI or the NFL that they are looking at.

Media is lazy. They run with what is pre-packaged and spoonfed to them. Drum corps isn't something interesting enough for them to do much with unless it is made dead simple for them.

Years ago, I was one of the producers for a couple of seasons of a national television show that ran for 45 minutes, 5 days a week. It was a sort of lifestyle/human interest program (targeted to youth) and I can tell you that the guys trying to fill that time were completely lazy, and ran with whatever came up that was more or less pre-packaged.

I also had as clients magazines like Cosmopolitan, FHM, etc. We would try to get articles published that were complimentary to or reinforced major advertising buys. Even in this case, when it was the advertisers who were actually paying to keep the magazines in business, it was extremely difficult to get the editorial staff to move on anything unless it was completely prepackaged or was something they were personally interested in.

What I am getting at, there needs to be a kid of ready-made stories, photos, interviews and reels of footage provided to media that requires almost no effort on the part of the media outlet to get into distribution. If it requires even minimal effort on their part, most outlets will pass.

[audiodb]

What I am getting at, there needs to be a kid of ready-made stories, photos, interviews and reels of footage provided to media that requires almost no effort on the part of the media outlet to get into distribution. If it requires even minimal effort on their part, most outlets will pass.

Oh, well that sort of thing is the job of the PR department. I recall when I first started covering DCI for Drum Corps World, I was given the standard press package from DCI PR, and it was exactly what you describe (minus the reels of footage). Stories, interviews, photos and a newbie's guide to drum corps.

[Stu]

The pro sports analogy is a bad analogy, imo. The NCAA is a better analogy

The term Major League indicates and implies Pro; as in "Major League Baseball". The initials NCAA stand for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; as in NCAA Baseball. DCI is calling itself Major League not Collegiate League.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Stu

[BRASSO]

The term Major League indicates and implies Pro; as in "Major League Baseball". The initials NCAA stand for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; as in NCAA Baseball. DCI is calling itself Major League not Collegiate League.

If DCI is marketing themselves as a " sport ", ie" Major Leagues ", and people are ok with this, and want the public to see this as a competitive " sport", then I'm ok with it too.

If this is the case, I don't want to hear any more complaints about booing though, as there is no " sport" on the planet in which College age athletes in sport arn't booed at most competitive sporting events. If DCI World Class Corps market themselves as a " sport " then they need to be prepared to take both the good as well as the bad that naturally comes with the packaging of DCI World Class Drum Corps as a competitive" sport " for mostly 18-22 year olders. Nobody condones booing, and I'd personally never, EVER, boo any Corps, but lets face it, booing 18-22 year olders in college sports ( even before the players get off the bus on road trip games ) is a time honored tradition in college level competitive sports. As the saying goes... be careful what you wish for.

Edited April 14, 2011 by BRASSO

[Stu]

If DCI is marketing themselves as a " sport ", ie" Major Leagues ", and people are ok with this, and want the public to see this as a competitive " sport", then I'm ok with it too.

If this is the case, I don't want to hear any more complaints about booing though, as there is no " sport" on the planet in which College age athletes in sport arn't booed at most competitive sporting events. If DCI World Class Corps market themselves as a " sport " then they need to be prepared to take both the good as well as the bad that naturally comes with the packaging of DCI World Class Drum Corps as a competitive" sport " for mostly 18-22 year olders. Nobody condones booing, and I'd personally never, EVER, boo any Corps, but lets face it, booing 18-22 year olders in college sports ( even before the players get off the bus on road trip games ) is a time honored tradition in college level competitive sports. As the saying goes... be careful what you wish for.

I agree. While booing youth is not something I personally engage in, it is also something that I fully expect from others due to the freedoms under which we live; and I would not want it any other way. More importantly, learning how to react to booing is a very important part of character building. And to attempt to shield the youth from those boos in the name of protecting their self-esteem does not teach them how to properly handle negativity.

[Plan9]

I agree. While booing youth is not something I personally engage in, it is also something that I fully expect from others due to the freedoms under which we live; and I would not want it any other way. More importantly, learning how to react to booing is a very important part of character building. And to attempt to shield the youth from those boos in the name of protecting their self-esteem does not teach them how to properly handle negativity.

Come on Stu, condemning booing at a DCI event is not about protecting "the kids" self-esteem . It's about telling someone who farts in a crowded (and quiet) room, that they are gross and ill-mannered.

[Stu]

Come on Stu, condemning booing at a DCI event is not about protecting "the kids" self-esteem . It's about telling someone who farts in a crowded (and quiet) room, that they are gross and ill-mannered.

Plan9: My comment, taken in proper context, is one that was referencing and agreeing with Brasso that "if" DCI claims to be a Major League, as well as highly competitive Sport, booing, as well as farting, by fans are both activities that commonly take place in that particular arena. Jerry Jones, an owner within a major league sport, gets booed; George Hopkins, a director within a major league sport, gets booed; Ben Roethlisberger, a player in a major league sport gets booed; a corps performer, in a major league sport, gets booed. I personally do not condone the behavior, but neither am I going to complain because it is a part of Major League.